tripadvisor includes BC inns in its top choices

It's so gratifying when a site like tripadvisors lists BC Inns among its top choices -- even more so when some of them are already on www.greatestgetaways.com, which specializes in getaways in the Pacific Northwest, and beyond.

Here they are:

Abbeymoore Manor Bed & Breakfast, Victoria, BC
ThistleDown House, North Vancouver, BC
Eagle Landing Bed & Breakfast, Qualicum Beach, BC
Harvey House Bed & Breakfast, Tofino, BC
West End Guest House, Vancouver, BC
Apple Blossom Bed & Breakfast, West Kelowna, BC

Evan Penner, President of the British Columbia Bed and Breakfast Innkeepers Guild, says, “With four of Canada’s top 10 Bed and Breakfasts members of the BC Innkeepers’ Guild, this speaks volumes to the quality of our members. The inn or B&B experience is more than just a room: it’s a warm welcome, lovingly kept rooms, plus that unique feature – a sun porch, a cozy fireplace, a blissful hammock or a delicious afternoon tea. Our innkeepers love what they do, and it shows in the warm welcome they extend.”

San Juan Islands #2 on New York Times To Places to Visit List

With my Frommers Guide to the San Juan Islands due out any moment, it seems fitting to share this news.

The New York Times 2011 top destinations list IN THE WORLD includes these islands as Number 2!

To quote the NYT: “From the beaches of Mexico to the wilds of Kurdistan, the places on this year’s list take you to the end of the world and back.” So you can imagine that the San Juan folks are pretty chuffed at the recognition .... as I am since the new Frommers guide already includes what this prestigeous paper reveals.

The article praises the Islands’ amazing nature, and its dining scene, including Chef Lisa Nakamura’s new Allium Restaurant on Orcas Island, in Eastsound Village. The “eternal lure of the San Juans” is credited to its landscapes where “pastoral hills give way to broody forests and scrappy escarpments that overlook fjordlike inlets.” Praise is given for the recent annexation of Mitchell Hill to the San Juan Island National Historical Park, active land preservation efforts by organizations such as the San Juan County Land Bank, and the preservation from development of the spectacular Watmough Bay Preserve on Lopez Island with its “moody water as magically lighted as a Bierstadt painting.” The San Juan Islands were last honored on a New York Times annual list in 2008, in its “31 Places to Go this Summer” in the United States. In that list, the San Juans held the #14 position.

Other Pacific Northwest destinations chosen for the “41 Places to Go in 2011” list include two San Juan Islands neighbors: Olympic National Park, Washington (#27) and Whistler, British Columbia (#25). Other world destinations chosen for the 2011 list include Santiago, Chile (in the #1 position), The Danube, Zanzibar, Budapest and Singapore, to name a few.

To read the entire article, please go to www.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/travel/09where-to-go.html or use the shortened link of http://nyti.ms/gJXhwc.

WILD RIDE ON TOURISM'S NEWEST TECH WIZARDRY

Now here's a travel evolution - launched today in Vancouver.

Ever dreamt of jumping in a helicopter pilot seat and soaring over some of this province’s finest glaciers, rivers, waterfalls and forests… in your pyjamas? Well now's your chance -- virtually.

The Vancouver-based northStudio360 has just developed an interactive, 360-degree helicopter video of some of BC’s most visually-stunning landscape. These techno wizards have created a web-based video by using a custom-built rig to which they strapped six cameras to a pole and hung it out of a helicopter while flying over a 150 km track of stunning coastal mainland. To finalize the product, northStudio360 used their proprietary video merging software for a seamless flying experience.

"Until now, 360 video really gave only a ground level look at our world. We’ve literally taken this technology to new heights," said Ryan Whitehead, president of northStudio360. "We teamed up with Nimmo Bay Resort, one of North America’s top heli-adventure destinations, to showcase the wild West Coast. With the push of a button, you’re in the pilot’s seat: fly inches off the surface of a river or soar over rugged mountains, it’s entirely up to you."
Due to improvements of internet and processor speeds in the past few years, it’s now possible to deliver higher quality 360-degree video to the public and with much more dynamic views, creating new opportunities for those in the tourism and advertising sectors. In the near-future, northStudio360 plans to create videos where users can stop the footage, insert location tags (Geotag) and upload vacation photos.
　
To experience the software first-hand, visit http://www.blogger.com/www.nimmobay.com/media/360-video/360-video-adventures

And get set for a wild ride!

Sunset Inn & Suites a REAL Vancouver find

Because I tend to blog when traveling, you might assume that life has been quieter these last couple of months. Until you realize that the last eight weeks have involved all the usual holiday paraphernalia and New Year celebrations. And now that we’re all ensconced into 2011, there’s a real sense of optimism in the air. Despite a still-shaky economy, poor job stats, rising air-fares, and weather-driven misery, horoscopes and intuitive forecasters seem determined to paint a much rosier picture.

So, going with the flow, I’ve started out my New Year in rediscovering hidden treasures of my home city: Vancouver.

Here one of my first finds right off the bat: Sunset Inn & Suites – an apartment style hotel that’s just like living as a resident whether you choose a studio or one-bedroom unit. Recent upgrades have made this modest hi-rise an amazing value-for-money place – very comfortable, spacious, well equipped small kitchens, a wee exercise room, Wi-Fi, a DVD library and even free parking -- a big bonus in any city.

What really stands out is its hospitality. It honestly feels so much more friendly and genuine that the Big Hoteliers just down the road.

And you’ve got to love its central location. Restaurants and coffee houses are on your doorstep. Granville Island and the downtown shopping district are a stone’s throw away. Because of this, Sunset doesn’t have (or need) its own in-house restaurant which gets it listed as a 3.5 star property but trust me, this under-the-radar place offers 5-star service.

Once discovered, it’s the kind of place that will become your home away from home for every visit to Vancouver.

Now THAT'S a bona fide Vancouver greatest getaway!

REMEMBRANCE DAY

If ye break faith with us who die, we shall not sleep,
though poppies grow in Flanders Fields

The haunting words of Canadian Lt.-Col. John McCrae were never more powerful than today.
He penned them to conclude his epic poem, In Flanders Fields, shortly before his death near the end of the First World War.

Sadly, only a handful of veterans fo the Great War remain with us. Those who served in the Second World War and Korean War are not far behind. So it falls upon us and our children to tell the story and remember ......

To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high

McCrae was writing those words for future generations.
And it must be within our moral compass to give them voice and heart.

TRAVEL WRITERS SPREAD ACROSS GERMANY

Travel writers are a curious breed ….. independent adventurers each trying to up the other for the obscure story hook and eye-catching photo angle. When they converge on a destination, as we did for the recent international gathering of Society of American Travel Writers, organizers of the event must have felt like they were herding cats!

But the generous hospitality of Lufthansa, which enabled flexible travel schedules, German Tourism, which extended programs throughout the country, and our hosts in the Saxony region, a good time was pursued by all. I’ve never seen so many clicking cameras, bloggers, tweeters, scribblers, and Dictaphones running amok under one roof – metaphorically speaking.

Dresden and Leipzig were the primary destinations and really strutted the best of their stuff. Although virtually decimated after the Second World War, both cities have risen from the ashes to remember their glorious heydays. Dresden in particular is filled with architectural splendor and has a fabulous countryside to explore. Leipzig is music central as in the footsteps of Johann Sebastian Bach, Mendelssohn, Schumann and Richard Wagner. Add Mozart into the mix and Saxony becomes an unrivalled destination for its historical and cultural landscape.

And the hospitality of the German people is undisputed.

Since many of us spread our wings to other parts of Germany and Europe, you can expect a slew of stories to hit the media waves. Until then, read my tweets for travels beyond, to Prague, Budapest and Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

Alaska - still the edge of the Frontier

Traveling the length and breadth of Alaska sounds like a daunting task, especially since the majority of the state is still very much untamed wilderness. There's a raw beauty about Alaska that breeds independence of mind and spirit. The landscapes still invite homesteaders and pioneers to carve out a self-sufficient lifestyle here which, from any urbanzied perspective, looks pretty darn inhospitable at the best of times.

But ifyou're willing to roll with whatever the day might bring, have a dry pair of socks, and an all-weather jacket, Alaska should be on everyone's bucket list. Besides, the Alaska Railroad is legendary and one of the few remaining trains in the world that you can still flag down.

The harshly beautiful environments have engendered a kind of no-nonsense culture and it's easy to see how they've formed the backbone of Sarah Palin politics. Interestingly, Alaskans are divided towards their former governor, it part because they feel she left them after only two years in office -- during which time she tookon a currupt establishment, and won. Did she sell out for a book deal? Were establishment lawsuits making her ineffectual? Did she feel that she could make a bigger difference on a bigger stage?

Whatever you believe, one thing is true. Today, as a private citizen,and cheerleader for a back-to-founding priciples Americanism, she is widely considered one oof the most influential women in politics. It's been a meteroric rise from relative obscurity to the world stage which, when all is said and done, can only be good for Alaska. And SP wouldn't have it any other way.

Catch up with my tweets for other Alaska perspectives.