Old Havana Not to Be Missed

It's good to have an end to journey to,” wrote Ernest Hemingway, “but it’s the journey that matters in the end.” I wonder if Hemingway wrote it with his travels to his much-loved Havana in mind. (Click on the article's main title to read the whole.)

Old San Juan – A Jewel Box of History

My visits to Old San Juan, a jewel of history in Puerto Rico, recall a line attributed to Hillaire Belloc, an Anglo-French poet of the early 1900s: “We wander for distraction, we travel for fulfilment.” (Click on the article's main title to read the whole.)

Life on the gentle side of the Riviera

The gentle coastal area of France’s southeast has been known since the 1800s, as the Cote d’ Azur, but to most Europeans and North Americans, its most common name is The Riviera. It includes small cities, towns, and restful countryside. (Click on the article's main title to read the whole.) .

Cremona Comes With Strings Attached

One of the best things about Milan -- Italy's fashion capital -- is it's just an hour by train from Cremona. A small city of about 70,000, Cremona is renowned for one thing: The violin, which was created there in the early 1500s and still defines the city. (Click on the article's main title to read the whole.)

Amsterdam’s Historic Red Light District

My wife and I were in Amsterdam earlier this year, not longer after Ontario's superior court ruled in favour of brothels. One afternoon an excellent city guide, Cecilia Theobaldi, took us through the world's most noted prostitution area: Amsterdam's Red Light District, so famous it's part of tourism itineraries and marked on tourist maps. Skip it and you skip part of local history, prostitution being legal there from the early 1800s.(Click on the article's bold title to read the whole.)

Port Morien – Thriving on the far reaches of Cape Breton

Then, this past August, after a long absence I returned — with wife Barbara. (Click on the article's main title to read the whole.)