Like a mighty phoenix rising up from the ashes, the Calgary Zoo soars to new heights to save it’s tails. Okay, this may seem a bit dramatic, but after witnessing the total devastation that the flood of 2013 had on the Calgary Zoo this June, you have to have a serious respect for the people that shed there blood, sweat and tears rebuilding the zoo.
Often times staying in a hotel or resort can be more of a function of necessity than enjoyment. Your average hotel room is usually one small room, with a bed, bathroom, and if your lucky a closet. While it fills a need and gives you a place to stay, it’s not normally very comfortable, especially if you are planning to stay in one place for a long visit. The Hidden Ridge Resort in Banff takes the typical hotel paradigm and flips it around. What if instead of staying in a tiny room, you could vacation in a fully furnished 3-bedroom condo and still be just minutes from downtown Banff, and all the great ski resorts? Oh and of course the property is pet friendly so you can even bring your favorite family friend with you! Lauren and I were invited to review the Hidden Ridge Resort during our last visit to Banff, and we’re here to tell you what it’s all about.
On our last visit to the beautiful city of Toronto we had the absolute pleasure of taking a tour through the arts district. However, we weren’t looking for galleries filled with sculptures or paintings with absurd price tags. We were searching for something fresh, fun, and different. We found exactly what we were looking for tucked away in Toronto’s alleyways and backroads. Using the bricks and concrete as their canvas, troupes of street artists have filled an otherwise drab urban landscape with bright colors and vivid images. Here are some of my favorite pictures from our Toronto Street Art Photo Tour.
When visiting the city of Toronto there is one attraction that no beer lover should miss, the Steam Whistle Brewery. It’s unexpectedly located right in the center of downtown Toronto, in a squat unassuming historical brick building called The Roundhouse. Steam Whistle is a little brewery with a lofty goal; becoming the best (and number one) pilsner in Canada. We had the opportunity to take a tour of the Steam Whistle Brewery and we enjoyed it so much we decided to share it with the world.
For many years graffiti was seen as a scourge on urban landscapes. It was considered the work of thugs and vandals and had to be eliminated at all costs. City managers would send out their staffs in droves to paint over, scrub off, and do whatever they could to remove graffiti. In the last few years though, many metro areas have realized that graffiti can be managed, and started using it to beautify urban settings. The city of Toronto recently embraced street art and graffiti and in doing so, created some beautiful outdoor “alleyway-galleries” where this art can be appreciated. Here are some of my favorite pictures from a recent Toronto graffiti tour I took.
