Mountain City's Travel Blog

Short Vid with Diane and Erin

Happy New Year and Thank you for allowing me to drop into your inbox today. Thank you for taking the time to read the first newsletter of 2021.It’s hard to believe we are well into the first month of a brand new year. Time certainly fly’s by.Late last October I heard a quote - loved it so much I immediately...

If this year’s altered holiday celebrations left you wistful and nostalgic for full-bore Christmas festivities, there’s a river cruise that gives you a chance for a re-do. Christmas in July on the Danube comes without snow – but it does come with plenty of seasonal cheer on Uniworld’s S.S. Maria Theresea. On two sailings in July, the Maria Theresea will have...

A year from now, one of the travel events of our lifetime will be over.  Not only will 2021 see the return to travel we’ve all longed for; on December 4th, 2021, a total solar eclipse will take place. A total solar eclipse, where the moon passes between the Earth and the Sun, completely blocking out the sun for a short...

In BC (Before COVID) times, viral airline safety videos had fun with things like fastening seatbelts. Times have changed. Alaska Airlines gave the COVID travel era the new type of safety video we really needed right now. The video above is a send-up of the 80’s music classic Men Without Hats’ ‘Safety Dance’. If you want to compare it and get a...

At long last, 2020 is wrapping up, and a New Year full of hope is just around the corner. This feels like the kind of year you’d toast the year past as early as possible, then call it a night, hoping when you wake up in the New Year, we will have turned the page on the disappointments, challenges, cancelled...

The past month of rumination, is unlike any previous December’s reflections. I expect I’m not alone in saying almost every corner of my world has been flipped on its’ head. And yet within the topsy-turvy of this wild-riding pandemic I’ve found generous life gifts.   I am loved and lifted up by family and the kindest friends anyone could imagine or ever...

We can’t travel on a luxury cruise ourselves right now– or do many of the other things we love to do around the holidays - but “Let Them All Talk” lets us take an armchair escape during the break, and imagine ourselves along for a ride on one of the most famous ships afloat.We couldn’t ask for better company for our...

One’s in Austria, and the other in America. But they are bound together in the pop culture celebrations of the season.Have you figured it out yet? The hint is in film and music. Both Salzburg and Stowe are destinations tied to the Trapp Family legend. You likely know it as: The Sound of Music, a movie that’s become essential holiday family...

You may not be celebrating the holidays as usual this year, but that doesn’t mean you can’t create some new holiday entertaining traditions.While we wait to travel and celebrate again, here are two recipes for ‘spirited’ holiday drinks from favorite destinations to warm your heart and remind you of better times ahead.Perfect for a virtual holiday cocktail party, long winter...

They are the essential train trips in Western Canada. Three rail routes that provide travelers a window onto the Rockies like no other way of travel. Rocky Mountaineer operates bucket list rail journeys between Vancouver and the iconic Canadian Rockies towns of Banff, Lake Louise and Jasper. They are train trips featuring a multitude of luxuries in the heart of the...

Wine lovers have one more reason to get traveling again next year. In celebration of one of its oldest and most beloved products, Italy has declared its first-ever ‘City of Wine’. The Italian association of communities that collaborate to protect and promote their regional wine designations held a competition for the new honor.  Barolo - the town with the famous red...

This “world-famous” Gorgonzola Salad was a house-specialty recipe at Porky Manero’s, a classic steak and prime rib restaurant in Westport, Connecticut from 1959 to the early 1990s. To this day, the salad is legendary. This simple, secret recipe is best served as an appetizer rather than a side salad to the main course. And remember, it is the cool, crispness that adds...

260 days ago the World Health Organization announced a global pandemic. With planet earth shifting past the embryonic days of COVID-19 professionals learn more about this virus every day. The manner and protocols of how we go about our daily lives are guided by Doctors, Scientists, Researchers, and assisted by Politicians. At this time we have been asked to keep...

Florida’s fastest and tallest coaster – along with a pack of fierce Velociraptors – will be unleashed at Universal Orlando Resort in 2021. If you – or the kids in your life – have seen all the movies and fantasize about visiting Jurassic Park and its fierce dinosaurs, the Jurassic World VelociCoaster will bring the movies to life in a...

Nothing is more luxurious than when things are extra simple and extra special. Now you can have that wonderful feeling that ‘everything is taken care of’ on your next big-ship cruise. Celebrity Cruises has unveiled a new ‘Always Included’ program. Instead of differing promotions and packages, the cruise line is including unlimited drinks, unlimited wi-fi and even daily tips on all new bookings...

When you think of Mexico, famous beach towns may come first to mind. But Mexico is more than its coasts. And one place, the ‘Heart of Mexico’, half a day’s drive northwest of Mexico City in the Colonial Highlands, has again been named ‘Best Small City in the World’*. It’s just the latest recognition of the charms of San Miguel de Allende. ...

Imagine yourself silently drifting along under colourful silk, cradled in a giant basket. You’re part of the breeze and Nature as you tranquilly float on the air over undisturbed scenery below. Your pilot lets the heat in the balloon drop to silently lower you closer to your birds’ eye view… then lifts you to majestic heights over an unforgettable panorama....

Frightful Hallowe’en is many people’s top holiday of the year – but did you know that we can thank ancient Ireland for our favorite Hallowe’en traditions? Travel to Ireland these days, and you’ll still be able to connect with the origins of Celtic culture that still swirl in the mists of time in Ireland’s Ancient East.Today’s Hallowe’en is the descendent of...

A passion for style, art, cuisine and living well. Capturing that iconic Italian way of life and the essence of Venice was the goal of the latest ‘Super Ship’ by Uniworld Boutique River Cruises. The S.S. La Venezia, like all Uniworld ships, is more ‘local boutique hotel’ than ‘river cruise ship’. We often say that one of the attractions of cruising...