Tag: tourism

New York in August – hot time in a hot city

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New York is always great to revisit, and revisit it again I did last week. Like my visit in March, I stayed with my girlfriend in the Lower East Side, eating and walking around and even taking in a Broadway show (“Illinoise”).  We hit up Freeman’s Alley and Lafayette for the breakfast, because they are always good. Plus Clinton Street Baking Company. We also dined at WildAir and King. The best of the lot, though, was Via Carota (seen above). Is it New York’s most perfect restaurant? This piece argues it is. It’s hard to disagree, although it is a bold claim, since New York has so many great restaurants. Not just now, but in it’s entire history. Read this piece on the social history of the city, told entirely through its restaurants, to see what I mean.

During the pandemic New York adopted outdoor dining and many places like Via Carota set up a big outdoor area to serve people. It’s still going strong, although the city is cracking down on outdoor dining. If you like that kinda thing, you may want to do it while you can.

Speaking of New York City post pandemic stories, here are two: this one on a 23 floor midtown Manhattan office building going for a 97.5% discount. (Practically free). And this one about how people are returning to the Met Opera, but selectively.

Here’s three good stories on NYC history: 1) a fascinating history of  Lincoln Center you might not know about, 2) the abandoned islands of New York in pictures, and 3) a bio on Lorne Michaels.  Hey, when I think of the recent history of New York, Michaels figures prominently in it.

When we were visiting, New Yorkers were talking about an impromptu goldfish pond set up outside a leaking hydrant in Bedstuy. (See above.) It was all going well until an animal lover thought she was doing the right thing by freeing fish from the pit. The man who created the pond saw it differently. Mayhem ensued.

I am not sure who thought it would be a good idea to put up a Portal between New York and Dublin, but they did. More mayhem ensued.

Finally a non-story about how the M.T.A. wanted runners of the New York City Marathon to pay bridge tolls. Needless to say, this did not happen.

Back to New York – a tale of eating and walking

After being away for awhile, I recently spent a long weekend in New York. Not surprising, it was great! I stayed in the Lower East Side and as usual, I went and ate at a number of good places. If that sounds like your idea of a good time, this is a good intro to eating well in the Lower East Side (LES). P.S. I would add Wildair to this list.

I had gone to many of the places on that list, so this time I branched out. I went to Freeman’s Alley, Lafayette, and Claud. All good. But the best place I went to was Libertine. More on it here. (Photo of it, above.)

But hey, that’s just me. If you would prefer to know where others dine in NY…for example…Taylor Swift…then you want to read this.

It wasn’t all just eating. I got to walk around a fair bit because Manhattan in particular is good for that. While I walked all over, on one walk downtown, I crossed over Great Jones Street to where Basquiat lived in the 80s. Since then, Angelina Jolie has taken it over. You can read about all that, here.

I’ve loved so many parts of this great city over the years, but the Lower East Side has always been one of my favorite parts. This is a fascinating story on how the city and that area has changed over the years. It has everything, as they used to say on SNL.

Speaking of good NY stories, this is a good one of how working for a dog shelter did a world of good for one New Yorker. Another good story, this time on old New York, is this: The Luncheonette Serving New York’s Best Egg Creams. Finally, this is a fascinating story on the Crown Heights Tunnels at the Tzfat Chabad Lubavitch synagogue. I’ve seen a number of stories on it, but this one in the Guardian was the best.

In NYC news, Flaco the owl has died after the year of freedom in Central Park and elsewhere. Sad. More on Flaco here. Also, this was no surprise: after a brief tour of duty, the NYPD subway robot has retired. It’s spring now, but this winter the city tried to have a remote school snow day at short notice. It did not go well, according to this.

Finally, how is the mayor of NYC doing? Not great, according to this. People in the city are not doing well either, according to this. That’s too bad. New York has made great strides to recover since it was hammered by COVID at the start of the decade. I hope it can pick its chin up, soon.

 

 

A very fine travel guide to Montreal

One of my favorite cities is Montreal, and one of my favorite websites is Uncrate. Put them together and you have this very fine travel guide to the home of the Habs, Schwartz’s, and so much more.

I have not been to every place on their list, but I have no doubt they are all worthwhile. I would add to their list and recommend other such places as:

  • L’Express
  • Majestique
  • Beauty’s
  • Cafe Carmen
  • Bouillon Bilk
  • Bonaventure hotel
  • Olive et Gourmande

If you want a similar guide to one of my other favorite cities, Charleston, you can go here.

Forget going to Mars. Go to Iceland

I think going to Mars is a terrible idea, but if you are the opposite of me and would love to experience that, I have a suggestion for you. You can get the experience of going there today by going to…Iceland. NPR explains:

Iceland is like Mars — if the Red Planet had hot tubs. That’s the cheeky idea behind a new pitch from Iceland’s tourism board, which says people don’t need a spaceship to see otherworldly sights like red rocks, black sand and subglacial volcanoes. Plus, they note, oxygen is abundant in Iceland. To drive home the message, they launched a promo video and a space billboard with the tagline, “Iceland. Better than space.”

See? All you need is a plane ticket and a place to stay and you can go to Mars next week. If you think the tourism people are just making stuff up, listen to NASA. NPR again:

NASA agrees: the agency has repeatedly used Iceland as a stand-in for the Moon, and it’s doing so again as it prepares astronauts for new missions off-world. “Iceland is an amazing analog for both the Moon and Mars,” says NASA’s Kelsey Young, who researches the exploration of planetary surfaces and who has done geologic fieldwork in Iceland.

For more on this, see the NPR article, here: Iceland says it’s better than space. We asked NASA about that.

On the wonder of Big Glace Bay Lake


There’s plenty to see and do in Nova Scotia and Cape Breton, including exploring the coast. One of the best parts of that coast is Big Glace Bay Lake and the area around it. When I was younger I’d walk down to that beach and swim or or skip rocks or just sit and watch the ocean. It’s still one of my favorite things in life.

One of my favorites is now getting greater recognition. The government of Canada has designated Big Glace Bay Lake its newest National Wildlife Area. That’s great news! To see why they did, read this on canada.ca.

If you are thinking of paying a visit but need tourist help, TripAdvisor has some good information.

I love Glace Bay, but it’s not for everyone. But anyone and everyone should love Glace Bay Lake. It’s a wonder.

(Image from canada.ca)

 

Some advice on visiting Toronto, from the New York Times and me

So the Times has done a recent piece on Toronto: What to See Eat and Do in Toronto. It’s nice to see. It has lots of good ideas on where to dine, where to stay, and what to do.

While it’s easy to go to the places everyone recommends, if you want to bypass that and go to some very old school restaurants, here are five classic places that have been around forever and are still great, including Swatow and Country Style. For bistro fans, here is a list of fine French restaurants that should appeal to fans of that cuisine, as I am. There’s lots of great places to dine in Toronto.

While the airport is a mess these days , there are other ways to get here. For instance, you can get catch a train from NYC to Toronto. Or you can drive. Or fly into Billy Bishop and skip Pearson.

If you get here, you can even go to some museums like the ROM for free.

All in all Toronto is having a good year for recognition: Toronto is on of the world’s most liveable cities for 2022, according to CNN Travel. Come visit if you can.

Coffee tourism: why coffee lovers should visit Toronto (and Torontonians should go to College St.)


For many years I’ve actually visited places partially because of my love of coffee. Really! I went to Vienna where the coffee was amazing and Costa Rica where it was less so*. I am sure there are many people like me who make good coffee a reason to visit a place.

If you are one of those coffee lovers, I recommend you visit Toronto. Just one street alone, College Street, has a wealth of diverse coffee shops to make you happy.

To see what I mean, read this: Toronto’s College Street is a destination for global coffee | The Star. Not only are there many great coffee shops, but they serve a wide range of coffees, from Italian to Vietnamese.

I live here, but I might act like a visitor and do a College Coffee Run soon. Meanwhile I will satisfy my need for great coffee at De Mello near me. (Coffee lovers, go there too.)

* Costa Rica fans, take note. Costa Rica exports amazingly good coffee in my opinion. I just couldn’t seem to find it there. Fortunately there was so much beauty everywhere, I didn’t mind too much.

It’s time to travel again. It’s also time to ditch Airbnb and get a hotel instead

Why is that? Well according to Reddit (fwiw), the fees are making Airbnb unattractive: Why Airbnb Isn’t Worth All Those Fees, According to Reddit

If you are convinced and need a hotel to stay in NYC, I recommend this: Best hotels in New York | Telegraph Travel.

Lots of information on hotels over at The Telegraph. Well worth a look. You can find places at all different price points, at all different parts of the city.

Why you should visit NYC in winter

If you ever though of visiting New York City in winter, then I recommend this:
A Winter Guide to NYC | A Cup of Jo. After you read it, you’ll want to head there before Spring.

I have been to NYC many different times of the year, and I found being there in December to be one of the best times to visit. In addition, going in January and February would be among the least expensive times to go. If you had planned to go mainly to see museums and shows and do indoor activities, then it could be the perfect time to visit. Of course you don’t just have to do indoor activities, as that lovely photo of people walking in Central Park in winter shows.

New York is great any time of year, but it can be especially so in winter.  You should go.

Dreading going to work tomorrow? Maybe you should take a trip to Europe instead.

Why? Because October can be one of the best times to go to Europe. Perfect  weather, no crowds, great festivals…and cheaper. Don’t believe me? See this piece, which makes a strong case to pack your bags this very minute and head on out: The Best Time to Go to Europe | Kitchn

If you go, send me a postcard.

How to find the best used bookstores in Toronto

Easy: check out BlogTO’s great list of The Best Used Bookstores in Toronto. Two of my favorites bookstores are BMV books and Ten Editions, both close to each other. I highly recommend them. Even if you know of some of them, chances are you haven’t been to them all.

Toronto has alot of great stores for new books, but if you are looking for vintage or obscure books, this list is what you need.

(Photo via a link to BlogTO)

Periscope, Meerkat, and the future of virtual tourism

If you haven’t heard, Meerkat and Periscope are two apps that allow one person to stream an event and have others watch it. For example, here is an artist streaming her work on a painting while others watch and  interact: Wendy MacNaughton paints live on Periscope My… – Austin Kleon.

It’s an interesting idea. Once people get creative, there will be all types of events that people stream, from the obvious (porn, music concerts) to things no one thought of before.

I think one of these not so obvious ones will be virtual tourism. Essentially someone will visit a place like Japan and stream the cherry blossom festival or go to Pamplona for the running of the bulls and others will watch in real time. Maybe people will sponsor the person ahead of time, or the person will wear a shirt with ads on it, or find some way to make revenue. In return, lots of people can see something they might not be able to see otherwise.

People will use Periscope and Meerkat in all kinds of ways. Expect this to be one of them.

(Image via techcrunch)

Are you travelling for work? Listen to Austin Kleon and travel smart

You may not being going on a book tour, but if you are travelling for work, you can steal these ideas from Austin Kleon (Austin Kleon : 10 Things I Learned On Book Tour) and have a much better trip.

Ideas I stole on a recent trip:

  1. Invest in good gear. I had my carry on well packed, and it fit nicely above my head. It made my 2.5 hour flight a breeze to get through. Plus I had everything I need, meaning no need to scramble at my destination looking for things (time you usually won’t have, anyway).
  2. Wear a uniform. I do this now on all trips. You look presentable, you look good in photos (if you take selfies), and you don’t have to pack as much.
  3. When in doubt, go to an art museum. I was in Tampa, and I found out where their museum was and visited. Not only is it a great museum, but they had on two good shows. Bonus: the area around the museum was excellent in itself.

His entire list is worthwhile. If you are travelling soon on business, you will benefit from reading him first.

P.S. Photo from a link to his blog. Go read his blog. Better still, buy his books.

Not the shortest but the most beautiful route to take

I found this piece awhile ago and think it’s fascinating: Forget the Shortest Route Across a City; New Algorithm Finds the Most Beautiful from MIT Technology Review.

I would love to see algorithms and other such means to find the best a city has to offer. And it’s not all that far fetched. For a long time flickr.com had a feature that featured photos viewers found the most interesting. If something similar was available for cities, a whole new generation of flaneurs and happier tourists might result. It might even spur improvements to areas deemed less beautiful.

Are you traveling? You need to know to look out for tourist scams

Anyone who has travelled, even a little, has likely encountered one of the scams listed here: Tourist Scams I’ve Fallen For (And How to Avoid Them). I know I have run into the Overly Kind Stranger scam, and I have been lucky to avoid some of the others, like the “It’s Closed” scam.

The list in the article are worth reviewing regardless of how often you have travelled. The best way to deal with them is to know about them, expect them, and have a plan to deal with them.

Good luck! Don’t get scammed.