-
Lesley Peterson is a Toronto-based blogger tripping on travel, art, culture, museums, cities and legendary landscapes. Catch her on Twitter as @culturetripper or contact her at lesley@culturetripper.com. All content by Lesley Peterson copyright © 2009 - Until the Present. All photos by Lesley Peterson except where other credit noted.
Join me!
Gone swimming! Best places in the world to swim
Swimmingly \ adv (1622): very well; SPLENDIDLY Several recent Guardian articles on wild swimming (Kenwood Ladies Pond, Hampstead Heath, and Wild Swimming in Italy) have me dreaming of water again. One thing my husband Pat and I can agree on when planning a trip to take together is the opportunity to swim in natural water. We’ll never […]
20.08.2015 · Filled under: Italy, Legendary Landscapes, Mexico, Myths & Legends, United States · Tags: FUN, water
Welcome to Narnia: The Malvern Hills, England
“It all began with images; a faun carrying an umbrella, a queen on a sledge, a magnificent lion.” So author C.S. Lewis explained the inspiration for his epic children’s fantasy series The Chronicles of Narnia. One of the books’ most memorable images is that of a gas lamp glowing in a snowy wood just beyond the wardrobe that serves as a […]
13.12.2012 · Filled under: Europe, Legendary Landscapes, Myths & Legends · Tags: Books, England, water
A ghostly tour of the Elgin & Winter Garden Theatre, Toronto
Step up to the birdcage, buy a ticket for a tour of the last operating double-decker Edwardian theatre in the world. It’s cool and dark inside. The Elgin below, all red velvet with leering gilt satyrs, the Winter Garden a fairylit birch forest above. But if you think something beckoned from behind an old backdrop, […]
Are you a right-brained traveler?
I didn’t spend a lot of time thinking about being lefthanded while growing up. Raised in a house full of righthanders, I simply adapted to unfriendly can openers and blister-causing scissors and got on with life. Life as a lefty, though, meant drawing a certain amount of flack. And flack is fuel for stubborn individualism. For […]
Sicily’s seductive beaches and strange symbol
More than 2,000 years ago, Greek sailors sailing the Mediterranean around Sicily gazed upon its golden shores and likened them to the alluring legs of a woman. They called the island Trinakria, or three pointed, identifying it with the Thrinacia mentioned in Homer’s Odyssey. I love to wander Sicily’s beaches in the off season when […]
08.12.2011 · Filled under: Europe, Italy, Legendary Landscapes, Myths & Legends · Tags: Antiquity, Beaches, HISTORY, Italy
Strait of Messina, Italy: myth, magic and a controversial bridge
When Odysseus sailed the Strait of Messina he had a tough decision to make. Sailing too close to Calabria would mean passing Scylla, a sailor-snatching sea-nymph with a body composed of ravening dogs. Too close to Sicily and the whirlpool mouth of Charybdis could suck down the entire ship. Navigating the water between mainland Italy […]
Myth and water around Lamezia Terme, Calabria, Italy
We’ve been using Calabria as a back door to Sicily for a few years, preferring direct flights to Lamezia Terme to non-direct flights to Palermo. Car rental is a lot easier at Lamezia, too. This time we stayed in the area for a few days to decompress and explore. Our first stop is always the quiet […]
01.11.2011 · Filled under: Destination Guides, Europe, Italy, Legendary Landscapes, Myths & Legends · Tags: water
Oh, Oahu!
Finally, Hawaii. We’re kicking ourselves for not having gone before. Why didn’t we? Too expensive? Not in April. Too far? Not bad if you fly during the day (jetlag doesn’t seem to happen flying east). With only a week we stayed on O’ahu, wanting the quintessential Hawaiian vacay, headquartered in touristy–and, yes, gorgeous–Waikiki. The Hawaiian Islands […]
03.05.2010 · Filled under: Destination Guides, Hawaii, Legendary Landscapes, Myths & Legends, United States · Tags: Beaches, ghosts