The Casino King of Las Vegas I am not...More Toronto Star Travel Grand Tour

LAS VEGAS - I’m no gambler.

I’ve tried roulette. Once. I put my money down on red, I think, four times and twice the machine up in South Lake Tahoe came up with double zero.

I don’t care much about blackjack, and I wouldn’t ever try to play poker with pros.

So I pretty much stick to slots. And pretty much lose.

I usually find machines with names I like, kinda like the way my Mom used to pick horses at the racetrack. It doesn’t seem to work.

I tried Star Wars. Jabba the Hutt didn’t come up for me. I tried one called Catch A Wave, figuring an old-time surf fan might get lucky. Nope.

Then I found the Wizard of Oz machine. I had to play for the sake of my sister, who’s a big fan. Me, too, actually. It was only a penny machine so I rode my luck big-time and laid down a five-credit bet for a whopping nickel on the line.

After about six pulls of the handle (always the handle, folks, never the button) the machine went all nuts on me. I think I had three “Good Witches” and a pair of Toto’s. Lights flashed. Music played. “Big Win” the machine said in huge letters.

I rubbed my hands in glee and out came…$1.90.

Okay, that’s 38 times what I had put in. But even on a dollar bet that would’ve been, well, $38. And that’s not a big win, excluding the fact that kind of money might buy you a house these days in foreclosure-laced Nevada.

I had a nice dinner my final night in town at a restaurant called American Fish at the Aria Hotel. They do fish four ways, including grilling over apricot wood, cooking in salt and poaching in sea water. My waiter said they fly the ocean water in from Hawaii.

I thought he was joking but he said it’s true.

“Okay,” I asked. “What island? I kinda like Oahu water.”

He looked at me kinda sideways, then grinned.

In addition to great seafood, they make a really nice salad with greens, apples and fried camembert and homemade, ridiculously good corn bread. A lovely setting, too, with lots of cool lighting and an interesting, bronze-looking metal sculpture that dominates the ceiling.

The Aria is a nice hotel, with a soaring lobby (see photo) and a whopping 4,000 rooms. They have a system for the drapes and lights and TV called Control 4, and I was told it’s the first hotel in the world to use the system.

When you walk in to the room for the first time a sensor is tripped and the drapes open and the TV goes on. Apparently you can set the system so you wake up with a full-frontal assault of open drapes and Oprah blasting through the TV, or you can make it gentle so the drapes open slowly and the lights do a reverse fade from dark to dim to normal to super-bright. I tend to wake up when somebody sneezes in a room down the hall, so I didn’t need the full blast.

I foolishly tried using the system to turn on some lights and hit the night button, which plunged the entire room into darkness. Nothing seemed to work, so I had to fumble around and find the phone and call the front desk for help. They took me through some small buttons I had to push on the TV remote to navigate my way through the lights and drapes menu. Probably fun for some people, but I enjoy an old-fashioned, dependable clock radio and a bedside light with a button or switch big enough to find at 3 a.m. when that guy sneezes and I wake up with a start.

Also curious that they didn't have a place I could find for coffee and a muffin at 5:30 a.m. One restaurant I was pointed to had coffee to go but not food. The coffee shop, the one like Starbucks or Second Cup, didn't even open until 7 a.m.

But the rooms are very nice, and because the hotel sits up on a small hill you get nice views of the town. Try to ask for a view of the Strip, as you can also watch airplanes come and go at McCarran.

There are a ton of bars and restaurants, of course, including American Fish and a Julian Serrano tapas place.

The sister property is Vdara, also located in the new City Center development in the middle of the Strip. Vdara doesn't have a casino, so it's a great spot for non-gamblers or folks who simply don't want the action of a casino in their lobby. They have a nice, elegant lobby and a casual restaurant called Silk Road, with good Thai soups, naan bread and Italian food. It's quite sunny and bright; also a nice contrast from many Vegas spots.

The new Cosmopolitan Hotel is just a few feet away from Aria and Vdara but under separate ownership. It's slated to open in a few weeks, so check out Star Travel for more on that in December.

TSA PROTEST - THE BIG PROTEST GOES BUST

I was expecting a big deal at McCarran airport on Black Wednesday, the day before American Thanksgiving. But it was a big fizzle, thank you. Heck, the lineup at Starbucks was longer than the one at TSA security.

The guy checking documents at the back of the line was quite funny, which served to disarm people (so to speak) and put them in a good mood. He kept saying things like "Thanks, and enjoy your TSA experience" or "Thank you, and enjoy your screening today."

There were three of the new scanners in the screening area, but I was told only one of them was operational. And I didn't see anyone actually go through it.

MORE GRAND TOUR COMING FRIDAY

As I mentioned earlier this week, we’ve got more of Toronto Star Travel’s Grand Tour coming up on Saturday, with a colourful report o the delights of Buenos Aires; a wonderful, European-style city with a nice waterfront, fabulous restuarants, colourful neighborhoods, and yes, lots of tango dancing. Check this space tomorrow for a Buenos Aires blog, then tune in to Saturday’s paper – or online Friday – for the full Grand Tour.

And remember we still have three spots coming up: Sydney next week, followed by Jerusalem and Paris.

If anyone has an idea on something they want to hear about in Paris, drop me a line at jbyers@thestar.ca and I'll try to check it out when I visit the City of Light.

I often see Paris referred to at the City of Lights,

but I've always thought it was "City of LIght." And I've always been under the impression it's because of the quality of the light in northern France and the way it shines in and around all the white/creme-coloured buildings. "City of Lights" doesn't make sense to me because Paris has no more night lights than any other city, and probably less.

Las Vegas probably has 100 times the wattage of Paris. Ditto New York and Hong Kong.

But I've been wrong before. I think.

Happy American Thanksgiving to all our American readers!

 

 

 

 

THE BIG TSA PROTEST BUST

 

Star Travel Grand Tour finishing with a bang...Grand Canyon, Vegas and Love

We've taken readers on quite the ride since we launched our "Grand Tour" series a month and a half ago. We've visited glorious, historic neighbourhoods in Rome, wandered the markets of Dubai, checked out the wild contrasts of dynamic Tokyo, sipped South African wine in the shadow of Cape Town's Table Mountain, dined on caviar in St. Petersburg, Russia and met some amazing characters last week in tropical Maui, Hawaii.

We've had six spots so far; with a very good Final Four to come. This Saturday, we'll fill you in on incredible Buenos Aires; a South American capital with flair to spare. After that we've got Sydney, where I just spent a couple of days soaking up a little rain but a final, glorious day of sunshine on the Manly Ferry, then historic and fascinating Jerusalem.

Our final stop will be Paris, the city of Light and the winner of our readers' poll for the tenth Grand Tour destination. We hope folks have enjoyed reading, and perhaps we'll do something similar another time.

In the meanwhile, stay tuned for our final destinations, starting with Buenos Aires on Saturday, Nov. 27.

LOVING LAS VEGAS

We'll put aside the insane aspects of this town for a minute, because they're well-documented. Instead, I'll focus a bit on two bookends of an absolutely marvellous day.

The morning began with a 5 a.m. wakeup call - most folks go to BED at this time around here, not get up - and a bus ride down to the Maverick aviation office at the airport for a 7:30 a.m. helicopter departure for the Grand Canyon. It's a place I've never visited (or Las Vegas for that matter), despite growing up in California. I don't know why I'd never come, as I really love the desert and the shadows and the sense of mystery and the exotic people and creatures who make a life for themselves in hostile surroundings.

Anyway, pilot Boyd Hardy was very funny, as were my fellow passengers; a bunch of 40-year-olds from Ottawa who were celebrating their youth (but lamenting their inability to stay out as late as they used to). And the trip was glorious; cool temperatures (about 13 Celsius) but lots of fun and a smooth ride  with maybe one little exception coming over some hills on the way home. We flew over the Strip, which was great, then out over the desert and past the Hoover Dam and the new bridge (looks a bit like the ones alog the coast of California south of Big Sur). Then we lifted up over the rim of the Grand Canyon and...wow.

The colours weren't as vivid as they'd be at sunset, but they were absolutely spectactular. The silence was amazing, and the sense of majesty in watching that river flow through the

rocks the way it has for millions upon millions of years, well, I was stunned. It's an incredible experience. "Shadows dance/powerful, living rock/Water flows/solitude and beauty." That's a lame attempt at haiku, I think; I don't know. I admit I was kinda stunned sitting on the side of one of earth's
most amazing creations, so forgive me if that sounds goofy or something.

Anyway, it's a few hundred bucks for the ride but it's an unforgettable experience. So thanks to Body Hardy and the Ottawa gang for a great morning.

After exploring the Strip and having lunch at the terrific Country Club at Wynn (great views of the golf course and terrific shrimp dishes), I took in the Beatles Cirque du Soleil "Love" at The Mirage. I came here telling myself I'm not a shows guy, just like I went to see Star Wars a year after it came out telling myself I wasn't a sci-fi/space movie guy. I left Star Wars with a smile the size of the galaxy on my face, and I came away from "Love" last night wondering why I'd never come to see a Vegas show and why I'd never caught anything from this remarkable Canadian-born group.

I was absolutely blown away by the whole thing; a magical 90 minutes of dancing, acrobatics and incredible costumes all set to the music of my life; throbbing guitars and dancing melodies and pounding drums and a remarkable weaving of Beatles' hits into an incredible soundtrack. I loved the start with the anthology version (voices only) of "Because," which then stomped its way into "Get Back" mixed with the  powerful chords of "The End" and even "Glass Onion." Amazing costumes and folks bungee jumping down over the audience and springing back up. Eleanor Rigby was a touch melodramatic and I thought they overdid the white costume, dancing fairy bit on "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" near the end, but most of it was stupendous; a riot of colour and artful design and great music and audience participatio with a white parachute-like sheet. "I am the Walrus" felt like Johnny Depp in Pirates mixed with Les Miserables, Oliver Twist and West Side Story, with a generous dose of psychedelia. Marvellous.

And the end? It was almost to weep, standing with a group of a couple thousand Beatles fans of all ages, clapping our hands to "All You Need is Love," and then seeing that marvellous coda to their career inscripted on the wall "And in the end, the love you take, is equal to the love you make."

I'm a little sappy, I admit (I get misty-eyed at the end of "When Harry Met Sally") but I get chills right now just thinking about it.

Following the show I came to back to Encore, where I spent the night in a room with a great view of the Strip. I had dinner at their restaurant, Sinatra, and enjoyed the most silky smooth, flavourful pasta of my life. It was agnolloti with a bit of ricotta in a light cream sauce with herbs, parmesan and shaved truffle, and it was like biting into a soft pillow. Absolutely marvellous and highly recommended!

More later from Las Vegas....

 

 

 

 

 

 

Colombia improving its reputation as it continues a turnaround...Whistler snow!

Toronto Star travel writer Adrian Brijbassi is making his first-ever tour of Colombia, which has been getting a lot of press lately. Here's his initial report...

BOGOTA — Mexico’s bicentennial has received a lot of coverage this year, but it’s not the only Latin American country that gained independence from Spain in 1810.

Colombians celebrated their nation’s 200^th birthday on July 22 and for a country that not long ago was considered among the most dangerous in the world, there’s a lot to rejoice every day. The economy — ranked 35^th in global GDP according to the International Monetary Fund; putting it ahead of Portugal and the United Arab Emirates — is booming, thanks to the soaring price of minerals, especially gold, as investors have turned to resources while the U.S. dollar struggles. The government last month raised the outlook for 2010 GDP growth to 4.5 per cent from 3.5 per cent. Loads of Canadian resource companies and banks do business regularly here, and tourism from North America is growing. 

Bogota is the most popular Colombian destination for business travellers. The city receives more than half of the country’s almost 1.5 million foreign visitors. But tourists still prefer Cartagena, a major port for cruise ships, and the islands of San Andres and Santa Catalina as vacation spots. The Colombian capital, though, is selling itself as a place where visitors can enjoy the history, art and culture of a nearly 500-year-old city. Air Canada has started direct flights from Toronto, and that’s been a help in getting Canadians to come down. 

Bogota butts up against the Andes, the peaks of which can be reached by cable car or funicular. From the top, you’ll find historic churches, including Monserrate, which draws a crowd for its 17^th-century statue of Jesus falling from the cross. During Easter week, more than 1 million people make the trek up the mountain, says tour guide Fabio Quiroz (see photo below with Stephany Romero of the tourism board).

Monserrate is 3,200 metres above sea level and 600 metres from the base station in Bogota. Even on a cloudy day, you can see the city sprawl before you from the mountaintop. More than 8 million people live in Bogota and that’s made for diverse neighbourhoods and a lot of vibrant nightlife, especially in the Zona Rosa area, where the partying goes on until 4 in the morning. 

It’s a fun spot, with salsa dancing, all kinds of cuisine, an Irish sports bar (of course), nightclubs galore, a huge shopping mall, some fine hotels and an easygoing feel that puts you at ease. Zona Rosa is upscale and trendy, kind of like Queen West.

A bustling spot for tourists and locals is Juan Valdez Coffee Shop, named after a fictional character who is the most well-known Colombian icon after Shakira. Valdez’s beans don’t lie: the coffee is fantastic. The chain, which is a Latin American version of Starbucks but with much better brews, has expanded into Chile and the U.S. (No plans for Canada, so you won’t be tempted away from your Timmy’s double-double just yet.) 

The city is still edgy in some spots where tourists will want to go, including the historic district, and getting around from neighbourhood to neighbourhood isn’t easy. There isn’t a subway, the buses take a while to get you where you want to go and taxi drivers will take you for a ride in more ways than one. But it’s a dynamic place with a lot going for it. 

Stephany Romero of the trade and tourism board says the contemporary art scene in Bogota has attracted major curators from Europe and elsewhere in recent months. Big-name hotels are coming into the capital; Marriott opened its second location in as many years this summer. The government is offering a 30-year income tax exemption for any hotel renovation or new construction projects completed in the next eight years. Medical tourism is a growing income producer for Bogota and the rest of the country, which is known as a centre for inexpensive cosmetic surgery. And convention business is increasing. Bogota recently came in 79^th out of 288 cities for number of meetings hosted, according to a report by the International Congress and Convention Association. That’s up from 229th in 2002.

The exchange rate is favorable (with $1 Canadian equalling about 1,750 Colombian pesos) and the people are friendly. Considering the issues with increasing crime and violence that other parts of Latin America are having, Bogota and Colombia have a chance to make big strides in tourism in coming years as long as they continue to maintain the turnaround they’ve seen in the past decade. 

I’ll have more on Colombia in the coming weeks in the Star.

SNOW SEASON IS HERE...BUT NOT IN FLORIDA

The folks out in Whistler/Blackcomb report they got a couple dozen centimeters of white stuff on the weekend, and the forecast is for more in the coming days. Similar news came my way from Colorado, so it looks like ski season is almost upon us.

On the other hand, it's been lovely down in south Florida, where they're getting ready to officially open a new JW Marriott Marquis. Looking at this story in the Miami Herald, however, it seems they've been accepting guests for a few days.

We'll try to get someone down there soon and get a report on our own on what's happening in Chris Bosh's new home town, and my apologies to Toronto Raptors' fans if I appear to be rubbing it in as I'm actually a fan and not too happy at the demise of the team that GM Bryan Colangelo was supposed to have turned around years ago or am I wrong?

 

Car-eating rabbits in Denver...Wonders of Peru...San Francisco connections...

I had to laugh at a report about how wascally wabbits are appawently gnawing on the wires of cars parked at Denver's Airport. I laugh because I don't ever park at Denver's Airport and I don't think it's going to happen to me, and also because of the sheer absurdity of it.

According to MSNBC, a chap named Dexter Meyer told local TV station KUSA that he had just bought a car and drove it to the Pikes Peak Parking Lot at Denver International for a nine-day vacation.

"I turned on the ignition and all these lights started flashing, I pulled out the manual and it said I had a big problem so I took back to the dealership," Meyer said.

"The service manager said, 'Your wiring has been eaten by a rodent probably.' I said, 'I live in Stapleton.' 'I'm not aware of any rodents running around Stapleton.' And then he said, 'You didn't have the car parked at DIA did you?' And I said, 'Actually, yes that's where I picked the car up.' And he said, 'We've had a significant number of problems with rabbits eating through the wiring in people's cars.'"

I was praying the guy was driving a VW Rabbit but it turns out to be a Volkswagen Jetta. Still, there's a certain poetry to it, doncha think?

PERUVIAN SPLENDOUR

Managed a few minutes with folks from Peru's Tourism Board on Tuesday, and it was eye-opening stuff. We all know about Machu Picchu and Lake Titicaca and Cuzco, I suspect, but not so much about Lima or Paracas and the beaches on the coast or the massively deep Canon del Colca (see photo) or the national rainforest parks or the glaciers or the Amazon rainforest in the north or the old ruins of Caral; what some say is the oldest community in North America.

It's a pretty stunning picture of diversity, and things seem to be on the upswing in Peru. The economy is growing and they're shipping lots of stuff to China. Next year marks the 100th anniversary of the "discovery" of Machu Picchu by Hiram Bingham, so I might just have to check it out soon!

SAN FRANCISCAN NIGHTS

Thanks to Angela Jackson from San Francisco tourism for a nice get-together at Scarpetta at the Thompson Hotel in Toronto, where we chatted about what's happening in SF. The food and wine were quite good and I enjoyed the meal more than I did when I went a month ago for Star Travel (see story soon).

San Francisco is hosting a major media/tourism event next year, called Pow Wow, so they'll be getting hundreds of overseas journalists in town to see the city's many attractions.

What was really fun was discovering Angela grew up in the same small town outside of San Francisco that I did, a two-bit (sorry, guys) spot called Castro Valley (photo at right). It's got its charms, most notably a great lake called Lake Chabot and some lovely, tree-covered hills often dotted with horses or cows, but it's not quite the big city.

It's not much of spot on the map, but I remember once talking with Pat Gillick when he was GM of the Blue Jays, and it turned out he had worked as a teenager at a chicken ranch in Castro Valley, right across the street from the one my Uncle Jerry owned back in the 1950's. Small world.

 

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Toronto Star Travel's Grand Tour of the World...a modest proposal!

Not as easy as it sounds.

The boss asked me recently to come up with a series of ten great spots we could feature in the paper between now and roughly Christmas. They had to be a mix of places around the world, with some ancient and some newer cities, some northern and some southern spots, and a nice mixture of cultures.

Check my column on the front page of today's Travel section for more, but suffice to say it was a lot of work to come up with the places we'll be profiling over the next couple months, starting this Saturday.

We kick things off Saturday with a look at Rome, the Eternal City, where I was blown away by an outdoor concert in August at the bottom of the Spanish Steps. It was just incredible.

From there, we'll tackle Tokyo and, in no particular order, Buenos Aires, Jerusalem, Sydney, Maui, Dubai, St. Petersburg and Cape Town.

Anyone with a keen eye for copy editing will notice that I named nine destinations in the last two paragraphs. But I also said the boss asked me to come up with ten places in the world. The discrepancy is that I came up with nine spots, but we want to get readers involved by asking them what should be our tenth and final destination.

In other words, you get to tell me where to go; likely a tempting thought for many of you out there, mostly my family. We thought about leaving it open-ended and letting folks choose from any place in the world, but it would've been too hard to tally up all the votes. So, in the interest of brevity, we're asking readers to choose from the following three spots: Paris, Bangkok and Mumbai. They're all great places, but only can be my final destination.

If you want to cast your ballot, just drop us a line at travel@thestar.ca and put the words "Grand Tour" in the subject line of the email so we know what you're writing about. Then you can tell me where to go.

Sound like a plan? We'll look things over and announce the "winning destination" in a few weeks, and I'll drop in for a few days later this fall and write up a story for the final Grand Tour episode.

Thanks for reading, and be sure to cast a vote.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT....THE LATEST FROM THE CARIBBEAN

If you're heading to the Caribbean this winter, and many of you are, you won't want to miss the update that freelancer Jo Matyas provided yesterday. So, in the interests of keeping her information out there, I'm re-publishing Jo's blog from Wednesday. Thanks again for the file, Jo; it's greatly appreciated.

Regular contributor to the Toronto Star travel pages, Josephine Matyas, gave up a weekend of turkey and cranberry to attend a Caribbean Tourism Organization conference on the island of Barbados. In addition to an island tour, a stop at the excellent Barbados Museum and some time bobbing in the water with a mask and snorkel, she got the scoop on what’s new for visitors to the Caribbean this winter.

Every winter-shocked Canadian knows that the Caribbean is a place with a “kick back and chill” vibe. Every island is different – a good starting place to plan, and find deals is www.caribbeantravel.com. The site has information on hot deals, festivals and events and you can search by your area of interest.

As for some specifics about what’s new for the winter 2010/11 (yes, the snow is almost here) . . .

Barbados wants visitors to come for the food, as well as the sun and the turquoise waters. From November 19-22, 2010 the island is holding the first annual Food & Wine and Rum Festival. A number of celebrated chefs will be on island to show off their skills, including Canadian Ricardo Larrivee, host of Ricardo and Friends on the Food Network. Local Barbadian chefs will be doing a few cooking demos themselves, holding tasting events and interactive sessions. Drinks will be flowing as a part of the festival (how could they not be, on the island that is home to the world’s oldest rum, Mount Gay) – wine experts and mixologists will produce demonstrations and tastings around the island. www.foodwinerum.com

A few Bajan food facts:

• There are 3,000 rum shops (think very tiny, local bars) on the island. And next door there is often a church (although the island has substantially fewer of those – just over 300). The locals like to say that they aim to “keep all the spirits in one place.”
• The national dish is flying fish, rice and peas, and a side dish called “pie” which is an oven-baked macaroni and cheese.
• Another traditional favourite is callaloo soup, a delicious dark green, iron-packed soup made with callaloo leaves (much like spinach).

St. Lucia is well known as a destination for romance and honeymoons (ABC filmed The Bachelor on island) but it’s also a popular cruise stop and full of activities for families. The lush, hilly island is full of history, and fruit and vegetable plantations that the tourism people would like to open up to visitors. St. Lucia lies in the “cocoa belt” (a zone plus or minus 20 degrees latitude from the Equator). On December 29, 2010, Hotel Chocolat opens a new property on the historic Rabot Estate, an operating cocoa tree plantation (yes, the air does smell like cocoa) with a killer-view of the island’s stunning twin Piton Peaks. www.thehotelchocolat.com. The popular summertime Go Bananas program will probably run again in 2011 (for those who like to plan ahead) – room upgrades, complimentary babysitting, free meals and stays for kids under age 17. www.stlucianow.com. More in the adult realm, a new casino is scheduled to open by November 2010 in the Baywalk Mall in the Rodney Bay area at the north part of the island (the marina here makes Rodney Bay very popular with the boating set).

The sister islands of St. Kitts and Nevis (I am coming clean with a bias – these are two of my favourite Caribbean destinations) claim that studies show visitors come for the beaches (well, yeah) and for the rainforest tours and ecoadventures. There’s no hiding that these are two of the pricier islands in the Caribbean. St. Kitts is starting construction on a private air terminal (service should be up and running at the end of 2012), so if you’ve got a private jet, you’ve now got a place to park it. The Four Seasons Nevis will be re-opening on December 15, 2010 offering special package rates – the island’s premier property has been closed for a two-year refurbishment. www.fourseasons.com/nevis. If horseracing interests you, the new Beaumont Park on St. Kitts hosts races on a ¾ mile oval track. The new Silver Reef Resort on St. Kitts has completed 36 of the planned 62 units – built eco-sensitively the sale/rental units recycle grey water, employ solar power and use local building materials to reduce the carbon footprint. The Beach Club at Sandy Bank Bay is set to open in early 2011 – it’s the first stage of a luxury development called Christophe Harbour on St. Kitts (mega yacht harbour, marina, Tom Fazio championship golf course, boutique shopping and five-star hotels). The open-air Beach Club will have private dining patios, a natural-edged pool, waterfall showers and direct access to Sandy Bank Bay beach and the Atlantic Ocean. www.christopheharbour.com

Bermuda is even closer for Torontonians since WestJet launched service in May 2010. This November through March has been branded Bermuda’s Golf & Spa Season, with eight courses participating and spa specials for the golf widows. Eighteen of the island’s largest hotels have signed on for The Compliments of Bermuda promotion – every two-night stay gets you a third night free for travel between November 15, 2010 and March 15, 2011. www.bermudatourism.com. The Reefs Hotel & Club – voted Bermuda’s Best Hotel by Travel & Leisure and inducted onto the 2010 Conde Nast Traveler Gold List – recently doubled their size with a new fractional wing, www.thereefs.com.

And finally, tiny Anguilla, where the focus is on celebrity and stylish living will once again host the popular Moonsplash Music Festival, timed to coordinate with the full moon in March 2011. The festival is four days of reggae talent, ranging from cutting edge sounds to founding legends. www.bankieban.net 

Josephine Matyas is a Canadian travel journalist who often writes about ecotourism and the Caribbean. You can find her at www.writerwithoutborders.com.

 

 

- 30 -

 

 

More travel madness...Eiffel Tower top landmark in the world (no top-10 for UK)..

In a shocking development, there's more confusion in the world's airports today over U.S. travel regulations.

While Canadians woke up to find that Transport Canada has banned many carry-on items on flights from Canada to the U.S. because of the attempted Christmas Day bombing over Detroit, folks down in Australia seem to think regulations are being eased.

The Age is reporting that Australian airline officials understand there's no longer a requirement that passengers avoid the loo in the final 60 minutes of a flight to the U.S.

"Overnight, the US government has re-issued its regulations of what is required of all passengers and they have lifted the ban that prevented moving around the cabin one hour before arrival," a Qantas spokeswoman told the paper. 

She said the information had come from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), a division of the US Department of Homeland Security. But The Age said it was unable to confirm such a ruling.

Which makes sense given that so many experts are saying that the U.S. is deliberately muddying the waters.

Joseph Schwieterman, a professor at DePaul University in Chicago, told Associated Press that TSA's approach "keeps them (would-be terrorists) guessing."

Schwieterman said not spelling out exact procedures gives airport official more flexibility to focus on perceived threats or sensitive areas; likely big cities like New York and Los Angeles.

"There was criticisim after 9-11 that rules could be way too cookbook; not allowing authorities to adapt them to different settings, to different airports," he said.

Meanwhile, Canadians appear to be adapting to the new realities.

WestJet's Palmer said folks are bringing fewer carry-on bags to Canadian airports, a comment that Air Canada's Peter Fitzpatrick echoed.

"There are still delays but it's getting better," Air Canada spokesman Peter Fitzpatrick wrote in an email to me this morning. "People are bringing less carry-on. Also, the government has provided more resources to beef up their security screening."

Palmer said WestJet is sticking with its suggestion that folks arrive three hours early for flights to the U.S.

"Oh, yeah, that should be fine," he said when asked if it's enough time. "You're not allowed to clear U.S. customs until 2-1/2 hours before your flight."

The Greater Toronto Airports Authority website, gtaa.com, is showing some delays for flights to Chicago and New York and a couple cancellations. But most flights appear to be operating on a normal or relatively normal schedule.

EIFFEL TOWER LEADS THE WAY

That's gotta hurt.

I spotted a survey of 1,000 folks around the world by hotels.com, asking people to name their favourite landmarks around the globe.

No surprise that the Eiffel Tower would come first. It's a wonderful structure, and I always find it amusing that the French HATED it when it was first unveiled.

(Of course, many of us said the same thing about the military statue on University Avenue that was once nicknamed "Gumby Goes to Heaven," and look what it did for Toronto tourism.)

Anywho, the hotels.com survey found the following 10 items as the top landmarks in the world:

1. Eiffel Tower (hard to imagine Paris without it)

2. St. Peter's Basilica, Rome (I'd probably have it down a few spots)

3. Taj Mahal, Agra, India (never been but can't argue with the placement)

4. Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco (I'm biased as I grew up there, but it's still awesome)

5. Empire State Building, New York (especially cool at night; see photo)

6. Statue of Liberty, New York (always an awesome sight)

7. Sydney Opera House (terrific spot that matches function with great form)

8. Sagrada Familia, Barcelona (Not my favourite Gaudi architecture, to be honest)

9. The Acropolis (should be top five)

10. Christ the Redeemer, Rio de Janeiro (again, never been but it certainly LOOKS impressive).

So there you have it. Nothing from the UK or Great Britain or England made it. Not Big Ben. Not the Houses of Parliament. Not the London Eye. Not Trafalgar Square. Zippo. Nada.

That's not gonna make folks happy across the pond, and one can imagine the Queen won't be putting hotels.com on the top of her favourite website list anytime soon. (Makes me think, what ARE on her favourites, anyway? What's her home page? Oprah? Chelsea? Manchester United? RyanAir? Ashley Madison? Desperate Housewives? Honestly, I'd love to know.)

I spotted a story on the BBC web site that points out Big Ben came in 11th and The London Eye was 12th. Of course, they had to put out a list showing the top 12, not the top 10.

Big Ben deserves the top 12. I like the London Eye just fine, but I can't see how it would beat out the Colosseum, the Pyramids or Machu Picchu. Let alone Easter Island, Edinburgh Castle, and the Great Wall of China. Come to think of it, we're also missing Mick Jagger's lips, Penelope Cruz's backside and Michael Ignatieff's ego...

 

  

 

New Air Canada baggage fees...Healthiest Airport Food...Jim's Deals of the Day

I guess it was a matter of time, but it's still a shame to see Canadians have to pay more for air travel.

 

Air Canada today announced that it will start charging passengers with Tango, Tango Plus and Latitude fares $30 for a second,checked bag on all flights to the U.S. (except Puerto Rico) and $50 for second bags on flights to Europe and Israel. The policy takes effect for flights on or after Jan. 19. 2010 for tickets purchased from today onwards.

 

Passengers with Economy Class tickets will continue to get two free, checked bags on flights within Canada, as well as to and from Mexico, the Caribbean, South and Central America, Asia and Australia, which I find kinda weird. I mean, if you're charging $50 for a second bag to Europe, why not $50 for a second bag to Asia or South America?

 

The fee for a second checked bag to/from the United States, Europe and Israel will not apply to Air Canada Prestige, Elite, Super Elite members or Star Alliance Silver and Gold members. Executive Class and Executive First customers continue to receive an allowance of three checked bags on all flights, regardless of destination.

 

That's great for those of us who travel a lot, but the average guy gets screwed. A family of four flying to Europe in economy with two checked bags per person would end up forking over another $200. A family flying to Orlando to see the Mouse - or take in a tour of the Tiger Woods domestic bliss display in Isleworth - would pay another $120.

 

Air Canada, of course, couched this in very public relations-like terms, stating not that they were hiking baggage fees but merely saying it had "matched the prevailing checked bag policy of international carriers on U.S. transborder and transatlantic routes." Which makes it sound like it's not their fault and that they simply HAD to fall in line.

 

Customers purchasing Economy Class tickets for travel on or after January 19, 2010 to/from the United States, Europe and Israel will still be able to check one bag for free, in addition to permitted carry-on baggage. But you'll have to pay for bag number two.

 

"This change in baggage policy to match our U.S. and European competitors is an important step as we work toward sustained profitability," said Ben Smith, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer. "In this weak economy it is more critical than ever to continue reviewing all our activities on a regular basis and making adjustments as necessary to remain competitive with our industry peers. We are committed to offering our customers a full range of competitively priced travel options."

Yes, some airlines charge for each bag. And yes, air travel is expensive. But don't you just HATE getting nickeled and dimed sorry, thirtied and fiftied - like this?

For the record, WestJet's p.r. guy tells me they haven't changed their policy; it's still two bags free on all flights.

 

HEALTHY AIRPORT FOOD

 

No offence, but I wouldn't have expected the Detroit Metro airport to have topped a list I spotted of airports in the U.S. with the healthiest meals.

 

A study by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine looked at 17 U.S. airports and said 79% offer at least one healthy option (low-fat, high-fibre, cholesterol-free). Detroit Metro scored 100%, meaning all their restaurants have at least one healthy option, and good for them. San Francisco rose to 94%, while the next three were Phoenix Sky Harbour, Houston Intercontinental and Newark.

 

Las Vegas was last with just 66% of places offering a healthy choice. The study said too many Vegas eateries offered only burgers, sausages, hot dogs or pre-made items "full of fat and cholesterol." Chicago O'Hare and Dulles in Washington D.C. each got scores of just 68 %.

 

Time to pull up your socks, folks. 

 

 

JIM'S DEALS OF THE DAY

 

Up to 50% off - Cheap flights to every Canadian destination with Air Canada

http://www.travelalerts.ca/ccount12/click.php?id=1769

 

US$69 - Over 75% off! - Peak holiday sale in Orlando near theme parks (sale ends soon)

http://www.travelalerts.ca/ccount12/click.php?id=1755

 

US$444 taxes included - 4 night 4* Disney Bahamas cruise: early January

http://www.travelalerts.ca/ccount12/click.php?id=1756

 

Park'N Fly Food Drive...Worst Airports...Caribbean Warning...Jim's Deal/Day

Here's a nice idea. Park'N Fly here in Toronto is supporting the Daily Break Food Bank in an effort to help stampt out hunger and poverty and give families a happier holiday season.

Between Nov. 2 and Dec. 21, consumers can drop off a non-perishable food item at the Toronto Park'N Fly Valet Location and get one free parking day, with no strings or limitations or restriction. In addition, you can make a cash donation to the Food Bank in that period and get your free day by bringing the electronic donation receipt; just in case it's not handy to get the grocery store. Park'N Fly will match every dollar donated - up to $5,000 during this period.

I say GOOD ON PARK'N FLY for this promotion. And, hey, nice as the offer is, how about taking a big basket or bagful of groceries and not just a single item, folks?

CARIBBEAN UPS AND DOWNS

Interesting International Monetary Fund report the other day on Caribbean travel. The IMF says that as the financial crisis hit the U.S., countries most dependent on American tourism suffered the worst. Countries less dependent on U.S. visitors, including Barbados, the Dominican Republic and Cuba (duh), fared better.

From April to June, the IMF said visits to Mexico dropped 27.6 %, while those to St. Kitts and Nevis were down a surprising 25.5 % and visits to St. Vincent and the Grenadines dropped 24.1 %.

  
 

On the other hand, Barbados (see photo) was down 12. 5 % andSt. Lucia was down only 5.2 per cent. Jamaica was up 6.7 %, while Colombia grew by 13.2 % and Cuba by 3.8 %.

Don't forget it's Caribbean week here in Toronto, culminating with the Rum and Rhythm event at the Distillery District on Friday.

WORST AIRPORTS: LONDON CALLING

A survey by the Priority Pass airport lounge program finds that London Heathrow tops a list of the five worst airports in the world. Paris' Charles de Gaulle came in second, followed by LAX, Frankfurt International in Germany and Miami International.

Singapore Changi was voted the best airport by Priority Pass members, some 14,500 of whom were queried.

Singapore's airport is almost always singled out as world's best, with its massage chairs and movie theatres and rooftop gardens and dozens of other features that make our little Toronto Pearson look rather pathetic. But enough of that.

I don't know about Heathrow being worst. It's HUGELY busy, which can't be good for service. But I've been there twice in the last year, most recently a week ago in the new Terminal 5, and I thought it was pretty good. Haven't been to Paris in a while (note to self - remedy that) or LAX, although I'll be at LAX on Saturday for five hours so I can check it out. I recall my last visit to Frankfurt - on my way to Athens, I think - was dreadful. Miami's pretty poor but I believe it's being rebuilt/renovated.

JIM'S DEAL OF THE DAY

The buzz in cruising these days seems to be either ‘go big’ or ‘go small’. Mega-ships like Royal Caribbean’s 220,000-ton Oasis of the Seas will carry 5,400 passengers when it hits the water later this year. That dwarfs the small and cozy river cruise ships gaining popularity on Europe’s waterways. No matter what your preference, there are plenty of deals out there. With Encore CruiseEscapes, you can save up to $200 per stateroom on Royal Caribbean cruises in Mexico, the Bahamas and the Caribbean, Alaska and Europe, plus Atlantic Ocean crossings, for ocean view staterooms on select ships and sailings booked by Oct. 31. Higher stateroom categories also qualify. For booking information see www.encorecruiseescapes.com.

AIR WARS IN THE U.S.

I think I'd need a calculator or a really good abacus to figure it out, but the deals sound extraordinary on Southwest and on AirTran down in the U.S. of A. Southwest has launched a goofy (but seemingly popular) sale in which tickets range from $25 to $100, depending on how you go. A flight of up to 375 miles is $25 each way, while flights between 375 and 549 miles are $50 and flights between 550 and 999 miles are $75 each way. Flights of 1,000 miles or more cost, wait for it, $100 each way.

The sale ends Thursday at 11:59 p.m. PST. The sale covers flights between Dec. 2 and 16 and Jan. 5 to Feb. 10 - thus avoiding Christmas and New Year's. Interesting it ends two days prior to the start of the Vancouver Olympics, too.

AirTran has a sale of its own but you'll have to go to their website - www.airtrain.com - to check. Sample flights include Boston to Baltimore/Washington for $39. I was able to find a one-way flight from Buffalo-Niagara to Orlando in mid-November for $67 U.S., which is pretty dang good.

The AirTran sale isn't valid for tickets on Nov. 25, Nov. 28-30, Dec. 18-20, Dec. 22-30 or Jan. 2-3. It, too, ends Feb. 10, and USA Today reports fares are cheapest for flights on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.

HONDURAS CHAIR LIFT: LOOKS GREAT BUT IS THE COUNTRY SAFE?

Carnival passengers will be able to "fly" from the ship to the beach on a new elevated chair lift, when the line debuts its new Mahogany Bay Cruise Center in Roatan, Honduras, next month, says USA Today.

The six-minute lift ride, which Carnival is calling the "Magical Flying Beach Chair," will start directly at the cruise terminal and take passengers to Mahogany Beach. According to Carnival it's the first such transport in the Caribbean.

Four-passenger chairs will travel 67 feet above the ground. Carnival will charge a $5 fee for unlimited rides (chair lift passes will also be included in pre-sold beach activities).

The lift is part of Carnival's new $62 million cruise center which debuts with a visit of the 2,124-passenger Carnival Legend on Nov. 20. Mahogany Beach is a 10-acre private island featuring a long beach with loung chairs, floats, private cabanas, watersports, a restaurant and two bars.

It's something you don't see everyday, but the Tourism Minister of Honduras was quoted the other day as saying visitors should AVOID his country due to political instability.

"We are still a state without individual guarantees," he said. "The police can come into your house without court order, you can be arrested withour reason, and there's no freedom of movement."

Carnival argues Roatan is 30 miles from the coast and hasn't been affected by the political situation in Honduras and that "we have continued to call there through the past many weeks without incident."

Still....

 

2016 Olympic tourism and Toronto bid, Nachos with Mai Tais, Jim's Deal of Day

With Rio De Janeiro winning the 2016 Olympic bid, look for a major, major tourism boost to the fabled South American city.

Don't forget they've got the World Cup in Brazil in 2014, so this will be a double dose of visitors; assuming they can pull everything off. It's a huge undertaking, but presumably a lot of the infrastructure needed for 2014's football extravaganza will make things easier for the Olympics two years later. Certainly, I can't recall any other city that's had two enormous undertakings like that within a two-year period, so it's gonna be plenty interesting.

I wasn't surprised to see Chicago lose. The IOC is notoriously unpredictable, and the bloc voting often results in early-round shockers. Cities that have won bids have often come perilously close to losing in early voting due to IOC shenanigans.

And I fully expected Madrid to give a strong performance as former IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch, a Spaniard, still wields enormous clout in the IOC and was pushing hard for the Spanish capital.

I know the IOC hates the US Olympic Committee and it's alleged arrogance, but I didn't expect Chicago to take it on the chin in the first round. Second perhaps. Third, maybe. But not right out of the gate.

I wouldn't be surprised to see the IOC go back to Europe for the 2020 Summer Olympics. If they did, or if they opted for Asia again, there would be a good chance for a North American bid for the 2024 Summer Games. And that COULD open the door to, dare I say it, another Toronto bid.

We didn't so well against Atlanta for the 1996 Games or Beijing for 2008, but the bids were technically very good. And if Toronto wins the 2015 Pan Am Games in a vote slated for next month, the city will ha've addressed a gaping hole in its sporting resume and would look better to the IOC for 2024. The fact we're not American and not part of the USOC might still be a huge factor in Toronto's favour, and the 2024 vote will take place in 2017, a full seven years after the Vancouver Winter Games.

Nobody can predict what the IOC will do. But stranger things have happened, and there's no doubt some folks in the Big Smoke already are thinking of a future Toronto summer bid, part three.

Guess this means I'll have to make a trip to Rio next year to see how things look down there, too! Reports say there were already 50,000 folks partying on the beach and that another 50,000 were expected on a bright, sunny day in Brazil.

On a side note regarding Chicago, AP had a great quote from chatty IOC member Kevan Gosper of Australia.

"I'm shocked," Gosper said. "The whole thing doesn't make sense other than there has been a stupid bloc vote."

Gosper said the Chicago exit could do "untold damage" to the rocky relations between the USOC and the IOC, who have fought over revenue sharing and a proposed USOC TV network.

"To have the president of the United States and his wife personally appear, then this should happen in the first round is awful and totally undeserving," Gosper said.

WEIRD FOOD AND DRINKS

Speaking of the Olympics, I got a press release from the Four Seasons in Whistler today to say they've come up with a cocktail called the Eternal Flame, with pear juice, an energy drink and lemongrass-infused vodka. So where's the flame? Apparently they put a brown sugar cube on top, perched on an inverted cocktail shaker lid. It's soaked in absinthe and set on fire, naturally. It's also served in a tall, "copper-hued glass flute and presented in a passing-of-the-torch" relay fasion.

Sounds like fun. I bet six or eight of those would really knock you out.

On a related note, I got another press release from the Renaissance Chicago Hotel (they won't be serving anything except an Olympic flame-out for a while, I guess, ba-dum-shh) explaining how their melted cheese nachos with smoked prime rib are a big hit, and I guess they would be. I'd be happy to try, but they suggested matching the nachos with a Mai Tai made with Appleton White Rum, Don Q Limon, Cointreau and Orgeat, and I can't even begin to imagine a fruity mai tai with spicy nachos.

Still, next time I'm in Chicago I'll stop by. I'll do almost ANYTHING for a good story.

JIM'S DEAL OF THE DAY

Prices are falling at New York City museums, theatres, restaurants and shops, with NYC & Company’s NYC: The Real Deal Fall promotion. Running Oct. 6 – 27, the program offers close to 150 deals, at venues including Carnegie Hall (15 per cent off select performances) and the Museum of Jewish Heritage (two-for-one admission), and live theatre shows including STOMP and Chicago (15 per cent off). Seeing the city just got cheaper too, with 10 per cent off Signature Tours, Inc., Wall Street Walks and Welcome to Harlem Tours. Savings booklets are available at NYC & Company’s Official NYC Information Center at 810 Seventh Ave., between 52nd and 53rd Streets. A full listing of deals can be found at www.nycgo.com/realdeal.