To Travel is To Live

Looking for a step or two back in time?  Open Range is a quaint little restaurant in NE Calgary with wild west decor (wagon wheels in the corner, creaky wooden floors, bills that arrive in Louis L'Amour books...) and a thorough wild game menu.  Bison, boar, elk, and duck are available, along with traditional fare - beef, salmon and chicken.  For the adventurous yet unsure, the waiters give excellent descriptions and recommendations of any dish questioned.  Never has their information been incorrect yet during one of our experiences. The music playing through the room's speakers is from another era - songs my parents remember listening to growing up.  So reminiscent is this atmosphere that they even began talking about when they first got refrigerators, running water, and even electricity into their homes as kids!  It's amazing to think that people didn't have these common conveniences even 70 years ago in some places in this country.  Oh have times changed! Sunday

It’s that time of year again, when the days of December run out and turn into the first few hours of January, marking the end of one period and the beginning of another.   It also tends to mean celebration and parties, so much so that people feel obligated to ‘do something’ each and every New Year’s Eve.   Surmising this tendency, I decided to look into some of the New Year’s Eve celebrations that are common in the locations I’ve either traveled to or plan to visit in the near future.   Here in Calgary, the traditions are common with other Canadian cities – people drink and drink a lot.   Sometimes there is dinner, sometimes dancing, but there is always a lot of liquor.   Every pub and nightclub realizes this and offers the same type of party that occurs on a typical Friday or Saturday, only for a vastly inflated cover price and maybe higher priced drinks.   For people looking for something a bit more special and unique, though, Calgary offers some themed galas within some of

My favorite Christmas movie is the original A Christmas Carol, and I am always filled with warm, fuzziness watching or reading Christmas stories where big families get together in one house for a few days, lounging cozily around the fire, drinking wine, and exchanging a simple, single, thoughtful gift with one another.   I am completely turned off by what Christmas has become in this era – everyone expecting extravagant gifts, people spending so much money that the next 4 months are just depressing and stressful.   North American Christmas has become so commercialized, and focused on big box stores and high-end electronics.   When I dream about what would be the most ideal Christmas, I imagine traditional ornaments, friends and family gathering (and that simply being enough), big dinners, and lights, so many lights.    For people who know me well, I have in my heart a tie to the Victorian era, so it’s not surprising that something traditional such as the European ChristmasMark

As most of you know, I love to dance.  This was discovered only a couple of years after moving to Calgary, though, looking back on the time spent imitating the dancers from In Living Color and Video Hits in my living room as a child (and yes, a teenager), I suppose it's not surprising.   I began with salsa lessons, and moved on to International Latin courses, which I absolutely loved.  Samba was my favorite but rumba is so sensual and electric that's it's hard not to get caught up in the moment with the right partner.  Moving on, a friend got me started on West Coast Swing, another favorite, simply because of the wide variety of music involved and the ability to be so creative in the movements.   However, what really got to me was when I started doing burlesque classes.  Admittedly, at first the zoning and movements through honey were difficult (and if you don't know what I'm talking about, you must check out one of Di's fabulous classes at Burlesquercise ),

Source: http://www.audleytravel.com/us/destinations/asia/indonesia/places-to-go/sumba/pantai-nihiwatu.aspx Flipping through my Conde Nast Traveller magazine may not give me much advice for adventure or budget-friendly travel options, but it sure does oust some locations that I have never heard of before.   Most recently, the island of Sumba was brought to my attention.   Known as the ‘new-Bali’ (which means Bali is ‘out’, unfortunately, as a hip place to visit), Sumba is another, smaller island within Indonesia.   Sumba Island is located in the eastern array of Indonesian islands, and access can come from a 55-minute charter flight from Bali.   This untouched land mass is only 11,000 km 2 , with one major resort for which guests looking for an intimate, secluded adobe can languish in its luxury.   Owned by one of the Tory Burch founders, Nihiwatu Beach Resort provides ultimate relaxation, privacy and breathtaking views of the natural wonders surrounding its property.   C

Yesterday I came across an interesting gallery of photos on the Calgary Herald iPhone app that immediately caught my attention.  It seemed like Halloween all over again, but something even more sinister seemed to be happening in Austria.  Krampus is the evil partner of St. Nicholas, the European Santa Claus who brings gifts on December 5th.  Krampus has been around for centuries, since 2000 BCE, to punish naughty children with whips and chains.   The Night of Krampus occurs traditionally on the eve of St. Nicholas but often the celebrations occur earlier.  Donned in outright sinister, disturbing renditions of this classic beast, men, women and children traipse through city streets terrifying those around them.  One look a the pictures in the gallery, and you will see why!   This tradition is becoming more popular in other European countries as well as in North American cities.  People are dressing up and partying the weekend before December 5th.  Leave it to the North America

On this lovely day in Calgary, looking out my window at an apocalyptic winter scene, I am inclined to dream of some faraway place, wrought with feather-soft sand, aquamarine seawater, and glorious sunshine.  Writing a travel blog is tough if you aren't actually traveling, so I figured, why not ramble on about places too beautiful to imagine?  I'm great at daydreaming, after all!   The idea to explore a Polynesian island in the South Pacific came from one of my many solicitous emails that I receive daily.  Tikehau Island - never heard of it, have you?  Nicknamed " Pink Sand Island ", one can only believe that you won't see traditional yellowish sand on the beaches.   Tikehau Island is a member of the Islands of Tahiti.  Known for its friendly people, lush gardens, and fragrant ocean air, Tikehau is thought to have the largest fish population of all the Tahitan islands.  In fact, this abundance of fish makes fishing the largest industry for the inhabitants of th

True to our nature, Bryan and I didn't actually get around to planning and executing a celebration for our 3 year anniversary that occurred in August.  Maybe it's just too busy that time of year, but more likely, I think we like to be quite spontaneous so that we can enjoy every iota of hot weather that we can with such short summers. Better than last year, we did manage to book a weekend away to celebrate and spend some quality time together.  We chose Banff as it's still a good distance from home but in a different setting so it does feel like we've gotten away.  I booked us into the Banff Springs Hotel , our first experience staying at such a beautiful place, so we were both quite excited to get out here and check things out.  I found a deal, but as anyone knows, staying at this hotel (or any Fairmont location) is not cheap, so we booked 2 rooms and split the cost of the still exceedingly high price tag. Courtesy:  http://www.worldtravelguide.com/