WTF: Colorado city A-1 slogan ... new poll gives thumbs down to Canada culture

This might be one of the great stories of the year. It seems, believe it or not, there's a town in Colorado called Fruita. (Yeah, all the good names - Steamboat Springs, Golden, Denver - were taken). Anyhoo, the good burghers in charge of promoting this little piece of Colorado paradise decided they would do up a nice marketing slogan. What did they come up with? I'd try to describe it but you can see for yourself.

I absolutely love it. Cheeky and fun and cutting edge and just the thing to get folks talking about moving the state capital to Fruita, a small city west of Grand Junction and huddled close to the border with Utah.

A story on msn.com describes the controversy thusly:

The popular destination for mountain bikers, rafters and other DIY adventurers considered the slogan after a couple's homemade WTF stickers proved popular with local businesses...but the idea also led to "hundreds of emails, phone calls and in-person contacts from overwhelmingly dismayed residents," according to The Daily Sentinel. "When I've explained [what WTF stands for online], or had my grandson explain it," Fruita mayor Ken Henry said, "They've come unglued."

Well, yeah, I can see some older folks tsk-tsking a bit. But, honestly, had anyone in the world EVER heard of Fruita, Colorado before this came about? Other than my cousin in Idaho who claims to have a friend living there? I don't think so.

CANADA CULTURE SUCKS!!!!

Geez. You think we're making a bit of a mark around the world with stories about Toronto's restaurant scene or Vancouver's edginess, and now this.

A web site called Hub Culture (www.hubculture.com), which looks pretty edgy and hip and cool and all that, has published its sixth annual "Hub Culture Zeitgeist," a poll of allegedly edgy and hip and cool cities around the world. You know it's an important poll because they coolly slipped in the word Zeitgeist, a German phrase that means "we're really cool. And edgy and hip."

A story on the site today says there are signs the U.S. and European economies "are finally evening out from their death spirals" and that "income equality is being addressed via pop culture platitudes." Don't you feel better already?

One interesting bit is that the Hub Culture folks note the emergence of more BRIC cities (Brazil, Russia, India, China), not to be confused with BRICK cities (Mississauga, Scarborough, Welland) in the top 20.

Indeed, Sao Paulo, Brazil ended up #1 in the world for the third year running. Here's what Hub Culture had to say about the Brazilian city (see photo below right):

"Perched at the top of the list for a record third year is São Paulo, where the defining topic of conversation continues to be how hard it is to find good help.  You know things are going well when staffing your dinner party adequately is a major topic of concern.  It is however a harbinger - inflation and class ambition do not make a tranquil mix forever. The strong currency and commodity growth at large aren't the only thing fueling Brazil - property and consumer retail are continuing to enjoy enviable growth rates despite a 4Q dip last year. Meanwhile, the city is ever more popular, and ever more desirable for corporate postings, regional businesses, and those looking to experience the Brazilian boom first-hand. Enjoy it while it lasts, Brazilianos."

Second was Hong Kong, up from number seven in 2011. Here's the Hub Culture report:

"Hong Kong hits a high note this year - a cosmopolitan mix, fantastic shopping and epicenter attitude for business make it the world's drop-in city.  But the downsides - pollution, overcrowding, and little thought for public space - have often held it back. Despite these issues, lately the world just seems to bend more toward Hong Kong - maybe because there is an ever stronger air of confidence and derring-do in the city? HK simply doesn't care what everyone else thinks anymore, and that makes us all care even more (especially big brother to the north).  As the world navigates the shift of power from west to east, Hong Kong remains perfectly balanced between the two. Plus, try going out on a weekend - holy schmodel! HK is ground-zero to the world's young, rich and beautiful, tomorrow's bright lights rocking today's late nights."

The rest of the top 20 is as follows, with the 2011 ranking in parentheses:

3. Beijing (7)

4. Berling (4)

5. London (9)

6. New York (6)

7. Sydney (3)

8. Singapore (11)

9. Istanbul (18)

10. Rio de Janeiro (20)

11. Capetown (17)

12. Tokyo (12)

13. Seattle (unranked)

14. Mexico City (16)

15. Shanghai (8)

16. San Francisco (10)

17. Dubai (15)

18. Los Angeles (4)

19. Moscow (15)

20. Abu Dhabi (19)

Nope, not a Canadian burg to be found. Not even Peterborough made the list.

I did a little research, however, and found that Toronto was ranked ALL THE WAY UP AT 17th back in 2009, when David Miller was mayor and culture wasn't an evil word in the rotunda at City Hall. Even then, however, the praise heaped upon our fair city was fairly tepid. Here's what Hub Culture wrote about the Big Smoke in their 2009 ranking:

"Stability is a big theme of the moment, and Toronto keeps coming up in this thread.  Canadian globe trotters are heading back home to Canada's most influential business city as they check out of their stints abroad.  Again, the economic roll here has been a bit more mellow, so the vibe hasn't been totally destroyed by doom and gloom.  Take into account Toronto's great outdoors and socialized services, and it all starts to look pretty good."

Wow. Stability! Influential business city! Great outdoors!

I can see TO maybe being out of the 20. Maybe. But behind Dubai and Abu Dhabi? Crikey.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Costa Allegra cruise fire and Puerto Vallarta robbery should mean good deals

Minutes after I sent out a Twitter message yesterday about how a bunch of Carnival Cruise ship passengers were robbed near Puerto Vallarta the other day, I got a note from a savvy friend of mine.

"Good time to book that Puerto Vallarta trip, doncha think?"

It may sound a little cold, but he's absolutely right. The best time to book a trip often is right after an incident such as this. Call it a BNB if you like, Bad News Bargain, but that's often the way things work in life.

The papers have been rife lately with great cruise deals, seeing as so many people were scared by the deaths of passengers on the Costa ship that struck land off Italy a few weeks back. Then came word yesterday that another Costa Cruise ship, the Allegra (see photo), was adrift off the Seychelles Islands after a fire onboard knocked out power to the engines. ABC News had some fun with the issue, stating that the accident left the ship without power in the "pirate-infested" Indian Ocean.

(Costa is owned by Carnival, which means Carnival got a double hit yesterday; the Puerto Vallarta robbery and the Allegra fire. Oh, sorry, make that a triple hit. Two Carnival Corp. ships were turned away from docking in Argentina because they had stopped earlier in the Falkland Islands, still the subject of dispute between Argentina and Britain.)

So you have to think that cruises are going to remain attractive, from a price standpoint, for a little while longer. Puerto Vallarta, too, will have to work harder in the next few weeks to overcome the robbery.

Hey, you want a REALLY great deal? Maybe you can find a cruise departing from Puerto Vallarta! That's a double bad-news-bargain if I ever saw one.

Actually, just for fun, I went onto the Costa Cruise website this morning and found some pretty great-sounding deals. One cruise, called Mexican Magic, is a 10-day affair that departs Miami on March 18 and goes to Nassau, Grand Turks Bahamas, Ocho Rios in Jamaica, Cozumel in Mexico, Belize and Roatan (Honduras). The website has a starting price of $1,889 crossed out and replaced with $699 - a 63 per cent discount. It's for two people in an undoubtedly small cabin, but if you do the math you're looking at $70 a night for a room per person and all the food you can eat. An even crazier deal is the Costa Caribbean, Spain, Portugal trip that's 15 days (departing March 5, mind you) and is being discounted from $2,449 to $749. That's less than $50 per night per person, although you'd have to pay to get to Guadeloupe in the Caribbean to take advantage. The Mexican Magic deal is better, probably, as it's far cheaper to fly Toronto to Miami.

Either way, there are obviously some great deals to be had out there.

The powerless Allegra and its 1,000 passengers and crew is being towed by a French fishing vessel to the Seychelles Islands, according to wire reports. Helicopters are said to be bringing in food, satellite phones and shortwave radios. The ship isn't expected to make land until Thursday morning.

One report I saw today said the ship originally was headed to the small island of Desroches (see photo). But it was decided that wouldn't work as it's a small island and there wouldn't be any way to moor the ship or get guests onto the land in a proper fashion. Desroches is a favourite holiday island for Prince William and Kate Middleton and has one luxury resort with 48 rooms and villas, costing about $1,500 per night. As if Costa needs that kind of bill....

The ship now is headed to Mahe island in the Seychelles, according to ABC News.

A story at www.travelmarketreport.com expanded on the situation with Carnival and the problems in Mexico.

"The latest Carnival troubles came on the heels of news that 22 passengers on the Carnival Splendor were robbed during a shore excursion in Puerto Vallarta last week.

There were no injuries, but the armed assailant made off with cash, cameras, jewelry and other valuables. The specific tour was the City Tour & Tropical Jungle Escape.

All the guests returned safely to the ship and disembarked Sunday in Long Beach, Calif., following the weeklong Mexican Riviera sailing.

In the Mexico incident, Carnival issued a statement saying that "numerous authorities were notified and responded to investigate, as well as assist the affected guests. The tour in question has been suspended until further notice."

Yeah, I guess so.

JAUNT.CA DEAL OF THE DAY

Looking for a quick getaway? Check out www.jaunt.ca for a night at The Glenerin Inn in Mississauga. For $119 you get a night's accomodation for two in a traditional room, plus a "scrumptious breakfast" for two and a $40 spa credit. The deal is valid for travel until Aug. 31 but May is blacked out. It's a $302 value, so you're getting a huge savings.

Jaunt.ca also has getaway deals for Niagara Falls, Quebec, New York and more....

 

 

 

 

 

Lovely Fairmont Mayakoba a great spot on the Mayan Riviera in Mexico

Canadian golfer Stephen Ames is a guy known for speaking his mind. So when he tells me he thinks the Fairmont Mayakoba resort in Mexico is a "fantastic property," that says something.

Ames was playing last week in the Mayakoba Classic in Mexico and was staying, along with a bunch of other players, at the Fairmont. It's a beautiful property (with a five-star rating from the American Automobile Association) that's quite secluded, with plenty of room (45 acres) to roam about.

There are 401 rooms, but some 90 per cent of them are behind the mangrove line that's behind the beach so as to protect the fragile environment. Only 34 units are in the beach area, many of them with private pools and all with butlers at your service.

The units are spread out along a vast network of canals that are home to dozens of species of fish, as well as herons, ibis, ducks, turtles and the occasional crocodile, which usually gets whisked away as quickly as possible. You can't - and wouldn't want to - swim in the canals, but they're a relaxing backdrop to the resort. There are free boat rides (all electric boats with overhead covers called lanchas) through the mangrove forests; a great way to learn about the environment and the local wildlife. They even had an ecology manager on site to make sure things are done right.

The beach is a little remote from the units for some folks' taste, but Paulina Feltrin, the resort's public relations director, tells me beach shuttles run all the time and that nobody has to wait more than five minutes for a ride. You also can hop on a BMW bike any time you wish and take a short ride to the beach or the beachside pool or the restaurant Las Brisas, where they serve a wonderful blue crab tostada and will make you a margarita with cucumber or tamarind if you wish. All the seafood they serve is sustainable, Feltrin says. And the views out onto the Caribbean and over to Cozumel are wonderful.

(The food is great but watch the habanero hot sauce. Just a small drop is enough to satisfy all but the most avid chile fans.)

The Fairmont Mayakoba also has a beautiful spa with 20 treatment rooms and Maya-inspired treatments and several enormous swimming pools, one an adults-only facility. There's also a kids' program and a nice pool with a small waterslide to keep youngsters entertained. It also is the only Fairmont in the world that has an all-inclusive program for those who wish one.

The hotel is right alongside the El Camaleon golf course, which is a beauty. A couple of the rooms have fine views of the course.

Mayakoba is an area north of Playa Del Carmen, a fun place to walk about and have drinks or dinner, and the city of Cancun. So it's a shorter ride to the airport in Cancun than many of the resorts on the Mayan Riviera.

Feltrin says Mayakoba's seclusion makes it one of the safest areas along the Mayan Riviera, which many folks say is the safest part of Mexico. I certainly had no problems during my recent week at the Barcelo Maya Beach resort south of Playa Del Carmen, and I wouldn't hesitate to go back again.

 

Great spots to think about for a spring holiday this year

Nice item from Christine Sarkis at SmarterTravel.com, listing places folks can go for a reasonably priced spring holiday.

Because of our winters, we Canadians tend to travel a lot in January, February and March. And a lot of families do Disney World or other trips in the summer, when the kids have more time out of school. Consequently, a lot of us tend to stay home in April and May, and that means there are some pretty good deals - and often less crowds.

April and May are awesome times to visit Europe; as the massive tourist hordes haven't yet descended. The weather is decent in places like Paris and London in spring. It can be downright glorious in southern Europe; often near 20 degrees during the day.

Here are the spots Sarkis recommends, with the odd thought of my own as I veg out on a beach on the Mayan Riviera on a short holiday...

PORTUGAL The average hotel for spring is said to be about $100 in this country, and that's remarkable. Heck a chain hotel in Belleville is likely to cost you that much. And when you wake up and stumble outside you're in Belleville and not at a small cafe in Lisbon. The city of Guimaraes is the European Capital of Culture for 2012, meaning plenty of exhibits and concerts and such. Great golf and lovely beaches and superb wine in this affordable European haven, as well.

ORLANDO Okay, not quite as exotic. But with Disney, Legoland and the Harry Potter park at Universal, there's tons to do. Also, the food and drinks scene is surprisingly sophisticated, and the shopping is excellent. The beach isn't far away, either. Sarkis wrote that Disney Resorts has a 30 per cent off deal for April 13 to June 4 if booked by Feb. 28. I haven't had time to check it out but it would be worth noodling about on the Internet for shoulder-season deals in Orlando. Oh, don't forget the great golf at a time when Ontario golf is still something of a dicey affair from a weather standpoint.

SEATTLE A bit far away for us, but if you're visiting Vancouver it's a great side trip. Lovely food and a great waterfront for moseying about. Not to mention fine wines grown in state and great brewpubs, and, of course, Pike's Market. There are a couple major shows for culture lovers, too; a Gauguin exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum through April 29 and a Tutankhamun exhibit at the Pacific Science Center starting May 24.

HAWAII A personal fave for four decades, it's a great spot in the spring as crowds have thinned considerably. You can almost always find a clean, decent room in a hotel near Waikiki Beach in Honolulu for $100, and often for $80 or less. Food and wine can be expensive at trendy waterfront spots but if you eat a little further inland you can eat well for very little money in a city that's a real melting pot of Asian cultures. Terrific Chinese, Japanese and Thai places, plus touches of Portugal and, of course, American cuisine. Sarkis says Pleasant Holidays is offering 3-night packages from San Diego or San Francisco for $555, and that's a great deal. You could fly to San Diego or San Francisco for a few days, then soak up the sun in Hawaii before returning home to Canada. Check WestJet or Air Canada vacations for other deals, or the other Canadian tour companies.

PUERTO RICO Not a lot of Canadians head here, but I'm told that's changing a little. San Juan has beautiful, historic streets with colourful buildings and a gorgeous waterfront fort. The beaches are lovely and you also can find stunning rainforests and, if you wish, casinos.

A few other ideas worth thinking about include the Florida Panhandle, which warms up nicely by April. Ditto for Myrtle Beach, which is easy to reach via Porter Airlines. Washington D.C. or New York are great for culture. And the weather is usually terrific in southern California by the time the calendar hits April.

The Greek islands can be terrific in May. Ditto for South America, where it'll be fall.

Want to venture a little further? It'll be fall in New Zealand and Australia and a lot of tourists have gone home to the U.S., Canada or Europe, so it's a good time to check out either country at more affordable prices than their summer (our winter).

And don't forget Canada. The weather starts warming up nicely out west in April, so it's a great time for Vancouver or Victoria. Ditto for Montreal or Quebec City, especially as we get closer to May. Or just settle in for a great weekend in Niagara-on-the-Lake or a spa weekend or one-night stay at someplace romantic, such as Ste. Anne's Spa in Grafton, Ontario; very close to the GTA and a real sanctuary.

Enjoy! I'll be back with my nose to the old blog grindstone on Monday....

 

 

 

 

The sunny, warm - and seemingly safe - Mayan Riviera in Mexico

MAYAN RIVIERA, MEXICO - Okay, it's only a couple days. And I AM spending my holidays at a high-end, all-inclusive resort. But so far, I'm feeling extremely safe on my first vacation in Mexico.

Issues with service, sure. But unsafe? Not at all.

I'm staying at the Barcelo resort, in particular at the Barcelo Maya Beach Resort. It's a sprawling complex of four four-star properties and one five-star, where I'm not staying but got to visit on Monday.

The complex has a great beach that's at least 2 km long, with a shallow reef that's said to be good for snorkeling although I haven't gotten around to it yet. There are tons of pools and, yeah, tons of bars. Very good food, too, and a million activities; everything from scuba diving to catamaran sailing to ping pong, volleyball, basketball, mini-golf, tennis, billiards and more.

The grounds are huge and impressively landscaped, with open areas of lawn and bright pink bougainvillea or oleander, plus jungle-like areas where you're likely to spot meter-long (well, almost) iguanas sunning themselves on a rock in a clearing.

We had to pay an extra $140 or something per person, but we upgraded to the premium package to get access to the reservation restaurants and a wider variety of food at dinner, plus a nice lounge where I can type out notes and check email. The seafood restaurant, Mare Nostrum, was a touch hit and miss the other night, but the Japanese spot was quite good for sushi and mains if a little off on the tempura. The Mexican spot last night was best of all, I thought, with chicken mole and fresh grouper on a slice (not fresh, I don't think) of pineapple, plus fabulous chips and salsa.

I gotta say the service is rather hit-and-miss, however. They've been good at replacing burned out light bulbs in our unit, and we got moved to a room with a nicer view without asking, but I still don't have a clock radio that works, forcing me to get up and turn on a light in the middle of the night to check my watch. My laptop is acting goofy, and I can't get into the WiFi system. It might be my laptop's fault, but the concierge here didn't do much to help; calling a tech person but not asking them to come check it out the way I've had happen at other hotels I've stayed at.

The wait staff, on the other hand, is super friendly and they seem to work their butts off; dashing to and fro at breakneck speed to keep tourists like me supplied with coffee in the morning and margaritas at night (with some folks seemingly doing it the other way around, or skipping the coffee altogether).

We decided to skip the fancy cenote tours offered by the hotel and walk across the highway yesterday to check out some of the ones with booths on the side of the road. It was $15 per person to swim in three cenotes - underground, freshwater caves that form when water seeps through the porous limestone in these parts. And that included a mask and snorkel and lifejacket, just for extra safety.

The water was clear as can be and with beautiful rock formations you can see under water. Not a lot of fish, but a few were darting to and fro. The final cenote we visited - sorry, i can't get my photos to load - looked like something out of cenote central casting - a glorious pond of water open to the skies and surrounded by high, limestone walls and a flat area dotted with towering palm trees. The water wasn't as clear as some other cenotes but there was lots of plant life and reddish flowers blooming under the water, looking like a Disney painting. The greens were so bright I felt I was in an underwater Ireland.

A guy in a small compact car picked us up near the highway and drove us a mile or so to the cenotes, where my family and I swam alone until joining up with some locals at the final swimming spot. I don't think they wanted five wet tourists in the back of their car, so we walked back to the highway when we were finished, walking through scrub land and past the odd farmhouse with barking dogs and satellite dishes.

They say the Mayan Riviera in general is far safer than most areas of Mexico. But I suspect it's pretty darn safe 99.999 per cent of the time in Puerto Vallarta and Acapulco, too. Certainly one wants to take precautions, but it seems unfair to label all of Mexico as dangerous when most of the problems involve drug cartels in states bordering the USA. It would be like having a few isolated cases of an infectious disease in Toronto and making everyone else in the world think the entire city is under siege and that they need to wear masks at Pearson or the Rogers Centre. Oh, wait....

Off to check out the PGA Tour event at the El Cameleon course today, up in Mayakoba. I'll report back later this week on the Fairmont Mayakoba and possibly on the ruins at nearby Tulum.

 

 

 

 

Florida joins the tourism wave with record arrivals ... Porter starts Myrtle Beach

Tourism numbers appear to be up just about everywhere these days. I seem to get alerts most every day about great numbers in New York and British Columbia, not to mention the sounding of "didn't we do good" trumpets in Los Angeles and even Manitoba.

The latest one I spotted was from a place near and dear to most of our hearts; Florida. State officials this week said they welcomed a record 85.9 million people last year; up 4.4 per cent from 2010.

Perhaps more important psychologically, it's the highest number since 2007. Which means the bad old days of warnings about oil spills and all seem to be - temporarily anyway - behind them.

State officials said the rebound was helped largely by a hike in visitors from Brazil - a group President Obama is courting rather strongly - and by a dramatic turnaround in visits to the beaches up in the Panhandle, which have come on strong since the oil spill in 2010.

Visit Florida said they received a three per cent increase in domestic visitors and a 5.7 per cent hike in visits from Canadians. So take a bow, folks; you're helping a fine state boost its leading industry. But don't get too complacent; overseas visitors to the Sunshine State jumped a whopping 16 per cent.

PORTER TO MYRTLE BEACH STARTS UP AGAIN

A sure sign of spring is here. Not snowdrop leaves peeking up out of that small icy patch in the garden or the Leafs struggling to make the playoffs, but something better; as in Porter Airlines' returning to Myrtle Beach.

Porter's annual winter/spring service to that South Carolina mecca of sand and golf started this week with two weekly flights from the Toronto island airport. Service increases to four times a week from March 1 til April 30; prime season in Myrtle Beach.

Porter still offers the only direct air service between Myrtle and Canada.

I'd never been to Myrtle Beach until I took a golf trip last year. The beach was wide and long and pretty, the water was fairly warm in October and the golf was glorious. Good food down there, too; barbeque and increasingly sophisticated cuisine abounds. It's also dirt cheap compared to golf in a lot of parts of the world, with very good courses to be found for less than $50 and awesome ones if you're willing to go a little higher. I really liked Pine Lakes but absolutely fell in love with Caledonia Golf and Fish Club; as pretty a course (see photo at right) as you'll find anywhere in the world, and with atmosphere to spare.

 

 

Porter gets into package tour biz...2020 Olympic bids and trouble for TO 2024

We knew it was coming, but still a good item in today's Globe and Mail by reporter Brent Jang, outlining Porter Airlines' plans for a package tour biz.

It's been registered as Porter Escapes (good name for a company with a raccoon as its mascot, I think), and will offer all-inclusive holidays with flights, hotels, rental cars, insurance and other services. It's expected they'll focus on spots such as Myrtle Beach (golf), Vermont (skiing) and Tremblant (skiing), although Porter officials say they also will look at packages (probably theatre, maybe even TIFF, I guess) for folks coming to Toronto. Which is certainly good news for the local economy.

Of course, the packages also should help Porter boost its so-called load factor. Right now, Porter tends to fill roughly two-thirds of its seats or occasionally close to three-quarters, while folks like Air Canada and WestJet hover closer to 80 per cent. Porter CEO Robert Deluce says he doesn't need load factors that high as he has lower operating expenses with his fleet of smaller planes. Still, no business person in his right mind would settle for a score in the low 60's when he or she can bump it up to the mid-70's.

It'll be interesting to see how Porter markets the new business. It sounds like they'll be gearing things to shorter hauls, as most folks don't do Tremblant for one or two weeks the way they might do, say, Barbados. If I was a betting man I'd be looking for ski packages, theatre packages, golf and cultural packages versus sand-and-surf. I'm not expecting package tours for people flying from Toronto to Timmins (sorry, Timmins), but a weekend getaway package for Torontonians heading to Boston, Chicago or New York would be perfect, not to mention Quebec and Montreal. Those packages also would be a little different from the beach-sun packages offered by the likes of AirCanada Vacations, WestJet Vacations, Nolitours, etc...

2020 SUMMER OLYMPIC BIDS ARE IN, BUT I SEE TROUBLE FOR TORONTO 2024

And then there were five. The cities who are officially entered in the 2020 Summer Olympic sweepstakes are as follows: Madrid, Qatar, Tokyo, Istanbul and Bazu, Azerbaijan. Both Tokyo and Istanbul are multiple bridesmaids in the Olympic department. Istanbul has bid a few times for the Games, including a quest for the 1996 Summer Olympics in a fight with Toronto, Atlanta and other cities.

Qatar has made immense strides in international sports and will host the World Cup of Soccer in 2022. But I suspect the early sentimental favourite is Istanbul; as it's a perfect blend of east and west. Some events would probably be held on the European side of the city, and some in Asia. That's a nice symbol for the International Olympic Committee, which takes itself pretty seriously on these world-peace type issues, even if they are doing far too little to get Saudi Arabia to allow women athletes into the Olympics.

Rome was expected to do quite well in the race but, with Italy under such economic duress, pulled out a few days ago. Tokyo and Japan have been knocked around a bit, of course, so they'll certainly get some sympathy votes. And never underestimate the Euro-centricity of the IOC, which gives Madrid a solid shot. The city has fallen short of the podium a couple times lately, and the Spanish have some influence in the IOC, for sure. And, except for Istanbul, they have no Europe rival to deal with on the 2020 ballot. That's a big help.

The vote will take place in September, 2013.

Of course, there's something of an interest in this in Toronto, where some folks still are dreaming of a 2024 Summer Olympic bid. There's no North American city in the bidding for 2020 (as expected). Which means the door remains wide open for North America to get the Summer Games for the first time since 1996 in Atlanta, which seems like decades ago. (Wait a minute. It WAS decades ago).

The 2024 bids should be due in about four years. That gives a little time for the city of Toronto to prove itself with the 2015 Pan American Games.

Given the incredible costs of the Olympics, however, I can't see Ontario's finances - or those of the city - improving soon enough for a 2024 bid. I know Mayor Rob Ford likes these sort of things, and I see his point. The Olympics are great for city-building if done right and on budget. But a bid would have to start organizing in the next year or two to make it to the official 2024 bid stage, and the Ontario government almost certainly would have to backstop the thing. Given that massive warning shot fired across Queen's Park's bow yesterday about reduced growth and the need to slash spending, I don't think Ontario politicians are going to be too quick to embrace a Toronto Olympic bid. I could be wrong, but I think right now the optics would be just shy of terrible...

FRANKFURT AIRPORT CANCELLATION WOES

More than 1,000 flights could be disrupted today as workers strike at Frankfurt airport.

And trade union GdF is calling for another day of walkouts on Friday from the marshalling staff - airport workers who guide planes in and out, the website travelmole.com reported.

Quoting Reuters news reports, they said Lufthansa has cancelled nearly 100 flights including its London to Frankfurt service.

Its website said: "Lufthansa regrets any inconvenience to Lufthansa passengers caused by the threatened strike measures by the GdF union and will do its utmost to minimise impacts on passengers. Passenger support and service has paramount priority."

Let's hope this isn't a sign of things to come in Europe....

QANTAS MAKING OVERSEAS CUTS

Also from travelmole comes a report that Qantas is cutting 500 jobs, closing two international routes and reducing capacity on some domestic routes.

It follows the airline’s profits being hit by an industrial dispute and rising fuel costs. Qantas today reported an 83% fall in net profit to $42 million for the six months to the end of December, blaming a $194 million cost from industrial action and the grounding of its fleet, and a $444 million increase in fuel prices.

Qantas will withdraw from the loss-making Sydney-Mumbai and Auckland-Los Angeles routes, and reduce capacity on a range of routes including Sydney-Bangkok, Sydney-Perth and Melbourne-Perth by using smaller aircraft. The loss of the Qantas link from Los Angeles to Auckland is sure to be a blow to the tourism folks in New Zealand.....

Funky museum exhbits honour black leather jackets, art deco and Geronimo

Yeah, Las Vegas has the new Mob Museum (see Saturday's Star Travel sectionfor a full story). But The Harley-Davidson Museum in Milwaukee has something almost as cool; a tribute to the black leather jacket. The museum will look at its evolution beginning with its role to protect pilots and motorcyclists through its adoption by Hollywood celebrities, rock stars and others as a symbol of rebellion.

It will also look at its modern-day designs from fashion houses such as Jean Paul Gaultier and Gianni Versace. There will be more than 100 artifacts during the exhibit's run, including jackets worn by Elvis Presley and Taylor Lautner of the “Twilight” series.

“Worn to be Wild: The Black Leather Jacket” starts June 16.

I was stunned to see that the blurb on the museum's website doesnt' mention The Fonz from Happy Days. I mean, aaaayyyyy, the show was SET IN MILWAUKEE, GUYS!

In case you haven't been, Milwaukee's a fine town. Great pubs, terrific food, nice shopping and plenty of culture in a city that doesn't take itself too seriously...

ART DECO OUT WEST

Things are a little more high-brow – and feminine - in Vancouver. More than 66 women’s garments from these and other leading designers from the 1920s and 30s will be featured in a new Museum of Vancouver exhibition, “Art Deco Chic: Extravagant Glamour Between the Wars,” opening March 8.

The high fashion designs include a black beaded gown worn to the opening of the Commodore Cabaret in Vancouver in 1929, and a red and gold evening dress depicting the battles of the Trojan War. Accessories such as handbags, hats, shoes and jewelry will also be featured in the exhibition, which will run until September. www.museumofvancouver.ca.

GERONIMO! IN ARIZONA

A new exhibit at the Heard Museum in Phoenix, “Beyond Geronimo: The Apache Experience,” draws on that warrior’s fame while also exploring less familiar stories of other Apaches.

The exhibit isn’t all weapons and military history. Visitors will see that Geronimo also was a family man and a showman who capitalized on his name recognition. He was permitted to make public appearances, selling the buttons off his shirt at train stops where people gathered to see Apaches, and autographed postcards, bows and other items at parades and the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis.

“Beyond Geronimo: The Apache Experience,” runs through Jan. 20, 2013.

AIRLINES ON TIME?

I’m sure nobody who flies actually believes it, but the biggest airlines in the U.S. did one of their best jobs ever in terms of getting passengers and their bags to their destinations on time. Transportation Department stats on the biggest 16 U.S. airlines shows 79.6 per cent of flights arrived at gates within 15 minutes of their scheduled time during 2011; the fourth highest for any year in the 17 years with comparable numbers. Perhaps due to weather, airlines had their best December in 17 years, with 84.4 per cent of flights landing on time.

Stats show 99.7 per cent of fliers got their bags on time, which PROVES that this survey could not have included Pearson.

 

 

Awesome food right here in T.O. for a Family Day staycation...Travel News

Finally got a chance on the weekend to find out what the fuss about Burger's Priest is all about.

The new shop on Yonge St. north of Lawrence is close to my home, so I got there at 11:45 a.m. for a noon opening. There were only two people in front of me at the time, although there probably were 25 folks in line when they opened the doors.

Having read all the stories, I was a tad confused about the ordering procedure. I knew they have all sorts of weird orders you can make with names like the Tower of Babel (see photo) or the Vatican Intrigue (oh, wait, that's today's front page). But I just wanted a simple cheeseburger with the only civilized things to put on a burger; mustard, onions and pickles. I waited a few seconds and placed my order for the cheesburger, fries and a chocolate shake. Grand total: a little less than $15. Grand result: sheer heaven.

It took a few minutes for the burger to get made, but that's a good thing as it was as fresh as can be; juicy and moist and absolutely dead-on wonderful. Apparently they only use salt and pepper, but either they cook these things at the lord's optimal temperature or it's the best beef on the planet, because it's an incredible hamburger. Not in that "oh, my god can you believe this taste" kind of way; just in a "wow, they really nailed a perfect, simple hamburger" kind of way. Which is probably tougher.

The bun wasn't anything special but the whole experience was, well, satisfying as hell. Great fries. I thought my chocolate shake was a bit sweet/syrupy and I'd personally only give it an 8 out of 10, despite being thick and rich. The fries are an 8.8 or maybe a 9, but the burger is a 9.7 out of 10. Seriously, the only one I've had that's better is at a place called Val's in Hayward, California, near where I grew up. Val's does a burger on an open flame and they're much bigger and just a tad browned on the outside. A Val's milkshake is a beautiful thing, but their fries are far too chunky to merit a good score unless you get them extra crispy.

Anyway, 2,500 miles is a long way to go for a hamburger. So get thyself to Queen East or Yonge and Lawrence and check out Burger's Priest. Just don't try it on a Sunday as they're closed for church.

I also recently got around to checking out Pizzeria Libretto on Ossington Ave. and thought it was dynamite. On Mondayand Friday they had a fixed lunch prix deal with a pizza, choice of caprese or arugula salad and either biscotti or gelato for $15.

They do simple (mostly) pizzas and cook them for just 90 seconds in a 900 degree pizza oven. The crust is thin and bubbled and perfectly singed and the sauce is great. I tried a strange style with applewood-smoked lamb bacon. A touch too gamey, I'd say, but quite good.

The arugula salad comes with walnuts, shaved parmesan and sliced pears and is just outstanding.

I loved the homemade chili oil you can put on your bread or pizza. I asked but they don't sell it. Instead, a young woman (the service is outstanding) got a small jar and filled it up for me to take home. No charge.

A great street in Toronto and a dynamite spot for pizza.

IGUANAS AND SCOTLAND AND BACKPACKERS AND AIRLINE FOOD ... TOURISM NEWS FROM HERE AND THERE

Sounds crazy, but Puerto Rico has something of a green iguana problem. Seems the lizards are multiplying like rabbits and dashing to and fro around the airport in San Juan, causing delays and forcing an eradication program, as they have few natural predators. The critters can grow to 1.8 meters long and live for 20 years. Some folks hope to harvest them and sell the meat in the United States, although I have no idea who goes to the Piggly Wiggly and orders up iguana tenderloin...Travelmole reports that Lufthansa "enjoyed a record breaking year in 2011, carrying more passengers to and from the UK & Ireland than ever before." It's said the biggest increase was in Scotland, where the new service between Aberdeen and Frankfurt saw passenger numbers grow by more than 25%. Dublin and Birmingham also saw significant increases...Sounds a bit counter-intuitive but research by the TNT Travel Show found that backpackers prefer word-of-mouth recommendations (just like me back in Europe in 1979, prior to the Internet) over online reviews. Research of more than 1,000 youths found that most 18-35 year olds don't use online reviews so much because, and this makes sense, they leave their smartphones at home. Sounds like they check out online reviews and such at Internet terminals, but most are smart enough to leave their expensive iPhones with Mom and Dad while they stay overnight in crowded hostels. I think it's a good idea to take a cheap cell phone for text messaging or emergency calls, but I wouldn't recommend young folks take expensive smartphones on a backpacking trip...According to a study by University of Manchester and Unilever, folks think the airline with the best food in world is Turkish Airlines. In second place was Singapore Airlines, while Etihad took third place ahead of Aer Lingus and Emirates in fifth place. The next five places, in order, were taken by Cathay Pacific, KLM. Qantas, Aeroflot and Air France. American Airlines occupied last place in the table, below Lufthansa and Alitalia. I didn't see where Air Canada fit in, if it was even included in the survey, that is.

Trashiest Spring Break spots ... Buffalo/Niagara airport growing... Greece riots

Here's a nice way to start your week: a list of the 10 trashiest spots in the U.S. (sorry) for spring break, as chosen by Coedmagazine.com. Too bad it isn't more inclusive, but, then again, nobody goes on spring break to Edmonton or Quebec City.

The magazine website, which I don't think will be confused any time soon with The Walrus or even Time Magazine,  has ranked the most popular U.S. spring break destinations by their degree of trashiness (which is a GOOD thing, apparently), taking into account such as things as strip clubs, liquor stores, tattoo parlours and Hooters franchises, that wonderful bastion of taste and food quality. Here's the list, courtesy of USA Today's website

1. Las Vegas -- "…home of gambling, strip clubs, and anything else you can buy with money."

2. Key West, Fla. -- "During the high spring break season, open container laws are not enforced…" Don't miss the clothing-optional Garden of Eden bar.

3. South Padre Island, Texas – "How can it get any trashier than South Padre, a beach that essentially exists for the sole purpose of having wild parties?"

4. Daytona Beach, Fla. – "According to the Orlando Sentinel, Daytona Beach has become the 'undisputed party capital for underage drinkers'. "

5. Myrtle Beach, S.C. – "South Myrtle (the trashier side) is run by three defining places: the beach, Broadway on the Beach, and the strip clubs."

6. Miami Beach -- "The Jersey Shore went here. Plus, it's probably one of two places where you can wear a shiny button-down shirt, rent a Lambo, and wear white pants ... "

7. Panama City Beach, Fla. – "Take a trip down to the beach in your pickup and make sure to have lawn chairs and coolers in the back – only poor people walk in Panama City."

8. Fort Myers, Fla. – Head for Lana Kai, "an older, run-down area of the beach that is perfect for hosting the daily 'booty contests' that happen during high-season."

9. Lake Havasu City,Ariz. —"… chicks with humongous fake implants wearing tassels on a couple dinghies in a lake …"

10. San Diego -- "…most of the people who live in the San Diego area head to other destinations for spring break, but that just means the people left partying here are extra trashy."

Remember when Fort Lauderdale used to be up there on these lists? They've done a great job of turning that strip of Florida beach into something much nicer. I'm sure the hotel and condo owners appreciate the change, especially when it comes to clean-up time.

BUFFALO NIAGARA AIRPORT CHALLENGING PEARSON

The Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority, which runs the Buffalo Niagara International Airport, is planning to spend $406 million to fix up the terminal, airfield and parking facilities, according to the Buffalo News. And it's not necessarily because of a Buffalo travel boom.

Back in 1997, studies show a mere eight per cent of cars in the parking lot had Ontario license plates. These days it's more like 40 per cent, officials told the News.

Someone I work with told me the other day he and his wife and two children found flights to Orlando from Buffalo/Niagara for something like $250. They had to drive over the border and spend $160 or something for a hotel in Buffalo, but they figured it was better to go through customs with their kids in the backseat in their pajamas than to run the gauntlet at Pearson and go through x-ray machines and such, and they got free parking at the hotel. Plus, you don't have to get to Buffalo Niagara as early for a flight as you do at Pearson, so even the two-hour drive isn't so bad.

I'm sure they saved a pretty decent amount of hassle and undoubtedly saved hundreds of dollars, if not close to $1,000.

The News story said NFTA and its consultants now envision about 8 million travelers per year by 2030 -- a major spurt from 5.4 million in 2011.

GREECE RIOTS NOT HELPING TOURISM

We carried an item in the Star the other day about how rates for hotels in Greece were down as much as 10 or even 20 per cent in some places. All those images of burning buildings in Athens aren't going to help the country's tourism image, so you have to wonder if there might, sadly, be more deals to come.

A report I read this morning suggested there were riots in Corfu and Crete, as well. Generally the smaller islands such as Mykonos and Santorini seem to get spared this sort of thing. If troubles ever spread to those tourist spots, Greece will REALLY have travel problems.