Tag: travel

Posted on in Food and drink, Historical, holidays, Technology and social media, travel

Wanderlust

Men selling tomatoes in a market in Bursa, Turkey

J.R.R. Tolkien wrote in The Fellowship of the Rings, “All who wander are not lost.”

Does anybody get lost anymore? Not often. With the advent of Google maps and GPS, we’ve become glued to a screen on our dashboard or in our hands that tells us exactly where we need to go. We’ve lost the joy of getting lost.

There is a freedom and excitement to discovering what’s around the next corner when you are lost. Of course, you need to pick your times. If you are on a strict time schedule, or travelling with a group who would not appreciate your meanderings, it may not be the best time to wander at will.

But if your goal is simply to explore and discover, put your phone away and let whim and desire lead you.

On our recent trip to Turkey, Dave and I made the conscientious decision to put our phones away and get lost in Istanbul. In the touristy Sultanahmet neighbourhood, we wandered down back streets where locals shopped for daily necessities like cheap undergarments, work clothes and shoes. We passed by Turkish grandmothers “nenes” wearing scarves over their heads and peasant skirts, shopping for socks and underwear, and workers hauling merchandise up the narrow alleyways on carts.

In the Taksim district, we got lost in alleyways selling art and musical instruments and were surprised when we popped out directly in front of the Galata Tower, one of the historic landmarks on the modern side of the Bosphorus.

We spent another afternoon poking around Kadikoy, a neighbourhood on the Asian side of the Bosphorous. We found spices, tea and coffee half the price they were selling it for in the touristy Spice Market and had one of the best meals of our entire trip.

In the ancient town of Bursa, near the Mediterranean, we went exploring when we noticed a man setting up a vegetable stand. We discovered to our delight it was market day, and spent the next hour browsing stalls that snaked up and down narrow alleyways filled with fish, fresh produce, pure olive oil in unmarked bottles, tobacco, and more. It was one of the most amazing produce markets I’ve ever been to, and we just happened to stumble upon it.

This week’s #HappyAct is to put your GPS away and get lost. On foot, by car, it’s your choice. See what adventures and treasures you can find.

Farmers market in Bursa Turkey
Olives and olive oil in Bursa farmer's market in Turkey
Dave lost in the streets in Taksim near the Galata Tower
Ciya Sofrasi restaurant in the Kadikoy district of Istanbul

Photos: At top and above: every type of produce imaginable at the Bursa market. Note the selection of olives and unmarked bottles of olive oil. Workers carrying merchandise by hand in the back streets of Sultanahment. Dave in one of the alleyways near the Galata Tower. And finally, one of the chefs working in the window at Ciya Sofrasi in the Kadikoy neighbourhood of Istanbul. They own three restaurants, and can bring kebabs from their restaurant across the street over to include in your order. It was one of the best meals we had in Turkey. If you look closely, you can see my reflection in the window!

Posted on in Historical, nature, photography, travel

Up, up and away

Hot air balloons in Pamukkale Turkey

I can’t believe I’m here. I can’t believe I’m a thousand feet in the air soaring in the sky in a hot air balloon. It almost wasn’t to be.

When Dave and I decided on Turkey as a destination for a winter getaway, hot air ballooning was one of the premier attractions. The most famous place to hot air balloon in Turkey is Cappadocia over the fairy chimneys and primeval rock formations dating back thousands of years. The internet is teeming with pictures of this magical place where the skies are filled with dozens of colourful balloons in the sky at once.

We arrived in Cappadocia in the middle of a snowstorm. Our balloon ride was cancelled the next morning due to snow and the next day due to fog. We had one chance left to take to the skies the following morning in Pamukkale.

We had toured Pamukkale the day before. It was in fact, my favourite place in Turkey. Pamukkale, which means “cotton castle” in Turkish is a UNESCO World Heritage site famous for its white, thermal pools of calcium deposits the size of Niagara Falls. After soaking in its magical charm at sunset and exploring the ancient ruins of Hieropolis adjacent to it, I was bursting with anticipation to sail above it the next morning in a hot air balloon.

As our transfer took us down through the valley, we could see the first flight of balloons mid-air outside our windows. The sun had just breached the mountains to the east and the air had a soft, hazy glow.

We arrived in a field and watched as the pilot landed the balloon we were about to fly in. They had to balance the weight, so as two people exited the balloon, two of our group entered. It was tricky climbing over the sturdy rattan basket, but the pilot and his crew members were there to help and our group of 12, who had become quite close in our week-long adventures congenially extended helping hands and hauled each other one by one into the basket.

After a quick safety lesson, our pilot fires up the propane tanks. A burst of flames shoots upwards, sending waves of heat into my face as air fills the colourful balloon above us.

Lift off. The balloon begins to rise majestically, floating ever so gently, gaining altitude as the light from the daybreak casts a soft glow over the hills and valleys.

Hot air balloon in Pamukkale Turkey

Our pilot watches the altitude, wind speed and conditions on his control panel. He releases more propane and we rise higher, higher.

I look down and see a patchwork quilt of vineyards and fields filled with olive trees and grapes and little dots that are houses. There is a large waterpark below us, as we begin to drift towards majestic Pamukkale.

There is a hushed silence, as our group watches in wonder the beauty of the landscape, breathing in the cool air and feeling the warmth of the morning sun on our faces. We are in awe.

A thousand feet. Our pilot keeps turning the balloon from east to west so we can all enjoy the magnificent views of the cotton castle below us and the snow-capped mountains to the west.

We continue suspended in air and in time, floating blissfully, quietly, at peace with the world and immersed in the atmosphere around us.

It is time to land. We had been briefed on how to sit for a crash landing, low in the basket, gripping the handles. As we drift slowly, slowly towards the ground, some of us assume the position. The pilot laughs. He assures us the stance is not necessary, it will be a smooth landing today.

We touch down, barely a bump in a mud-caked farmer’s field. The crew is waiting to greet us with champagne. Another successful flight.

Our hot air balloon ride in Turkey was a magical once-in-a-lifetime adventure. I hope you get to experience something as equally special and meaningful to you some day. See my quick Instagram video here.

Hot air balloon over Pamukkale Turkey
Hot air balloon
Author and her husband in hot air balloon
Cotton castle, Pamukkale Turkey
Fields in Turkey from a hot air balloon
Deflated hot air balloon at Pamukkale Turkey
Shadow of hot air balloon over the fields of Turkey
Woman on calcium field at Pamukkale Turkey

Me at Pamukkale the night before at sunset

Posted on in community, environment, travel

Find community connection in your own backyard

High speed train and proposed route

Special guest blog by Alison Taylor

I had some time to reflect over the holidays and decided that in 2026 I would become more involved and aware of the things going on in my community.

Recently retired, I wanted to find more purpose in my days. Don’t get me wrong, living in the country I have plenty of time for long walks, reading and writing, connecting with friends, shovelling snow and embracing wind chills.

However, I wanted more, so I started reviewing local news, and websites and was surprised at how much is going on in my little corner of the woods.  

What also surprised me was how much joy it brings to connect with my fellow “Stone Millers” (what I call those of us who live in Stone Mills Township northwest of Kingston)  

So far this year, I have attended a weaving demonstration at a local museum, an agricultural land use meeting to understand how land is designated in the province, and will be attending an open house for the proposed southern route for the Alto high-speed train rail proposal in eastern Ontario.  

So much going on in my neighbourhood.

The transition from working full-time to retirement can be tricky, but I am finding new ways to discover happiness in my own backyard.

I predict some great local connections in the months to come and look forward to being an active and well-informed “Stone Miller”.

Ed. note: Alto is a crown corporation that was established to plan and deliver the high-speed rail project in the Toronto to Quebec City corridor. The speed of the trains will reach 300 km/hour and the cost of the project is projected to be $80 billion. Alto is evaluating two rail routes between Peterborough and Ottawa, a southern route through more heavily populated but ecologically sensitive South Frontenac, and a northern route near Highway 7. A route along the already established corridor north of Lake Ontario through Kingston is not currently under consideration. If you want to find out more about this project and make your opinions known, Alto is holding a series of Open Houses this month. You can also complete an online form to share your feedback. The times for the Open Houses appear to be the same for all locations.

  • February 18: South Frontenac (11 am – 3 pm and 5-9 pm at Storrington Lions Club, 2992 Princess Rd., Inverary)
  • February 26: Peterborough
  • March 4: Perth
  • March 5: Madoc

Posted on in entertainment, family, holidays, pop culture, relationships

Love Actually is in an airport

My daughters Clare and Grace back together again

Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Ottawa airport… It seems to me that love is everywhere.

This week, I picked up a very special package from the Ottawa airport. Kid #2 arrived on a Porter Airlines flight on Wednesday morning after being down east at school for the past four months.

So maybe love wasn’t everywhere when I went to pick Clare and maybe I ripped off that line from the opening scene of Love Actually, but the feelings of love and anticipation of seeing Clare after her being away for so long has made me a romantic at heart.

I love that opening scene from the movie, parents reuniting with children, old friends slapping each other on the back, and husbands and wives, boyfriends and girlfriends kissing and hugging each other with misty tearful eyes.

The reality of course was slightly different. I didn’t actually go into the Ottawa terminal. I missed the turn for the arrivals lane after seeing a sign that said Car Rental Return and had to make a U-turn and circle around the endless airport loop, Grace remonstrating with me and calling me a loser the entire way.

If we had entered the terminal, instead of seeing happy smiling faces reuniting, we probably would have seen half a dozen people making a frantic 100-yard dash to the bathroom after their seven-hour flight, another half a dozen cursing at their phones because the person picking them up was late, and at least one exhausted mother with two snotty-nosed kids trying to find her Uber.

I mean, c’mon. It’s not like we were going to see a young buxom brunette hopping into the arms of the Prime Minister. Wait, hold the ministerial phone. Did I just see Katy Perry launch herself at Justin at the gate, his strong arms encircling her while she wears a jaunty beret? Maybe the movie is true to real life after all.

The point is, maybe love actually can be found in an airport terminal. One thing is for certain. You have a better shot at finding love than your luggage if you fly Air Canada.

This week’s #HappyAct is my Christmas wish for you: to have a sweet reunion with someone you love. Happy holidays, and be sure to check back next week for my top ten happy acts of 2025.

Posted on in ageing, community, Food and drink, Historical, relationships, travel

A stranger walks into a bar

Two people sitting in a bar

I made a new friend last night. His name was Alan.

Alan was sitting alone reading the Globe and Mail and sipping a pint of Stella when Dave and I wandered into the Toucan pub in Kingston last night, killing time between two movies at the Kingston Canadian Film Festival.

We got to talking, as strangers are wont to do in a bar, the conversation starting with Trump and the situation in the US, then veering into Alan’s fascinating life.

A son of a diplomat, Alan spent his childhood living around the world in countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Belgian Congo, Lebanon, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden. He shared one story from the time when he was a boy in Pakistan of one of the British dignitaries’ wives separating the children into teams of colonials versus locals for games at a British garden party.

When he graduated from university, he became a land technician with the Ministry of Natural Resources, a job he said he absolutely adored. One project he led was researching all the treaties to create Petroglyphs Provincial Park in Peterborough. He shared how for thousands of years, the various Indigenous peoples of that region took turns scraping the moss from the Teaching Rocks, passing down the teachings from generation to generation.

When I had jokingly said we’d be better off if women were in leadership positions around the world when we were talking about Trump, he smiled and leaned in and talked more about the belief of Indigenous Peoples in Gitche Manitou, the “goddess of supreme being” and how women in Indigenous cultures were tasked with the most important role, taking care of the home and children.

After his time with the MNR, Alan founded his own communications company and started doing documentary work. He travelled to the Congo in 1995 to document the outbreak of Ebola. The stories he shared were fascinating. He said both the US and Russian armies were present, but not to help the dying and suffering. They were there to see if they could weaponize the virus. That never made it into the film.

Over the course of a few hours and pints, we talked about fishing, travelling, our children, the Montreal Canadiens, Canada-US relations and how lonely it can be living alone.

As we paid our bill and gathered up our coats to head out into the chilly February night, I gave Alan a big hug and said I hope we meet again. Two barflys, no longer strangers, now friends after sharing a special bond in a bar.

This week’s #HappyAct is to wander into a bar and make a new friend. Here are a few bar jokes to leave you smiling:

Three vampires walk into a bar. The first one says, “I’ll have a pint of blood.”
The second one says, “I’ll have one, too.”
The third one says, “I’ll have a pint of plasma.”
The bartender says, “So, that’ll be two Bloods and a Blood Lite?”

A bartender says, “We don’t serve time travelers in here.”
A time traveler walks into a bar.

A three-legged dog walks into a saloon, his spurs clinking as he walks, his six-shooter slapping at his furry hip. He bellies up to the bar, stares down the bartender, and proclaims, “I’m looking for the man who shot my paw.”

Posted on in arts, entertainment, Hobbies, travel

A Shaggin good time

During our recent trip to North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Clare and I took shag dancing lessons at Fat Harold’s Beach Club.

Shaggin was born on the beaches of South Carolina and rose in popularity after the second world war as young people returned from the war and found a new outlet and zest for life, stepping and swirling to the boppy beats of beach music. North Myrtle Beach and Fat Harold’s Beach Club became the epicentre for shag.

The dance itself has been called the “swing dance of the south” or a slowed down jitterbug. It’s now the official state dance for North and South Carolina and Myrtle Beach and hosts the national competition every spring.

Lessons are free on Tuesday nights at Fat Harold’s. We pulled into a packed parking lot and sashayed across the dance floor to plant ourselves at a cocktail table at the back of the club on risers. Behind us was a beautiful mural of a sunny day at the beach to get us into the beach music vibe.

Fat Harold’s is “home of the shag” and it felt like we had stepped back fifty years. There was a pool table and burger counter as soon as you walked in (they are known for their cheeseburgers). Inside the main club, a long wooden bar and cocktail tables flanked the wooden dance floor. The walls were covered with funky old beach signs and pictures of celebrities who had visited Fat Harold’s and plaques listing all the shag dance champions over the years.

Dave and Grace sat on the sidelines and ordered a drink, while Clare and I took our places on the dance floor.

They lined us up, women on one side of the floor and men on the other and taught us the basic step of shag which is a six-step choreography, where the partners take three steps towards each other, three steps in the middle, then back two steps so they are constantly moving towards and apart in perfect flow. The goal is to dance as smoothly and synchronized as possible. The instructors took a bit too much time focusing on the basic steps for my liking. I would have liked to learn some of the fancy footwork and spins that shag is known for, but it was still fun.

I assumed most of the people taking the lesson that night came as couples, but it was surprising and fun to see how many singles there were in the crowd when they paired us up. People were laughing and smiling as they counted out the steps with their new dance partner.

We went to sleep that night with the basic steps refrain of “one-and-two, three-and-four, five-six” in our heads. It was a shaggin’ good time.

This week’s #HappyAct is to learn a new dance step. Here’s a throwback. One of the first blog posts I ever wrote was “Busta move” and I shared a link to the shag dancing championships! My friend Dianna who was pictured in that old blog post dancing with me dances four days a week. She was telling me recently that most of the dance classes she goes to are mainly older women, so any guys out there, if you’re interested in meeting women or just finding a good dance partner, go dancing!

Fat Harold's Beach Club in North Myrtle Beach
My family at Fat Harold's with a beautiful beach mural in the background
Fat Harold's dance floor

Posted on in community, Historical, nature, travel

Stop and read the signs

Gillies Bridge, Carleton Place

If you look around, there are signs everywhere but sadly, not many people stop and read them.

I do, I always have. I’m not sure if it’s the historian in me, or just an innate curiousity–I figure if someone thought it was important enough to erect a sign in a certain place, then it’s worth reading. It’s a trait that drives my family crazy.

On Friday, I went for my usual pre-game walk in Carleton Place before Clare’s hockey game. I was familiar with Carleton Place because Clare had competed in regattas there many times, but the arena was in a different part of town.

I started walking on a section of the Trans Canada Trail and came across a bridge that spanned the Mississippi River. There were several interpretive signs on the bridge, so I stopped to read them. Directly across from me was another bridge named Gillies Bridge in honour of John Gillies who built it in 1884.

Interpretive sign

John Gillies was the name of my father. Not the same John Gillies who built the bridge, and no relation to my knowledge, but it immediately caught my interest.

According to the Lanark County tourism website, lumber was king in the Ottawa Valley in the nineteenth century and John Gillies “was one of the industry’s crown princes”. He acquired the first sawmill in Carleton Place in 1866 and built the operation to employ 200-300 men to produce more than 20 million feet of board lumber a year. His mills eventually covered 300 square miles and spanned the greater part of six townships.

His Gillies Machine Works was his retirement project. After selling his mill operation, he built the Machine Works in 1875, manufacturing steam engines, water wheels, gearing, shafting and boat engines.

I thought this was ironic given Dave’s and mine luck with boat motors.

I stopped to admire the old abandoned millworks on the island, and then kept strolling, taking pictures of the old stone buildings since it was such a gorgeous sunny morning.  

It was interesting to read about this famous namesake, and in a strange way, made me feel closer to my Dad, who has been gone for more than 20 years.

This week’s #HappyAct is to stop and read the signs some time. You never know what you’ll discover.

Abandoned mill
Mill property
Old sprinkler on Mill
Posted on in entertainment, family, lifestyle, travel

Top ten travel happy acts for 2022

Stormy beach in North Carolina
Carolina beach before the storm

Normally in December, I do a round-up of my favourite happy acts of the year. But as I’ve said more than once during COVID-19, it’s tough blogging about happiness during a pandemic. So this year, I’ve decided to choose my top ten list of travel-related posts to give us something to look forward to in 2022. Some of these are great staycation ideas, others involve finding adventures further afar.

  1. Explore the backroads and hamlets of Eastern Ontario in Take a Scenic Drive and Visit an Amazing Place.
  2. Experience the feeling of skating until your feet chafe in The world’s longest skating rink turns 50 celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Rideau Canal in Ottawa.
  3. Bridgerton fans: experience what life was like in Regency Europe by visiting English and Irish manors in Of manors and mansions when lords and duchesses attended balls, paid morning visits and strolled in stately gardens.
  4. On a glorious autumn day, there is no better experience in the world than picking grapes and helping with the harvest in Harvest the grape.
  5. In Walk through a sky with a thousand suns, we explored a sunflower farm in Prince Edward County.
  6. The Carolinas have always held a special place in our hearts, find out why in Carolina on my mind.
  7. On a wintry day, one of the best places to visit is an aquarium. Read about my girls’ weekend winter getaway to Ripley’s Aquarium in Discover an undersea world.
  8. There’s a reason why British Columbia has “Beautiful British Columbia” on its license plates. See why in Happy in beautiful BC.
  9. Hamilton, Ontario, a great tourist destination, really? Explore all it has to offer in Challenge a steadfast belief.
  10. Make a date to explore your local zoo or one of the smaller zoos in your region where you can get up close and personal with the animals in Have a Zootastic experience.

Where do you plan to visit next year? Leave a comment and here’s to a happier 2022 with many more travels and adventures ahead!

Daughter Grace in a garden in South Carolina
Grace at a manor house in North Carolina
Daughter Clare in a sunflower field in Prince Edward County, Ontario
Clare in the sunflower field in Prince Edward County
Posted on in family, humour, travel

Plan the perfect do-nothing vacation

Me and Dave on a boardwalk in South Carolina

I’m starting a week’s vacation, and to be honest, I’m pretty stoked about it. I plan to poke around some garden centres, do a little kayaking, fishing, lots of eating, drinking, and watching Netflix. Basically all the same things I’ve been doing for the past year, minus work.

I used to be one of those people that would never take a vacation day if I didn’t have anything to do. The whole thought of spending an entire day at home was foreign to me. I always had to have something planned, either a big trip, or at least some day trips or overnighters to friends’ cottages or the city. Staycations were not my thing.

Now Covid is giving staycation a whole new meaning.

But there is something liberating about a do-nothing vacation. You can sleep as much as you want. You don’t have to worry about packing or having to be somewhere on time or follow a schedule. If it rains, who cares? It doesn’t ruin your plans because you don’t have any. You can just curl up for a nap, or find something to do inside.

Actually, it sounds rather idyllic except for two things.

My teenagers, both home all week, one home schooling, the other waiting for her summer job to start. All of a sudden, work doesn’t look that bad.

This week’s #HappyAct is to plan the perfect do-nothing vacation. What do you plan to do on yours? Leave a comment. Here’s a picture from a do-something vacation from two years ago outside Bubba’s Love Shak on a boardwalk in South Carolina. Sigh.

Posted on in travel

Goodbye Rick Mercer and thanks for the memories

Like millions of other Canadians this week, I watched the final episode of the Rick Mercer Report Tuesday night.

For the past 15 years, Rick Mercer has been a staple in our household most Tuesday nights.

What struck me the most when I watched his final episode was how much his show personified what it means to be Canadian and the best about our country.

I’ve been lucky to see Rick in action twice over the years—once in Kingston when he did a segment on a national tree climbing competition in Lake Ontario Park, and last November at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto. Both times he was engaging, funny, genuinely happy to meet and learn about people, and clearly proud to showcase the best about our country.

On Tuesday’s show, Rick did a special tribute to all the para-athletes he’s interviewed over the years. While we still have a long way to go in making Canada accessible, I believe thanks to legislation and guys like Rick, who have illuminated the wit, grace, and determination of people with disabilities, we are more aware and understanding of the needs and unique talents of this segment of our population.

Another segment was dedicated to politicians. There were some clips I hadn’t seen before (how did I miss the show where he and Bob Rae jumped into a lake buck naked?) I couldn’t help but contrast the relationship between Canadian media and our politicians with the United States.

While there is still an appropriate level of adversarial criticism and oversight, necessary for the media to do their jobs, the Rick Mercer Report personified how accessible our politicians are to the media, and the deep-rooted respect Canadians have for those who devote their lives to public office.

Through the Rick Mercer Report, we were able to explore the best of our country. From showcasing schools raising funds for Spread the Net to end malaria in third world countries, to the weird, wacky and wonderful events and people from coast to coast, Rick was our own personal Sherpa each week, taking us to new places and adventures across the land.

In his “Go See Canada” rant, Rick urged us to explore Canada, saying “I know in my heart of hearts, we would be better, stronger, and more unified if more Canadians could make it their business to see more of Canada.”

This week’s #HappyAct is to go see Canada. Thanks for the memories Rick. All the best in your next adventure.

And in case you missed it, I almost fell off my chair laughing this week watching Rick’s Seven-Day Forecast, especially since we’re frozen in this never-ending winter. Here it is again for your viewing pleasure.

Ed. note: A political note, thank you CBC for bringing Rick into our homes each week. Shows like the Rick Mercer Report would never exist if we didn’t have a publicly funded broadcaster. Keep them coming, and for all of you who fear going into withdrawal each Tuesday night, there’s still This Hour Has 22 Minutes, one of the best on television.