It’s a beautiful resort but it’s not Cuba. More tourists are found here than Cubans. It’s only a showplace for tourists”, the young Cuban lady guide explained, as she began to give us an overview of Varadero. Her words, more than volumes of reporters’ stories, sum up what the local Cubans think of Varadero – the country’s top tourist attraction. Everything in this resort of some 20,000 inhabitants is geared toward foreign visitors who are offered some of the finest tourist facilities to be found anywhere – a world that […]

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Packing up the van as we loaded up the children and luggage from our hotel in Edmonton, we embarked on the Jasper area of the Canadian Rockies adventure hoping to find snow-capped mountains, turquoise lakes, raging waterfalls and animals of the area. My daughter Muna and I were travelling with my eldest grandson Laith, Maria his wife and their two inquisitive sons, Bilal and Tamer. As we left the city anxious to visit Alberta’s natural wonders in Jasper and Banff National Park discussing our itinerary, suddenly the voice of my […]

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By Habeeb Salloum and Muna Salloum After spending a few days in Sydney, Cape Breton Island’s largest city, we felt that it was time to discover why Nova Scotia declares Cape Breton Island, ‘the masterpiece where your heart will never leave’. One could feel the cleanliness of true nature and the goodness of humanity. Cape Bretoners exude hospitality at its best making visitors feel like family. Here in Sydney there is also something else special: the harmony between First Nations Peoples, the Mi’kmaq and all others working hand in hand […]

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By Habeeb Salloum and Muna Salloum ———– We were excited and so were our stomachs as we headed out for a three-day tour of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia’s paradise isle. Leaving our immaculate 4-star hotel, Sydney’s Hampton Inn, we made our way through Cape Breton’s green coastline to Indian Brooks. The scene before us was breathtaking. We continued and a few kilometers later, reached the panoramic Lookout of St. Ann’s with seven more panoramic views. The areas we had covered so far seemed uninhabited, pure and clean. A short distance […]

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The Mennonite region in southern Ontario around the Village of St. Jacob’s is a captivating traditional, rustic area yet with the amenities of the modern age. For those who enjoy history and the traditional pre-modern way of life, St. Jacob’s is the place to visit. The Village, a 1 1/2 hours drive from Toronto, represents the living remnants of a European Christian sect that was persecuted in Europe then found a home in Canada with the freedom to practice its traditions. Today we would be touring the area of this […]

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As our group of ten sipped on Stoney Mules on the patio of the Lantern Restaurant & Grill located on the edge of Stoney Lake in the Kawartha region of Ontario, I was content. At that moment, while enjoying this drink made of vodka, ginger-rhubarb shrub, mint and club soda, I could understand why this part of the province is so much in demand by tourists. The tree covered shoreline and the beautifully designed restaurant combine to make it an alluring eating place where one can dine and feel the […]

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Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, a great steel and glass Victorian greenhouse, once part of a dirty steel mill city has now been transformed into one of the world’s most energy-efficient structures. With the greenest public gardens of the world, it has put Pittsburgh on the map serving as a model of sustainability for the next century. Located in Schenley Park, one of Pittsburgh’s largest wide green areas, the Conservatory complex is viewed as a cultural and architectural sustainable icon of the city’s Oakland neighbourhood. It contains exotica in a […]

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After spending a week enjoying the leisure life of the Mayan Riviera, we were excited as we boarded the bus for historic Tulum, edging this flourishing tourist region of Mexico. A land of greenery and white sandy beaches edged by a deep blue sea, it leaves an image of paradise on one’s soul. In addition, it offers lagoons, ancient Mayan ruins, ecological reserves as well as the world’s second largest coral reef. I hardly slept the night before, so involved were my thoughts in travelling back a thousand years to […]

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We drove through a green rolling countryside as we made our way to Freedom Farms for the final meal of the day to end our tour of Butler County – an hour’s drive north of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I was looking forward to our last meal of the tour in the rural part of the state with its wholesome and hearty home-cooked farm food. The Freedom Farms family is led by their outstanding mother, Lisa, a divorced mother of ten. She is the driving force behind the running and development of […]

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One of Regina’s most surprising culinary treasures is Fortuna Ristorante Italiano, a restaurant that offers parts of Italy’s authentic culinary heritage of fine dining in Regina. The five partners responsible for its creation felt there was a need for and a definite interest in a high-end Italian restaurant in the city, envisioning a dining venue that would offer dishes that would define Italian culture. And well they did. The Fortuna has every right to boast of its rich authentic cuisine that brings the best of an Italian experience and atmosphere […]

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Thinking of the sun and palm trees, one snowy and stormy weekend in Toronto, I decided to take my daughter Muna, along my grandson Mazin, and his wife Margarita, as a belated honeymoon gift, to the Dominican Republic. Now as we explored the huge Bahia Principe resort complex in Punta Cana, the Republic’s resort par excellence, we were living our dream. As we walked the white sandy beach, Mazin remarked, “A great trip! I love your honeymoon gift! This is the first time that I’ve been to a real ocean […]

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On my way to Stirling Room, strolling down a brick-paved street edged by charming restored Victorian-era buildings of Toronto’s Distillery District, I felt that I was in a previous age – a time when the upper crest of society enjoyed culture and life more fully at a slower pace than our busy life in this modern age. From their times we today can relish the renovated Victorian architecture in its pedestrians-only aura – no modern traffic to mar the atmosphere. The old and the new have merged to produce what […]

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“You want to see the Jewels of Jasper National Park!? I suggest you take two tours: one to the Columbia Icefields; and the other to Maligne Lake. They are two gems set in one of the most beautiful spots on earth,” a resident of the town of Jasper advised when I asked him what were the most important sites to see during our four day stay in one of Canada’s most charming parks. Photo credit: Jasper Tourism I thought of these renowned attractions as we settled down in our luxury […]

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West Edmonton Mall, North America’s largest covered shopping and entertainment centre and Alberta’s number one tourist attraction draws some 31 million annual visitors. In this gigantic structure tourists and locals alike can take their families to an amusement park, skate in a large-sized skating rink, play a round of golf on a miniature golf course, and shop and eat in the more than 800 stores and restaurants – and do this all under one roof. View of the heart of Edmonton It is virtually a city within a city, employing […]

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“Philly cheesesteak! Philly cheesesteak! You’re always telling me that you can’t wait until your son is old enough to enjoy a Philly cheesesteak!” Many times my grandson, Laith, would repeat these words to me about initiating his son to the delights of Philadelphia’s famous sandwich. This day I thought that I would bring his wish to a happy conclusion. I invited my grandson and his family – his wife Maria and their almost two-year old son Bilal, along with his one-month-old brother, Tamer, to Tony Luke’s eatery, one of the […]

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