Brits aiming to leave town for 2012 Olympics...Airline serving lemon drizzle cake!

I spotted something on travelmole.com today that made me think, and that's not always easy, folks.

The story said that a study found nearly four million adults in the UK plan to flee Britain during the Summer 2012 Olympics, which start July 27 next year. Another four million, to be fair, will stay in the UK specifically because of the Games.

And that's damned smart, if you ask me. Anyone who's been lucky enough to go to the Olympics, and I've covered the last six for the Star, will tell you it's sheer magic. People congregate all over town and sit together and cheer for athletes they've never heard of. They meet folks wearing funny costumes (see accompanying photo, courtesy of Macleans) and drink a little too much and generally have a wonderful time.

And the host city is almost always easier to get around in than during non-Olympic periods. When the Games were in L.A. in 1984, they said you could drive across town in half an hour - even less if you were being chased by a white Bronco.

The atmosphere in Vancouver after the Winter Games ended last year was absolutely marvellous; one of the highlights of my life.

The survey also found that only 37% of UK residents felt positively about the Olympics, although the number in London was 46%.  However, only 48% of Londoners believe the event will have a positive impact on the economy, compared with 54% in the rest of the UK.

I've always believed it's silly to invest too much in the Olympics as a future economic boost. The truth is, they're all about having a big party and investing in things you normally wouldn't get around to and speeding up infrastructure that usually would take decades. (More like centuries in Toronto. It's a little known fact that John Graves Simcoe, when he was Lt. Governor back in the 1790s, proposed a light rail transit line from downtown to Pearson).

Barcelona is on everyone's list of cities to go to in Europe not because they held the Olympics per se but because they went WILD for infrastructure and created beautiful parks and funky sculptures (see photo) and built beautiful bridges and SPENT MONEY to fix up the place. (Which brings up my personal memo #17 to Rob Ford - you have to SPEND MONEY and INVEST IN YOUR CITY if you want things to improve. Nobody goes to Barcelona because they cut taxes and have a balanced budget).

So, my advice, for what it's worth, is for Brits to stay home and enjoy the party in 2012. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to let loose and party like it's 1999.

LEMON CAKE? SIGN ME UP!!!!

Also spotted on the travel wires this morning was an item at businesstraveller.com that said BMi airlines was doing something extremely radical and ADDING SERVICE to their flights. What a concept!

Apparently, folks on select flights will get Victoria sponge cakes, carrot cake (hopefully without nuts) or, even better, lemon drizzle cakes. I've never tried a Victoria sponge cake, but anything with lemon has to be pretty good. And it's cake, folks. Cake!

I have a nephew who doesn't like cake. Personally, I don't think he'd recognize Margaret Atwood on the street, either. And I think he's crazy.

I adore a good piece of cake. Coffee cake with cinnamon and crunchy crumble stuff is absolutely divine, and you simply can't beat a good chocolate cake, especially if you follow your father's lead and ask your server (my Mom did this for my Dad and deserves sainthood for it, I think) to put the part with the icing on top facing outward to your left, so that when you eat the cake right to left your last bite has icing on two sides, if you get my drift.

The Business Traveller story had comments from readers. One funny guy, danwolf, wrote the following:

"I'm glad I wasn't the only one who thought of Mary Antoinette when I saw that flexi economy passengers will be allowed to eat cake...I'm sure it will only be offered once the plastic vacuumed bread rolls have run out."

Another chap wondered about the cake and wrote, "Is it off with their heads for overweight baggage?"

Nice.

 

 

 

 

 

Of those surveyed, only 4% of the UK successfully purchased tickets, with only one in 10 Londoners managing to get their hands on the biggest ticketed event the country has seen in many years.

London 2012 Summer Olympics just a year away...Is it the world's best big city?

London Mayor Boris Johnson is inviting the world to come to his city next year for an "amazing summer in the world's best big city" as the city of Big  Ben and Notting Hill and the British Museum stages the 2012 Summer Olympics.

There's a big ceremony planned today with International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge, who seems stiff but who I can attest from many interviews over the years is not a bad guy.

The press release I got today from the London 2012 folks certainly waxed poetic:

"Whether visitors are attending a 2012 Games event or just here to soak up the atmosphere of the host city, everyone will have the chance to join Londoners in enjoying this unique moment in the capital's history, in particular by watching the world's greatest athletes in action on large screens at ‘Live Sites’ planned for Hyde Park, Victoria Park, Trafalgar Square and Potters Fields Park. The sites will play host to a fantastic programme of free entertainment including concerts, cultural and artistic performances and exhibitions to showcase London and the UK to the world.

"London is also putting on a vast array of other entertainment for visitors, from street festivals to special programmes in its unrivalled cultural institutions, as well as spectacular makeovers of its town centres and iconic landmarks. This is in addition to the multitude of attractions which are part of London's everyday appeal, from its museums and historic sites to its restaurants and premier shopping venues that millions of tourists visit London for every year.

The Mayor will deploy an army of 8,000 London Ambassadors, who will be on standby to help visitors find their way around and make the most of their time in the capital. He has also announced plans to recruit 10,000 adult volunteers to take part in the official opening and closing ceremonies to ensure that they are a resounding success.

With the 2012 Games already providing a massive £2 billion boost to the capital’s economy, around 25,000 workless people securing jobs, £30 million being channelled into grassroots sport and the transformation of east London continuing apace, the Mayor will also tell the world that the legacy of 2012 is already unfolding.

Johnson said: "A year from today the curtain will be lifted on the London Games and I call on the world to come and enjoy what will be the greatest party that London, indeed the planet, has ever seen. Our stunning venues are almost all complete on time and under budget, and the impact of the Games on this great city of ours is being felt on many fronts. Visitors to London next year will find the atmosphere electrifying, whether they are soaking up the sporting spectacle in the Olympic Park or enjoying the many fantastic events and attractions across the capital. We are set to welcome the world for the best Games in history.”

That, of course, remains to be seen. I suspect the Brits will have a tough time beating the sheer, lunatic vibrancy and energy of the Sydney Games, which were the first I covered for the Star. But they'll certainly surpass the quiet Salt Lake and Turin Winter Games of 2002 and 2006, and they can't help but be more organized than the Athens 2004 folks. They'll also certainly have more soul than the Beijing Summer Olympics, which went off without a hitch but suffered from a lack of community participation. Technically superb but soul-less, they were. I suspect the Brits will be just as gung-ho as Canadians were at the Vancouver Games (if not the NHL playoffs). Watching fans parade about on Robson and Granville after the gold medal hockey game (see photo) was the highlight of the Vancouver Olympics for me.

I must admit that, from a personal standpoint, I'm in something of a melancholy mood. I have organized the Toronto Star's coverage of the Olympics for the last six go-arounds, starting with Sydney and finishing with Vancouver in 2010. But I don't work in sports any longer and I thought it was time to let someone else do the quarterbacking at the Games, as well as filing all those damned web stories for hour upon hour and filling in on news stories and attending press conferences.

Most of my time at the Olympics is spent watching events on a silent TV (if there's too much noise nobody could work), then recording the results and looking over official Olympic press releases for "flash quotes" from winning athletes and then filing quick, "game-over" stories for the Star's web site so we could beat the competition with short, colourful stories on our medals - or near-misses or, yes, complete flops.

We did a nice job, thanks in part to a lot of hard work from tireless web folks at 1 Yonge St.; especially guys such as Spencer Walsh. And I had huge support from Star management and from the Star's team of Olympic reporters; seasoned professionals such as the peerless Randy Starkman and incredibly talented Dave Perkins (since departed from full-time employment at the mother ship) and tireless columnist Rosie DiManno.

The Star will have a great team in London but, barring something unforseen, I won't be part of it. I hope to do some run-up stories to the Games, however, and I'll certainly keep an eye on the results from across the pond. I'm looking forward to watching an event, then popping open a beer to celebrate a Canadian medal instead of madly dashing off three or four versions of a story and moving quickly on to the next one.

But I'll miss the energy and the excitement and the people and the sense that, for three weeks or so, I'm living at the news centre of the universe. I also will miss the occasional event I got to see (Beijing was best as I saw Usain Bolt in the 100 meter race and I saw Michael Phelps win his record swimming medal) and the opening and closing ceremonies, which were almost always beautiful and fun and, occasionally, baffling.

So indulge me while I post a photo taken of me by the wonderful Petti Fong at the Vancouver Olympics' closing ceremony. It was a great way to finish off a great Olympics career.

IS LONDON THE BEST BIG CITY IN THE WORLD?

On a side note, I kinda wonder about that first sentence in the press release I got from the London 2012 folks. Nothing wrong with wanting to Own the Podium, as it were, but to jump out and state boldly that London is "the world's best big city" is a bit of hyperbole.

I love London. I love the markets and the sensibility and the tube and the gardens and Big Ben and Russell Square and red telephone booths and much more. But, honestly, I don't think it has the flair of Paris or the power of New York or the late-night excitement and design sense of Barcelona or the physical setting of Sydney or Vancouver or the "living on the edge" feel you get in San Francisco.

Still, it's right up there. So maybe later this week I'll have a bit of fun and do my own personal ranking....

 

Lonely Planet travel awards recognize Tokyo, Barrier Reef, Rio, Reggae, Rum

It's perilously close to year-end, folks. I mean, I hate to say it, but Christmas is only two months and a week away. They're already getting the Christmas ornaments ready at some of the malls, I bet. Anyhoo, year-end also means travel awards are being collected/doled out by a number of publications. Lonely Planet Magazine and lonelyplanet.com just put out their first-ever awards, and it makes for some interesting reading.

Rather than simply listing the top 100 hotels or some such, which is fine, they changed the categories around a bit and got folks to list such items as their "greatest outdoors experience," greatest food experience" and favourite place to relax." It makes for a more interesting read, I think, so good on ya guys. Here's a rundown of some of the category winners and runners-up, with a few thoughts from yours truly.

"Most Incredible Journey": This award, not surprisingly, went to the Trans-Siberian Railroad, followed by driving a 4x4 along the Silk Road from Uzbekistan to China, Cruising the Amazon, Taking an overland truck from Cairo to Cape Town (people DO that?) and driving the Pacific Coast Highway from L.A. to San Francisco. I'm a big fan of the latter, but an Amazon cruise would be far more interesting and incredible as a cultural experience. More than taking a train across Siberia, too, I would think. But likely with more bugs and sharp-toothed piranhas in the water than the train trip.

"Greatest Food Experience" Eating a steak in Buenos Aires. Now, I'm told that they have great steaks in Argentina. My fellow travel department guy, Adrian Brijbassi, is going soon and will report back. But it's still a steak, guys. Can't we be a bit more adventurous? Number two was Pad Thai at a place called Chote Chitr in Bangkok, which sounds more up my alley. I actually make a decent Pad Thai at home, if I do say so myself. After that was sushi at the Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo, which I did for breakfast two weeks ago. It was unbelievably good. And, of course, remarkably fresh. Definitely a memorable experience.

"Greatest Sporting Experience" The Monaco Grand Prix came out on top, and I'm thoroughly baffled. This might anger some friends of mine in the Wheels section, but I can think of almost nothing in the world more stultifyingly dull than watching a car race. I guess if you're gonna do it, though, at least have the common sense to do it in Monaco versus Indianapolis or on the Toronto lakefront. Second was the Rugby World Cup, but I think we have to keep in mind that this magazine is based on England and we all know how crazy they are when it comes to sporting choices. Their number three choice was Wimbledon tennis (blatant homers!), then a football match at Camp Nou in Barcelona (great town) and, finally, The Olympic Games. Not sure that's the message Brits want to be sending out in advance of the London Summer Olympics in 2012, but there you go. And where's the World Cup on the list? They're bidding for the darned thing and it's not in Britons' top five sporting events? I'd take the Olympics over any of those. Camp Nou would be a close second. But I'd personally prefer the British Open Golf, having never had the pleasure. Many folks, of course, would rather watch a toenail-clipping contest than watch golf, so I understand if some of you are reaching for the telephone to harangue me about being impossibly middle-class and boring.

"Greatest Historical Experience" Tops was climbing the Mayan temples of Tikal, followed by touring the pyramids of Egypt, visiting the Taj Mahal, listing to Aboriginal stories around a camp fire in the Australian outback and exploring the Angkor temples of Cambodia. Hard to argue with any of those.

"Event You'd Most Like to Attend" Carnival in Rio topped the list, followed by Chinese New Year in Hong Kong.

"Greatest Cultural Experience" Reggae on the beach in Jamaica topped the charts, follwed by ballet at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia. I'm not a ballet fan but I did see a performance once at the Bolshoi in Moscow when I was there for Toronto's losing campaign for the 2008 Summer Olympics. I sat in the audience with Star sports columnist Dave Perkins and Vladimir Putin walked right past us. I was afraid to breathe, to be honest. Truly scary. But a wonderful thing to say I saw a performance at the Bolshoi.

"Greatest Outdoors Experience" Swimming the Great Barrier Reef in Australia topped the charts. Makes sense, although when I did it in 2000 I must've had a bad tour guide as we didn't really see that many interesting fish. Numbers two to five went to trekking to Everest Base Camp in the Himalayas, husky-sledding in Lapland, Sweden, climbing Mt. Fuji in Japan and hot-air ballooning over Cappadocia, Turkey.

"Greatest Place for a Drink" went to drinking a mojito (ugh, nasty things; I'll take a mai tai over a mojito) at Bodeguita del Medio in Havana, Cuba, while "Favourite Place to Relax" was Ko Kood in Thailand, followed by a treehouse in Costa Rica and a farmhouse villa in Tuscany (see photo).

"Greatest Wildlife Encounter" went to watching gorillas at Mgahinga National Park in Uganda, followed by checking out the "big five" animals on a safari in Kenya, seeing giant tortoises in the Galapagos Islands, visiting orangutans in Indonesia and...the only mention I could see of Canada in the whole shooting match...seeing the polar bears in Churchill, Manitoba. A close sixth for greatest wildlife encounter was Rob Ford and George Smitherman in a ring full of jello.

Being a British publication, they asked for the most underrated British day out. Winning that category was "walking Scotland's wild beaches." Next was exploring British cities in August when workers are on holiday, and doesn't that just end any thoughts you might of Brits being dull???

The Lonely Planet folks also did some fun categories, including "You Wouldn't Go There If We Paid You," which was topped by checking out an all-inclusive resort in Benidorm, Spain. (Sounds about right if you've ever listened to the Monty Python travel agent sketch, and if you haven't you should).

Finally, and here's the segueway you've all been waiting for, readers were asked the person they'd most like to travel with. Topping the list was Michael Palin, currently a travel TV guy and formerly a Monty Python guy (who played the travel agent in the sketch I mentioned, I believe). The next four were Stephen Fry, Joanna Lumley, Charley Boorman and Simon Reeve.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sydney Olympics celebrates ten year anniversary. This makes me feel REAL old

They celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Sydney Olympics down in Australia the last couple days, complete with a re-lighting of the Olympic flame by star Olympian Cathy Freeman and Paralympian Louise Sauvage.

Hard to believe.

In some ways, it seems like yesterday that I was shipped down to Sydney to head up the Star's coverage of the 2000 Summer Olympics. I had never covered an Olympic Games before, but I was two years or so into being one of the associate editors in the Star's sports department, and I'd covered Toronto's bid for the 1996 Summer Olympics and been to a lot of Olympic meetings, so I guess that made me qualified.

It was the early days of the Internet for us at the Star, so I only did a few updates each day, as well as a fairly primitive blog. I don't think we even called it a blog. I think it was simply a notebook that we posted online with daily observations about the Olympics, Sydney and life in general in the five-ring fishbowl.

Most of the journalists were given sleeping quarters at the official media village, which was was on the grounds of a former hospital for the mentally ill (supply your own punch line about journalists here). But there wasn't room for little old me, so I was stationed in the allegedly wild King's Cross area in a hotel. I think it was called Top of the Cross, but I can't seem to find it on the Internet.

Anyway, it was a drag in some ways to walk to the train station, take a half hour train to the Olympic complex in Homebush and then walk another 15 minutes to the media centre, where I pretty much stayed from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. every day (a pattern that would repeat itself every two years, as I've now managed the Star's crew at six Olympics in a row). Yet it was also a blessing, as I didn't just hang around with journalists but got to see everyday Sydneysiders in action.

The hotel was fine, with great views of the Harbour Bridge. The area wasn't at all wild; kinda like a milder version of Yonge north of Dundas as I recall. No sweat.

What I really liked was the coffee shop at the bottom of my building, where I went for breakfast every morning. The wait staff was covered with tattoos and pierced body parts at a time when it wasn't quite so common, and they made a mean cappuccino and served great croissants. My wife came for part of the Games, and we quickly made friends with a young couple and their baby. The father was originally from, I think, Chatham, Ontario and was a cop in Sydney. I wish we'd stayed in touch, as they were great company and very welcoming.

I got a little sick of the chants of "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, oy, oy, oy" every day, but it was tons of fun to watch the Sydney folks embrace the games as only Australians (I thought at the time) could do. They celebrated every medal, even when it wasn't theirs, and kept up their spirits over a long haul.

I remember celebrating the start of the games with a night out in the Rocks district, drinking a few beers in the shadow of the Opera House. It was late at night and we ran into Paul Beeston's daughter down on the waterfront. Paul was then working for Major League Baseball, and for some reason Dave Perkins and Doug Smith (I think) and I thought it was wise to call him at 5 a.m. New York time and wish him a good morning. I doubt he recalls the incident as fondly, if at all.

Perkins, who recently retired from the Star but still, thankfully, writes one column a week, rode downtown with me on the subway that night. I remember a little old lady got on board the train and Dave literally jumped out of his chair to make sure the lady had a place to sit. I looked at him to suggest "Hey, nice move," but he just shook his head at me as if to say, "Don't tell anyone I'm such a nice guy." Good stuff.

I got to see a couple innings of baseball plus one swim race and a quarter of a USA basketball game with Vince Carter, but the rest of the time I kept an eye on things via the television. Not ideal, but I was in Australia, for goodness sakes, so no complaints.

My favourite memory actually involved an event I didn't even see. My wife had gone to, I think, a session of track and field one day and was sitting in the stands with a bunch of Aussies (duh). It was the day Daniel Nestor and Sebastian Lareau were playing for the gold medal in men's tennis, and they were taking on the Australian doubles team known as "the Woodies."

Tennis is pretty big in Australia, and everyone was rooting for the Woodies. One guy next to my wife was listening on his radio while he watched the track action. He'd been kidding her about Canada not winning much (there was a lot of that going around in Sydney), but then it was suddenly match point for the Canadians. He took the earphone out of his ear and handed it to my wife and said, "Hear, you listen. It's your gold medal."

She hasn't stopped loving Australians since that day.

I'm planning a trip in early November, and I can't wait to get back to see the Opera House. I got to hear the International Olympic Committee's opening session there in 2000, and it was spectacular. Maybe this time it'll be AC-DC. Nah, probably not.

Also can't wait to just hang around a bit and play tourist, as well as check out Bondi beach (see photo at left) and take one of the ferry boats in the harbour. I might even sip a little Barossa Valley cabernet and climb the Harbour Bridge, not necessarily in that order.

See ya soon, Sydney.

Toronto Olympic bid for 2020 just got tougher...Less tarmac wait times in U.S.

There's been the odd talk that Toronto's Pan Am Games work for 2015 is part of a desire to once again try for an elusive Olympic bid. The Big Smoke has been toasted twice before in Olympics competition, being humbled by Atlanta for 1996 and by Beijing in the voting for 2008.

It looked a while back as if a 2020 bid for North America would be a good bet, the Summer Games having last been here in Atlanta way back before the age of the Internet. But with the success of the World Cup in South Africa, there's renewed interest in the Olympics making a touchdown in the African continent for the first time ever.

I personally think South Africa should wait and see how the dust settles; maybe save a little money (how's THAT for a thought) and bid for 2024. But International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge today told Around the Rings, a very solid Olympics website, that he thinks South Africa should wade into the 2020 Summer Games battle.

Now, when an IOC president says he'd consider a bid from a certain city that carries a reasonable amount of weight. But when he more or less starts soliciting a bid, that's something else entirely.

"We would be delighted to receive a strong bid coming from Africa in general but from South Africa in particular," Rogge told ATR. "They already made a good bid with Cape Town in 1997 when they came a commendable third behind Athens and Rome. But they have the potential there's no doubt about that."

I don't think Toronto should try for the Olympics at all given the horrendous costs for these things, especially the security. We just had a rather nasty experience with securing a big event, and I sense little appetite to do anything remotely similar anytime soon. But if you ARE someone who wants to see the five-ring circus come to T.O., you might want to start thinking about something way off in 2024 cuz I think the fix already might be in for South Africa for 2020.

A vote on the 2020 Games should be held by the IOC in 2013, which means bid cities need to start organizing soon. It'll be interesting to see if any U.S. cities jump in.

Don't forget the Canadian Olympic Committee and its now Quebec-oriented management team is already kicking the ties for another Winter Olympic bid, possibly in 2022 for Quebec City.

U.S. PASSENGER PROTECTION RULES WORKING...TOO BAD ABOUT CANADA

May was the first full month that new U.S. government rules were in place to protect passengers from being stuck on airport tarmacs for too long. And, wouldn't you know it, flight delays were WAY down.

A new federal law down south says airlines have to let passengers off a plane if it's been stuck for more than three hours, or face a fine of up to $27,500 per passenger. Airlines cried about it, but figures show there were only FIVE such delays in May; the second-lowest monthly total in several years.  There were 268 such delays in June of 2009, said USA Today.

The airlines say good weather helped, but people who pushed for the law aren't buying it.

"This rule is a resounding success," said Kate Hanni of a group called FlyersRights.org.

Isn't it great to see a powerful government taking on the airlines in order to protect its citizens. Isn't that a concept? Well, don't expect it in Canada. Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government has shown ZERO interest in jumping out of the collective laps of the Canadian airline industry, and I get absolutely NO indication that's about to change.

Too bad there's no opposition leader who could point this out to ordinary Canadians....

 

Vancouver Olympic memories...Richard Branson arrives today...Iceland blog

You'd think that four months and a day after the glorious Vancouver Olympic Games ended, that chief organizer John Furlong would've had a day off.

Nope.

"Not yet," he said in a swing through a post-G20 Toronto today. "I'm hoping maybe this weekend."

Furlong was busy, of course, with the Paralympic Games in March. Since then, he's been advising folks in London about the 2012 Games and Sochi, Russia about the 2014 Winter Olympics. He's also chairman of the board of Own the Podium.

Today, however, he was in town mostly to talk about the massive and impressive official commemorative book of the Olympic Winter and Paralympic Winter Games, titled "With Glowing Hearts."

There's everything you can imagine, including breathtaking scenery and athlete shots, photos of the opening and closing ceremonies and shots of the amazing volunteers. There are mountains aglow with light. Some even have snow on them (sorry, John). There's a guy named Crosby waving a giant Canadian flag. There's Moir and Virtue and a tearful Joannie Rochette and Alex Bilodeau and Shaun White and Lauren Woolstencroft, who swept all five of her Paralympic alpine events for Canadian glory. And, yes, there's something on the Georgian luger who was killed early on, Nodar

There's also a photo of give guys standing at a urinal, with their jackets revealing the fact they were from Peru, Croatia, the U.S.A. and Mexico. I guess there's solidarity everywhere at the Olympics.

Oddly enough, Furlong said this marks the first time an organizing committee has put out a post-Games book. You'd think it was a natural after, say, the Sydney Games or even Salt Lake, but it didn't happen.

"We tried not to leave anything out," he said as he went through some favourite photos.

The book retails for $85. Proceeds are split between the publisher, the bookseller and VANOC, which is using the money to help balance its budget.

Furlong yesterday said he still expects a balanced budget, but no major operating profit from hosting the Games. The Games budget included a $110 million fund to help maintain the Richmond Oval for speedksating, the nordic venues in the Callaghan Valley and the Whistler sliding track.

Olympics ended four months ago yesterday; the Paralympics a few weeks later. The Vancouver organizing committee had 50,000 workers at the peak, and Furlong said he's now down to 20. Not thousand. Twenty.

"We have a few more contracts to deal with and we have to do a proper audit and prepare a final report for the International Olympic Committee."

Furlong is now heading up the Own the Podium program, which helped Canada top the gold medal standings in Vancouver. He's trying to keep that going for Sochi, Russia in 2014 and to boost Canada's performance at the Summer Games in London in 2012.

"We want to be a contender in most sports," he said. "We haven't won a team medal at the summer Games in six decades."

To improve Canada's standings, Furlong and OTP are going to need corporate funding. They did quite well with Vancouver, but London and Sochi will be tougher sells. He also realizes the competition will be very tough.

"Every country is doing the same thing as us," he said, noting that Russia, in particular, wants to improve on a disappointing result in Vancouver.

Vancouver had 14 venues, but Sochi has 70 projects under construction, Furlong said, and they stretch over a 135-kilometre-long area.

"I think they'll get it done. Failure is not an option. This is about the face of Russia in this century."

Furlong said he expected a few dozen letters from Canadians after the Games. Instead, he said he received thousands. One of his favourites was from a couple who wanted to rent out their B and B in Squamish, B.C. They thought they had rented to some folks from Switzerland, so they festooned their place in red and white and brought in Swiss flags.

When the tenants arrived for the Games, they were Germans. It wasn't necessarily a problem, but the owners had relatives in the World Wars and had something of a history with Germany.

"By the end, they were good friends and exchanged keys. She told me the Games had removed hatred from her family's home."

Furlong said he expects Vancouver to get its Canadian face back on this week for Canada Day. That's the day they'll officially open Jack Poole Plaza on the waterfront; the plaza named after the guy who got Vancouver's bid off the ground some 10 years ago. It should be great, but it might not rival the feeling in the streets four months ago.

Furlong laughs when he talks about how Canadians went so wild in the streets and how he remembers talking to folks in China about the lack of people walking through the Olympic park in Beijing on a daily basis.

"I asked someone one day why they didn't open the doors and he told me, "Everyone would've come.' I guess in China, that's a lot of people."

VIRGIN AMERICA TAKES OVER THE THOMPSON

Should be a pretty good bash at the new Thompson Hotel in Toronto tonight. Virgin America chief Richard Branson and a bunch of celebrities were due to arrive on the tarmac at Pearson Airport today, then make their way downtown for a rooftop party under the (potentially chilly) stars.

I mentioned the other day that it was going to be interesting to see how Air Canada responds. I got a note from the good folks at AC the other day to remind me that they earlier added new services from Toronto to Orange County, as well as San Diego (which started June 17). They've also boosted service to San Francisco to five flights a day and brought in lie-flat suites in Executive First service on select flights to Los Angeles.

Capacity is to be increased 51 per cent between Toronto and California this year, compared to last, officials said.

LINDA BARNARD IN ICELAND

Star entertainment writer Linda Barnard, always good for some laughs and travel insights, is making her presence felt in Reykjavik. And apparently standing in both Europe and North America at the same time. You can check her out by clicking on this link. Keep up the good work, Linda.

Here's a tip - a Chicago hotel without tips...Little Mermaid to China...Rising dollar...

As a frequent traveler who spends a lot of time scrambling for dollar bills - or fives - I like this idea.

The Elysian Hotel in Chicago, which opened in the Windy City last year, has adopted a no-tipping policy, according to the Wall Street Journal.

"I haven't seen (a policy like this) anyplace else," said Joe McInerney, president and chief executive officer of the American Hotel and Lodging Association.

McInerney pointed out that visitors likely would love it, but what about doormen and bellhops?

A spokeswoman for the Elysian Hotel said employees get good paycheques and benefits, suggesting they don't need tips. Perhaps, but I bet they wouldn't mind. The spokeswoman said employees are told to decline tips when first suggested, but that visitors who insist on being generous won't be turned down. In which case it seems to me a lot of folks will make out all right.

The Euros will love it; they don't tip much in North America, folks say. But I'd find it hard not to leave money for a cleaning person or someone who helps with my bags.

LITTLE MERMAID SWIMS TO CHINA

Google might not think much of China these days. But the Danes seem to be in a pretty big hurry to impress the Chinese people.

It seems that the Little Mermaid statue, which is the number one tourist attraction in Denmark (pretty funny when you think about it), has been uprooted from her usual spot off the city's waterfront and is being sent lock, stock and barrel to Shanghai, where Denmark will have a pavilion at the coming World Expo 2010.

The 5-foot (1.5-meter) landmark, which honors the memory of Danish fairy tale writer Hans Christian Andersen, was lifted by a crane and lowered onto the back of a truck at a ceremony in the Danish capital, Associated Press reports.

"The temporary move is controversial in Denmark, where some considered it disrespectful to ship a cultural treasure halfway across the globe as a PR tool. Critics suggested the government should have sent a copy to China — an idea dismissed by Christopher Bo Bramsen, Danish commissioner-general for Expo 2010."

Thanks to Reuters for the nice photo.

Makes me wonder what Canada will do for Shanghai. The Canadian pavilion - I saw it briefly a couple weeks ago - looks nice enough from the outside. But if they want a Canadian iconic symbol, do you think we could ship the CN Tower to Shanghai? If so, do you think we could convince the Chinese to keep it?

CUBA TRAVEL BAN...ENDING SOON FOR AMERICANS?

U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan said he will bring a bill to lift the ban on travel to Cuba to the Senate floor this summer and that more than 60 Senators will vote for it. The North Dakota Democrat spoke today by telephone from Washington to a conference of Cuban and American tourist industry representatives in Cancun, Mexico.

I know things have changed in the U.S. under President Barack Obama, but I'll believe this when I see it....

LEAPING LOONIE PUTS EUROPE ON SALE

I've mentioned in this space a couple times lately how the Mighty Canadian Dollar (MCD for short) has been rising up the charts and how affordable European holidays have suddenly become. But credit to the Star's Madhavi Acharya-Tom Yew for pulling it all together in today's Star business section.

Yew quoted Sean Shannon of Expedia.ca as saying there's been a "steady, strong growth to a wide variety of markets across Europe."

Melanie Paul-Hus of Atout France, the French Tourist Agency based in Montreal, was telling me the same thing Wednesday night at a reception at the ROM, explaining how folks are finding not only great values within France on their own, but a great deal given the strength of the loonie.

I hadn't realized the Euro had dropped to something like $1.40 vs. the Canadian dollar. The British Pound is way down at $1.55 or so.

Over the past two years, Yew reported, the loonie has moved up 50 per cent against the British pound and 14 per cent against the euro, touching record highs.

"The pound averaged around $1.79 Canadian during the summer of 2009 but it was worth only $1.55 Canadian by March, the Conference Board of Canada noted in its latest five-year travel forecast for Europe," Yew wrote.

Against the euro, the Canadian dollar is at its highest level since January 2006. Last summer, the euro was worth $1.57 Canadian. That declined to $1.40 Canadian in March.

VANCOUVER DINING DEAL

Dine Out Vancouver, Tourism Vancouver's eighth annual promotion, starts April 26 and runs for 11 days. Visitors can sample three-course dinner menus at more than 200 restaurants, with prices set at $18, $28 or $38, not including taxes, alcohol and tips (too bad they're not at the Elysian Hotel in Chicago or there'd be no tipping).

The restaurants will be revealed April 19, after which consumers can make reservations online at tourismvancouver.com.The tourism folks also have created a dine-and-stay deal with a dozen partner hotels. Packages start at $169 and include a one-night stay and a three-course Dine Out Vancouver meal for two.Those packages can be arranged prior to April 19, so check it out at www.tourismvancouver.com. Among hotels taking part are the Wedgewood Hotel and Spa (with the Bacchus Restaurant) and the Fairmont Pacific Rim (Oru Restaurant).

The Fairmont Pacific Rim opened just before the Winter Olympics. With the Games (sadly) over, the Fairmont Pacific Rim has a plan with rates beginning at $229. The Fairmont Chateau Whistler has a "Bronze Package" with one night accomodation, daily breakfast and a $100 activity credit for skiing or other sports. Rates start at $495 per night.Fairmont has tons of other deals at properties ranging from St. Andrews in Scotland to the Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club in Africa, as well as Le Manoir Richelieu in Quebec - a spot I quite enjoyed on a golf trip a couple years ago.

Taking advantage of the Olympics...West Jet aims high...Jim's Deals of the Day

SAN FRANCISCO - Out here on some personal business and didn't have a chance to do any touring. But I was struck this morning when I looked at a note about how the Canadian Tourism Commission is hoping to take advantage of the good feelings left around the world by the Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games.

It's funny. I got to play nine holes of golf on Saturday at my favourite little municipal course, Willow Park in suburban Castro Valley, and the guy there who knows me gave me a thumbs-up as my Dad and I checked  in on a glorious, sunshine-filled day. "Great job you guys did at the Olympics," said the young guy behind the counter.

I can hardly take credit for Vancouver/Whistler's general success, but his sentiment was genuine and I

had to admit it made me feel pretty good as a Canadian (and American; I have dual citizenship as my cousin Laura kinda reminded me on Sunday, giving me a verbal poke in the ribs for sometimes making fun of Americans in this space). Canada did a great job at the Games, and folks genuinely were moved.

There are few things in life as momentous as the Olympics. I remember being in Atlanta on our way to Florida in, I think, March of 2002 - just after the Salt Lake City Winter Games - when we stopped at a barbeque restaurant. The waiter, a good old boy from the south, asked where we were from. We answered Toronto and he nodded his head.

"Y'all done whupped us at the Ohh-lympics," he said, drawing out the Ohhhh in true southern style. He was referrring to the gold medal hockey game, of course.

Anyway, this morning I see that the Canadian Tourism Commission smartly wants to take advantage of the roughly three million eyeballs that checked us out over the past few weeks of Ohh-lympic action.

CTC officials today said they're launching a print, TV and online campaign that focusses on five major U.S. cities; Boston, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago. In addition to using Facebook, Twitter and other, on-line outlets, the CTC will do major magazine ads and front-page, "wrap-around" ads in the L.A. Times, San Francisco Chronicle, New York Times, Boston Globe and Chicago Tribune.

One of the many partners will be Tourism Toronto, which last week was trumpeting the announcement that Virgin America will start flying to Toronto from Los Angeles and San Francisco in June.

"I would wager that right now, Canada is the coolest national brand in the world and Vancouver is its signature," Tourism Vancouver president Rick Antonson said in today's Vancouver Sun. "But if we don't follow up [with more global marketing], that feeling could be gone in six months."

Tourism Vancouver will pluck hundreds of thousands of dollars from its reserves to pay for post-Games multimedia marketing campaigns in key North American markets over the next few months, the Sun

reported.

The Canadian Tourism Commission, which received an extra $26 million in federal funding in 2007 for Olympicrelated marketing, still has about half that money left and will spend it over the next two years, the Sun said.

"We're going to expand tactically driven sales and marketing campaigns to keep Canada front and centre in our core markets," said commission vice-president Susan Iris.

She noted the commission's consumer websites had a 120-per-cent increase in traffic during the Olympics and overseas tour operators reported a doubling and tripling in the number of inquiries about trips to Canada last month.

Iris feels strategic post-Games tourism marketing could increase the number of visits to Canada this year

but expects the real boost will come over a longer time frame.

"It was never an immediate impact strategy," she said. "It was always long term to ensure Canada is in the public eye for years to come."

WEST JET AIMING HIGH

New WestJet chief Gregg Saretsky says he wants to get to the point where his airline has half the domestic market.

"We're at 37 per cent now, so we think we'll grow that to 50 per cent or so," he told the Montreal Gazette.

Saretsky pointed to a number of new tactics that his company is using to take on the likes of Air Canada a and Air Transat, including package-tour vacations, the new frequent-flyer program and MasterCard deal with the Royal Bank and the coming codeshare agreements with other North American and European or Asian airlines. A deal with Southwest has been talked about for some time, and there were reports last week that WestJet wants to link with Virgin America. They're also doing deals with Air France/KLM and with China Airlines.

JIM'S DEALS OF THE DAY

$58 - Toronto to Fort Lauderdale, cheap non-stop return flight ($289 w/tax)
http://www.travelalerts.ca/ccount12/click.php?id=2791

 

From $51 per night - Save up to 30% off your hotel stay in sunny California
http://www.travelalerts.ca/ccount12/click.php?id=2790

 

$325 - Toronto to Manzanillo de Cuba, 1 week all-inclusive vacation ($535 w/tax)
http://www.travelalerts.ca/ccount12/click.php?id=2789

 

Shanghai rocks..Expo 2010..Spray toilets..Chinese censors..Jim's Deals of Day

SHANGHAI – It didn't take long to realize this is a very different city than Beijing. Coming in from the airport on the elevated highway, things didn’t look all that dissimilar. But a couple minutes later, as we cruised past narrow streets lined with plane trees and eager shoppers along Nanjing Rd., it was pretty obvious that Shanghai and Beijing are as different as Ottawa and Toronto.

Not that there’s anything wrong with Beijing or Ottawa, or that I mean to really compare vast Beijing with relatively puny Ottawa. They’re both fine spots in their own way. But Shanghai clearly pulses to a different beat than its northerly rival. It’s far more Western in style and attitude from what I’ve seen, and I haven’t had time yet to check either the Bund or the French Concession. Yet it’s still plenty Chinese, with its multitude of cyclists and narrow alleyways and temples and general sense of barely controlled frenzy.

My friendly and extremely helpful tour guide, Joshua, took the afternoon Wednesday to take me for a fine Szechuan lunch at the Chongqing Cygnet, then arranged a tour of the Expo 2010 site.
It’s still a bit – well, a lot – of a mess, with thousands upon thousands of workers breaking up rocks and planting trees and laying down landscaping and such. Some buildings look to be still under major construction, while other pavilions appear to have been finished for some time. Canada seems to be about average in terms of preparedness.

It’s a massive, massive site (5.28 square kilometers) and will take folks a good hour to walk from end to another; maybe more. And that’s only one side of the Hangpu River; there’s more on the other shore. I didn’t see any of the latest Expos, but the Chinese version, which starts May 1 and goes to the end of October, should return World’s Fairs to their formerly rightful place. If you think Beijing went big on the Olympics, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet. The China pavilion (see photo with folks having their picture taken) is lovely. And the Holland pavilion is shaped like a giant yellow tulip, which seems perfect.

The Shanghai tourism folks put me up for the night at the Pei Mansion, the former home of legendary architect I.M. Pei. It’s a stunning boutique property with just 25 rooms, a block off Nanjing Rd. but a world away with its lovely garden (not quite finished) and luxurious rooms.

They’ve added all the mod cons, of course, including a toilet that I still haven’t figured out. There appears to be a spray device for just about all your nether regions, not to mention a seat warmer and a dryer. These are not uncommon in Japan but I’d never used one before. Notwithstanding the toilet seat is automatic and seems to go up every time I walk past the toilet, it’s pretty interesting.

Mind you, they're only in the soft opening phase and there are some glitches. Nobody answered the phone when I called the front desk the first three times this morning to get my Internet fixed, and they just delivered my breakfast from room service. I asked for western style and they brought a tuna sandwich and a cafe latte with chocolate. A nice looking sandwich but that ain't breakfast anywhere in the west, folks.

Anyway, I can go find a croissant or something nearby, so no harm. And the rooms are awesome; a combination of Chinese design with French brocaids and dark, polished furniture that looks to be from the 1920’s or 1930’s Very solid and very quiet considering it's right between Nanijing Rd. and Beijing Rd. in a very busy part of town.

They have an acrobatic show in the north part of the city called ERA, partly designed by a Canadian who used to work with Cirque du Soleil, that’s pretty damned good. It combines traditional Chinese acrobatic work with some razzle-dazzle lighting and other effects and features everything from a guy who can toss huge, ceramic pots in the air and have them land safely on the back of his neck or his head, a series of acrobats who jump and tumble en masse through moving figure eight symbols and, at the end, eight lighted motorbikes roaring upside down, sideways and in all directions inside a small, metallic globe.
Pretty damned good.

There are, of course, drawbacks to working in China. I thought it might just be my Blackberry, but I couldn't use it to get onto Twitter yesterday. And I see now that Twitter won't come up on my laptop either. I remember at the Beijing Olympics I had to go into my virtual private network at the Star to read some sites the Chinese government didn't want me to see, so I can only imagine that they've put the kybosh to Twitter, as well. I've tried by VPN at the office but we're going through a system change and I can't get it to work, so no Tweets for me for a few days.

I did, however, send a photo to twitpic so I'll try doing that again and hope it works.

Got work to do and breakfast to find, folks, so that's it for now. I will leave you with one parting thought. In case you've never seen just how fancy an Asian toilet can be, here's what I get to choose from in terms of "toilet treatments.

JIM'S DEALS OF THE DAY

$249 - Toronto to London, England, cheap return flight ($644 w/tax)
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$537 - Toronto to Puerto Plata, DR, 1 week 5* all-inclusive getaway ($858 w/tax)
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US$599 - 11 night 4* Maritimes & New England cruise from Quebec City
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Brian Williams (USA version) on Vancouver Olympics...Star Golf show tomorrow

NBC's Brian Williams - the younger but not as good looking one (hey, I gotta look after my old buddy BW of Canada) - had some nice things to say about his Vancouver Olympic experience, so I thought I'd give one last kick of the Vancouver 2010 can. Writing on his blog, American BW had this to say:

"Before we leave this thoroughly polite country, the polite thing to do is leave behind a thank-you note.

Thank you, Canada:

For being such good hosts.

For your unfailing courtesy.

For your (mostly) beautiful weather.

For scheduling no more than 60 percent of your float plane departures at
the exact moment when I was trying to say something on television.

For not seeming to mind the occasional (or constant) good-natured
mimicry of your accents.

For your unique TV commercials -- for companies like Tim Hortons --
which made us laugh and cry.

For securing this massive event without choking security, and without
publicly displaying a single automatic weapon.

For having the best garment design and logo-wear of the games -- you've
made wearing your name a cool thing to do.

For the sportsmanship we saw most of your athletes display.

For not honking your horns. I didn't hear one car horn in 15 days --
which also means none of my fellow New Yorkers rented cars while
visiting.

For making us aware of how many of you have been watching NBC all these
years.

For having the good taste to have an anchorman named Brian Williams on
your CTV network, who turns out to be such a nice guy.

For the body scans at the airport which make pat-downs and cavity
searches unnecessary.

For designing those really cool LED Olympic rings in the harbor, which
turned to gold when your athletes won one.

For always saying nice things about the United States...when you know
we're listening.

For sharing Joannie Rochette with us.

For reminding some of us we used to be a more civil society.

Mostly, for welcoming the world with such ease and making lasting
friends with all of us."

Ain't that grand? Nice guy.

I had a drink with my Vancouver cousin one night - the Olympic Torch flaming one we did a video on at the Four Seasons - and he was telling me how he didn't even recognize his city.

"I come downtown and it's like Montreal or Toronto," he said. "It's so cool but it doesn't feel like Vancouver."

It might never feel like Vancouver again. At least not the old one. Wonderful memories and a great job all around, folks. Some silliness, yes; the Olympic cauldron issue was a definite fumble and the idea that they'd get credit for environmentally friendly ice-cleaners was dumb. It's the Olympics, folks, and you gotta know that one breakdown of an ice cleaner in a country that has more of them per capita than it does fully functional Toyotas is going to be an embarrassment. At the Olympics, you get the best of everything.

But they certainly meant well, and they got deservedly high marks from the International Olympic Committee and MOST of the media. Including Brian Williams II.

MEANWHILE, BACK ON THE TRAVEL BEAT

Life goes on post-Olympics, and as much as I'm sad to have the Games come to an end I'm dead tired from organizing the Star's coverage out west. I hope you enjoyed what we offered in the paper and on our web site, and especially our Twitter feed, which I thought was quite something. Anyway, it's now back to a travel beat I dearly love, so here's some musings on the latest news to cross my desk...

Forecasters (insert your punch line here, folks) at The Weather Network are suggesting Ontario and Quebec will see fairly normal temperatures for spring, while things will be a touch warmer in British Columbia than normal. Things are expected to be normal on the Prairies for the most part and in the maritimes, but perhaps a little warmer than usual in Labrador and most of Newfoundland, and they deserve it.

Spring still seems a ways away here in Toronto, although I swear I felt just a little bit of warmth in the air this morning on my way down from Union Station to the Star building at 1 Yonge St; that little whiff of slightly spring-like temperatures that always causes my heart to soar. The Weather Network says it will begin spring programming on March 29th, including the lawn and garden report. So we know the end of winter is finally approaching.

TORONTO STAR GOLF SHOW

Another sure sign of spring? The Toronto Star Golf and Travel Show gets underway tomorrow (Friday the 5th). It's a great show; with travel booths and golf representatives from all over the GTA, North America and the world. There's also demonstrations, tons of new equipment to check out (we could all use the latest monster driver, right?), golf apparel, food and appearances by the likes of renowned instructor David Leadbetter.

Things get underway Friday at noon and go til 8 pm. Saturday hours are 10 to 6 and Sunday 10-5. As usual, the show is at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, 255 Front St. W., Toronto. For information, go to www.torontogolfshow.com.

JIM'S DEALS OF THE DAY

From $29 O/W - 50% off flights within Canada + savings to U.S. & Sun destinations
http://www.travelalerts.ca/ccount12/click.php?id=2640

 

$389 - Toronto to Las Vegas, 3 day getaway at the 4.5* Mandalay Bay ($518 w/tax)
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US$69/night - 15 night 4* Incan Empires Cruise: Mexico, Peru, Guatemala, & Nicaragua

http://www.travelalerts.ca/ccount12/click.php?id=2642

RELIEF FOR PASSENGERS ON THE WAY? NEW SHOE-SCREENERS COMING TO THE USA

Spotted an item on the USA Today travel web site today that said the Transportation Security Administration in the U.S. is planning to buy 100 shoe scanners by next year, which would allow folks to keep their shoes on (grateful for that, I am) while passing through security. I'm still waiting for civil libertarians to claim this is a violation of our rights and that secret foot fetishists lurking in the TSA will want to keep x-ray images of people's tootsies.

I haven't seen anything about similar devices for Canada.

RECOVERY SIGNS

Carriers in North America and Europe aren't having as much luck, but the International Air Transport Association says demand in some parts of the world is up substantially. In the Middle East, demand jumped 23.6 per cent in January vs. January of last year, while Latin American growth was 11 per cent.

The IATA said demand was up just 3.1 per cent in Europe, however, and 2.1 per cent in North America.

WestJet, meanwhile, says its traffic in February 2010 was nine per cent higher than the same month last year. Air Canada says its traffic increased 5.5 per cent from February 2009 to last month.