ONTARIO DEALS

With the cold weather suddenly arriving (gee, wasn't that nice to wake up and see snow on the rooftops?), it's time to think about southern Ontario skiing.

Time's running out, but Blue Mountain has a deal on for early bird passes. Passes purchased on or before November 1 qualify for special discounts.

Go to www.bluemountain.ca for details or call 877-445-0231

LOCAL SPA

The Spa at the InterContinental Toronto Centre is an 8,000 square-foot facility that offers a range of massage, therapy, skincare and aesthetic services. There are ten treatment rooms, a saline pool and a Himalayan salt hot tub.

Yours truly isn't sure what the deal is with Himalayan salt as opposed to, say, the stuff from Manitoba. But it sounds exotic, doesn't it?

The InterContinental recently underwent a $30 million renovation.

CALLING RODNEY DANGERFIELD

We mentioned in this space the other day how Toronto was ranked ninth in a list of favourite cities in the Americas, as published by Conde Nast. Now we take a closer look at the rankings and find British Columbia is taking all the glory for top Canadian resorts.

The magazine's November issue lists the top resorts in the country as the King Pacific Lodge on Princess Royal Island, Wickannish Inn on Vancouver Island, Long Beach Lodge Resort on Vancouver Island, Emerald Lake Lodge in Yoho National Park and the Pan Pacific Whistler Village Centre. Score zero for eastern Canada in the top five, although the lovely Fairmont Le Manoir Richelieu east of Quebec City weighed in at number eight.

Ontario was shut out of the top 20. It might seem surprising to those of us who've been to places like Taboo in Muskoka. But most Conde Nast readers are likely Americans, and it's already been established that U.S. visitors to Canada seem to like British Columbia's scenery and Quebec's French culture more than they admire the charms of Muskoka or even the thundering waters of Niagara.

No respect at all.

MORE TROUBLE FOR AIRLINES

Icelandic-owned Sterling Airways has cancelled all flights, a move that left thousands of travellers stranded across Europe.

According to a story on the Travel Mole web site, the low-cost airline, which flies from Gatwick to Copenhagen, Stockholm and other Scandinavian cities, said it was filling for bankruptcy and blamed the Icelandic financial crisis for its decline.

So, just who was the wise guy who first said, ''May you live in interesting times?"