terrys Blog on RealTravel

San Francisco Bay Area journal: It's Winter, Let's Go to California

Sun, 17 Feb 2008 13:43:40 GMT

While snow flies in Canada, flowers bloom in California, and snowbound Canadians can talk to friends down south who mention, casually, "It's 80 degrees, I'm just coming back from surfing, I have the window down in the truck."

We had no illusions though, in December even in California it's winter. It was an little chilly when we arrived at San Francisco International Airport but the Sun was out, the tougher kinds of flowers were in bloom, and we didn't have to wear heavy winter coats, high boots and thick wooly scarves. A fall jacket worked just fine.

We had some time before ...

United States journal: Escaping to California

Sat, 16 Feb 2008 08:55:57 GMT

It's Canada, it's snowing, it looks it will snow forever and winter has just started. Where else would you want to be, except California?

Chicago journal: The Architecture of Chicago

Fri, 15 Feb 2008 07:45:46 GMT

Driving is a challenge, it's fun figuring out where to go next and what to see next and how to get there. But traffic on the four-lane highways of Ontario and the Interstates of America is verging on the unimaginable. Sometimes we will look at the road ahead and swear that what we see are not huge lines of tractor trailers but one long, never-ending railroad train. That's why a bus tour on the crowded roads in and around Chicago made a lot of sense.

Great Canadian Holidays, a charter line owned by Trailways, operates a number of tours every week to many destinations in both Canada ...

Cairo journal: Travel Hints on Traveling to Egypt

Fri, 15 Feb 2008 06:48:14 GMT

Here are some travel hints from my wife and I for people travelling to Egypt:

1. If you book a tour, check alternative airlines to the one offered in the tour package. With tours you often arrive at night and begin the next day early, while you are still jetlagged. Find a flight with reasonable arrival and departure times. Do not go through Paris if you can avoid it, Charles DeGaulle Airport is the transfer airport from hell. If you can't avoid it, make sure your flight arrangements leave enough time to transfer, because you will probably have to transfer terminals. The airport is ...

San Diego journal: The perfect condo

Thu, 24 Jan 2008 06:45:33 GMT

Nancy Parinello is the agent for a number of condo owners in her building at 3888 Riviera and also handles rentals for less expensive condos in the area as well as some locations in the Loire Valley in France. Her website is www.nanc ysvacationrentals.com. Joey's condo is the latest on her list of rentals in San Diego and if the others are as superb as this one, we highly recommend them all. The location was perfect, on Sail Bay, a ten minute walk from the ocean. The bay is protected from the waves of the Pacific Ocean by a long sand spit and is so calm that every morning scullers, including ...

Somerset journal: Memorial to Flight 93

Thu, 01 Nov 2007 15:59:33 GMT

Before we visited the Frank Lloyd Wright buildings, we drove a few miles north of Somerset to visit a touching memorial to some very brave Americans. As we come to terms with what happened on the day that they died, we will truly begin to appreciate what they have done.

When the World Trade Center was struck in September 2001, and the Pentagon was attacked, the networks reported that one more plane was still in the air. Flight 93 had headed west apparently without incident and suddenly turned around and was headed for Washington. One news network showed staff fleeing from the ...

Somerset journal: An Excellent Motel at Reasonable Prices

Thu, 01 Nov 2007 15:55:17 GMT

Like every Hampton Inn we have ever stayed at (except one, and this is not it), we were pleased with the value, the location, the service, and the price. There are several places in the vicinity we came to see and are worth the trip -- the Memorial to Flight 93, Fallingwater (Frank Lloyd Wright's most famous architectural design), Kentuck Knob (another Wright house), and the whitewater rafting and biking in and around Ohiopyle.

Somerset journal: Two Frank Lloyd Wright Buildings

Thu, 01 Nov 2007 15:47:50 GMT

It was a cold June and the leaves on the trees were still only half way out. The road leading into Fallingwater goes through heavy woods and as we approached the location, my son Craig, who has loved architecture all his life, said, "I can't believe we are actually going to see this!" Even today, Frank Lloyd Wright's buildings seem startlingly modern and one has been featured in a science fiction movie, where it seems perfectly at home.

We had about three quarters of an hour before our tour began and we spent the time walking around the property. The stream that flows underneath the ...

Somerset journal: Biking and Whitewater Rafting in Ohiopyle

Thu, 01 Nov 2007 12:01:49 GMT

The Great Allegheny Passage is a 152 mile bike, and walking trail that is projected to join with a system that will lead to Washington, D.C. We enjoy biking, but we are not the sort of avid bikers that would love this trail, it's a little beyond our strength. Ohiopyle is some distance south of Somerset and one of themajor stopovers on the trail, and a center for white water rafting as well. Based on what we saw we are sure bikers and rafters would love this place. Consult your rafting and biking friends. We enjoyed just looking and walking a bit of the trail. What we saw was beautiful. ...

Somerset journal: A Good Headquarters For Local Sights

Thu, 01 Nov 2007 11:50:30 GMT

Like every Hampton Inn we have ever stayed at (except one, and this is not it), we were pleased with the value, the location, the service, and the price. There are several places in the vicinity we came to see and are worth the trip -- Fallingwater (Frank Lloyd Wright's most famous house), Kentuck Knob (another Wright house), Ohiopyle, and the memorial to Flight 93.

United States journal: Architecture and Mini-Tornados in Chicago

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 05:56:59 GMT

You can now get a bus tour to every kind of event or location you can imagine, and some you cannot. There are casino tours, wine tasting tours, cruise line tours, Old Time Opry tours, Elvis tours, mystery tours, Disney tours, you name it, a bus goes there. Usually we drive ourselves, but this time we took a bus tour to Chicago.

Rocky Mountains journal: David Thompson Trail to Banff

Wed, 26 Sep 2007 18:28:09 GMT

Highway 11, also known as the David Thompson Trail in honor of one of the great explorers and map makers of Canada, moves west from Highway 2 at Red Deer past Rocky Mountain House into the Rocky Mountains and the valley of the Bow River.

Soon after we moved into the evergreen forests west of Rocky Mountain House, Craig pointed to the right and said, "There's a bear." It was a young black bear on the side of the road, frozen with one paw raised as it watched us driving by, not sure if we were a threat or not. We kept driving, because black bears are powerful animals that mind their ...

New York journal: A fun New York delicatessen experience

Tue, 11 Sep 2007 07:39:59 GMT

They shout your order here, they sometimes throw it (wrapped and secure) up to the cashier, your selection is packed with meat and other goodies and the bread seems like an after thought, just to prove that what you've been given is a sandwich. The food is good. This is a New York deli. And it's kitty corner from the site of the World Trade Center and across the street from St. Paul's Chapel, where some of the most touching memorials to the victims of 9/11 can be found.

Ruth Fremson, a photographer with the New York Times, was beside the Stage Door Deli when the first tower ...

Aswan journal: The Fifth Day: Cruising the Nile and Visiting the Temple of Isis

Sat, 07 Apr 2007 06:30:55 GMT

The dock at the Temple of Sobek was small and the landing is popular with cruise ships so that our boat left as soon as our tour of the temple was finished. The guides organized a sort of Egyptian "night" for us, with a whirling dervish (very impressive), a belly dancer (very disappointing) and an Egyptian banquet (good food).

Afterwards Angela and I went to the upper deck and sat at the front of the boat in the dark about 11:00 while the ship continued cruising upstream. Sirius, the "dog star," the brightest star in the sky, was directly ahead of us fairly low in the sky. The ancient ...

Aswan journal: The Fourth Day: Cruising the Nile

Sat, 07 Apr 2007 06:21:46 GMT

In the morning we moved into the lock at Esna and went to the upper deck to watch the action. I had gone through the Welland Canal on a Great Lakes cargo boat and the process was really the same, except that in Canada the bridge that goes over the lock does not carry cars, trucks and donkeys.

Cruising the Nile was relaxing and fascinating, for we were travelling the same water highway that Egyptians used thousands of years before the pyramids were built. We cruised past villages, farms, pumping stations and other cruise boats and just sat and enjoyed the sights unreeling before us.

Luxor journal: The Third Day: The Valley of the Kings and the Temple at Karnak

Sat, 07 Apr 2007 06:08:03 GMT

Because we were delayed at the airport the day before, we spent the morning of the third day of our tour in the Valley of the Kings, where the pharoahs of the New Kingdom were buried. The valley is west of the river, where the sun sinks at night and in the Egyptian belief system, this is where the souls of people go after death. Therefore, it follows, this is where the pharoahs and other important people, indeed everyone, should be buried. And this is where the tourists swarm.

Our bus drove farther up into the hills that I had imagined and it was drier and more desolate than I had ...

San Diego journal: Superb location and ambience, okay food

Sat, 07 Apr 2007 05:42:58 GMT

The Green Flash is right on the beach by the Pacific Ocean. You can sit on the patio beside the paved bicycle path and watch the surf, the surfers, the sun bathers, the pedestrians and in-line skaters, and if you are there at dusk, superb sunsets. The restaurant is named after "the green flash," a rare occurence that can sometimes be seen as the sun sets. A brilliant green colour appears briefly above the reds and oranges of the sunset.

The food is okay and the restaurant is popular with the locals, always a good sign. The ambience is perfect.

Cairo journal: The Seventh Day: The Cairo Museum

Thu, 01 Mar 2007 07:29:34 GMT

We flew from Aswan to Cairo. One of the fascinating sights were the streets of Aswan and Cairo and in Cairo all the activity on the street of a major world city. (See The New York Times, March 1, 2007).

The Cairo Museum was incredible, and there are so many things worth seeing it's not really fair to pick and choose. If you are lucky enough to have a day or two in Cairo, spend time here. We had two hours.

When you come in the museum, go straight to the central hall and be sure to see the Narmer Tablet. This is the most ancient example of hieroglyphics and shows a figure who may be ...

San Diego journal: Flying South

Sun, 25 Feb 2007 08:51:26 GMT

Like good Canadian snowbirds, we like to fly south when the weather turns nasty. So we knew we had made the right decision as our plane taxied out to the runway at Toronto International Airport. As we looked down at the taxi strip, we could see big thick patches of ice.

Get us out of here!

It took an hour to go through the line up of planes being sprayed with deicing fluid, which prevents ice from building up on the wings of airplanes and bringing them back down, once they are airborne. We found out later that all inbound flights had been cancelled. Who wants to land on an icy ...

San Diego journal: An excellent transportation system

Tue, 20 Feb 2007 16:14:27 GMT

The trolley is actually a small train that goes carefully through streets in downtown San Diego, travels as a fast commuter train when it is on its own restricted right of way, and is an inexpensive way to get around San Diego, combined with the bus routes. The Blue Line goes all the way to the Mexican border.

San Diego journal: Interesting but mildly disappointing

Tue, 20 Feb 2007 08:09:11 GMT

We have concluded that zoos are for kids and parents with kids. There is no doubt that the animals are well cared for and well presented and I found the varieties of deer especially appealing, for they are drawn from all over the world and there were species here I had never heard of. The bears, leopards, meercats, and flamingoes were worth seeing, in particular. Overall though, the zoo was mildly disappointing, perhaps because it is so widely promoted that our expectations were higher than the reality could have delivered. The price alone seemed to promise more.

San Diego journal: A pleasant way to end our stay in San Diego

Tue, 20 Feb 2007 07:52:17 GMT

We passed this restaurant every day on our walks to the ocean and were impressed with the Catamaran Hotel, which this restaurant is part of. We sat on the patio, beside a big group of dentists at a conference who were eating their dinner at tables set out on the lawn. Our food was reasonable and the service okay.

San Diego journal: Good Mexican food, superb ambience

Tue, 20 Feb 2007 07:42:51 GMT

Old Town is the heart of the original Mexican settlement in San Diego and is worth a visit for the historic buildings, the Mexican ambience, the shops (we reconmmend the chocolate shop, Cousins Old Town Candy, near the old sherrif's office), and the lively street scenes. Our son recommended this restaurant and we sat near the woman making tortillas and watched as she rolled the dough, cooked the tortillas and sold them to passers-by or handed them to the waiters as they served the tables. This is the place to have your Mexican meal in San Diego, the price is reasonable, the food is good and ...

San Diego journal: Superb food in a great location

Tue, 20 Feb 2007 07:24:37 GMT

The service was superb, the food excellent, and there was lots to see on the street as cars and pedestrians passed by and diners stopped to examine the menu, passed on or came in. Fifth Avenue is the center of the downtown section of San Diego. The old street lights and buildings have been restored and there are numerous restaurants all along the street. The Asti is one of the better ones.

United States journal: Sun for Snowbirds in San Diego

Tue, 20 Feb 2007 06:16:18 GMT

Snowbirds are Canadians who love snow, especially when they are far away from it, like in Portugal or Florida or California. This year, was California.

Cairo journal: The First Day: Memphis and the Pyramids

Mon, 30 Oct 2006 09:02:11 GMT

Walid, our tour guide, was superb, intelligent, organized and attentive, but more than that, he had an infectious laugh. He had studied archaelogy and had graduated from a university in Australia, where he met his wife. On the way to our first stop, a mosque built in the 19th century inside the citadel of Salah ed-Din,(or Saladin, for readers of Sir Walter Scott), we stopped at a cemetery and he pointed out that people actually live there and showed us some of the houses. It seemed as though we were not as far from the times of Ancient Egypt as we had thought. Inside the mosque he gave us a ...

Ivy Lea, Ontario journal: Staying in the Thousand Islands

Mon, 18 Sep 2006 11:29:07 GMT

As the waters of the Great Lakes flow out of Lake Ontario, the lowest lake in the chain, and begin their journey to the Atlantic Ocean, they move through the ancient rocks of the Canadian Shield, around bare outcrops covered with trees, moss and bushes, creating more than a thousand islands in the middle of the St. Lawrence River. A highway runs along the Canadian bank of the river through this area, and the islands, big, small and medium size, create an ever changing scene. Cottages have populated many of the islands, and the sheltered inlets and small bays are perfect for sports fishing, ...

Ivy Lea, Ontario journal: Very good restaurant in a superb location

Mon, 18 Sep 2006 11:25:00 GMT

We had a late lunch here on the glassed-in veranda looking out on the river. The food was good, a little expensive perhaps but worth it, one of our best memories of our trip by the Thousand Islands.

Ivy Lea, Ontario journal: Okay place to eat, good view, beside dock for excellent river cruise

Mon, 18 Sep 2006 11:11:01 GMT

This is an okay stop for an inexpensive meal in the delightful little village of Rockport, Ontario, in the midst of the Thousand Islands. The only reason you'd go here is for the view, which is incredible. There is a patio beside the boat dock where it is enjoyable to sit and watch the river traffic and look at the view of the islands. A good cruise of the islands leaves from here.

Ivy Lea, Ontario journal: One of the most scenic drives in Ontario

Mon, 18 Sep 2006 11:01:10 GMT

This is one of the most beautiful sections of highway in Ontario. It branches off the 401 heading either east or west in the vicinity of the thousand islands and offers a superb view of the St. Lawrence River and the islands within it. There are parks to stop for picnics, resorts with restaurants, and a boat cruise among the islands at Rockport, half way along the route. Near Rockport is a major crossing into the United States over the Ivy Lea Bridge. The bridge itself is a beautiful suspension structure leading to a road that hops from island to island across the St. Lawrence. There ...

New York journal: A superb view of Manhattan from an engineering marvel of its time

Thu, 07 Sep 2006 18:51:25 GMT

You can walk across Brooklyn Bridge on a separate path on the deck above the roadway. At one time this was a roadbed for street cars, and it's now used exclusively by pedestrians and bicyclers. Keep to the right as you go across from City Hall. it's free. You'll get your exercise, and a magnificent view of Manhattan.

New York journal: Take the subway, it gets you there cheaply and it's part of the New York experience

Thu, 07 Sep 2006 18:47:13 GMT

Media descriptions of the subway had turned us off -- it's dangerous, New Yorkers are rude, etc. Not true. New York is a big city and you have to be careful in all big cities, but do it right and you'll enjoy the experience. Study street maps and the subway maps ahead of time and know where you want to go and figure out what trains will take you there. Go to www.nycvisit.com for information on how to get maps. NYC and Company Foundation runs the site and they have the best map of the system available. It became our bible. It will take a couple of days to get comfortable with ...

New York journal: The best way to see Manhattan

Thu, 07 Sep 2006 18:18:06 GMT

When the sun gets low to the horizon, it lights up the whole length of this building and as you look up from the street, the structure glows a pale golden yellow. Start your tour of Manhattan from the top of the Empire State. Get here early, by 9:00 or 9;30, the lineups can get huge. You even have to line up to get back down, once you have seen all you want to.

New York journal: One of the memorable experiences in New York

Thu, 07 Sep 2006 17:56:47 GMT

The Staten Island Ferry crosses New York harbor from the southern tip of Manhattan, and is a cheap way to see the activity in the harbor, get a view of the Statue of Liberty, and see the tall buildings of New York from the water -- for free. See New York as New Yorkers see it.

New York journal: A delightful little restaurant

Thu, 07 Sep 2006 10:25:54 GMT

We wanted to eat near the theater where we were going to see an off-Broadway production, and lucked out. Our waitress was delightful, and thefood was delicious. A perfect end to a great day in New York. Highly recommended.

New York journal: Excellent value and super location in downtown New York

Thu, 07 Sep 2006 10:21:36 GMT

This hotel is a block and a half west of the Empire State Building, two blocks east of Penn Station, and 100 feet from a subway station, and yet the rooms are quiet, and the price is very reasonable. It's listed by AAA, and we found the staff courteous and professional. The room is clean, although small, and the breakfast that is part of the package is excellent. Highly recommended.

Picton journal: A Lake Above a Lake

Sat, 02 Sep 2006 19:34:14 GMT

When we left the Thousand islands we drove through Kingston onto Highway 33 and headed west towards Prince Edward County, which is actually a county-size peninsula poking out into Lake Ontario. All along Highway 33 were old towns and historic markers, for this is one of the earliest areas settled by Europeans in Ontario. The highway is interrupted by an inlet of Lake Ontario and the Glenora ferry is part of the Ontario highways system. The crossing takes 15 minutes and is one of the highlights of the trip. Sailboats and, once in a while, a small lakeboat, pass up and down the channel that ...

Picton journal: A perfect little restaurant in a unique setting

Sat, 02 Sep 2006 19:18:31 GMT

The staff was excellent, friendly and helpful and the food was superb. The cabin where we stayed was 20 paces away.

Picton journal: A delightful place to stay

Sat, 02 Sep 2006 19:10:59 GMT

The resort had a series of cottages on the edge of the "Lake on the Mountain", including the delightful log cabin where we stayed. The cabin was one of a pair built 90 years ago for sports fishermen and was apparently pretty primitive by today's standards. It did not have a bathroom, for example, and the present owners assume there must have been an outhouse somewhere. Some of the previous guests must have felt like a great aunt in our family, who said one time when she was visiting my mother's parents: "I am so glad your outhouse is inside!" The cabin now has a bathroom, inside, and an ...

Ivy Lea, Ontario journal: Excellent, good food, perfect setting

Sat, 02 Sep 2006 17:11:52 GMT

Recommended, a good home base from which to explore the Thousand islands.

Canada journal: A Mini Vacation in Ontario

Sat, 02 Sep 2006 16:27:38 GMT

Sometimes a short trip two or three hundred miles from home is just as refreshing as a journey half way around the world. Both kinds of vacations are good, of course, the important thing is to get out of the house and see new places and different6 ways of living.

Luxor journal: Enjoyable, superb food

Mon, 21 Aug 2006 06:58:06 GMT

This is a wonderful way to see the Nile. The cabin we were first given was on the third deck by the gold shop and the window was half what all other cabins were, but our tour guide, Walid, straightened it out for us. The shower head was half broken but we dealt with it and enjoyed the cruise, especially on the upper deck. The food was superb. This was a good ship and the staff excellent, but a newer ship might probably be a little more enjoyable.

Cairo journal: Superb

Mon, 21 Aug 2006 06:55:10 GMT

The pyramids at Giza are truly one of the wonders of the world, an awesome feat of engineering in any age. The photos shown here form a sort of picture essay. concentating mostly on the Great Pyramid, the largest of the group and interestingly, the most accurately engineered. See the main entry, "The First Day," for additional details.

Cairo journal: Excellent

Sun, 20 Aug 2006 14:06:20 GMT

We returned here after our tour of Egypt and were given a room on the fifteenth floor towards the front section of the north wing (close to the Nile) looking south. From here you have a spectacular view of the Nile, especially at night. Insist on a room in this location. See also the review in the entry titled "The First Day."

Aswan journal: A relaxing day on the river that created Ancient Egypt

Sun, 20 Aug 2006 12:25:05 GMT

See the main entry

Luxor journal: Stunning

Sun, 20 Aug 2006 12:11:43 GMT

See main entry for details

Aswan journal: Highly recommended

Sun, 20 Aug 2006 12:00:39 GMT

See the main entry for details.

Aswan journal: Wonderful

Sun, 20 Aug 2006 11:57:29 GMT

See the main entry for details

Luxor journal: Wonderful

Sun, 20 Aug 2006 11:40:41 GMT

See the main entry

Cairo journal: One of the great museums of the world

Sun, 20 Aug 2006 11:32:54 GMT

Don't miss this. It's essential.

Cairo journal: Absolutely our best dining experience in Egypt.

Sun, 20 Aug 2006 11:16:17 GMT

The food was good, the atmosphere sophisticated but informal and we loved the people watching. Over a low wall next to us young people -- especially young women -- were smoking water pipes. We are not smokers but we enjoyed the odor. And the stars were above us.

Aswan journal: The Sixth Day: Abu Simbel

Sun, 20 Aug 2006 07:33:28 GMT

The heat of the desert got to me and we passed on a tour of gold shops in the market at Aswan, which a number of our group had been looking forward to. If you go to Egypt, it's a good idea to pace yourself, so that you don't miss out on things you really want to see and do.

The next day we went to Abu Simbel, which was an optional package on our tour. Don't miss this, it was second only to the pyramids as the most memorable experience we had in Egypt. The statues of Rameses II are carved into the side of a cliff and dominated the Nile as non-Egyptians sailed down the river into ...

Cairo journal: Superb location and a first class hotel

Sun, 20 Aug 2006 06:13:54 GMT

Luxor journal: The Second Day: The Temple of Luxor

Thu, 29 Jun 2006 08:37:56 GMT

We were taken to the airport in the morning for our flight to Luxor for the second day of our tour. It looked kind of foggy but we are Canadian and are used to fog and other kinds of weather, so we didn't think too much of it. We waited in the airport -- and waited. And waited. Other passengers were there, and international flights were going out. After a while some oil rig workers who were waiting to fly out left the terminal, pretty noisily and belligerently we thought, and got on a bus to go to their drilling site in the Sinai. Then we learned that our group had been put on their plane, so ...

Sylvan Beach journal: A Beach in the Prairies

Sat, 24 Jun 2006 06:02:08 GMT

Sylvan Lake is about ten miles west of Red Deer on Highway 11, and is a pleasant spot to spend a hot summer day. There is a good sand beach, waterslides, a marina with boats and sea doos for rent, and a fun restaurant called "Pete's at the Beach," recommended by the destinations magazine for Westjet, one of Canada's two major airlines. In the summer, the beach is known for motorboat races, and in the winter the ice is cleared for hockey, ski doo races, and ten mile speed skating races. The lake is shallow and in the summer boaters are allowed to anchor their boats offshore free of ...

Sylvan Beach journal: Highly recommended

Sat, 24 Jun 2006 05:58:13 GMT

The food was superb, the value outstanding, the staff friendly, and the ambience perfect. We had a table by a window with a lake view, enjoyed our wine, and were especially impressed with the salad bar, which had enough choices for dinner by itself. But don't miss the main course, especially the beef, which is an Alberta specialty.

Sylvan Beach journal: A pleasant spot for breakfast

Wed, 21 Jun 2006 19:39:42 GMT

The cafe is on the main street of Sylvan Lake looking out on the lake and has an indoor section with a lake view for cooler days and two small outdoor patios for warm summer days. The bread is home made, the coffee is good, the service friendly.

Canada journal: A Beach in Central Alberta

Wed, 21 Jun 2006 19:17:50 GMT

Alberta is a prairie province on the eastern edge of the Rockies and far from the ocean or large lakes. But it does have a beach handy to its two largest cities -- Sylvan Beach.

Canada journal: Circle Tour in the Rockies

Tue, 20 Jun 2006 19:26:33 GMT

Alberta is a province of striking contrasts. Highway 2 is a four lane limited access road running through the central section of the province and when you travel between the two major cities, Calgary and Edmonton, you will often notice, towards the east, vast stretches of level country with few trees, fading off to the distant horizon and, at the same time, to the west, the jagged outline of the Rocky Mountains, the first of a line of mountain ranges stretching all the way to the Pacific Ocean, hundreds of miles away.

Rocky Mountains journal: Awesome

Tue, 20 Jun 2006 18:42:04 GMT

Every turn in the road, from Banff to the Columbia Ice Fields, reveals another awesome mountain view. The Columbia Ice Field is a World Heritage Site.

Rocky Mountains journal: Don't miss this.

Tue, 20 Jun 2006 17:11:38 GMT

The Banff Springs Hotel is one of the premier hotels in North America, boith for its setting, its service, and its history, and the Sunday brunch, in a restaurant with a mountain view and a huge selection of food is worth the price. You need reservations.

Rocky Mountains journal: Good value in a superb location

Tue, 20 Jun 2006 17:00:43 GMT

Banff is a fun town in Banff National Park surrounded by mountains. It has been a famous skiing town for close to one hundred years and any room in the High Country Inn has a mountain view. The TV remote did not work, but the beds, the bathroom, and the room itself were all good. There was a free breakfast included that was not outstanding, okay but not as good as others we have had with a similar package. The price was right though, compared to other hotels in town. The location was outstanding. Ask for a room at the back, with a balcony.

Toronto journal: Good food and ambience, the place where the locals go

Sun, 02 Apr 2006 19:00:17 GMT

Whitlocks is at 1916 Queen Street East. Queen Street East is known locally as ''T'he Beaches." Two blocks south is Lake Ontario and "The Boardwalk" a favorite spot for biking, in-line skating and walking, and in the summer for various beach activities. It's a favourite spot for TV newscasts when the weather is nice because the sand beach and the ambience seems perfect for "Summer in the City" features. "The Beaches" is an old community with houses being upgraded for the rich young set. The restaurant has an excellent brunch menu and in the summer the chef stands in the front window and hands ...

Aswan journal: Reasonable, not as special as we had hoped

Sun, 26 Mar 2006 18:07:10 GMT

This was in the Old Cataract and very upscale, the food was good, the entertainment excellent, but it did not live up to the ambience, which was exceptional.

Aswan journal: Overrated

Sun, 26 Mar 2006 17:46:47 GMT

We were very impressed with the ground floor of this classic old hotel. The restaurants were good, but the room was terrible and the staff never did fix the lock on our room. We were almost locked out with our luggage inside. Stay at the New Cataract Hotel, which is right next door,and visit the old hotel for the ambience.

Cairo journal: Excellent

Sun, 19 Mar 2006 19:18:26 GMT

This was a good place to start our tour of Egypt. The staff wear a badge that says, "The answer is yes. What is the question?"

Cairo journal: Pyramids and Temples

Thu, 09 Mar 2006 13:00:37 GMT

We had been talking about this trip for some time, and this was the year to do it. A wonderful, memorable trip.