Stunning Hiking Venues

 Wherever I travel, I include outdoor activities, whether cycling, hiking, walking or cross-country skiing. These are three venues that offer phenomenal hiking opportunities. 

Hut-to-hut hiking in the Dolomites is a rigorous but enchanting experience.

To truly experience the drama and beauty of the Grand Canyon, I hiked all the way down to Phantom Ranch, stayed overnight and then hiked back up the next day. (Going down is definitely harder on your legs.)

All my many trips to Norway involved outdoor adventures, including hiking in Jotunheimen National Park.

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New York City’s Roosevelt Island

New York City’s Roosevelt Island is a gem, with bucolic landscaping and scenic waterfront views. It’s a great place to stroll, jog or picnic. Accessible by a four-minute tram from Manhattan’s Midtown East, Roosevelt Island isn’t on most anyone’s list — many native New Yorkers have never visited — but it should be. These are some images from the holiday season. 

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Creative Wanderings in Toronto

Even biking the Toronto Islands off-season is a delight. Taking a guided tour with Toronto Bicycle Tours, I discovered a pristine, undeveloped stretch of sand.

Sculptor Duane Linklater created this series of concrete gargoyles that are replicas of those found around Toronto. This series that’s set in a green space populated with box elder, maple and hickory is referred to as Monsters for Permanence, Beauty and Individuality. It’s along a section of the Lower Don Valley Trail that’s well used by everyone from walkers to cyclists.

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The Scenic Toronto Islands

Bicycling the Toronto Islands (with Toronto Bicycle Tours) in the off-season couldn’t be more idyllic. This scenic chain is a short ferry ride from downtown and is car-free. 

Among the many discoveries I made: 19th century St. Andrew’s Anglican Church. The stained glass, visible also from the exterior, is quite impressive. Interestingly, it was moved to this current scenic location without anything breaking!

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A New Green Space on Roosevelt Island

It's certainly curious that so many New Yorkers have never visited Roosevelt Island, which is just a five-minute tram ride from Manhattan. (It's also a stop on the subway.) The two-mile-long island is serene, scenic and safe. But, now there's more reason than ever to visit. In fall 2017, the Cornell Tech campus opened as a sustainable university campus, and the newest campus in the city. The best thing for the public is the expansive green spaces, pedestrian paths, and numerous seating options on this 12-acre campus that features the Bloomberg Center. This contemporary, energy efficient structure was named for the daughters of Michael Bloomberg, the City's former mayor who spearheaded the initiative to develop the campus. This building is decked out with a rooftop of solar panels. And it also has the ability to capture rainwater that's used for irrigation, cooling and the plumbing system. Grassy lawns, ornamental grasses, and numerous small trees pepper the landscape where there are numerous seating options. And, no matter what time you visit, you'll notice that the facade of the Bloomberg Center takes on a different sheen depending on the time of the day. (It's because of the way the metal disk cladding reflecting the light.) A hotel is planned to open in 2020.

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Gardens Resembling Works of Art

I’ve always been in awe of the creative works of Brazilian native, Roberto Burle Marx, a conservationist and legendary landscape architect who’s most noted for his wavy patterns on the sidewalk of Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro. He used plants as anyone else would work with paint pigments to design gardens that are unique in their patterns, forms and color palette. I was delighted to recently visit the New York Botanical Garden that has a tribute to him -- “Brazilian Modern: The Living Art of Roberto Burle Marx: -- that’s open until September 29. It’s a must see whether you know anything about this legendary man or not. The exhibition, which includes tropical plants that are native to Brazil, is divided into four sections. The Modernist Garden has paths that are curvy as are the planting beds. Here you find elephant's ears, bromeliads as well as Caribbean and Brazilian palms. The Explorer’s Garden is lush with tropical rain forest plants such as philodendrons. The Water Garden has a whimsical wall dripping with staghorn ferns, as well as a large pool dotted with water lilies and other aquatic plants, including the Victoria amazonica whose leaves can grow as wide as nine feet. There’s also an indoor exhibition of his boldly-hued abstract textiles, drawings and paintings. As part of that exhibition, the Rotunda is where visitors are given insights into Burle Marx’s estate, referred to as the Sitio that served as his studio and home. The re-creation includes wall graphics that reference the hand painted blue and white tiles that line his studio’s walls.

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Photos: Turks and Caicos

The islands of Turks + Caicos are renowned for snorkeling, scuba diving and, of course, expansive white sand beaches. Yet, I explored plantation ruins, nature reserves, salt ponds and small restaurants, including one with an offshore conch crawl. Curiously, most visitors never make it to pristine Middle and North Caicos. These images offer a window into the personality of Turks + Caicos beyond the beaches.

 

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Another Great Reason to visit New Brunswick, Canada

The little-visited Canadian province of New Brunswick is chock full of treasures waiting to be experiences. And, while most visitors tend to gravitate here only in the summer for the beach and water sport opportunities, New Brunswick is a year-round destination. In the winter, for example, numerous Nordic ski centers beckon with trails that provide plenty of solitude in woodlands. Whether you're coming in out of the cold after a day of skiing or looking for interesting sensory experiences any time of the year, you may want to drive to the tiny town of Petit-Paquetville. That's where you'll find a family-owned distillery and brewery that relies on locally-sourced ingredients. This is my recent article for Forbes on the award-winning Distillerie Fils du Roy in New Brunswick, Canada.

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Photos: New Brunswick, Canada

Many travelers already know about New Brunswick, Canada as a summer destination. But I recently ventured there to check out the cross country ski venues, which are abundant. Each area had a different personality but brought the Nordic skier in close proximity to expansive bays and dense forest lands. And the accommodations are equally varied, ranging from the unique to the charming. Cielo-Glamping Maritime, for example, has five domes with some beside the scenic Bay of St. Simon in Shippagan. On this bay where the most amazing oysters around are raised one can find ice fishing sheds set along the frozen expanse. Fredericton, the capital of Canada's New Brunswick province, is a real treasure with a vibrant art community. This is one of many avant-garde works found at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery. The capital is also home to the Quartermain House B&B, a house that dates to 1840 but one that has taken on a new life as a five-star property with three plush guest rooms.

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Art, Food, Cocktails and Coffee in Kingston, New York

Many of my friends and colleagues assume that I only travel to far-flung locales. In fact, I'm all about discovery, whether it's along an alley I never strolled along in New York City or a neighborhood that's just a day trip away from Manhattan. That's why I decided to take bus to Kingston, New York, a mere two hours away. So close but a town I never had the opportunity to visit. Though I only spent two days, I could've easily have enjoyed the myriad coffee shops, restaurants, bars and street art for far longer. Below are just a few of the art-centric discoveries I made recently in Kingston, a city that's broken up into three sections -- Downtown, Midtown and Uptown -- that together make up a more than two-mile walkable expanse. Among the must-dos: stay at The Forsyth B&B, where the owner, Tamara Ehlin, is warm, welcoming, and can cook and bake up a storm, and present it all in an elegant manner, no less. You never know what will come out of the kitchen. There's no need to look for another accommodation when The Forsyth B&B has availability. To not stay here is to miss out on Tamara's elaborate breakfasts that included apple cider, yogurt with homemade granola and freshly cut pears, cheddar/scallion scones, and sweet potato hash with eggs any style. Another must is dinner at Wilde Beest, a locavore-centric, minimalist eatery with a slim menu that radiates creativity. I'm no fan of kale, yet I ordered the "I'm Kale" appetizer that came with crumbled kale, pickled peaches, golden raisins, fried millet, porcini mushroom powder and cashew dressing. I could've had seconds. And, in Kingston, I may have found my favorite coffee shop of all time: Rough Draft Bar & Books. Sitting at the corner of an intersection where each of the four buildings dates back centuries, this establishment is a coffee shop, bookstore, cafe and wine bar. As a writer who spends my time working in coffee shops, you couldn't have asked for a better, more atmospheric place to spend an hour or a day. I was lucky to grab a stool at the picture window and watch snowflakes fall as I gazed at the holidays lights strung about this area. Finally, I'm very finicky about bars. They can't be too loud or too bright or too pretentious. Crown, a just-opened romantic lounge in a centuries-old stone building, provides a perfect intimate environment to sip a fine wine or a well crafted, seasonal cocktail.

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The Small, Enticing Island of Saba in the Caribbean

A mere 15-minute flight from St. Maarten -- and a landing on the world’s shortest commercial running -- brings visitors to the wee isle of Saba, a diver’s and hikers paradise. The  almost 3,000-foot-high Mt. Scenery is, by far, the most popular destination for hikers. Climbing the more than 1,000 steps to the top, hikers will pass through a cloud forest that makes the last section quite slippery. But, on a good day, the views of Saba's villages and the nearby islands are phenomenal.

The island’s most noted artist is Heleen Cornet who camped on Mt. Scenery to sketch her many evocative forest works. Aside from these treasures, it took Cornet two years to paint this dramatic mural in the Sacred Heart Church in The Bottom, the capital of Saba. The scene melds religious with Caribbean themes and even includes the faces of local children as the cherubs.

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Chattanooga, Tennessee in Pictures

Say "Chattanooga" and the first thing most people think of is Choo Choo. Not me. I think contemporary art, beyond the Hunter Museum of American Art. Two sculpture gardens: one in the Bluff View Art District and the other is a short bike ride away: Sculpture Fields in Montague Park, are both worth a visit. But there's art whether sculptures or murals along Main Street or MLK Boulevard or in several smaller galleries all over town. This YouTube video slideshow is a window into Chattanooga's edgy art scene.

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