Summer in the Rockies.

I never thought I would miss the Calgary Summers, and to tell you the truth, I still don't.  What I do miss are the beautiful and majestic mountains that oversee us, bringing us their magnificence in a way that is completely understated and yet strangely powerful.

Escaping to them brings a sense of calm, and a sense of fulfillment, allowing oneself to enjoy the quiet peacefulness that being away from the city brings.  Mind you if you never stray far from the highway, and are only on a hair brained trip to the next big city centre, you will probably find that these are just large obstacles that would be so much nicer if they weren't in your way.  But take a step off the beaten path, and you will discover all that they offer.

From Canmore, in it's little town feel, sitting just over an hour from Calgary, and outside the National Park, with it's amazing pubs like the Rose and Crown, and quaint outdoor art galleries on the weekends, to Banff, with it's tourist pull and large 'Chinaman's Peak' overseeing it.  (This peak has been a PC nightmare, and has been re-named, but for those localites that live and breathe the air here, it will forever be known as just this.  Nothing else.)  Banff has been slightly overrun by the chains, but still maintains it's small town charm with places like the rock and gem store and the candy store which is a must do whenever in town.

Following the road further out, we get into the heart of the rockies.  From Jasper and Lake Louise, to further reaching places just over the border.  Far enough away to be a holiday, but close enough that you don't need all month to enjoy.  

I know that my travels will be taking me further into the rockies before the snow starts to fly, and brings me back to the city reality, but let's pray for an indian summer, and miles of open road in front of us.

Hotel Barcelona Princess - 5*

I have to say, my recent stay in Barcelona was made amazing by the incredible staff at the Hotel Barcelona Princess. They were attentive, and helpful through everything, including setting me up with internet in my room, free of charge, as well as borrowing me an adapter so that I could charge my camera to keep taking my hundreds of photos as I toured through the city.

They even helped pay for my taxi when I arrived at the hotel, walletless after being pick-pocketed on La Ramblas. They were friendly and remembered me, even with the large conference that was going on in the hotel, making me feel right at home - no matter how many people had looked at me strange as I attempted to speak Spanish!

The food in the hot breakfast buffet was incredible, although slightly different from what we are used to over here! Cold cuts, cold toast (it's the way they eat it over there), fresh fruit (rather than fried breakfast items) and a large selection of juices were only a few of the things that were there, ready to tempt the taste buds and keep me going for my long days wandering.

The rooms were incredible, with comfortable beds, black out blinds that made sleeping incredibly easy, and some of the nicest showers that I have found through all my European trips. It even made my shower at home look weak in comparison!

I would highly recommend this hotel for anyone looking for a hotel in a quieter part of Barcelona with excellent metro access, and a fairly affordable taxi ride home. A 5* in my books all the way.

(As per other reviews on TripAdvisor, the hotels are remarkably slow, but this is a small price to pay for the incredible service and amazing accomodation.)

Barcelona

Recently, I returned from a whirlwind holiday to Barcelona.  I don't know if I can ultimately call it a holiday, as I was there to attend a conference, but it was an amazing glimpse into a completely different world.  In North America, we are blessed to be able to speak English, no matter where we go, whether it is in Canada, America, or even Mexico.  

In Europe, you can be speaking Portuguese in Portugal, Spanish in Spain, and French in France.  And that's all in one day.  In Canada, we can travel for days, weeks or even months and still not get out of Canada.  In Europe or the United Kingdom, you can hop on a train and be in a different country in less than two hours.  

And that's not even mentioning the other differences we will encounter.  In Barcelona, the standard fare for breakfast was bacon, eggs and chips.  (That's fries for those of you not versed in the British word for fries.)  But don't think that obesity is an epidemic over there.  With Bicycles for rent by the hour, day or week, you don't need a car to get around this city.  And driving is not for the faint of heart, with one way streets with only inches to spare.  As they used to say in London, an inch in between vehicles and another one can sneak in.

While I was blessed to visit the other sights, which I will touch on, in another blog to come, the differences are what makes traveling such a blessing.  Learning what we admire about our own country, by experiencing others.  What better way to discover a new way of appreciating all that is outside our own doorsteps.

Travel Agents and Their Expertise.

I have a travel agent that I use.  It's not that I can't do everything myself on the internet, it's that I enjoy having someone else's opinion on things.  It's that I like having someone do some of my work for me.  Again, this isn't saying that I can't do everything myself.  It's that I have other things to do.  

But seeing as my travel agent works for me, planning my trip and doing research, whether it's to book a $400.00 Westjet flight from Vancouver to Montreal, or a $4,000 holiday to Sandals, they do the work.  And I realize that they have to get paid for this work.

Although we know this in the back of our minds (We all get paid for the work that we do as well), we still don't want to pay them for their hard work.  I was sitting in Flight Centre the other day waiting for my consultant, and wondering where I was going next, and of course, over hearing the conversations that were going on in the office.

There was one lady on the phone, trying to explain to a client that the flight was booked, and non refundable, and that unfortunately, prices can change - which they can.  If that client had booked her flight online one day, and then the prices went on sale the next day, she would have had to deal with it.  But because she had a travel agent, she called to complain and ruin her day.

Another consultant was sitting with a couple for about 30 minutes going over the benefits of going to one all inclusive destination over another.  Once the undecided couple had decided on their destination, the agent spent another 20 minutes going over resort options with the couple.  At the end of all that, they stood up, and stated that they could find better prices online.  

I couldn't believe it, and I still can not believe how well these agents deal with their clients antics.  So in writing this blog, I hope to point out that if you want the cheapest price, do it yourself, but be prepared to deal with every little thing that goes wrong yourself.  If you like having someone deal with all the little pain in the ass details that we usually screw up (I'm a master of booking wrong days it seems) then pay a little more, and be thankful for the exceptional service that a good travel agent will give you.

The Perfect Day

I had the extreme pleasure to make it up into our beautiful Canadian Rockies the other day, and was left breathless by the beauty once more.

It wasn't necessarily the warmest of days, although the sun was enough to warm me when it broke through the tree tops that haven't quite had their leaf dressing break through just yet.  The river along Johnston Canyon was keeping a brisk breeze flowing through the canyon, and it smelt like heaven.  It smelt like it does after a spring rain, not quite freezing, but crisp and clean.

I walked along the still soggy trial - no matter how much they try to overcome nature to make it an 'easy' hike for those that aren't prepared, mother nature still finds a way to make it her own - and was enjoying the peace and serenity of nature, when two female hikers over took me.

We have all had our run-ins with these hikers.  The ones that were all the trendy fashions, and carry cell phones, as well as water bottles and mitts that match the trim on their still new jackets.  What flabbergasted me the most though, was that they were up and back from the falls before I had made it there.  And on the way down, they weren't talking to each other, they weren't even walking together.  They were both on their cell phones, walking one in front of the other for a good kilometer down the mountain.

Why rush through a beautiful hike such as Johnston's Canyon, let alone talk business on cell phones when you are with someone?  These business women had fooled themselves into thinking that they had taken the day off, when in fact they were working even harder, on trying not to work.  And failing miserably.

I know we need to stay connected, hell my publisher is in Australia, and I have family on three different continents, but that does not mean we should miss out on living, so that we can stay in touch.  

By the way -  the falls were stunning.  Still half frozen in their glacial state, with water cascading down the falls into caverns and pools below.  I visit often, but it never fails to take my breath away.  (Without a cellular phone in my hand.)

How Cheap Is Cheap Enough?

I know during this global recession, everyone is trying to get a good deal.  No one wants to spend too much, and no one wants to spend more than they have to.  My whole question is how much is too much?

After my last post, I received some emails regarding the swine flu (to which we are no longer supposed to be calling the swine flu because someone got offended?) and decided to investigate what this really is doing to our global travel economy.

While travel was down due to the recession to begin with, this really hasn't hit the industry yet.  The one key think that I was noticing was the fact that everyone seemed to think that they would get to go to Mexico for nothing now.  

Comments I heard were - "I bet we can get flights for $10 to Mexico now", "They must be giving trips away!"

But after speaking to a couple of the agents, they put these fallacies to rest, saying that only one airline was flying to Mexico, and that tickets were more expensive than ever, because some people still wanted to go on their holidays.  Supply is down, and strangely enough, demand is up.

The same holds true with Europe.  Airlines are struggling to fill their planes, Flight Centre is attempting to maintain their footing (with airline price guarantees for international flights) and still, people are waiting for prices to fall.  The first time I went to Australia, almost a decade ago, I took the milk run, as there were no direct flights, and paid over $1800.00.  Now, you can get a direct flight from Melbourne to Los Angeles for $1016.00.  If you will take one stop in New Zealand, you can have it for $950.  But still people are claiming that this is too much to pay.

My question is, how much is too much.  When will it be cheap enough?

The airlines have to make sure that they can pay for the fuel, the upkeep and their staff to get us safely from one destination to another.  After the recent scare that passengers had on a flight from Sydney to Vancouver, we would think that paying a little more to ensure our own safety would be better?

Swine Flu - Level 5 epidemic?

Do we really think that this is causing the same level of mayhem that was afforded to the SARS epidemic?  The facts of this flu are as follows.

As of April 30,09:

• 150 Confirmed deaths - all in Mexico except for one 23 year old Mexican boy who died in Texas after coming to visit family
• No one outside of Mexico has been sick enough to be hospitalized (except the mexican boy listed above)
• The UK, Canada and (hopefully the USA) have more than enough TamiFlu to vaccinate - and this has been shown to work against this strain of Swine Flu

There have been no mass deaths like there was with SARS.

The swine flu was reported and action has been taken - unlike with SARS.

The borders to Mexico are effectively getting closed down with many major tour operators, cruise lines and airlines canceling all flights, tours and ports of call effective immediately.

We are aware that this can become a global pandemic, but why make people paranoid?

One travel agent remarked that "I am getting calls from clients that haven't left yet, stating that they think they have this flu.  They haven't been out of the country in over a year."  **At this point in time, there were no confirmed cases in Canada.**

We can rest assured that this over-reaction to the swine flu (with travel to many destinations, not just Mexico being cancelled) our global recession is only going to worsen over the next couple of months - a situation that no one will be happy to see.