Q. Where is somewhere you have visited that you would describe as ‘magical?’ What made it so? Archways of flowering trees? Fog rising off the water? Layer upon layer of pillowy moss? Shimmering light dancing from ripple to glass? Or is it about the history and stories certain places evoke?

Q. Do you ever travel alone? If so, where do you feel most safe going? What say others? . A. Travel and Leisure, along with Eminent, published a 2026 report highlighting the cities safest for solo female travellers. Their scores were based on high safety, affordability, and accessibility… Top 8

Q. They are the most intriguing birds, with their Formula 1 wings, Mr Fantastic tongues, and iridescent protein feathers.  Who are some artists who have worked to capture hummingbird beauty on canvas? . A. Painter and naturalist Martin Johnson Heade (1819-1904) was one. Heade was utterly taken with these tinkerbirds, spending

Q. What are some of the stranger foods that people have used to give them speed and power on race day? We’ll give a nod to a food celebrating its national day today…. . A. Let’s lift our olive leaf crowns to cheesecake. Cheesecakes were on the menu for athletes

Q. It’s one thing to gawp at the stunning beauty of some real-life show sets: the meringue-crowned mountain peaks, the ice-rimmed fjords, the stubborn ruins, the beckoning blue of a dead-calm sea. Which shows are inspiring us to actually heave off the couch and start dreaming up travel plans? .

Q. What are your pet peeves? That is the little, niggling things that bother you far more than they do others?  What are some common peeves? . A. In 2025, Talker Research surveyed 2,000 adults about the little aggravations that send them right around the edge. Survey said… Things that

Q. In his 1653 Complete Herbal, botanist Nicholas Culpeper wrote: ‘the decoction of the thistle in wine being drank, expels superfluous melancholy out of the body, and makes a man as merry as a cricket.’ ‘As merry as a cricket.’ That’s not something one hears much in 2026. What are

Q. Happy Canada Day! Parades, concerts, barbecues, AC-powered hideouts, red-shirted soccer parties…  Canadians are celebrating in force. What kinds of snacks will we be eating? . A. A survey of over 33,000 Canadians offers some clues. In a broad-ranging, ‘unofficial’ Canadian census, Tod Maffin found… The Best Canadian snack i.

Q. World Cup fever is gripping soccer/football fans across the world. How have  painters captured ‘The Beautiful Game’ on canvas? . A. Some examples… . This is wow upon wow… From the ‘Sports Girls’ series. American Cigarette Company. Montreal. 1889 . Umberto Boccioni. Dynamism of a Soccer Player. 1913 .

Q. Night-blooming jasmine in Harbour Island, machete-cracked coconut in Jamaica, sea-air in Lanai, Scots pine and spruce in the forests of Norway, early morning pastries in Paris, steaming hot espresso in Milan, freshly squeezed lemon in Sorrento … Certain glorious fragrances stay with you long after you return home from