Solid travel finds in Victoria and Vancouver: Star Travel guy in British Columbia

By Adrian Brijbassi

Toronto Star Travel

MASSET, B.C. — The discoveries and unexpected surprises are always one of the best parts of travelling. Here are a few of the things I came across over the past couple of days that weren’t on the itinerary or were never expected to be highlights but it turns out they deserve mention.

Willie’s Bakery and Café, Victoria — A real gem known locally for its brunch and all-day breakfast offerings. The plates that arrived at our table of eight didn’t last long Sunday morning, and neither did the smooth-tasting coffee. Eggs benedict with a great hollandaise sauce were the most popular. The dish costs just $12 and you can choose between one of five options, such as a Classic with ham or a Blackstone with maple dijon-glazed bacon. I went with the Pacific with smoked salmon and spinach. All the hearty bennys at Willie’s come with pan-roasted potatoes and thick slices of brioche. The day before I had a Banana Pecan French Toast for $10 that was also delicious and satisfying. Willie’s is away from Victoria’s bustling waterfront and Government Street shops. It’s in a brick building just to the south of the Johnson Street Bridge and has a charming patio loaded with flowers. If it was in Toronto, it would fit in perfectly at the Distillery District.

Joe’s Seafood Bar, Victoria — Another new place, this one’s located on the ever-popular Inner Harbour, right below Wharfside Restaurant. Joe’s looks like it will capitalize on overflow business from Redfish, Bluefish, the busy fish-and-chip shop that has hour-long lineups. I stood in line for more than 30 minutes in 35C-degree heat before a friend told me to meet him at Joe’s instead. That was a good call. The halibut tacos cost $10.50 for two (or $6.50 for one), were good sized and had a nice kick that didn’t take away from the flavour of the fish. Joe’s also sells pitchers of local beer for $15. Although you order your drinks from a waitress, you get your food at a concession stand at the side of the restaurant. An odd quirk, but it seems to work.

Delta Airporter Hotel, Vancouver — Comfortable beds, nice décor and a waterside restaurant that’s very relaxing, in part because no one in Vancouver knows it’s there. It looked like the only people in it were guests from the hotel. The rates vary, but it’s cheaper than staying downtown, which is now made more accessible by the Canada Line train (one way to Yaletown costs $2.50 and you can get there in 22 minutes from the airport). The Delta is most convenient if you’re flying early in the morning. I had to be at the South Terminal for a flight north to Haida Gwaii, formerly the Queen Charlotte Islands, and it took just three minutes with the hotel shuttle service.

Air North – Having heard little of Air North, I thought it would be one of those small airlines with tight planes that give you a rough ride. Instead, it was a comfortable 60-seat, 737 jet that departed on time and landed with hardly a bump. Passengers on the Yukon-based airline are treated to one snack, one candy selection and a beverage. That’s the same amount of beverages and one less snack and gumball than you receive on a flight from Vancouver to Toronto on Air Canada. Air North, which is 33 years old, has 240 employees, 180 of whom live in the Yukon; several are from the First Nations. In fact, the Vuntut Gwitchin Nation owns 49 per cent of the airline. Since 2001 it’s increased its services, and airfares to and from the Yukon have dropped by about 25 per cent, making our country’s beautiful northern territories more accessible. Air North, which also has one of the better in-flight magazines you’ll read, is a success story in an industry that’s struggled to find them in recent years.

It took two hours to fly from Vancouver to Masset, a tiny village that’s on an island in the pristine Haida Gwaii chain. From here, I’ll connect to a helicopter that flies into the Queen Charlotte Lodge, home to some mighty good fishing, I hear.

Star Travel guy Adrian Brijbassi soaks up the hops in Victoria, B.C....

Star Travel guy Adrian Brijbassi is taking some time away from the office, and good for him. He's supposed to be on vacation, I think, but likely will be reporting in from time to time. Here's his first posting.

VICTORIA, B.C. - Jason Meyer's workspace looks like a secret room in every university kid's dream
residence. It's loaded with vats of beer and large kegs ready for tapping.

This stuff isn't your typical dorm room kegger, though; it doesn't taste like cardboard and you don't want to ruin the experience with a chug.

Meyer is the co-owner of Victoria's newest brewery, Driftwood, and the beer he produces has already gained a reputation in town for being the good stuff: carefully crafted light and dark ales that you drink for the taste, not the effect. He talks with passion about the sensation of coriander and cloves in his light ale, and the citrusy flavour of his delicious White Bark wheat ale.

Meyer is a craftsman who has no desire for distribution outside of Vancouver Island and the Greater Vancouver Area.

"I want to cap it because I want to make sure we can maintain the quality of the product," the brewmaster said while preparing a keg of ale for ah, um, er, … a friend.

With the addition of Driftwood, Victoria has four microbreweries, in addition to three brewpubs that produce their own beer. Meyer, who started his career nearly 20 years ago in Montreal, says Victoria
microbreweries find success in part because Vancouver Island is eager to support local businesses.

Driftwood, which started operating in 2008, also benefits from North America's growing craft beer
industry, which continues to take market share from the mega-producers who spend more attention on their marketing initiatives than improving the taste of their beverages.

The beer industry is one of the few in which an inferior product sold for a similar price as a superior
one receives more sales, but, as Meyer said, that's changing.

"People want authenticity. More and more consumers are likely to look at large marketing campaigns and think cynically about them," he said, pointing out that microbreweries as a segment have increased revenues while the overall beer industry has shrank in recent years.

Whether it's Driftwood's White Bark, Mill Street Brewery's excellent Tankhouse Ale, or any number of the beers from Quebec's Unibroue (Canada's most acclaimed small brewery and the maker of La Fin du Monde and Blanche de Chambly), it's a no-brainer for a beer drinker, or should be. The craft beer selections have moved us far beyond the Blue, Canadian or 50 lineup we were limited to in decades past, and they're innovating the taste and experience of beer.

Meyer says that in 10 years he'd like to have Driftwood reach its maximum output and then turn his focus on creating a gastropub/bed-and-breakfast in the Victoria area that produces food from what's on its land.

Such an establishment may not appeal to the university kid drinking straight from the spigot, but that, um, … friend of mine who's eager to tap a freshly purchased keg of Driftwood's finest would definitely stop
in.

One last Steven Slater bit...Air Canada Vacations and Delta do social media

I see today where CNN is reporting that Steven Slater's lawyer says his client...wait for it...wants his job back.

I am gobsmacked. My gob is smacked.

IS THIS GUY NUTS? IS IT A JOKE? IS HE TRYING TO STRETCH HIS ANDY WARHOL MOMENT?

I guess they have to play it straight, but I also see where Jet Blue spokesperson Jenny Dervin says Slater's airline (his former airline, since he did announce his resignation in such unusual style) is "conducting an internal investigation regarding his status as an employee at JetBlue."

That should take about as long as a plea for mercy from the Queen of Hearts.

"We say she's guilty your majesty."

"All right, then. Off with her head."

That's the sort of justice Slater should expect if he's really serious about getting back to work.

Of course, if you're Jet Blue maybe it's a wise move. They'd look like good guys, turning the other cheek and all that. They might get a bump in business. And just think of all the publicity from people wanting to have their photo taken with Slater.

On the other hand, imagine the crush of people wanting to have their photo taken with Slater. It would make the post-landing rush out the door with large luggage look like a church picnic.

CNN was reporting that an internal memo sent Thursday by JetBlue Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Rob Maruster and obtained by the network "describes a company that appears unlikely to forgive."

"Intentionally arming and deploying an evacuation slide for anything other than the express purpose of protecting the safety of our crew and customers is unacceptable," the memo says. "It will not, and can not, be tolerated."

AIR CANADA VACATIONS DOES SOCIAL MEDIA

Air Canada Vacations is giving away a seven-day trip for two people to an undisclosed Sun destination during a 48-hour contest. Starting Monday, Aug. 16, ACV will put out information on its Facebook page and on Twitter, seeking applicants for the trip to a Bahia Principe Hotels and Resorts location.

Good for them for getting into the social media spirit.

Participants will have to provide their name, email address and telephone number.

They're not saying where they'll be taking people except to say it's a Sun destination. The Caribbean seems the obvious choice. Or perhaps Pittsburgh.

As good as it is for Air Canada Vacations to do the Facebook giveaway, that's nothing compared to Delta. The U.S.-based company on Thursday unveiled a feature that allows customers to buy airline tickets on the company's Facebook page. That's not embracing social media, it's climbing into bed and giving it the old, well, you get the idea....

As CNN reports, it's dubbed "the ticket window" and the system comes "just days after the company gave its homepage a thorough redesign as part of what Delta says is a larger plan to improve the online experience for customers.

Delta says other plans include improvements to airport kiosks, and a new iPhone app that will let fliers check in, research flight statuses, check frequent-flier-mile balances, and even set parking reminders."

HOLLAND NIGHT IN TORONTO

Thanks to the folks at Netherlands Tourism for a nice event in TO the other night. They're highlighting everything from stylish hotels in Amsterdam to new museums and, of course, tulips and Dutch master painters such as Van Gogh and Rembrandt.

It's been a few years, and I really should get back. I love Indonesian food, and the beer is pretty damned good in Holland in case you haven't heard. Great place to ride a bike, too, especially for people like me who find the hill between Bloor Street and St. Clair Avenue enough of an exercise, thank you.

VISA INFINITE HOTELS UNVEILED

Visa the other day launched the Visa Infinite Luxury Hotel Collection, billed as a "new premium travel program that provides Visa Infinite cardholders exclusive benefits at a selection of the world's most renowned and prestigious properties."

Officials say the hotels include Burj El Arab in Dubai, the Shangri-La in Vancouver, Moraine Lake Lodge in Lake Louise and the St. Paul Hotel in Montreal. Exclusive perks can include VIP guest status, access to best rates, automatic room upgrades, complimentary valet parking or in-room Internet and more.

HONG KONG SURGE

Hong Kong, not to mention New York, is on target for its best-ever year in tourism. And, to celebrate (well, to take advantage of that), Cathay Pacific will be adding two flights a week between Toronto and Hong Kong. That'll mean 12 flights to choose from each week.

Cathay Pacific also is offering discounts on economy class fares from Canada to Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Taipei, Beijing and Shanghai, with fares starting as low as $1,034.

Let's Get NAKED!!! (Apparently the new word is"nakation")..WestJet sales

After two days of Steve Slater, it's time to move on to something sexier. Like naked vacations.

It's not for me, having the legs of a semi-attractive chicken and having put on more weight than I'd like after many trips to exotic places that serve bubbling, chocolate desserts. But for a lot of folks, it's an, ahem, growing trend.

It seems the good folks at TripAdvisor recently did a poll and found that 48 per cent of respondents said they'd drop their drawers at the beach this year, compared to 31 per cent a year ago.

What I'm trying to figure out is how did this change so dramatically? A hot summer? Lady Gaga's influence? I have no idea, but I got a kick out of one "expert" who suggested folks wanted to avoid baggage fees at the airline so they're packing lighter. Much lighter. I don't think so, but it's a fun thought.

TripAdvisor spokeswoman Amelie Hurst said travelers who said they'd go au naturel didn't seem so much interested in seeing other folks naked or flaunting their own bodies but felt that many nude beaches have fewer people on them. That's kinda interesting, actually. I've ridden my bike past Hanlan's beach on the Toronto Islands, an official nude beach, many times and it seems pretty crowded to me. But so's the beach at Centre Island. So it's hard to say.

I've been to Little Beach in Wailea, Maui (see photo at right), where my wife and I on our honeymoon briefly swam sans clothing before retreating to the safety of a beach towel. It wasn't terribly crowded, but neither - most of the time - is Big Beach, also known as Makena Beach (and a great, long stretch of sand it is).

I didn't see the full list, but one story I saw on the subject mentioned that half the naked vacation spots listed in the TripAdvisor report were in the U.S., including Haulover Beach Park in Miami, Gunnison Beach in Sandy Hook, N.J. and Black's Beach in San Diego. We all know about Hanlan's,

of course, as well as Wreck Beach in Vancouver.

WESTJET CONFUSION

I'm glad I'm not the only dummy. A week or so ago, I spotted an ad for a West Jet fall sale. And I was immediately confused, as back in June WestJet had sent out a press release advising of their new "everyday low fare" approach. I had read the June 17 release as an indication that sales were a thing of the past.

But I was wrong, says WestJet. And so were a lot of people who thought the same thing as me, it seems.

Officials today said they've had "numerous inquiries" from guests and wanted to clarify their recent sale announcement.

"This (the latest announcement) is a system-wide seat sale with all 71 destinations in Canada, the United States, Mexico and the Caribbean available for sale until Aug. 19 for travel on select days until Dec. 15, 2010," the airline said in a statement. "West Jet launched its everyday low fare approach on June 17, 2010, based on research which indicated guests would like the opportunity to more confidently book further out in the schedule in order to more effectively make travel plans."

(To be honest, I don't really know what that means. Do you?)

Anyway, the statement went onto say that many guests thought WestJet was permanently dumping seat sales. Au contraire, mooseface, as Johnny Carson might've said.

"While we will continue with our everyday low pricing structure, it was always our intention to offer seat sales periodically throughout the year," said WestJet's Hugh Dunleavy.

Officials say that the "new, everyday low fare" system "has reduced the top end of its fare structure by up to 25 per cent compared to its prior pricing environment. In addition, everyday low fares have been made available 330 days in advance without any travel restrictions, so that guests can confidently plan and book their travel at any time."

Now, isn't THAT clear?

GREECE'S LOSS IS TURKEY'S GAIN...and HOW ABOUT NEW YORK?

Interesting item in the always useful travelmole website says North Americans and other travelers are stiffing Greece in favour of travel to neighbouring Turkey. And you know that won't sit well with Greek officials, who have a long-standing rivalry (to be kind) with the Turks.

With all the protests and such in Greece, and with various job actions by unhappy Greek workers, it seems Greek tourism revenues are down nine per cent this year compared with 2009, which was a bad year. In Turkey, which has lovely islands and a long coastline on the Aegean and a fascinating culture, travelmole reported that tourism revenues in the second quarter were up a solid 7.4 per cent. Popular beach resorts in places like Antalya are said to be struggling to cope with overflowing hotels and bars.

Meanwhile, over on our side of the pond, New York City officials on Wednesday said they're on track to achieve record-breaking tourism levels this year. The preliminary visitor volume results show NYC welcomed 23.5 million folks in the first half of 2010, a 8.75 per cent hike over last year.

Officials said New York remains on course to host 47.5 million visitors by the end of this year, a 4.2 per cent increase over 2009 and a new record.

.

More flight attendant fallout...world's most expensive cities for hotels...

I love it when we get a big story like the Jet Blue flight attendant who pulled the cord and slid down the emergency chute at the airport in New York after getting fed up with rude passengers. It's probably the news guy in me, but some days I miss the adrenaline rush of the big game or the big story.

So it was fun to weigh in yesterday with a quick blog supporting (mostly) the now infamous Steve Slater, who joins the likes of parachutist D.B. Cooper and the Barefoot Bandit as instant legends. And it's great to see the story going around the world, with bloggers and TV and radio folks all weighing in.

Advertising Age has a great item today about how there are a whole whack of Facebook pages set up already for the guy, including ones called "Free Steven Slater," "WWSSD (What would Steve Slater Do?) and, you gotta love this, "Can Steven Slater Get More Fans Than Justin Bieber?" page. I also found "Steven Slater is My Hero" and then spotted a Jimmy Fallon take-off tune he did on TV last night, with the unofficial title "You Gotta Get Two Beers and Jump."

Wonderful.

Ad Age also points out that Jet Blue is normally quite active with social media, but that the airline has been pretty silent on the Steve Slater issue.

Gee, really?

As for my own meanderings, it was fun - and rather surprising - to find out so many people agreed with me when I insulted air passengers as being rude and, frankly, not that bright.

There are exceptions, of course. I don't think most of us are truly stupid; just that we don't always think about why there are rules and why flight attendants have to obey the rules, even if they personally find them stupid. I mean, I doubt most flight attendants truly believe that my using over-the-ear-headphones on descent instead of the crummy in-air headphones they give you on the plane will truly bring down a 747. But what are they supposed to do - read only the rules they agree with? Of course not.

I sympathize with flight attendants, for sure. I was just surprised that more readers didn't take me to task, that's all.

Anyway, I wanted to give some of you folks a chance to vent your opinions. So here's a brief sample.

"You are so right about increasingly stupid passengers. I am one of them. In my defense (and I am nothing if not defensive) I had been trying to sleep on the floor of my snoring friend's hotel room for 8 nights and was operating on a bit of a sleep deficit. Sunday morning, I awoke at 1:30 am because of some stupid, inconsiderate hotel guests and couldn't get back to sleep. I had to leave at 6:20 for a bus to Encinitas (California) and as soon as I arrived back at my LA hotel, I grabbed a taxi to LAX,  only to learn that my AC flight was delayed, not by the 20 minutes i was told, but by two hours!  After some really memorable (belch) airport food I began to transform into a cranky, fussy baby. By the time I landed in Vancouver, I was in an altered state and really needed to be led by the nose through all those hoops and obstacle courses. My whining got me no sympathy from employees probably on OT by then. Even so, they were all very tolerant and seemed to realize they were dealing with someone with diminished capacity. Even the security guys were pretty easy going about the fact that, contrary to my claims, I did have a bottle with some green fluid in my carry-on. (he wanted me to drink it but I declined, feeling it had been too long in the 'danger zone'). In my experience, flight attendants are among the most disciplined professionals on the planet. They are often treated like over paid wait staff but have saved countless lives when things have gone wrong." - Elizabeth Wallac

"The carry-on baggage appears to be an issue especially when some travelers ensure they hit the maximum allowable weight and struggle to get it into or out of the overhead storage, or take up space other than their own allotment above their seat. Weight and dimensional restrictions should be rigidly enforced at the last check-in counter prior to boarding." - Willy Sio

"Having been a Flight Attendant for over 35 years and recently retired I have nothing but understanding for what Flight Attendant Slater did and what many of us dream of doing when we have had enough. I would not call allpassengers dumb or idiots for that matter but some idiots do exist and they are the ones who push us to the limit. Standing up to get your luggage when the aircraft is moving is assine and can cause injury and I have lost my cool a few times when walking down the isle someone's baggage is in the way because they did not secure it and I have tripped causing me to lose my balance. It is not easy job especially when things don't work on the aircraft and it causes anger and there is a lot of that in the

world, things go wrong and it is entirely out of the hands of the flight crew but people don't care they want what they want and they want it now. While I don't miss the job one little bit I will always have memories of how it was good and bad all at the same time

so to the passengers who may want to ignore your flight attendant when they ask you to do some thing please consider this is for your own good and give us a break!" -Tessa D'Aguiar,

Retired Flight Attendant, Air Canada

EXPENSIVE HOTELS SURVEY

As if burning fires and smoke wasn't enough to deter tourism to Moscow, now comes a report by the Hogg  Robinson Group in the UK that puts the Russian capital at the top of the list of most expensive cities in the world for a hotel room.

The study found that the average hotel in Moscow these days costs a whopping $392 per night. That's almost $100 more than the number two city, Geneva. The full top ten chart for world cities is shown below. I also dug around a bit and
found the top ten list for North America (both of these are for the first six months of this year, by the way), so I'm also sending that along.

TOP TEN MOST EXPENSIVE WORLD CITIES FOR HOTELS

1. Moscow, $392
2. Geneva, $304
3. Hong Kong, $302
4. Paris $301
5. New York $297
6. Washington, D.C. $295
7. Zurich, $287
8. Abu Dhabi, $283
9. Stockholm, $280
10. Oslo, $267.

TOP TWELVE MOST EXPENSIVE HOTEL CITIES IN NORTH AMERICA

1. New York, $297
2. Washington, $295
3. Los Angeles $246
4. Boston, $240
5. San Francisco, $220
6. Toronto, $214
7. Chicago, $203
8. Vancouver, $186
9. Houston, $182
10. Philadelphia, $173
11. Ottawa, $171
12. Montreal, $155

Quite surprised to see Ottawa more expensive than Montreal. I like Ottawa fine, but is there really any comparison between the two cities? Any at all? I didn't think so.

Also surprising to me was not seeing London on the world chart. I don't actually find it all that expensive, relative to others, but it usually finds its way onto these charts so I was a bit surprised. Mind you, I think you have to take these things with major grains of salt. You can find perfectly fine hotels in London for $100 Canadian, and nice ones in Paris for $150. So I sometimes think these charts are all done up by high-falutin' guys in business suits who need four-star properties with fancy room service and the ultimate in spa treatments and tiny bottles of toiletries with French designer names. Me? I don't mind them at all. But just as happy to have more space at a Courtyard Marriott than to be surrounded by lace doilies at a five-star place where I can't feel comfortable wearing shorts and a Jimmy Buffett t-shirt in the lobby.

I stayed at a lovely resort in Whistler last September, right at the base of a ski hill. But my room at the Hilton a few days prior to the resort stay was far larger; almost a full suite. It wasn't as fancy, but I'll take the extra space almost every time.

Flight attendant goes (understandably) bonkers after years of working the skies

Having flown more than a few times in a very lucky journalism career, I fully understand how a Jet Blue flight attendant Steven Slater in New York on Monday finally hit the wall and fled the airline industry for good.

Because, my friends, the simple fact is airplane passengers are idiots.

We don't put on our seat belts when we're told.

We fiddle with our Blackberries and cell phones ("Hi, hon, the plane's just pulling up at the gate. I had a wonderful chicken dinner with broccoli and six Heineken's. Yeah, babe, I love that little spot under your xxxx, too.").

We consistently stand up before the plane reaches the gate and try to wrestle 500-pound suitcases from tiny overhead compartments, even though we're at the back of the plane and getting down our bag won't get us off the plane even five seconds earlier unless we trample the kids and old ladies in front of us like George Costanza escaping an apartment fire.

We slam our seat backs into the person behind us on the plane when we feel like taking a nap, notwithstanding the guy behind us hasn't had his tray cleaned and still has (or had) a quarter-glass of red wine in front of him.

We bring children onto planes for five hours at a time without the slightest thought given to how we might make sure they have liquids or something to suck on so their ears won't hurt when the plane descends from 35,000 feet, or how we might keep the poor little things entertained with a few crayons, some paper and a couple books but instead hope little Johnny finds it really amusing to pull on the seat in front of him and wail and scream and fiddle with knobs and slam HIS seat back into the guy behind him who's still trying to dab the red wine off the white shirt he'll need for that job interview that he can't get to because the flight attendant has finally had it and pulled the escape cord.

Anyway, I fully sympathize with the guy. And I can't get out of my mind the mental image of him sliding down that chute and dashing to the employee parking lot and making a run for it.

As someone with a relative who works for the Transportation Security Administration in the U.S., I also fully understand that this sort of shenanigans is frowned upon by airport security folks and that this guy has to be taught that toying with an airplane's emergency exits for his own pleasure, notwithstanding the provocation of years as a flight attendant/babysitter, is not something to be tolerated.

Still, I admire the guy's sense of theatricality, and I think it speaks volumes about the frustration that flight workers must feel in an age of workplace cutbacks, heightened security...and increasingly stupid passengers.

I love the line in today's Star where a former flight attendant who lives next door to Slater in Queens, N.Y. says she wasn't at all shocked.

“Enough is enough – good for him,” said Janet Bavasso. “If he would have called me, I would have picked him up.”

If you have any thoughts, and I hope you do (and I realize flight attendants ain't perfect, either), send me a note at travel@thestar.ca.

Thanks, and happy flying! That goes for you, too, Steve. Guess you'll be flying in coach from now on. And you better be nice to the flight attendants.

Awesome Paul McCartney show in Toronto sparks a Beatles/travel thought

Bopping to Back in the USSR and swaying to The Long and Winding Road at Paul McCartney's spectacular show at the Air Canada Centre last night prompted a thought (always dangerous) about Beatles tunes and travel.

There are, obviously, a billion point three million great Beatles tunes. But, when you really get down to it, there aren't all that many that are purely about travel. Paul and John and George and Ringo, as Paul points out on the Anthology DVD, sang a lot about love and peace and not so much about other stuff when you get right down to it.

Still, I managed to think up ten tunes, and there are others, that at least have a travel component to them; be they about a particular place or a means of transportation or an actual trip, so here's my early-morning-only-one-cup-of-coffee-sue-me-if-name-them-wrong Beatles travel titles.

1. Drive My Car (performed last night; beep-beep-mm-beep, yeah)

2. Back in the USSR (a classic)

3. Blue Jay Way (a George Harrison song about LA)

4. Yellow Submarine (a no-brainer)

5. Strawberry Fields Forever (about Liverpool)

6. Penny Lane (even more about Liverpool)

7. One After 909 (one of the first songs John and Paul wrote together)

8. The Long and Winding Road (much better without the strings Phil Spector added on the Let it Be LP)

9. Ticket to Ride (great lead guitar work by Paul in that one)

10. Two of Us (an underrated, jaunty tune with lots of charm)

Day Tripper didn't quite make the list, as it's not really about travel except for the title. And I didn't include She's Leaving Home as I've always found it too saccharine. So there. I guess you could suggest "All Together Now," that entirely silly but fun little ditty on Yellow Submarine where they sing "sail a ship," but that's a stretch.

If you include McCartney's solo stuff, you could of course add a million tunes, including Band on the Run and Jet and the wonderfully presented Mull of Kintyre....

Mustard Museum in Wisconsin a real hoot...Off to my favourite place - Muskoka

Had a great time reading in USA Today about a guy who started a mustard museum in Wisconsin. Seems the man, Barry Levenson, was so upset about the Boston Red Sox losing the 1986 World Series that he wandered around aimlessly in a grocery store for quite some time after the final game.

He told himself he needed a hobby and that he should collect stuff. Just then he looked up and found himself staring at jars of mustard. Voila, a museum idea was born.

"I'm just grateful that moment didn't come when I was standing in front of the feminine hygiene products," said Levenson.

I like this story for several reasons. Number one, it's quirky. Number two, Levenson is a riot. He has an entertainment section at the mustard museum (it's in Middleton, Wisconsin, by the way) and he calls it "Mustard-piece Theatre." Just a guess, but I suspect his musical accompaniment might be "Mean Mr. Mustard" from the Beatles Abbey Road album? He also has an educational component called, wait for it, Poupon U. So there's that.

But I also love mustard. I mean, I REALLY love mustard. My buddy Jim Kirk used to kid me in high school that I had more mustard stains on my clothes than any person alive. I remember a garish blue velvety kind of jacket I had with a creme-coloured fur lining that always seemed to have mustard on it.

(I know that sounds like really bad fashion but it was the 1970s. I remember my high school history teacher, Mr. Taylor, once told me that he wouldn't listen to my argument about some particular event because, and I quote, "I don't listen to people in purple pants and cowboy boots." For the record, I distinctly recall they were burgundy bellbottoms, tres populaire at my high school in 1973. And, yes, I often wore cowboy boots with the pants. Occasionally with a flowered shirt. You had to be there.)

Anyways, I love the idea of the mustard museum. And it's perfect for Wisconsin, where they worship bratwursts. Levenson, who calls himself the museum curator and CMO (Chief Mustard Officer) apparently has 5,200 kinds of mustard on display, including some with cranberry and even root beer. Just think of the stains I could make on my shirt with those babies.

OFF TO MUSKOKA

Taking a day off to visit some friends on Miller Island in Lake Muskoka; just about my favourite place in the world. They're building a new cottage and I'm looking forward to seeing it and maybe lending a hand. But mostly just catch up with friends and sit out and gaze at the water and the sky and the clouds and the beautiful rocks and islands and trees.

It's so quiet and restful and they have a lovely view out into the main lake and of a tiny, perfect island called Tiffany Island. It's absolutely wonderful.

My buddy, Jim, was born in Wisconsin. I dare not take him any bratwurst because it wouldn't be as good as what he can get at home. But maybe I should stop and get some mustard, because I forgot to mention in the above note that Saturday is National Mustard Day in the U.S.

ATLANTA HOTEL TROUBLE?

In an unrelated item, I see that Barbara De Lollis at USA Today and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution are reporting that several hotels in Hot-lanta are on the verge of closing, including the Marriott Renaissance near the downtown business district, a 502-room behemoth where I stayed for some Atlanta Braves' postseason baseball games as I recall.

"The closures come at a time when Atlanta hotels are struggling to fill beds and keep rates from sinking," De Lollis wrote. "Travelers today, in fact, are able to snap up luxury hotel rooms in some top-tier hotels such as the InterContinental, Grand Hyatt and W hotels for less than $100 a night."

Now, that's remarkable.

Canadian hospitality industry screwed over by America-centric voting? Maybe...

I don't get it. Every time some idiot like Sarah Palin goes up in approval ratings down south, we get folks who watch Jon Stewart regularly calling the Canadian embassy and demanding they be allowed to move to a place where people actually pay taxes for public improvements such as health care and transit.

Americans SAY they love Canada. But there's Chris Bosh talking about how "different" it was to play in Canada (Yeah, Chris, we ARE a different country). And now here comes Travel + Leisure magazine with its 2010 ratings for great hotels.

In fairness, their voters in the U.S. probably are 10 times the number of their Canadian readers. And the T +  L poll DID put three Canadian cities in their top 10 of U.S. and Canadian cities overall (Vancouver, Quebec City and Victoria). They also made the remarkable Auberge Saint-Antoine  in Quebec City (see lobby photo at left) their number three U.S./Canadian small hotel, and put the lovely Wickaninnish Inn in Tofino B.C. as number four in top resorts, followed by the Post Hotel and Spa in Lake Louise, Alberta in the fifth spot.

But that was all she wrote for Canada. One property in the top 10 small hotel category and two properties in the top 50 of resorts.

There may be a bit of an explanation. Canadian properties came fourth and fifth in the resort category, so perhaps Americans like to come here on vacation but aren't coming here to stay in our cities. I can kinda see how that might make sense, but what about all the business folks coming into Toronto and Vancouver for movie deals or computer company transactions?

Is it possible all our larger properties in our big cities really suck? I don't think so. I haven't stayed in a lot of them, but I don't see how the Four Seasons in Yorkville, for example, falls behind the Ritz-Carlton in Cleveland. The concierge at the Ritz in Cleveland might be terrific, but in the final analysis all he can do is tell guests where to go in Cleveland, right?

"Uh, there's the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. And the LeBron James Museum. On second thought, strike that second idea."

Okay, Cleveland's not really that bad. there are nice restaurants and bars and lovely architecture. But, really, not a single Canadian property in the top 50? Boo.

For the record, the top large hotel in U.S./Canadian cities was the Trump International in Chicago, followed by the Peninsula in Chicago, the Mansion on Turtle Creek in Dallas and the Sutton Place in Chicago. The WIndy City notched a stunning four representatives in the top seven, so good for them. We've been writing more about Chicago of late in Star Travel and will continue doing so, just fyi...

On the T + L top city chart for the U.S. and Canada, the top choice was, no surprise, New York (see photo) followed by San Francisco, Charleston, South Carolina, Chicago, Santa Fe, New Mexico, Vancouver, New Orleans, Quebec, Victoria and Washington D.C.

For the entire globe, T + L voters made Bangkok number one, followed by Chiang Mai, Thailand, Florence, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, Rome, Sydney, Buenos Aires, Oaxaca, Mexico, Barcelona and New York City.

It's a positive move for Thailand to notch the number one and two spots given the political troubles. Ditto for Mexico in landing the number four and eight positions.

CANADIAN AIRLINES BOUNCE BACK

Pretty good news today for Canadian airlines. Air Canada said its load factor in July was a solid 84.9 per cent, up 1.3 percentage points from last July. The airline also posted a second quarter operating income of $75 million, compared to a loss of $113 million in the second quarter of 2009. That's a remarkable change.

Air Canada officials said business was strong to Asia and Europe.

Similarly, WestJet Thursday said it's July traffic was up 18 per cent compared to last year, with a load factor of 80.7 per cent. Officials said their second quarter earnings were up 130 per cent, to $21 million.

Air Canada makes a mess in Rome...Great tours of Vatican, Coliseum

ROME - I gave Porter Airlines a good talking to recently when they failed to provide customers proper compensation for costs incurred after a diverted flight, and also for a drastic failure to communicate. Today, it's Air Canada that takes the horrible communication/lousy staffing award.

Tuesday I arrived at the airport in Rome at 9 a.m. for a scheduled 11:30 am. departure to Toronto. There were at least 200 people in the economy lineup, and more than 40 in the lineup for executive class check-in. Air Canada had three people working for economy and only one for executive.

The lines moved incredibly slowly, and the executive person dealt with, and I counted, exactly SIX separate groups and perhaps 15 or maybe 16 people in AN HOUR AND TWENTY MINUTES.

People were getting steamed, as you can imagine.

"I pay for executive class and this is what I get," one man complained loudly as he scouted the lengthy executive lineup.

When I finally got to the counter, after 10:30 a.m., I was told the flight was delayed three hours because of weather delays Monday night in Montreal. I was given a lunch voucher and the lunch was pretty decent. So they did the right thing. And weather in Montreal isn't Air Canada's fault.

But why on earth were there only THREE people checking people in for economy flights for hugely popular flights to both Toronto and Montreal? The next-door counter at the airport in Rome had, and I counted them, EIGHT people checking in people for one small flight to Malta.

There was a guy working behind the counter at the Air Canada station who periodically would look over someone's shoulder and say something or other, but the only time in an hour and-a-half that he emerged for the public was to say "Executive class check in here. Economy over there."

At no time did anyone announce the flight was delayed, or come out from behind the counter and explain what was happening, or even take five seconds to stand up and say, "Excuse me, but if you're in line for the 11:30 flight to Toronto we apologize for being short-staffed and, by the way, you won't miss your flight because it's been delayed."

Is it really that hard, folks?

COLISEUM AND VATICAN TOURS A DELIGHT

Had a great tour of the Coliseum just before heading home, as well as a superb, private tour of the Vatican. The latter I felt kinda guilty about, bypassing all the folks in line. But time was short and I paid a pretty good rate for it, about $100.

I learned a lot about the history of the place and the marvellous artwork. Our guide told us how Michelangelo had painted naked men in the Last Judgment but that church officials didn't like it, so hired a painter named Daniele de Volterra to touch it up with loincloths and such

"We call him the Underwear Guy," said Massimo, my well-versed tour guide.

He also pointed out some fun parts of the artworks, such as where Michelangelo painted his rival's face on the portrait of Minos, God of Hell, complete with donkey ears. He also showed us the funeral monument built for Pope Alexander II by Bernini, showing a giant thorn protruding from England into the foot of the statue; a symbol of the trouble that Anglican England was making for the Catholic church.

Great stuff.

The Coliseum tour with Vito was just as entertaining, but perhaps a bit more "basic," with jokes about ex-wives and such. But it's a tremendously powerful experience to see the Coliseum, better known by its proper name as Ampitheatrum Flavium. It was called the Coliseum by some because of the colossal statue of Nero which once stood just outside the north end of the facility.

"You've all heard of Nero," Vito told the assembled group. "Kinda the Berlusconi of his day," he added, referring to the current Italian Prime Minister.

Apparently there used to be places of ill repute right across the street; handy for men who got all hyped up watching the gladiators and such.

The whole thing was built in just a couple years, which is pretty remarkable.

"It wasn't that hard," said Vito. "They had a lot of workers." Pause. "And no unions."

Finished off my final night in Rome with a great meal near the top of the Spanish Steps, so thanks to Sabrina Vitullo at PSL Planning in Rome for all her great organization work and for a fine meal.

LOOK FOR MORE ON ROME AND OTHER CLASSIC DESTINATIONS IN COMING ISSUES OF STAR TRAVEL, both in print and on-line.