BCAA Travel Blog

Only two North American cities can truly boast rock and roll museums that are major tourist attractions: Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Seattle’s Experience Music Project (EMP). The latter, which opened in 2000, has become a city landmark due in large part to its unique and controversial architecture, which is meant to symbolize the energy and fluidity of music. The wildy undulating, rainbow-hued, steel-swathed building was designed by Toronto-born architect Frank Gehry, whose other noted works include the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and the Dancing House in Prague. Continue reading…

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Dedicated TV watchers will recall that most episodes of Hawaii Five-O ended with the arrest of criminals and the uttering of super cop Steve McGarrett’s catch phrase to officer Danny Williams,” Book ‘em, Danno!” Luckily for McGarrett he only had to contend with bad guys on the Hawaiian Islands. Judging by the following collection of absurd laws from around the world (many of these howlers are still on the books), there are far more criminals out there than you might imagine. Simply reading this list aloud would make for a decent stand-up comedy act. Continue reading…

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Hundreds of people die each year in airplanes, and I’m not counting the crashes. No, they expire in mid-flight from heart attacks and other physical ailments. This, of course, creates a delicate problem for the crew and the other passengers, not to mention emotional trauma for family members or friends of the deceased. If a person dies while a plane is in the air, the crew often throws a blanket over the corpse or puts it in a body bag, an item routinely kept on some planes. The dead passenger is sometimes placed on the floor in a galley area, or kept buckled in his or her seat, since a corpse cannot be allowed to block emergency exits. However, British Airways’ solution in a recent case–upgrading a corpse to first class–made the headlines. Continue reading…

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Two books on travel writing that were published within the last year have provoked a storm of controversy. Both books—Do Travel Writers Go To Hell, by Thomas Kohnstamm and Smile When You’re Lying, by Chuck Thompson—are awash in sex, drugs, booze and assorted illegal activity, but that’s not the main reason they caused a stir. They attracted attention because they both took critical shots at the travel writing profession and the guide book industry. Dirty little secrets were aired. Continue reading…

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We have left Rimouski, Suzie’s hometown and the place where Sidney Crosby played his junior hockey, and are motoring across the St. Lawrence in a ferry. It’s a small vessel compared to B.C.’s mammoth models, but this ferry has something that B.C. ferries don’t have–seatbelts. Now that’s a bit alarming. The boat is rocking today, but not so severely that we have to buckle up. I have my binoculars handy since we expect to see some whales. Although it seems odd to associate whales with rivers, the St. Lawrence is host to 13 species of cetaceans, including earth’s largest mammal–the blue whale. Only the belugas live here year round; the other giants migrate into the river in summer because the waters are rich with krill and fish. Here in the estuary, the Laurentian Channel plunges some 300 metres deep, forming an underwater gorge in which fresh water from the St. Lawrence mixes with the cold Labrador current and water from the North Atlantic to create a soupy broth of life. Continue reading…

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On our way to Reford Gardens, we stop to pose for photos with what may possibly be the largest Adirondack chair in Canada. This shot on the left makes me look like some sort of grotesque shrunken doll; a Mini-Me in shades. To tell you the truth, I don’t why the monster chair was sitting there, but you see similar oversize items along the highways in Quebec from time to time. Earlier in the day we passed two giant dogs outside Beaupré. The larger of the two, a St. Bernard, was wearing a plaid tam o’shanter. Again, I can offer no explanation. Continue reading…

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 Las Vegas Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Viva What Vegas? Not content with blackjack and yards of margaritas, Janet and Jane go off-strip to discover The Other Vegas.

This podcast was produced in partnership with Lonely Planet.

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We’re headed toward Rimouski on Route 132 and the discussion has once again turned to food, specifically moose meat, or viande d’orignal as its known in these parts. Moose meat is a popular dinner item in Quebec, even though you can’t buy it in stores. In 2006, hunters legally killed 1,800 of them in the province. And that number doesn’t include the moose that were killed in collisions with cars. The drivers of the vehicles often don’t survive those smashups either. Suzie says that in some places in Quebec when a hunter shoots a moose he will parade around town with the beast strapped to the hood of his truck. However, when she says this she confuses “moose” with “mouse.” The image of a tiny rodent lashed down atop a pickup sends everyone into hysterics. Continue reading…

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We are in a boat chugging toward a group of islands in the St. Lawrence River. The ride is a little rough and the wind is blowing hard, but it is exciting to be out on the open water. A young Quebecois guide is doing her best to describe the setting in both official languages as the vessel bangs through the heavy chop. The cluster of islands, which face the town of Rivière-du-Loup, are part of the Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park. Under the protection of Société Duvetnor, a nonprofit corporation, these islands provide shelter for colonies of marine birds and seals and are an excellent spot for watching belugas. Just like Captain Ahab we’re on the lookout for the white whale. Continue reading…

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It is still raining, but not quite so heavily, a distinction that is probably lost on the soggy cyclists that we pass, struggling east on Route 132. This stretch of highway, hugging the south shore of the St. Lawrence River, is known as the Navigators’ Route. The cylists could use a navigator today. A heavy mist has descended, so thick that we can’t see the horizon. “Pea soup,” says Cinda, which seems appropriate. The inclement weather is bothering Richard. This is the Frenchman’s second visit to Canada. His first, to Alberta, was also plagued by grey skies. He glimpsed the sun only once on that trip. He sits slumped in the back of the van and moans, “Le soleil! Le soleil! Ou est le soleil?” Continue reading…

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