Tag: canada travel

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Foreign Grocery Friday: Exotic Potato Chips up the Wazoo

May 11, 2012 at 3:44 PM | by | Comment (1)

When we travel, one of our favorite things to do is to pop into a local grocery store and check out the food products and candies we'd never find anywhere else. So we're trying out this new feature, Foreign Grocery Friday, where each week we'll feature some of our (and your) favorite overseas treats. Got a recommendation? Let us know!

If there's one thing we've learned during international travels far and wide, it's that potato chips are the universal snack of choice. As is to be expected, most of the creative flavors have roots in English cuisine, as the empire today is less "for queen and country" and more "for baked or ripples."

Well SmarterTravel has done their homework on this very important topic of chip domination, discovering what they name the 15 Craziest Potato Chip Flavors Around the World. Though we could easily supplant these flavors just off the top of our head (we ate Unagi Kabayaki, Salmon Sushi and Mong Kok BBQ sausage-flavor chips just last week), let's take a look:

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Screaming Starts This Week on Canada's Newest, Largest Roller Coaster

Where: Canada
May 3, 2012 at 12:30 PM | by | Comments (0)

We knew that our neighbors to the north were up to no good with their latest roller coaster, and now the time has finally arrived for coaster crazies to take it for a spin.

It seems like quite some time since we first heard of the country’s biggest and baddest coaster, but it’s all going to be worth it when it makes its debut later this week. Christmas comes early for coaster fans this year—May 6 to be specific—as that’s when Leviathan is set to debut at Canada’s Wonderland.

CBC News got a sneak peek at the new ride—see the video above—and it’s clear that this thing means serious business. The roughly 306-foot drop looks pretty intense even from the comfort of your couch, and let’s not even begin to discuss the 80-degree drop angle.

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The Titanic Graveyard Isn't in New York or Southampton. It's in Canada.

Where: Halifax, Canada
April 13, 2012 at 12:33 PM | by | Comments (0)

Going to visit the largest burial site of those who died in the Titanic ship disaster while on a cruise probably isn't the best idea, but then you think of something better to do while practically fogged in at Halifax's harbour. We took a bus out to Fairlawn Cemetery, which definitely isn't near downtown Halifax but more on the edge of a regular neighborhood. You'd never guess that inside the modest gates lay 121 victims, some still unidentified 100 years after the ship hit the iceberg and sunk on its maiden transatlantic voyage.

Fairlawn is open during normal daylight hours and, on a typical day, one bus tour will be followed by another bus tour stopping to visit the site. The Titanic portion of the cemetery consists of three rows of graves that mostly match, save for a few whose families purchased individual tombstones for their loved ones. All death dates are the same: April 15, 1912, though the ship hit the iceberg on the 14th.

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Now for Some Baby Lemurs and Polar Bears from the Toronto Zoo

April 6, 2012 at 1:58 PM | by | Comments (0)

When last we brought the Toronto Zoo to your attention, it was to outline how the gigantic park was building a $13 million facility that would transform animal poo into usable electricity via bacteria. Today's post is like that 2008 article, except it has nothing to do with poo or electricity or bacteria, and instead is about baby lemurs and baby polar bears and how you should indulge in some Canada travel so you can go see them. So really, more different than the same.

Via Zooborns we learn that there's a new ring-tailed lemur on display with mom Lily. The little baby is set to stop clinging to mom's chest and go exploring any day now, which means that visitors will soon be able to see something very small and very cute learning how to swing and jump. In the meantime we've embedded a video below showing what the last month has been like, with the baby hanging on for dear life.

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Venture into BBC's 'Frozen Planet' to Win a Manitoba Polar Bear Expedition

April 2, 2012 at 2:13 PM | by | Comments (0)

To celebrate the DVD and Blu-ray release of Frozen Plant on April 17, BBC Home Entertainment and Tauck are launching a Polar Bear Adventure Sweepstakes.

Frozen Plant explores the vast wilderness of the polar region, which is also where the sweepstakes winner will go to observe endangered polar bears up close.

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Now is the Time to Get Rid of Your Canadian Pennies

Where: Canada
April 2, 2012 at 10:10 AM | by | Comments (0)

Our friends to the North have decided to scrap the penny. Yes, Canada will no longer have a one cent piece as legal tender. The clock is ticking on the little maple leaf copper coin and its ability to buy anything when traveling in Canada, but we don't think it will majorly change how you travel.

The Canadian government has decided that it is far too costly to continue to produce the fractional monetary unit and will ceased minting this month. If you have a jar filled with 'loonies' and pennies, don't freakout as you have until the end of the year to spend them on Royal Canadian Mounted Police souvenirs and the like. Distribution to financial institutions will end in the fall when the decision makers will begin the end of circulation.

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Vancouver to Jasper on VIA Rail Canada: The Highlights

Where: Canada
February 24, 2012 at 9:05 AM | by | Comments (0)

Above: A scheduled stop in Blue River.

We already showed you where we slept and what we ate on the VIA Rail Canada journey from Vancouver to Jasper, but we still have so much more to show you. (Yes, we're clearly totally sold on train travel.)

To round out our coverage of the trip, we put together a gallery of highlights—a grab bag of views, glimpses of other parts of the train, and shots from Vancouver's Pacific Central Station.

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What's on the Menu in the VIA Rail Dining Car?

Where: Canada
February 23, 2012 at 9:30 AM | by | Comments (0)

Now that we've shown you around a Sleeper Cabin for Two on VIA Rail's The Canadian, chugging down the tracks from Vancouver to Toronto, it's time to talk food.

If you spring for a Sleeper Class ticket, your meals are included. If you're in Economy, you can still access the Dining Car, although you'll be paying for your meals (they're around CAD$9-12 each) and the Sleeper peeps get priority access to the tables. There is also a snack bar on board, where anyone may buy packaged sandwiches, crisps and drinks.

The Canadian departs Vancouver at 8:30 pm and there is no dinner. If you're in Sleeper Class, however, there is a little send-off cocktail party in the Park car; down a little cup of bubbly and some hors d'oeuvres as you sit under the domed roof and watch the lights of the city slip away in the dark.

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Overnight in a Sleeper Cabin on VIA Rail's The Canadian

Where: Canada
February 21, 2012 at 3:17 PM | by | Comments (0)

After way too many hours logged in cramped airline seats, we knew that the romance of air travel was long gone. (What's up, Pan Am?) But, we wondered, was there still charm and romance to be found when traveling by train?

After an 18-hour journey from Vancouver to Jasper, Alberta, on VIA Rail Canada, we can emphatically say yes. Of course, we were lucky enough to be traveling in one of The Canadian's Sleeper Cabins built for two, so that might have something to do with it.

We took a tour through the train before it departed, however, and found lots to like about the cabins for one, the berths and even the economy seats—mostly the fact that you don't have to sit in them the entire way, thanks to the Skyline dome car, with its observation level seating and panoramic windows.

But before we tell you more about the journey, the food and the amazing scenery of the Canadian Rockies, let's take a look at our digs on The Canadian...

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Canada Gets Some Spinoff Airline Action Too, Thanks to WestJet

Where: Canada
January 25, 2012 at 9:22 AM | by | Comments (0)

A new airline might just be headed around the Great White North before too long, as WestJet eyes the possibility of sending some new planes into the skies as part of a brand new airline. Apparently they’re sick of losing business to Air Canada and Porter Airlines, so it might just be time to fight back.

By this time next year, the plans could be in place for WestJet’s new regional airline. Head honchos at the carrier are already explaining that such a move would just be the next step WestJet needs, and that it would be a “natural evolution.” They haven’t made any decisions or placed any orders just yet, but they’re already thinking about ordering up some of those snazzy Bombardier Q400 turboprops to fly into smaller cities and markets.

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Strong Winds Could Cause Your Flight to Stop for Gas in Canada

Where: Canada
January 13, 2012 at 9:42 AM | by | Comments (0)

It’s already going to cost you a little more to fly to Europe, but it also might take a little extra time on the way back. This week there have been plenty of reports about transatlantic flights back to the nifty fifty taking a little detour to our pals up north in Canada.

The problem has been some crazy intense headwinds that have caused certain airplanes to burn way more fuel than usual, making a stop in spots like Newfoundland and Labrador necessary to pick up a little more jet fuel. Obviously this is a huge inconvenience for everyone involved, but especially the passengers who kind of thought it would be a nonstop affair all the way to the eastern coast of the USA.

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Guy Crosses US-Canada Border with an iPad in Place of a Passport

January 4, 2012 at 10:22 AM | by | Comments (2)

Whoa whoa whoa. We're not even a week into the new year and already stories of stupid travel happenings are hitting the news. The latest? Oh, just that some guy from Montreal managed to cross over the US border by producing not his physical passport, but a scan of his passport displayed on his iPad.

Look, we love iPads as much as (maybe more so?) the next tech-happy traveler, but we draw the line at two things: using the iPad as your main camera and using it as your primary form of ID. Martin Reisch violated the latter when he and his friends drove into Vermont and the border patrol okay-ed him.

Here's what went down, according to the CBC:

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