Soufriere, Saint Lucia, May 24, 2014... Believe it or not, stays at Jade Mountain are becoming sweeter. Guests are invited to make their own chocolate in the brand-new chocolate laboratory. Jade Mountain is not only one of Saint Lucia’s most scenic resorts, it is also the island’s only "bean to bar" organic single estate boutique chocolate maker. There are over 1000 cocoa trees on the resort estates, including the organic farm Emerald’s in the … [Read more...]
Club Med: An Unpaid Advertorial Paradise Lost: A Travel Survivalist Kit
Crashing a Club Med in French Polynesia, nonpaying guest intruder John M. Edwards discovers life is no picnic. . . . I awoke on the rooftop of Tahiti’s international airport with a heavy jackboot nudging me in my ribs--! “Monsieur, Monsieur, allons-y!” All of the other sleeping backpackers, alerted by a piping yelp evocative of a vicious French poodle being savagely rogered insensate, rubbed the sleepy seeds from their eyes and gloomily … [Read more...]
Exploring Chachangsao Thailand
Driving by the signs for the Bang Khla floating market many times over the years finally we decided to go. On a Wednesday. File this decision in the "stupid" category. All the floating markets we have gone to in and around Bangkok have always been held on the weekends only. So to was the case here. We drove 90 mins to the river in Chachangsao and lo and behold we arrived to a bunch of empty buildings and no one floating on the river. Making … [Read more...]
Ecuador – Chocaholics Paradise
The first ´traveller´ to sample chocolates bitter sweet charms was Christopher Columbus in 1502, although it´s likely that the Indigenous Maya and Aztec people had already been drinking it for the previous thousand years. The cacao bean itself had originated in South America millions of years before and is now being reclaimed by its discoverers, yep, chocolate is coming home. Artisan and organic chocolate is the subject on every foodie´s … [Read more...]
Stowe’s Simple Surprises
Sometimes luxury is in the simple things. Driving the last ten miles along Route 100 toward Stowe, Vermont, I was entering another way of life. There are no sky-scrapers, no fast-food chains, no billboards or even back-lit signs. There are independent little one- and two-storey shops, selling cheeses and maple syrups and cider doughnuts. I pulled into the parking lot at the recently renovated Topnotch Resort and Spa and quickly ducked … [Read more...]
Top 5 romantic things to do in Paris
Paris is one of the most beautiful and romantic cities in the world. The streets and monuments of this magical French city ooze romance. From beautiful gardens and poetic parks to world class restaurants and breathtaking panoramas, every couple enjoys the mesmerising beauty of this city. Needless to say, the time around Valentine’s Day is most popular for most couples, though you can visit this city throughout the year and enjoy the time of … [Read more...]
I Left my Box in San Francisco
Chocolate lover John M. Edwards muses over why the travel magazine "trips" went out of business in San Francisco, apparently because of a typo, as well as some other funny ass shit. In Haight-Ashbury, once the center of the 1960s Hippy Flower Power Movement, I came upon a hawker selling unique chicken-claw pipes. I purchased one and held it up in the light as he passed me a tape of Ry Cooder, the famous slide guitarist who taught Keith … [Read more...]
5 Honolulu Highlights
After several visits to Kauai, Maui, Molokai and the Big Island of Hawaii, I finally had a chance to visit Oahu, the most populated of the Hawaiian Islands and home to the state capital of Honolulu. My travel opportunity came with an invitation to Honolulu to attend the launch of the new Hawaiian Airlines World Elite MasterCard issued by Barclaycard. Although primarily a business trip, I got a wonderful taste of what Honolulu has to offer leisure … [Read more...]
What do Van Morrison, The Godfather of Punk, and Seamus Heaney have in Common?
There is a theory of “primitive affluence” that suggests that when a society has its primary needs met by Nature...food, shelter, clothing…then it will turn to creativity. Bali, a tropical island in Indonesia where the rich volcanic soil produces an abundance of food and materials for fabrics and building, is held as an example. The trope is that “everyone in Bali is an artist.” Yet, while it is true that most everyone spends days carving, … [Read more...]
Second Date on the Napa Valley Wine Train
Back when my husband ("Mr. TWS") and I first got married in September, 1991 we were given a wedding gift certificate for a ride and lunch on the Napa Valley Wine Train. At that time, the Wine Train had been in operation for only two years. We were thrilled because we’d heard so much about it as the new must-do experience in Napa wine country. So the following summer, we boarded the train in Napa for our three-hour ride and gourmet lunch. It was a … [Read more...]
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