You know, it does my heart good when I see a chef drag himself out of the kitchen, like a prehistoric, reptilian creature evolving before your eyes, stand up on his two hind legs and make something of himself. Chefs and cooks are, without a doubt, the hardest working people in the hospitality industry; but what a terrible price they pay for spending all day reducing pots of veal stock into a thimbleful of exquisite demi-glace, or figuring out new ways to flavor a dish. They rarely see the light of day, they aren’t paid especially well for their trouble, they don’t have the faintest idea who is leading the American League standings, and the turnover in their business is horrific, as is the failure rate of new restaurants. More...
To those of you who still have a little cartilage left in their knees and would like nothing better than to spend the rest of this long spring skiing, take heart: It’s still dumping snow in Canada, and the slopes are open even this late in the season. More...
Every now and then I get a sense of how truly vast Canada is, and how little we know about it down here in the balmy part of North America. I was reminded last week when I attended the Canadian Media Marketplace, an annual convention where Canada’s tourism officials try to enlighten we travel writers about things to do and see in the Great White North. More...
In case you missed it, Hawaii-based Aloha Airlines went out of business earlier this week, leaving lots of passengers holding the proverbial bag (or worthless tickets, in this case), frequent flyer accounts turned to dust, and 1,900 employees out of work. Passengers are scrambling to book seats on Hawaiian Airlines and the newcomer, go!, for inter-island flights, and United for mainland flights that had been booked on Aloha. Aloha had been carrying 11,000 to 13,000 passengers daily between the islands, and that leaves a lot of people stuck holding their beach bags full of sunscreen lotion and chocolate-covered macadamia nuts, wondering how they’ll ever get to Maui or the Big Island. More...
Coming and going by sea makes a lot of sense when it comes to visiting Hawaii. I found that out again last week when I arrived in the islands on a 15-day Holland America cruise from San Diego and back that stopped in Oahu, Maui and twice on the Big Island. Pulling into the Aloha Tower cruise terminal at the heart of the Bishop Street downtown business corridor in Honolulu evokes images of the old days, when the Matson Line brought Hawaii’s first mass tourists on ocean-going cruises. Go even farther back and imagine Mark Twain stepping off of a sailing ship from San Francisco when he visited the islands more than a century ago, and brought back some of the first evocative travel writing from these parts. More...
A word to guys out there who would no sooner set foot in the spa on a cruise ship than they would offer to wash dishes in the galley: You owe it to yourself to at least check out the spa, because it might just be the best place on the ship for relaxing, reading, ocean viewing, general walrus-like lounging, getting your nails done, etc. On my cruise on board Holland America’s ms Zaandam, I was surprised to stumble upon a room inside the Greenhouse Spa that instantly became my favorite place on board. It follows a general trend whereby the spas on board newer ships are being designed these days with bigger spaces and some of the best real-estate on the ship for watching the scenery float past. More...
This is why I came on this cruise: For nothing, and nothing is what I’m getting. Last Thursday found me happily ensconced on board Holland America Lines’s ms Zaandam in quite possibly the most remote area on Earth. At noon, we were 1,430 nautical miles away from San Diego, with another 812 miles to go before we reached the Big Island of Hawaii on a 15-day cruise that would circle the islands. We had left San Diego on Tuesday night and wouldn’t step on land again until Sunday morning.
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I figured that before I left Brazil two weeks ago, it would be a pity to not stuff my face with the most juicy, delicious, succulent meat on the planet. Everyone I spoke to at Club Med said there was one place, and one place only in Rio, to satisfy this meat-lust, and that was Porcão, which is pronounced “pork ow” and is the finest churrascuria, or Brazilian steakhouse, on the planet. One guy named Eric, who wrestled in Michigan before returning to his native Brazil, practically swooned while describing the delicious meats there. More...
This is what I love about Club Med: Last week, on a trip to Brazil, I struck up a conversation with a Brazilian guy at the bar of the Club Med Rio das Pedras, a two-hour drive south of Rio de Janeiro. I spoke English and Spanish, neither of which he understood a word of, and he spoke Portuguese, which I don’t speak a word of. And we understood each other perfectly, because after all, we were talking about ping-pong. More...
Want to join me for some armchair cruise fantasizing? (And no, that’s not ALL I ever do). Then click over to Cruise Direct Online and start imagining where you’d like to go. The site monitors the offerings and prices from twenty big cruise operators, including heavy hitters like Cunard and Holland America, and allows you to book cruises on a moment’s notice. There are also links for special deals, reviews on cruise lines and itineraries, and tips on getting the most out of your cruise. More...
Eyewitness Recalls Devastation(2:46) "Only On The Web": Peter Ford, Beijing Bureau Chief for the Christian Science Monitor tells CBS News about the horrors faced by rescue workers in central China's earthquake zone.
Red Cross: 128,000 May Perish In Myanmar
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