 The plaster dust from recent renovations has finally settled at Holt Renfrew, arguably the finest department store in Montreal. The store is shinier than ever, and designer clothing and fine perfumes await your every glance. However, if like me your idea of a good time doesn't usually include shopping, then you are in luck - Holt Renfrew is also home to unarguably some of the best in-store dining in the city. In fact, the basement Cafe Holt is a destination in itself, and not just for weary shoppers as I imagined.
Cafe Holt's modern decor is accompanied by a thoroughly modern gourmet menu, which is in turn centered around a very traditional bread....
Read the rest of: "Café Holt"»
I once read a statistic that indicated Torontonians watch more films per capita than the residents of any other city in the world. It's not that we go to first run movies more than most people do, it's that we go to a lot more film festivals.
When someone says the words "Toronto" and "film festival", the natural assumption would be that they're referring to the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), one of the world's most well-respected gatherings of movie folk. While the TIFF is definitely Toronto's biggest and best known, attracting films, celebrities and celebrity-watchers from around the world, it's actually only one of dozens of film festivals that take place in this city throughout the year...
Read the rest of: "Toronto Film Fests and the End of the "Nabes""»  Traditionally considered to be a classic "outing with the kids," apple picking is fun for really big kids, too (I happen to fall into the second category). The perfect place is only a half hour drive from Montreal, right next to Oka Park (for those of you who are familiar with its pristine beaches).
Saint Joseph-du-Lac is a town completely devoted to planting, growing, cultivating, juicing, and baking apples. In short, everything to do with apples except picking them - that you have to do yourself...
Read the rest of: "Saint Joseph-du-Lac: The Big Apple (of Quebec) "»  "Luba Lounge" is gone, and we've been mourning the loss. The next step in our grieving process was to visit Vinyl, which has taken its place on Bleury St. just below Sherbrooke. After a Friday night film fest at Cinema du Parc we decided to check it out.
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Whale watching in British Columbia was not what I
imagined. My reverie of Free Willy frolicking in the
sun was replaced by a freezing reality as we set off
from the harbor.
Read the rest of: "Whale Watching in British Columbia"» 
This very civilized hotel cannot escape from the wild
island on which it stands.
The Fairmont Empress, a landmark hotel in Victoria
B.C., stands beside the city's inner harbor. It is a
restored turn-of-the century hotel, complete with rose
gardens and a special lobby where high tea is served
every afternoon.
Read the rest of: "Fairmont Empress, Victoria, B.C."» 
Before going to Entry Island, I thought that the
Magdelene Islands were remote. Entry Island is 20 9
miles off the coast of the Magdelene Islands, which
are in turn many miles away from Prince Edward Island and
Nova Scotia.
You
might be a little vague on Canadian geography (as am
I), so allow me to explain more clearly: this place is
really far away
from wherever you are. (unless, dear reader, you are an Islander yourself).
Read the rest of: "Entry Island, Quebec - further off the beaten track"»  One of my favorite words to learn in any language is butterfly - or papillon, flutur, smetterling, farfalla, mariposa.....the onomatopoeic list goes on. The names are as pretty as the butterflies are, so I was intrigued when I heard that one of the greenhouses at the Botanical Gardens in Montreal becomes home for thousands of butterflies during the early spring.
Read the rest of: "The Butterflies Are Back!"»  |
