As we head into the summer travel season, and if you are like many Canadians who have decided to stay closer to home this year, I would recommend a trip to our nation’s capitol, Ottawa. I was recently there for three days and along with spending time with family I delighted in being a tourist….
Thoughts on MSC Cruises
MSC Cruise Line is a Swiss-Italian line that was founded in 1988 in Naples, Italy as part of the Mediterranean Shipping Company. Popular in Europe for more than 30 years, the line is actively and aggressively breaking into the American market with ships currently sailing in the Caribbean and South America, and Alaskan sailings starting…
Sintra: Day Trip from Lisbon
Pena Palace is a common post card picture from Portugal. The bright yellow and red palace located high in the mountains is located just outside of Sintra, a quaint village an easy day trip from the capital. On the day we visited Sintra we were unable to visit Pena Palace due to a recent storm…
A Day In Lisbon
“God wills, man dreams, the work is born.” -Fernando Pessoa Pessoa is recognized as one of Portugal’s most influential poets. The line above is often quoted as having been inspired by the long and storied history of the country as it lead the way to the discovery of the rest of the world, a fact…
What Is A Status Match Program?
Boomers (those born between 1946 and 1964) are brand loyal. As a result they are more likely to put the time and effort into a reward program and to stick with their brand as a result. I know we do. These days so many organizations offer loyalty reward programs, from your local grocery store to…
What Not To Do In Singapore
Singapore is an an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. With a population of 6.04 million people, English as their language of commerce, and an economy that ranks high in the world, it is a sumptuous and welcoming country with a robust tourist trade. The weather is sunny and warm, the landscape lush and…
The Fascinating Culture of Lombok
Midway into our cruise, we participated in an excursion that remains our favourite. It did not offer the iconic landmarks or symbols of this diverse society or definitively explain its history and culture as most of our other excursions did. What it did was allow us to really interact with the people of this island….
The Reality of Shore Excursions
We choose a cruise as the best way for us to explore Indonesia. It wasn’t our only option but we had never been to this part of Asia before, our time was limited and our wish list of what we wanted to explore was extensive, especially for Ken. He has been fascinated by the geography,…
Icons of Indonesia
Before setting off on our Indonesian adventure I did a fair amount of research, as I usually do, about our destination. Ken however, relied on his existing knowledge of the region and helped direct our choices to ensure that we hit all of the important sites. Following are two of his favourites. The most visited…