“So… you’re going on the Habitat 67 tour on your way to the airport?” our son Andrew asked over FaceTime, laughing as he was making plans to pick us up from our flight to San Diego. “Yeah, that sounds about right!” I’ll admit I’m guilty of over-extending when it comes to travel, but this was … Read More
It’s about a twenty-minute drive from Montréal’s Vieux-Port to Mont-Royal, the mountain that looks out over this city on the St. Lawrence River. Herb and I decided to make the upward climb by Lyft and the downward trek on foot. Mont-Royal is one of the city’s major landmarks – locals refer to it as “the … Read More
“And the sun pours down like honey On our lady of the harbour…” ~Leonard Cohen, Suzanne The calendar had just turned to September, but in Montréal, it still felt like summer. Herb and I were spending our first day here exploring the city’s Old Port neighborhood. The Seabourn Sojourn was docked nearby along the St. Lawrence … Read More
It was a Sunday morning on the last day of August, and the cobblestone streets of Québec City’s Lower Town were wrapped up in solitude. Shops wouldn’t be opening for another half-hour, and I was trying to capture as many photos as I could while the streets were still quiet and empty. With a forecast … Read More
Although they’re only about ten miles from the Newfoundland coast, the islands of Saint-Pierre et Miquelon feel more like a European hamlet than a North American archipelago. Officially classified as a self-governing territorial “overseas collectivity of France,” the islands’ 5,819 residents are French citizens who speak French, spend in euros and set their clocks to … Read More
The rain was relentless, pounding down from the sky, catching in the wind and blowing every which-way. We had arrived in St. John’s in the middle of a storm and were heading out on a tour to Cape Spear, the easternmost point in continental Canada and North America. I didn’t have much hope for the … Read More
While researching things to do in Qaqortoq, Greenland, I came across something that stopped me in my tracks. The town is notorious for having midges, those flying little insects that can either bite or merely be a pest. Insect repellent won’t deter them, but head nets will at least keep them away from faces and … Read More
I was taking a photo of an iceberg reflecting in the waters just off our balcony when a thunderous sound rang through the early morning stillness. I immediately knew the iceberg was beginning to “calve” and switched from camera to video as quickly as I could to capture the moment. This was a much smaller … Read More
“Up there, time comes whole, then is divided into four months of dark, four months of light, and two seasons of twilight when the sun hangs at the horizon as though stuck between two thoughts.” Gretel Ehrlich, This Cold Heaven: Seven Seasons in Greenland In some places, Prince Christian Sund is so narrow that it feels … Read More
It’s a half-hour boat ride from Ísafjördur, a town of 2,600 in northwestern Iceland, to the wildlife sanctuary of Vigur Island. This remote little world is home to 100,000 puffins, 10,000 eider ducks, arctic terns, Europe’s largest colony of black guillemot – and one human family. Vigur and the port town of Ísafjördur are part … Read More