...in which we gently remind you (and ourselves) what airlines are taking you where these days.

Some of the most interesting new services popping up are between the U.S. East Coast and Canada. Interesting because they involve airlines that could be quite unfamiliar to travelers. WestJet is already established in the States, but mostly in the West and Florida. Porter Airlines, on the other hand, is just now adding its first U.S. destination.

Both WestJet and Porter are about to invade Newark--WestJet to/from Calgary, and Porter to/from Toronto-YTZ (City Centre Airport). Porter is especially welcome for the extra competition between NYC and Toronto--those fares have a history of getting pretty crazy.

So what can you Americans expect from Porter Airlines? For one, sexy snack boxes (see above), sexy service, and a free, sexy-ass lounge at the Toronto airport. The reviews for Porter on Airline Quality are glowing. We love it already!

Related Stories:
· Eos to fly from Newark Liberty [NJ.com]
· More destinations for Oneworld members [Dallas Morning News]
· Canada's Porter Airlines to launch Toronto-Newark service [AP]
· WestJet unveils Big Apple flight plan [Calgary Herald]
· Air Canada offers New York weekender pass to Calgary [Calgary Herald]
· Japan's ANA to launch budget Asia airline [Reuters]]]> djk 2008-03-26T17:00:01-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/1/15/112330/066

The city of Vancouver isn't just a great place to see celebrities or fly to Hong Kong any more. While the next Winter Olympics are two years away, Vancouver and nearby Whistler are already experiencing a construction boom, according to the New York Times, including an all-new light-rail line and several luxury hotels that will be ready to accommodate travelers in 2009.

Traveling to Olympic host cities before their big games is a great way to get a deal on a new, or newly renovated, hotel. The celebrities are just a bonus.

[Photo of Olympic mascots Miga, Quatchi and Sumi: stevenbuy_toy2005]]]> egw 2008-01-15T16:05:40-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2007/5/29/93848/8613

Come one, come all, to see exactly when dinosaurs roamed the earth! A creationist group outside of Calgary has built a creationist museum displaying the Genesis-based view of history, plus some scrolls proving that England's King Henry VI is a direct descendant of Adam and Eve. With Biblical calculations giving the Earth's age at some 6,000 years old, the Big Valley Creation Science Museum is like a planetary facelift. It even has a front lawn full of fossils, to test our faith!

Lest we err in attributing this sort of judgment to be a Canadian trait, it's worth pointing out that the U.S. just opened its own creation museum in Petersburg, Kentucky. Moreover, where Canadian creationists used placards, we hired the guy who made the Hulk roller coaster to make dioramas of children playing with dinosaurs -- for an estimated $27 million. And that's the difference between Canada and America.

[Photo: BVCSM.com]

Related Stories:
· Museums Travel [Jaunted]
· Museums Founder Insists Creation Backed By Science [Associated Press] ]]> egw 2007-05-29T15:46:49-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2007/5/14/115941/323
As world famous German polar bear cub Knut inches towards adulthood and becomes drastically less cute, what may be a final surge in cross-promotional activities rages on. The latest entity to snag a piece of Knut madness is the Canadian Tourism Commission, which recently sent the little guy a special Canada-branded ball to play with.

As the Brand Canada Blog points out, it's a small hint that Canada (and not Germany--who knew?) is a natural home of polar bears. You can even swim with them at the Polar Bear Habitat in Cochrane, Ontario, a good 450 miles north of Toronto.

Related Stories:
· Knut the Polar Bear Cub Becomes Pitch-Man for Canadian Tourism Commission [Brand Canada]
· Giant Pillow Fight in Toronto [Brand Canada]]]> djk 2007-05-14T14:03:58-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2006/11/21/211944/97
Plenty of people travel far and wide to catch their favorite championships: think of the hoard of tourists who descended on Germany this year for the World Cup, or the masses who hit Finland for the Air Guitar World Championships last year. You'll be kicking yourself now to hear that you've just missed out on the event of the year in Toronto: the Rock Paper Scissors World Championships.

Someone who's not kicking himself is the new world champ, London man Bob Cooper, who beat 500 of the world's best using his sunglasses strategy ("the eyes give away a lot") and a couple of hours training per day. Bob gets defensive if you suggest that rock, paper, scissors might not really be a sport:

"People think our sport is just about luck, but there is a lot of cunning and training involved in preparing for the championship," he said.

If you should find yourself taking a drive between the Eastern Provinces' Lac Brome area in Canada and Quebec City, and are in the mood for some cheese gluttony (and who isn't?), stop in at the Fromagerie Lemaire.

We found this place over the summer after some serious wine-tasting in Lac Brome. When we first heard of it, we expected an adorably quaint little place--maybe a cafe where you could order an extensive cheese plate that you could nibble from as you sat at marble-topped wrought-iron tables.

However, Fromagerie Lemaire looks more like a big hot dog stand, decked out in yellow and red, with the plastic booths of a fast-food restaurant.

No matter. We made our own cheese plate, purchasing an ungodly amount of brie, some cheese curds and a big baguette. Then we sat outside with our paper plates and plastic forks on the picnic benches in the decidedly un-quaint parking lot.

But who cares about ambiance when your face is full of fresh cheese and bread? Bonus: the curds were a treat for the mouth AND ears, as they inexplicably made loud squeaking noises against our teeth as we chewed them.

You'd be silly to stop at Fromagerie Lemaire in hopes of a charming French Canadian dining experience. But you'd be sillier not to stop at all.

Related Stories:
· Quebec Coverage [Jaunted] ]]> Zulkey 2006-10-18T17:05:17-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/