Prince Edward Island – “The Gentle Island”

We avoided ‘Green Gables’ completely and deliberately, instead enjoying lunches by the sea in quaint hamlets, scenic drives, a pleasant morning poking around Victoria Harbour (marvellous coffee, delectable chocolate), lobster suppers (even the Subway sandwich shops have a lobster sandwich), and a good sing-song to live music in one of Charlottetown’s vibrant Irish Pubs. What a friendly lot they are! There are B&B’s aplenty – we stayed in one overlooking a horse farm. The entire PEI pace – tempo, in fact – is delicious.

Yes, PEI  is gentle, and we shall return for more. (next page for more photos)

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1. Cook Islands: Rarotonga

I left my Toronto home in April to return to Sicily for a few months; right in the middle of the volcanic ash cloud – well, we skirted it but had delays. And now to settling in …

A stroll through the neighbourhood

I am impatient to get out and see what has been happening in the ‘hood – to wander, have a café at Antica Pasterricia and wander some more. There are always joys and disappointments, as I see that a few shops have closed their doors, possibly victims of the poor economy or simply that the younger generation choose not to be retailers. As well there are the signs of friends and family members to have passed away, the story told in the black and white announcements plastered to the walls of street in strategic locations. The early form of a death announcement I suppose, all the details including age and names of family members.

Yesterday while exploring I discovered another form of announcement, this being a small card posted permanently on the entrance door to a small home. The three tiny cards, in simply black print, announced that the inhabitant was mourning. In this case the loss of a mother-in-law, a wife and a son. These public recognitions are an interesting testament to the value placed on the individual: food for thought!

The clergy

It is commonplace in this part of the country to see nuns in habits and priests going about everyday activities, so common in fact that one rarely takes notice. They are at the weekly market, in line at the bank and on occasion taking coffee at a small bar. Today however, when I saw a monk in his heavy brown habit, I indeed took a second look. Walking along Via Roma, chatting on his cell phone I was for one moment taken aback, it seemed two different worlds and two different times melded into one moment.

Same street name, different town

I remember moving to Toronto (from Calgary) almost three decades ago and being confused by street names. How could there be a Queen Street East and a Queen Street North? It took a while, but I soon learned that one was in Toronto and the other in Brampton. How silly, I thought! Coming from Alberta where the streets were most often numbered and were not repeated by name in each city. In Sicily it is quite the opposite. One expects to see the names of the founding fathers – Garibaldi, Cavour, in every town, along with Bellini, Verdi and One will find no matter the size of the town their reverence for the past in street names.

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Colleen Cole from Brampton, Ontario is the lucky winner of our popular contest to win a culinary and cultural vacation in Ragusa, Sicily.

Colleen is marrying John Sinipoli in October, and now has a ready-made honeymoon dropped in her lap. Not surprisingly, she is thrilled to twitters! This baby boomer is off to Italy, a dream come true.

This is what she told us, once she’d calmed down from the excitement …

“I can’t express how excited I am to have won the week in Sicily! The food, the wine, the excursions we will be taking into the country visiting dairies and olive groves, and the nightly cooking classes, I don’t know which is more exciting! This will be the best wedding present ever! John and I are getting married in October, and I am pleased to tell you that we will be enjoying this week as our honeymoon! Thank you so much!”

Colleen and Tempo Toronto thank Contessa Vacations for this amazing prize. Colleen will let us all know about her fabulous trip in the fall.

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Perhaps Los Angeles is too everything – too glitzy, too smoggy, too Rodeo Drive, too Hollywood – for the average over fifty traveller. Or maybe when you’ve seen it once, the gilded city loses its gloss.

Don’t get me wrong, LA is fabulous. But seasoned travellers tend to go off the beaten track, take the road less travelled … which is exactly how you might find yourself in the Ojai Valley, California, about 90 minutes north west of the City of Angels. A small town nestled in a productive viticultural and agricultural valley with the best type of Olde Mexican flavour, and a tight-knit community to go with it. But what a welcoming place.

It’s a day visit; a special one. And if you choose the slower ‘over the top’ route, you’ll be repaid by stunning views and exhilarating scenery of the Los Padres National Forest. It has a micro-climate all of its own. Feel the fresh, arid mountain valley air – a far cry from the acrid humidity and blasting heat that is LA. It’s hot, but comfortable.

The charming town of Ojai is an eclectic blend of browser shopping, art galleries, jewellers, spiritual centres, parks, spas, gift shops, wineries and theatre. If you like antiquing and gallery hopping this is the place for you to spend a relaxed day ambling and appreciating. You may well find an al fresco musical festival going on in the shady Arcade Plaza complete with its unique Matilija Poppy sculpture and a Farmers’ Market on Sundays. The art scene in Ojai is legendary, with a breathtaking annual Ojai Studio Artists Tour each October. Ojai Historical Walking Tour, Chamber Music Concerts, Artisans Fair, native plant sales, certified farmer’s market days, and concerts are all on offer on a regular basis.

Go, and have a great day out next time you visit California. You’ll fall in love with Ojai.

Ojai Valley Chamber of Commerce

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What better way to spend New Year’s Eve than in a place so close to the International Dateline that you are completely confused about the time let alone the date? En route to Vancouver from Australia and New Zealand, Rarotonga is a little rock, insignificant in the vastness of the Pacific Ocean, yet the vibrant center of the Cook Islands.

Its almost a circle, about 34 km in circumference, dominated by surprisingly high mountain peaks and home to lush rain forests that cascade to a palm-fringed shore. The island is almost completely encircled by a reef, with a lagoon of clear turquoise water between you and the reef drop off, marked by a colour change to deep blue. The lagoon is delightfully calm, offsetting the backdrop of waves that crash against the reef edge in a hypnotic cycle. Swimming, kayaking, snorkelling and small craft sailing are prominent on the menu of aquatic activities.

Arriving late at night on a massive Air New Zealand 747, it was hard to imagine a vast vessel landing with any space to spare at Rarotonga’s International Airport on the North Coast. But land it did, and skillfully so. It was dark and had been raining, but all visitors were welcomed with friendly smiles, music and live crooning, and the mandatory leys: but of fresh flowers, not plastic imitations.

Accommodations: There are plenty of places to stay in Rarotonga. Staying at the premium Muri Beach Club Hotel on the south east edge of the island assured a chauffered ride in a late model, luxury import (BMW perchance) and efficient check-in. It’s a privately owned boutique style resort, not a chain, and had a surprising list of amenities including free Internet access, a boon when really feeling the remoteness of this little island from ‘the rest of the world’. The restaurant is great, there’s a large swimming pool, shopping and business services, and a spa – all the amenities we’d hope for.

Commercial centre: Avarua is the main town on the island and is the commercial centre of the Cook Islands. You’ll find a good selection of shops, banks, cafes and visitor facilities. It is also the main port and where you can find many cruising yachts docked.

Getting around: This is a small yet fascinating place, and getting around is easy. Two main roads circle the island on the Ara Tapu coastal road, through villages and past beaches; or you can take the older inland road, which winds through fields of taro, pawpaw, bananas and local farmlands. The island bus is inexpensive to ride, runs multiple times each hour, in both directions (one circular roadway, so you go either clockwise, or anti-clockwise). Car rentals are available, but many visitors rent motor scooters, as we did for four of our five days there. What fun that was – it provided complete flexibility and made the entire island accessible on demand. You have to pick up a licence to drive one in Avarua, but it’s an easy process.

HIGHLIGHTS

The people: Rarotongans are charming without being effusive. They are never ‘in your face’ and rarely intrude on your privacy. However, show a Rarotongan some genuine interest and they will respond with beaming smiles and friendly warmth.

Home comforts: There’s a brilliant cafe opposite the international airport, owned and operated by a New Zealander, we  entered coffee nirvana with excellent baked goods. The patio became a daily haunt. The food was delicious throughout the island, with the hotels such as the Pacific Resort (near our hotel) reaching international standards while also tempting us with traditional island dishes.

Tahitian pearls: Before discovering the convenience of scooter rentals, and stranded in Avarua waiting for a bus in the rain, a local pearl farmer and family kindly rescued us in their pick-up truck. On the way back to the hotel they stopped to pick papayas from their friend’s papaya plantation, and insisted that we took some for ourselves, each timed in sequence to reach the peak of ripeness on each successive day of stay: the best papayas ever. Better than that, they opened their pearl store on new year’s day for a private shopping moment. They have their own island from which they farm oysters, and know the provenance of each beautiful pearly offering. The two pearls we chose were sized and graded, offered to us at amazing prices, and came complete with an official provenance. There’s an entire science to pearl buying, and their depth of knowlege was truly appreciated by us.

New Year celebrations: The entire island came alive. Starting with cocktails at Trader Vic’s in Avarua and an appetizer or three – the place was humming – then, at sunset, heading back to the Muri Beach Club Hotel for champagne. We kicked off our shoes and strolled along the white sand beach to the Pacific Resort for dinner al fresco along with, it seemed, the entire tourist population on the island. It was packed, it was noisy, and the music was loud. It wasn’t really a fifty-plus scene, though pleasant enough, prompting us to head back to our hotel to herald in the new year, just the two of us, with more bubbly on the sand outside our beachside suite – cosy, yet exotic at the same time.

Local culture: Saturday is market day, and it’s a must-see event. Exotic produce, colourful textiles, ‘fast’ food and cultural items abound, including characteristic wooden carvings (that clearly had Viagra users as models). Apparently the whole island came to market day, and the music, sights, smells and mingling with the locals was a heartwarming cultural experience. Touring the island by hiking into the peaks, driving the inner roads, or wandering through the farms gets you off the tourist track instantly and allows you to appreciate the geography and the people.

For something off the beaten track, a little out of the ordinary, and a stop-off point on the way to or from Australia or New Zealand, it would be a shame to miss the Cook Islands.

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This sleepy little village used to be way out in the country but, firmly part of the GTA, is now surrounded by estate lots, prime real estate for the affluent and sits just north of the almost unstoppable march of Woodbridge development.

Residents are clinging steadfastly to the green spaces included in the City plan for the area. It’s historic, quaintly beautiful, and hangs its hat on the boutique businesses that offer a charming alternative to the soulless big box retail model.

Many haven’t heard of Kleinburg, or aren’t quite sure where it is. It’s in Vaughan, about 30 minutes drive from downtown Toronto, and five minutes from highways 400, 427 and the 407, at Major Mackenzie and Islington. This is a suggestion for a day out in Kleinburg.

Undoubtedly, the burgeoning Sunday brunch business at The Doctor’s House influences the many GTA residents, who sample from its groaning boards, to then spend a lazy afternoon poking around in the specialty retailers, cafes and one antique store. The whole place is hardly bigger than, say, an average Costco warehouse. This makes for a great stroll which you can do in a couple of hours. You could spend an entire day if you take advantage of the walking and biking trails too, and spend a few hours at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection.

Influence in the village is an interesting blend of nouveau Italian and WASP, where gelato rubs shoulders with custom framing, and a talented pastry chef displays his food art just up the street from the McMichael Gallery. There’s a Historical Walking Tour booklet that’s worth picking up in from one of the retailers and which will bring your visit to life once you get familiar with the history.

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The Red Centre of Australia is home to what the Australian boutique group, Voyages Hotels and Resorts, describes as a ‘Luxury Australian Outback Experience”. About the luxury, they are not lying.

When you want to combine a faux camping experience in the wilderness with luxury accommodation and memories for life, Longitude 131 is a world apart – a pleasant surprise when compared with the touristy bustle of sunburned arrivals at the airport, destined for the ‘other’ resorts. Tempo Toronto travelers paid their own way for a visit to Longitude 131 in December, when the heat is fearsome and the sunshine relentless, but the luxurious surroundings made it a truly pleasant sojourn.

For what it’s worth, the marketing blurb on the web site reads thus: “Luxurious, eco-sensitive and romantic, Longitude 131° lies at the gateway of the dual World Heritage listed wilderness of Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, complete with 5-star luxury and private views of the sun rising and setting over Uluru (Ayers Rock).” Longitude 131 hosts 3,400 guests each year, 68% international, and 17% from North America. There were no fewer than four other Canadians during our stay (including two people traveling alone), a total of five from Toronto. Even at full occupancy, it never once felt crowded.

HIGHLIGHTS:
The ‘tents’ – there are just 15 private luxury tents with all modern amenities, including wireless Internet on the property. When we say tent, we are referring to a 400 sauare foot suite on stilts. The white dome roof is triple tented to create an illusion of camping but more so is designed to stay cool in summer and warm in the winter. The amenities are complete eco-sensitive luxury with reverse cycle air-conditioning, solar water heaters for instant hot water, CD player with spa music, iPod docks, and a wall of glass overlooking Uluru optionally shaded by motorized flick-of-a-switch blinds. No expense has been spared to make it a haven for rest and relaxation. Each tent’s interor décor is custom designed to reflect some part of the history of the area, for added interest.

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After what seemed like too long a winter, I decided – rather impetuously – to look into traveling alone to Tuscany for a painting trip. As a working artist, I am always looking for new inspiration to draw from, and the painting sites in Europe seem endless. It’s as if every time you turn a corner, you encounter what will be a new painting.

Previous trips to Italy were the typical, and exhausting, 10 cities/14 day marathons. Little time was included to really taste the flavours of small town Italy, not to mention to document my trip with my art.

I Googled ‘artist’s apartments in Tuscany’ and as soon as a little place in Barga popped up on the screen, I knew I had found my Utopia. My booking ensued. There was little information available on this tiny town I had never heard of, but that didn’t sway me. I just had a feeling this was the place I needed to go.

I left in April for two weeks, and immediately fell in love with Barga, some of it standing for over 2,000 years, and filled with artists, musicians and poets, many of whom befriended me as soon as I arrived. The locals laughingly refer to Barga as a ‘black hole’ that sucks you in, but in reality it is the most beautiful, welcoming place. Like in the many small villages in Italy it is always the people, the community, that makes the difference. Barga stands out with its quirky mixture of Italian and Scottish residents living comfortably side by side. Every evening was filled with spontaneity as I would find myself at some local café or restaurant that would suddenly become a dance floor or a concert hall for local musicians who happened by.

I had originally planned to travel by train to see some surrounding cities and sites, but became quickly attached to this special place. I didn’t leave at all.

At the beginning of the trip I painted with oils but soon put down my brushes to just drink in the ambiance and surrounding beauty, travelling to every corner and every village in the beautiful valley that lay at the foot of Barga Vecchia, meeting more people along the way each day. There was no uncomfortable adjustment period when being introduced to someone new, just warmth and inclusion. As my trip neared its end, my artistic streak was inspired and I began to paint furiously with watercolour. I’ve included some example sketches here.

You may need to be a little bit brave to do it, but travelling alone always presents new possibilities – which you may not embrace if you have a companion with you, with their own needs (remember Shirley Valentine?) Perhaps intimidating at first,  travel without a safety net is an eye-opener … you never know what could happen and whom you may meet. I’d do it all over again. Tomorrow if I could.

Doris Pontieri

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