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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.
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International Couscous Festival, San Vito lo Capo, Sicily
Sicilian food, like its history, is a stew of cultural influences. Closer to Africa than Rome, and under Arab rule for 200 years during the Middle Ages, it’s not surprising to find couscous on menus in Sicily, especially in the western end of this Mediterranean island. Each September, the beach resort of San Vito lo […]
Canucks, inukshuks and Cuba
Waves crash, palms blow, vultures wheel, clouds unspool. Here on the Costa Morena, the rugged coast west of Santiago de Cuba, all nature salsas in the wind. Flopped under a seagrape, sunburnt, pants torn, I suddenly get Van Gogh. Vincent never made it to Cuba but he would have known how to paint it: all […]
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
Scarborough Bluffs, Toronto, Ontario
I’ve never understood the mass weekend exodus to cottage country when here in Toronto we’re already on beautiful Lake Ontario with miles of coastline and plenty of clean, swimmable beaches. This summer I’ve been communing with nature right here in Toronto’s east end at the Scarborough Bluffs: wading through wildflowers on top of Cathedral Bluffs with a […]
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
Atlantic City, End of Season
Atlantic City, end of season. Walked miles on the shore with the gulls, watched the still-out-there surfers, munched salt-water taffy, then wandered back along the Boardwalk. Believe it or not, AC’s a great place to commune with nature and get some exercise. I’ve always found this old resort town very atmospheric and never more so […]
Great Escapes
After getting caught in Jonas Brothers fandemonium on Bloor last week when the Toronto International Film Festival opened (no, I didn’t spot Joe himself jogging, just the swarm of fans and paparazzi chasing him), I escaped TIFF madness on Sunday by going down to Toronto’s eastern Beaches. I started at Woodbine where the volleyballers – and […]
Miami Dreams
Miami was a dream in which I was a mermaid, drifting in the humid strata between sky and sea, living like a mermaid on raw (or nearly raw) fish: a sugar cane tuna lollipop at OLA, shrimp tiraditos at Sra. Martinez, smoked marlin tacos and myriad ceviches here and there. The sunfaded splendour of South […]
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch
I never leave the house without my camera. This morning, though, preoccupied by thoughts of how Hurricane Bill might impact my trip to South Beach, I ran out to the bank leaving it on the charger. Halfway there, I saw two kids let go of a foil balloon that rose, glittering, against the sky. I was […]