A bunch of the boys were whooping it up at the Malamute Saloon. Well, actually, it wasn’t just boys and the saloon involved was the Westminster, a fuschia pink and white establishment across the street from our hotel, the Eldorado.Our Dawson City tour guide had told us earlier that day, that if we hadn’t seen …
Just before the parade leaves the United Church to make its loud and proud way down Whitehorse’s Main Street, Doris Bill, Chief of the Kwanlun Dun First Nation, tells a story. She recalls a man she knew who was gay. Not only was he ostracized from his local Yukon community but ended up leaving the …
During the summer, if my husband suggests we go away for the weekend, I know there’s likely a cycling event attached to the offer. This doesn’t really bother me. He’s passionate about cycling, which provides me with the male equivalent of happy wife, happy life. And these cycling events have happened in places that provide …
Last Thursday, my neighbor and I huddled onto the bus downtown, talking about – what else? – the weather. “I can’t remember it ever being this cold this late,” I said. “-21 wind chill in April? Give me a break.” He shrugged one shoulder. “In Dutch, we have an expression: ‘April does what it likes.’” …
The theme in my FB newsfeed this morning: We’re sick of snow, we want it to stop; spring’s on Tuesday but it looks like January; that’s enough. I saw a “snow shots” thread where people around the UK were posting winter white photos of their back yards, and I participated with one of mine from …
The woman with the steely grey hair and sparkling brown eyes was among the earliest to arrive for my talk on women’s solo travel at Edmonton’s Primetime Women’s conference last fall. So it didn’t surprise me that she was also the first to take me up on my invitation to share a story about travelling …
By 2 p.m., I realized that I probably didn’t need the grilled cheese sandwich I’d made myself for lunch. But since it was the first time I’d ever attended an afternoon meeting of the Edmonton Women Chefs and Restaurateurs, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I’m not a chef or a restaurateur, but when I …
During our two-week vacation in Uruguay, my husband and I spent 35 hours on long distance buses: west/east to Colonia del Sacramento, east/west to Punta del Este, and north/south to Artigas. Bus travel was cheap, convenient, and gave us a much better understanding of how the other half of the Uruguayan population lives, that is, …
“By the day after Christmas, you won’t be able to book a hotel, find a restaurant, or call a taxi. But right now, Punta del Este is very nice.” Our waiter has summed up our experience so far in this city that Uruguayans call the Monaco of South America. We’re here for the final three …
It was the Canadian ambassador’s idea. During the business portion of my trip to Uruguay, I met Joanne Frappier twice: once at the signing of a memorandum of understanding between my university and the Universidad Tecnologica, Uruguay’s newest university; and once with my colleagues at the Canadian Embassy in Montevideo. Her friendly, down-to-earth personality made …
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