As we get ready for another trip, I’ve been doing some research and preparing for various food issues that might come up as a result of being a vegetarian. I haven’t eaten meat, poultry, or fish – basically anything sentient – for over seven years. With me, as with some people, that’s changed the way I physically react to some forms of meat, so I now have to be more careful about my choices and how I express myself to others as I travel around the world.
As I was considering …

I’m certainly not the gamer I once was, but even with the platforms I still support, I try and remain active, squeezing in the occasional hour when I can.
In my travels across Toronto, Game Centre on Charles and Yonge (730 Yonge Street) remains the best store in terms of not only in pricing, a knowledgeable and courteous staff, with a great new and used selection – not to mention a well stocked used DVD library which includes a number of different television series box sets, but also gives the …

Our cruise with the Vision of the Seas finally came to an end as we pulled into port at Lisbon, Portugal. Having gotten some great sightseeing suggestions from a Portuguese couple we met during the trip – who were great hosts and showed us some of the best of what Lisbon has to offer – we made the trip up the giant hill on one of their iconic yellow trams, and visited the Castle of Sao Jorge.

Built during the middle of the eleventh century CE, the fortification was situated atop …

Like many of the prominent buildings in Valletta, St. John’s Co-Cathedral was designed by the Maltese military architect Glormu Cassar after being commissioned by Grand Master Jean de la Cassiere in 1572 CE.
The interior would end up waiting almost ninety years, until the arrival of Mattia Preti, a Calabrian artist, and Knight of the order, who designed the intricate carvings which adorn the stonewalls, and himself painted the vaulted ceiling and side altars (circa 1661 through 1665) with scenes from the life of St. John the Baptist, the patron …

My awesome colleague Wendy Heisler went off to become a lady pirate one year, and learned some pretty excellent stuff, all of which I totally agree with, and saw some pretty awesome things.  Watch her video and learn a little something from life on the Picton Castle. Also, have fun and enjoy well-trained cats.
You can learn more about Wendy at wendyheisler.com!

While the more common founding of the Doric colony of Byzantium by the Greek city-state of Megara in 660 BCE is typically cited as the original establishment of Istanbul, recent construction in the undersea Marmaray railway has unearthed evidence of a Neolithic settlement dating back to as early as the seventh millennium BCE.
Believed to have been built over seven hills – each bearing a historic mosque – Istanbul has been referred to as the City of Seven Hills, and was even called New Rome by the Roman Emperor Constantine I. …

We were lucky to get on one of the two buses sponsored by Torontoist, on a road trip down to Washington, D.C. for Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert’s Rally to Restore Sanity (and/or Fear) back in October 2010. Here’s a short video of our time at the rally (runs just over 4 minutes long).

Having already talked about what the services and activities can be like aboard one of the cruise ships, I thought I should talk a little about what the rest of your life onboard might look like while you’re cruising.
While you might get to know some of the other cruisers enjoying the voyage with you, it’s more likely that the majority of your encounters are going to be with the staff and crew. Having been on a couple of cruises at this point, its become clear that the majority of employees …

At the height of its power, the Athenian Empire constructed the Parthenon to replace an older temple destroyed during the Persian invasion of 480 BCE. Built atop the Athenian Acropolis, it was dedicated to the city’s patron goddess Athena. Completed in 438 BCE, the building is considered one of the most important surviving examples of Classical Greece, and culmination of the Doric order and the namesake columns that line the temple.

However like most Greek temples of the time, the Parthenon found itself in use as the treasury, and even as …