A digital travel diary. · WP v1.08 · Updated
Imagine a park where the deer are domesticated and come up without fear of humans - that's Parc Omega!. . The drive from Montreal to Parc Omega was only about 90 minutes. When we arrived, we thought about renting a golf cart with a built-in cage - the cost seemed reasonable at $25/hour. However, the golf cart could not visit some park areas, so we…
Read More: Parc Omega, Quebec
Our drive from Gananoque (Thousand Islands) to Montreal took a little over two and a half hours. We experienced periods of heavy rain but made it safely to our rented Airbnb apartment.. . . We were staying on Rue Towers Street in downtown Montreal. Our Airbnb host, Tyler, met us and showed us where to park our car and the many amenities of the rented…
Read More: Montreal, Quebec
After packing our suitcases for our drive to Gananoque, Canada, to see the Thousand Islands, we decided to get breakfast at the nearby La Prep restaurant. We had a couple of coffees and pastries and then drove our Toyota Camry out of Toronto. Although traffic was not very heavy, we experienced several rain showers during our two-and-a-half-hour drive to Gananoque.. . We checked into our…
Read More: Thousand Islands, Ontario
I am 1,168 feet above the ground, on a thin metal walkway around the CN Tower's upper platform. It's a beautiful sunset in Toronto, and I can see for miles around in all directions. I am doing the highly recommended EdgeWalk with my wife.. . I can see the nearby Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport; the Blue Jays play the Red Sox in the Ricoh…
Read More: Walking on the Edge
After getting up early, around 6:30 a.m., we dressed and drove to Niagara Falls. We were told that traffic could be heavy, but we did not expect it to be so terrible. It reminded me of traffic in the San Francisco Bay Area. Most lanes were barely moving. Since we had 3 people in our car, we could use the HOV lane and made better…
Read More: Niagara Falls, Ontario
Is travel really worth it?. . I was contemplating this as I sat in the San Francisco airport, waiting for my Air Canada flight AC756 to Toronto (our first leg of the Eastern Canada trip).. . First, you spend time getting to the airport (contending with traffic on US-101), then you wait to check in at the airline terminal (Air Canada was running really slow).…
Read More: Raining in Toronto
A grand opera brings out inherent emotions - overwhelming joy or profound sadness.. . The Marriage of Figaro, based on a French comedy that is set in Spain but sung in Italian, does not bring out either. However, I felt sympathy for its main characters in several instances.. . The Marriage of Figaro tells the story of Count Almaviva, his wife, Countess Almaviva, and his…
Read More: Review: Marriage of Figaro at San Francisco Opera
How much can a 12-year-old kid learn in five days of sailing on a lake?. . I enrolled my son Alex in a five-day Windsurfing and Sailing camp at Shoreline Lake. In the morning, he practiced sailboarding, primarily uphauling (using small, kid-appropriate sails), while learning to tack and jibe on his wide sailboard in the shallow, muddy Shoreline Lake.. . . . . . .…
Read More: Sailing at Shoreline Lake
Can two bored housewives get away with adultery? I was about to find out in TheatreWorks' "Fallen Angels" production. Noel Coward's farce centers around one central idea - that sex is something to be enjoyed, but preferably with someone other than your husband.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .…
Read More: Review: Fallen Angels at TheatreWorks
Since I've been a Big Bad Voodoo Daddy fan for the past twenty years, I've been eager to see them in concert. Every possible problem prevented me from seeing them in concert. They were even in San Jose last year, and I only found out about it on Facebook the next day! Thus, I was delighted when I finally purchased great seats for their show…
Read More: Review: Swinging with Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
We started our drive to South Lake Tahoe on Friday evening to get an early start on the activities at Lake Tahoe (which can get rather crowded later in the day). Although there was some traffic on US-50, the drive was uneventful. We arrived at our 968 Park Hotel around 11:45 p.m. (as expected). Overall, the drive took about 3 3/4 hours - long but…
Read More: Fun at South Lake Tahoe
Today, we attended a performance of Dartmouth Middle School's Spring Concert - the last concert before the end of the school year. Alex plays trumpet in the Beginning Band, and we were eager to observe his performance. Let's hope all of those additional private lessons paid off!. . The Jazz Band started the concert with "What Makes Your Beautiful," arranged by John Berry.. . .…
Read More: Spring Concert at Dartmouth Middle School
Today, we saw the play "One Man, Two Guvnors" at the Berkeley Repertory Theater. The play was adapted by Richard Bean and was based on Carlo Goldoni's The Servant of Two Masters.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .…
Read More: Review: One Man, Two Guvnors (Berkeley Rep)
Our flight to Stockholm Skavsta Airport on Ryanair was a bit complicated. We had a scheduled departure from Bergamo (BGY) airport at 20:50. Unlike other airlines, Ryanair charges extra for printing airline tickets and additional bags. Each bag is weighed, and additional charges apply for anything over 15 kg. Inna and I spent some time packing and repacking to get our weight close to 15kg…
Read More: Skavsta, Sweden
We arrived at Venice's San Lucia train station (on the island) from Bologna at around 1:10 p.m. Once there, we purchased a 3-day Waterbus ticket for each of us ($40/ticket) to use public transportation in Venice, Murano, and Burano.. . I did not realize it at the time, but a machine sold those tickets next to the agent, and I could have purchased the exact…
Read More: Venice, Italy
Thank you, Rick Steves, for keeping tourists away from Bologna! . . . We like it hidden and unique (and not overrun by mobs of tourists). We came to Bologna for one primary reason - it is supposed to be the culinary capital of Italy (but don't tell anyone).. . We arrived at Bologna's central train station on time, at 1:15 p.m., from Milano Centrale…
Read More: Bologna, Italy
"Buongiorno," do you have any warm jackets for sale? All I had was my red raincoat, and I was freezing. Italy was not supposed to be this cold! I was in the little town of Bellagio on the beautiful Lake Como, and all I could think about was finding a place to warm up.. . I packed enough for my Italian trip but forgot to…
Read More: Lake Como, Italy
We flew out on Norwegian Airlines flight DY7068 at 8:00 p.m. PST from Oakland Airport to Stockholm, Sweden, as the first part of our Italian vacation.. . Norwegian Airlines used the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, and it was a pleasure to fly on a modern jetliner with comfortable seats and an Android entertainment system. Norwegian Airlines is an à la carte airline, so all food or…
Read More: Milan, Italy
To celebrate Inna's birthday, I've been trying to set up a dinner at one of our favorite local restaurants for the past few weeks. Unfortunately, Alex came down with pneumonia, and we had to reschedule her birthday dinner multiple times.. . We were finally able to enjoy the food and hospitality of The Plumed Horse in Saratoga. The Plumed Horse is a Michelin 1-star restaurant…
Read More: Inna’s Birthday dinner at the Plumed Horse
I got up at around 6:00 a.m. for the long drive to North Lake Tahoe. I took I-680 North to I-80 East. There was little traffic in the morning, and I arrived at Sugar Bowl Ski Resort at around 9:30 a.m.. . I parked at the Village Gondola and changed into my snowboarding outfit. I rode the village gondola to the Village Lodge. It's a…
Read More: Snowboarding Sugar Bowl