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how to navigate our blog posts


Surprise!  You were expecting that the blog page would be the listing of blog posts.

This page will work as a central reference for all of our trips and organized in the order they occurred during each trip and adventure.

Looking for something specific?  Try searching through the tags that we have assigned to our posts.  Something should catch your eye to read.

Here, in reverse chronological order starting with the most recent trip.

 

2023 Trip – Edinburgh and London

Five nights in Edinburgh to visit highlights in the city, and five nights in London, including time to visit relatives outside of London.

Part 1 – KLM Flight Toronto to Amsterdam

Part 2 – KLM Lounge, KLM Flight Amsterdam to Edinburgh

Part 3 – Bruntsfield Hotel, Edinburgh

Part 4 – Edinburgh sights (Edinburgh Castle, National Museum of Scotland)

Part 5 – Food while in Edinburgh (Makars Mash, Tigerlily, Creel Caught)

Part 6 – LNER, Edinburgh to London

Part 7 – Conrad London St. James

Part 8 – London

Part 9 – Star Alliance Lounge hopping at London Heathrow

Part 10 – Air Canada London to Toronto


2023 Trip – Long Weekend in San Francisco

A long weekend in San Francisco bay area to visit friends, check out the pier, and a trip to visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Part 1 – Air Canada flight Toronto to San Francisco

Part 2 – Hampton Inn San Jose

Part 3 – San Francisco, Fisherman’s Wharf, sightseeing

Part 4 – Monterey Bay Aquarium

Part 5 – Air Canada flight San Francisco to Toronto


2023 Trip – Easter in Germany, Berlin, Vermeer at Rijksmuseum

Another family trip.  This time Easter with family in Germany, then Berlin followed by a few days in Amsterdam to see once-in-a-lifetime Vermeer exhibition at Rijksmuseum.

Part 1 – KLM Lounge and World Business Class Flight Toronto to Amsterdam

Part 2 – Rotterdam Hilton

Part 3 – Easter Weekend in Germany

Part 4 – Hilton Berlin

Part 5 – Pergamon Museum

Part 6 – Berlin, sightseeing but not really sightseeing

Part 7 – Hilton Amsterdam Airport Schiphol

Part 8 – Vermeer at Rijksmuseum (Special Exhibition)

Part 9 – KLM Crown Lounge and KLM World Business Class Flight Amsterdam to Toronto


 

2023 Trip – New York City and Caribbean Cruise

Three days in New York City prior to a January 2023 departure on Royal Caribbean’s Anthem of the Seas cruise to Puerto Rico, St. Maarten, St. Lucia, Antigua & Barbuda, and St. Kitts and Nevis.

Part 1 – Air Canada Flight Toronto to New York City, LaGuardia

Part 2 – Millennium Hotel New York, One UN Plaza

Part 3 – Things to do in New York City

Part 4 – Caribbean Cruise Introduction

Part 5 – Things to do while Cruising

Part 6 – Cuisine onboard

Part 7 – Port, Puerto Rico

Part 8 – Port, St. Maarten

Part 9 – Port, Antigua and Barbuda

Part 10 – Port, St. Lucia

Part 11 – Port, St. Kitts and Nevis

Part 12 – Maple Leaf Lounge LaGuardia, flight New York to Toronto


2022 Trip – German Christmas Markets 2.0

A return to Germany to visit even more Christmas markets than 2021’s trip.

Part 1 – Air Canada Signature Class Lounge & Flight Toronto to Amsterdam

Part 2 – Doubletree Hotel by Hilton Amsterdam Centraal Station

Part 3 – DB ICE Train Amsterdam to Dusseldorf

Part 4 – A Christmas market in the countryside

Part 5 – Hampton Inn by Hilton, Berlin West (Zoo Station)

Part 6 – Lego Berlin and other stores

Part 7 – Berlin Christmas Markets

Part 8 – Hilton Dresden

Part 9 – Dresden Christmas Market

Part 10 – Nuremberg Christmas Market

Part 11 – Nuremberg Hampton by Hilton

Part 12 – Doubletree by Hilton Frankfurt Niederrad

Part 13 – Hilton Amsterdam Airport Schiphol

Part 14 – Schiphol Aspire Lounge & Air Canada flight Amsterdam to Toronto


2022 Trip – Amsterdam, Keukenhof & Rijksmuseum

A short trip to celebrate my birthday, with lots of Dim Sum, jetlag and to visit two things were haven’t explore when in Amsterdam.

Air Canada Lounge, Business class flight Toronto to Zurich

Zurich Airport, lounge, flight to Amsterdam

Hilton Amsterdam

Keukenhof (Land of never-ending Tulips and flowers)

Visit to Rijksmuseum, Two lunches at Sea Palace

Flight home, Air Canada Amsterdam to Toronto


2021 Trip – Germany for Christmas Markets

For the first time since December 2019, we were on an international trip.  This trip took us to Frankfurt, Mainz, Dusseldorf, and Cologne to visit their Christmas markets.  We also had a day trip to Paris for the obvious — to keep a frequent flyer account active.

Air Canada Lounge, Business Class Flight Toronto to Frankfurt

Hampton Inn by Hilton, Frankfurt Messe

Frankfurt and area Christmas Markets

Hilton Mainz (City Centre)

Hilton Dusseldorf

Dusseldorf Christmas Markets

Cologne Chocolate Museum & Christmas Markets

Hilton Garden Inn, Frankfurt Airport

Day Trip to Paris

Maple Leaf Lounge Frankfurt & flight back to Toronto

 


2021 Trip – Vancouver

We took full advantage of extremely low airfare to have a long weekend to visit Vancouver.  Both of us were last in Vancouver in the mid-2000s and we were happy to be able to return, even for a short trip.

Air Canada Lounge & Flight Toronto to Vancouver

Hampton Inn Vancouver Airport Review

Activities for a weekend in Vancouver

Fairmont Vancouver (Fairmont Gold)

Air Canada Lounge & Flight Vancouver to Toronto


2020 Trip – Banff Springs Hotel

The Global pandemic restricted our travel plans, however gave us an excellent opportunity to explore a tiny portion of the beauty of Banff National Park in Alberta.

Flight to Calgary

Banff Springs Hotel

Banff Springs Hotel – Fairmont Gold

Food in Banff

Banff National Park

Return to Toronto


2019 Trip – Ron Fellows Driving School at Spring Mountain & Las Vegas

In early December of 2019, we attended the Ron Fellows Performance Driving School at Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch in Pahrump, Nevada.  Located an hour outside of Las Vegas we spent our weekend driving about and enjoying every moment to learn something new using brand new 2019 Chevrolet Corvettes.

Air Canada Rouge, Economy, Flight Toronto to Las Vegas

Ron Fellows Performance Driving School at Spring Mountain

Las Vegas, Lounge, Air Canada Rouge, Economy, Flight Las Vegas to Toronto


2019 Road Trip – National Corvette Museum 25th Anniversary

A week in August 2019 where we joined fellow Chevrolet Corvette owners for a road trip to Bowling Green, Kentucky to be part of the 25th anniversary of the National Corvette Museum.  Stops along the way were the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and the National Museum of the United States Air Force.

Click here to read the whole journey

 


2018 Trip – Switzerland & Augsburg, Germany

Short trip tagged onto the end of a work trip.  I got to take TAP Portugal for my transatlantic flights.

TAP Portugal Toronto to Lisbon

TAP Portugal Lisbon to Geneva, attempt 1

Overnight in Lisbon, Holiday Inn Continental

TAP Portugal Lisbon to Geneva

Munich – BMW Welt & BMW Museum

Munich – Downtown

Augsburg – Quick walk around town

Geneva – Ibis Styles Palexpo

TAP Portugal Geneva to Lisbon

TAP Portugal Lisbon to Toronto


2018 Trip – Australia & New Zealand

Due to the large quantity of posts related to this trip, I have created a separate blog post that lists all posts from this trip.  Click here to find your way through our adventures in the land down under.