Author Archives: Ursula Some cities feel like old friends. Whether you’ve visited many times or never, the streets and buildings are familiar from popular culture, pictures, and movies. Paris is like that – around every corner there is a familiar “Aha!” site. I had a couple of short stopovers in Paris during a recent rainy September. I found […]  Haida Gwaii, the archipelago in Canada’s North Pacific waters off the coast of British Columbia (BC), is a wild and remote place. The woods and waterways abound in legends and memorials to the hardships of times past. Take the story of the Pezuta (The Pesuta Shipwreck Story). This ill-fated wood-hulled steam freighter was built in […]  Blues musicians rock! The entertainers at the Thredbo Blues Festival last month had me smiling from ear to ear. This little event takes place in the charming alpine village for which it is named, high in Australia’s Snowy Mountains. For two and a half days, the restaurants, bars, and public spaces are bouncing with joyful […]  The town of Munnar, in Kerala, South India, was once a popular summer resort for members of the British Raj. Sitting high (1,600 metres – 5,200 feet) in the Western Ghats, this hill station offered cooler summer temperatures than those in the hot and humid coastal cities. Tea plantations were established here in the late […]  Is there anything as joyful as being in a room with live music that is being performed by musicians who love what they are doing? I had the pleasure of attending the 31st Thredbo Blues Festival last month. It started on a Friday evening in January, and continued through to late Sunday night. I’ve attended […] |
|
