There aren’t many cities in the world I’ve struggled to like but Mexico’s capital is one. Perhaps it’s my age? These days I find it harder to cope with chaos, noise and millions upon millions of people all being in the same place at the same time. It’s one reason I went off London. Mexico…
Category: North America
Mérida – colonial capital of the Yucatán
It’s hot in Mérida. And very humid. Mould clings to the stucco on its colourful buildings, mosquitoes bite and I cross the road to find a spot of shade whenever I can. After the relative cool of Mexico city, it comes as a bit of a shock. The capital of the Yucatán Peninsula, it was…
The mystical city of Teotihuacán in Mexico
The ancient Mesoamerican city of Teotihuacán has striking pyramids and grand avenues, yet little or nothing is known of the civilisation responsible for its construction. But whoever they were, you can’t fault the scale of their ambition. The city contains the third largest pyramid ever built – the mighty Pyramid of the Sun – and…
History and waterfalls in Quebec City
If Montreal is the brazen youth of the French-Canadian province of Quebec, the capital Quebec City is the maiden aunt. Staid, proper and well turned out, it’s also packed with history and great architecture. At times it’s got the look and feel of an ancient French village. But this is also where the indigenous people…
A spring break in Montreal
Quebec’s largest and most energetic city has a charming old town, great bars and restaurants, but also a touch of the chaotic about it. It’s not a city that’s easy to fall in love with. Much like Toronto, it feels like it’s been thrown together with little thought to the whole. A motorway ploughs through…
New York’s fascinating Tenement Museum
Our visit to the Chinatown Heritage Centre in Singapore, a museum that revealed much about the lives of the poorest of immigrants to the city state, prompted memories of my favourite museum in New York City. The Tenement Museum in the bustling and traditionally working class Lower East Side explores the experiences of German, Irish and…
A stop at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington, Canada
With a red-eye flight from Toronto to look forward to at the end of our Canadian trip, we needed somewhere to spend a few hours on the way from Niagara-on-the Lake to the airport. The Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington were the obvious choice for a green-fingered pair. After checking out of our plush hotel,…
Niagara-on-the-Lake: Just a little too perfect?
Niagara-on-the-Lake is one of the most picturesque towns I’ve had the good fortune to visit. But there’s also something a bit odd about it. After a couple of days exploring, I couldn’t help but feel a bit spooked. It’s just a bit too perfect, and its population just a little too nice. It brought to…
The vineyards of Niagara-on-the-Lake
I had no idea that Canada had a wine industry. As far as I was concerned it was too far north and far too cold. But as we discovered, Ontario is positively Mediterranean in its latitudes and its summers are hot and sunny. Planning our Canadian trip, we read that the Niagara Peninsula is one…
Niagara Falls: A natural wonder scarred by greed
Niagara Falls is a spectacle of epic proportions. Niagara Falls the town is grim, an example of how greed and tourism at its worst can come close to destroying its reason for being. I spent our day and night there trying to ignore the ugly buildings and brazen commercialism, to focus instead on the waterfalls….
Toronto: Cabbagetown and the CN Tower
Wherever we went in Toronto, the soaring CN Tower haunted us. The city’s trademark building dominates the skyline by day and by night, when it’s illuminated in a rainbow of colours. I loved it. But before we took our inevitable trip to the top, we had a few other stops to make on the city’s…
Cycling the Toronto Islands and a stop at the beach
Toronto residents are a lucky bunch for a number of reasons but up there near the top are the beaches. There are plenty to choose from – not least a district called The Beaches – but we opted to visit the Toronto Islands, which lurk just offshore in Lake Ontario and offer plenty of cycle…
Toronto: Historic homes and a cider festival
After a day of rain, we woke in Toronto to sunshine ready to visit some great houses and explore the city’s history. But late-night revellers and the sirens of a city weekend had meant for a broken night of sleep so it wasn’t easy dragging ourselves away from the duvet to grand Casa Loma. Still,…
Toronto: A museum, a distillery and a market
There was no mistaking that we were staying slap bang in the middle of Toronto’s Entertainment district. Throughout our first night we were woken by police sirens and Friday night drunks shouting their way home from the bars and clubs. I somehow managed to get some sleep despite the racket but a disturbed night and…
Alcatraz
Some tourist attractions are a class act while others really manage to screw up the experience. Alcatraz in San Francisco may be a tourist trap but it’s a winner from start to finish. It’s deluged with humanity, which is ironic for a place that many tried to flee during its time as a military prison…