Tucked into the heart of the third-largest Chinatown in North America, the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden is an exceptionally inviting half-acre oasis of tranquility amid the bustle of Vancouver, British Columbia. The garden’s four major elements — rocks, plants, water, and architecture — are engaging and picturesque, and it’s a delight to stroll around the first classical Chinese scholars garden built outside of China and appreciate them all. But when a senior citizen docent from Singapore spends 90 minutes explaining the stories behind each of them, they take on an enhanced and fascinating life all of their own. Read more >
Category Archives: Nature
Five Beaches to Make You Forget Winter
You’re tired of the snow and ice. And the single-digit temperatures. And the scarves, hats, gloves, and thermal underwear. And the terms “wind chill,” “subarctic,” and “polar vortex.” It’s time to start warming yourself up with thoughts of sun and sand. Growing up in New York, I wasn’t an avid fan of the local beaches — the water was gray, the sand was speckled with litter, and spending a day with thousands of other people around me seemed to mock the notion of relaxation. But my outlook changed during my first trip to the Caribbean, when impossible colors and joyous serenity completely obliterated my notions of what a day at the shore meant. These are my five favorite beaches in the world. Read more >
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A Quintet of Canadian Pyramids
Like a postmodern Giza — but in a much colder clime — the five glass pyramids of Muttart Conservatory rise above the trees on a hillside in a quiet residential section of Edmonton, Alberta. For almost 40 years, Muttart has been welcoming visitors (and brides) to its indoor botanical garden, and when local meteorologists are far from accurate and you’re faced with a day that’s about 20 degrees colder than predicted, it’s a great place to escape indoors. Read more >
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My Own Private Estonia
After three days in the captivating capital of Estonia, it was time to escape from the almost inescapable clusters of day-tripping tourists from massive cruise ships who have inadvertently edged Tallinn toward becoming a Disney-esque caricature of itself. So I hit the road with Martin, a local university student majoring in social sciences, for a private look at the Estonia that wasn’t overflowing with medieval-themed restaurants and countless amber shops. Read more >
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Five Aerial Tramways With Outstanding Views
They’ll take you up hundreds or thousands of feet to summits and peaks in just a few minutes, rewarding you with unbeatable views of twisting rivers, endless mountain chains, or entire cities. Whether you’re enclosed in a cable car by yourself or with two dozen other people, the silent journey — aside from being an engineering feat — imparts views that grow more dazzling the higher you climb. These are my five favorite aerial tramways in the world. Read more >
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Driving Without Mirrors in the Canary Islands
The Spanish island of Tenerife, the most populous of the Canary Islands off the coast of Africa, is a treasure trove of natural wonders: volcanoes, craters, pine forests, strange rock formations, glorious sunsets, countless wildflowers, rugged mountains, and beaches of yellow, white and black sand. The best way to delve into it all is via car. But can you truly enjoy your ride when all the mirrors on your vehicle begin to fall off or vanish? Read more >
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Man Meets Montana Moose
When you’re hiking in the woods, you never really know what to expect when you hear something rustling in the trees beside you, especially in Glacier National Park, which teems with wildlife. Is it a cougar, a gray wolf, a grizzly bear? Perhaps it’s just a chipmunk or a pygmy shrew. Maybe it’s only the wind. But when it turns out to be a female moose, and you’re only 20 feet away from it, your little stroll in the forest transcends a mere hike. And when her mate shows up, sporting a full rack of antlers, you become positively giddy — until two crotchety senior citizens show up and ruin the mood. Read more >
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Hiking With Huskies in Finnish Lapland
In Rovaniemi, the 16th most populous city in Finland, straddling the Arctic Circle in Finnish Lapland, you can visit the real Santa Claus, play with baby reindeer, watch the sun never set during the summer, sail down the Kemi River to an old island lumberjack camp for an outdoor meal, observe a craftsman as he creates knife handles out of reindeer antlers, or spend some time in Arktikum, the city’s leading museum — all of which I did.
But when the opportunity to go trekking through the woods with some husky puppies presented itself, I knew I had just hit upon something extraordinarily memorable. Read more >
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Falling for Iguazú
Deep within South America, in the northeastern arm of Argentina that forces its way between Brazil and Paraguay, Iguazú National Park teems with life. Jaguars, howler monkeys, ocelots, countless birds and more than 2,000 vascular plants thrive in the park’s 212 square miles. But the main draw, by far, is the 275 cascades that compose Iguazú Falls. Wider than Africa’s Victoria Falls and higher than Niagara, Iguazú attracts about one million visitors per year. When I first saw this natural wonder of the world, the adjectives to describe it couldn’t come fast enough: awe-inspiring, beguiling, tremendous, exotic, enchanting. Clearly, I had just arrived at the most beautiful waterfall I’ve ever seen. Read more >
Stephen Travels 