One of our favourite things to do in Eastern Ontario is to go out for a drive on country roads to explore the many small, picturesque villages. In Mexico they have something called pueblos magicos or magic towns which are towns formally recognized for their beauty, history or legends. It's a lovely idea and Ontario, not just Eastern Ontario, is blessed with many such towns. I'm adopting this concept. Located between Kingston and Ottawa, and just over an hour drive from hom

On our last full day in the Amalfi Coast we ventured on a day trip to the towns of Amalfi and Atrani. While we could have taken another ferry from Positano we decided to travel by bus, another must do experience in the region. There is a network of intercity travel along the coast which makes it easy to get around without a car, provided you are prepared for the trip. Bus drivers in Southern Italy are built differently and are equipped with nerves of steel. If you are scare

Mid trip we arranged to be picked up by car and driven to the historic site of Pompeii, something I had missed on my first swing through the area decades earlier. We couldn't have asked for a better day - the sky was blue, and the air was still. It was neither hot nor cold - a perfect day that lends itself to the thrill of exploration. Pompeii, a UNESCO world heritage site, sits at the base of the almighty Vesuvius volcano, about 20 minutes outside of Naples. This Greco-Ro

I stumbled onto Capri in the 90s in a serendipitous moment during my low budget, university graduation backpacking trip. Those days on the island were an unexpected bolt of lightning, its profound beauty, striking fast and deep. Meanwhile, I blinked, and it was 25 years later. The day Pablo and I set out for Capri I felt nervous at breakfast. Had it really been as beautiful as I remembered, or was it all a figment of my imagination that grew with the decades? We fidgeted aro

Four years ago Pablo and I embarked on our inaugural European vacation together. To compound that even further, it was our first trip since the start of the pandemic. We, like much of the world, had been sitting in our house for a year and half. That alone made it epic. The world suddenly felt huge. Those were strange times. Pablo was jet-lagged on our arrival in Rome and I hadn't felt the wind in his sails on the train to Naples. Would he love Italy the way I do? We emer

Kingston, Ontario is both a central gathering point within Eastern Ontario, as well as a central character in my life. Throughout the decades I have come and gone from Kingston. We have loved, and lost, fought, broken up and always made-up. In the end, all roads have led me back to Kingston. At 175,000 inhabitants, it is the biggest city in Eastern Ontario outside of Ottawa. While I would no longer call it tiny Ontario (as a kid Kingston was closer to 60,000), it is the reg

The first post about Rhodes spoke more to our arrival, and the small apartment we rented. I didn't dive into our actual adventures on the Island. Note that two of our major adventures were off the Island - to Symi and to Marmaris, Turkey which I wrote about separately. The old town of Rhodes, a labyrinth of narrow streets that flow into plazas, is both a walled medieval city and a UNESCO world heritage site. The centre piece of interest is the Palace of the Grand Master bu

This weekend my youngest kiddo and I went on road trip to Perth, Ontario about an hour from home. The town of Perth, which is split by the Tay River, was founded in 1816, and has a population of about 7000 people. Like much of tiny Ontario it has a bustling Main Street, an impressive Town Hall, and a thoughtfully planned out park. Walking up the main street we noticed the entrance to Stewart Park, which happened to be hosting the Stewart Park Festival, and wandered in. The p

On our visit to Greece in the spring, we were staying on the island of Rhodes, in the far eastern part of the country. This meant that a day trip to Turkey was possible. Ninety minute ferries run from Rhodes, Greece to Marmaris, Turkey daily. You can travel over in the morning and back in the evening. How could we say no? We researched the ferries ahead of time, but didn't book tickets until we arrived in Rhodes. We were able to walk into a local travel agency who made t

On our recent trip to Greece, we transited through Athens. I always knew we would fly home from Athens, and would spend the final night there, but after miscalculating which day there was a flight from Malta to Greece, we also ended up with a pit stop at the start of the Greek portion of the holiday. With the flights booked, we were supposed to land in Athens at midnight and had a mid-afternoon flight the next day to Rhodes. After briefly contemplating sleeping on the airpo

On our recent trip to Rhodes, we took several days trips in addition to exploring the Old Town. One of those day trips was to a neighbouring island, Symi. With a reputation as being one of the prettiest islands in Greece, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to Island hop for the day. Symi reached the height of its prosperity in the mid-nineteenth century, under Ottoman rule, mostly for its prevalence, of all things, sea sponge diving. During its hay day, beautiful brightly

We recently returned from a visit with my youngest kiddo in Malta. This year, we added a side trip to Greece, another destination, like Sicily, that had been percolating in the back of my mind for decades. Had I visited Greece in my early 20s, no doubt I would have ended up in Mykonos and/or Santorini. As a family trip neither seemed like the right choice - the first is notably a party Island and the second a place for romance. So, where to go? I wanted more than just a b

As a traveller I love travel, both physical and mental. The other day we went to a movie after work to see The Way, My Way, a story about an Australian filmmaker, with a bum knee, who decides to embark on a pilgrimage to walk the Camino de Santiago across Spain. It hits all the notes of a grand adventure - beauty, humour, overcoming challenges and human connection. The Camino commonly begins in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, France and transverses the north of Spain. It's 800 ki

When I moved to Mexico in the 90s, one of my favourite things to do was to go shopping. And I don't mean shopping for shoes or designer bags. I loved the everyday shopping for groceries and other necessities. My town had several supermarkets which I frequented but my favourite place was the market, which butted up against the Gulf of Mexico. The fisherman would dock their boats, throwing their catch of the day to the vendors above. I would wake in the morning, heading ou

In my mid-twenties I spent almost a year living in Mexico. It was the first time I'd moved away from home. For that reason, Mexico will always have a piece of my heart. I was not in tourist Mexico, but rather lived in a small town that most people wouldn't have heard of. As someone who spoke no Spanish at the time, it was a leap. I had to learn how to do everything ... grocery shop, have water and gas delivered, find a doctor, mail a letter from the post office, drive a

As old man winter wears on, it reminds me of one of my favourite places, Quebec City. My favourite way to arrive in the city is to ride the rails. In our case, we travel to Montreal, changing trains, to connect to Quebec City. The journey takes a day. This is slow travel. Stepping off the train in Montreal you feel the change; there is a different vibe to Ontario, a feeling that runs deeper than simply arriving in a French speaking province. After a quick lunch we boarded t

I recently visited Costa Rica for the first time. I've always heard how much people love Costa Rica, while quickly citing the catch phrase 'pura vida'. And whenever I look up best places to travel or retire, Costa Rica is often highlighted on the short list. With that said, I have to admit that when I have researched taking a holiday in Costa Rica over the years, it wasn't obvious what the nitty gritty of that holiday would look like. Normally, one of my superpowers is t

I've loved a day at the market for a long, long time. Is there anything more beautiful than fresh produce? As a young person when I first started going to museums I didn't understand why people painted bowls of fruit. And yet as I get older I realize I'm guilty. I would have been one of those people who painted bowls of fruit. I have taken literally hundreds of photos of produce in markets. The shapes and the colours are mesmerizing. Thank-you Costa Rica!

As a life long lover of coffee (even though I have recently given up caffeine) I was always intrigued to see how coffee is produced. On my recent trip to Costa Rica we had the opportunity to visit Hacienda Doka, a small production fair trade, coffee farm. Costa Rica produces 100% robusta coffee, a premium type of coffee, as differentiated to arabica coffee which is larger, and grows more quickly. They guided us through the process from seed to cup. The baby plants are kept

Buenos Aries, like New York or London or Paris, is endless, a collection of neighbourhoods strung together. And while I love to wander in various parts of the city, my heart will always belong to Recoleta, where I lived during my first two years in Argentina. I will forever remember those years, endlessly pushing a stroller, with two babies, in a time before Smart phones, and using travel guide maps to orient myself. While Recoleta was founded in the 18th century, it blossom