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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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A stroll in the treetops, Kew Gardens, London
From its 18th-century Pagoda to its magnificent Victorian glass conservatories, the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew contain wonders of garden architecture as well as nature. A new experience for me this year was the Xstrata Treetop Walkway, an exhilarating stroll in the treetops of the Gardens’ arboretum. Xstrata was designed by Marks Barfield Architects, who […]
Brussels’ fabulous Atomium
It was immense fun to visit the Atomium in Brussels, Belgium, one of Europe’s top landmarks and icon of mid-century design. Gleaming under beautiful Belgian skies, the Atomium is both symbol of Brussels and the space age. Constructed as centerpiece of the 1958 World Exhibition, the Atomium’s mid-century architecture expresses the optimism and confidence of […]
Life lessons from the Papas: Hemingway Days, Key West
It’s a sea of red berets outside Sloppy Joe’s Bar in Key West, Florida, headquarters of the Ernest Hemingway Look-Alike Society and their annual running of the bulls. A bwip-wip from a motorcycle escort parts the crowd and, to the tune of Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy), the fist-pumping Papas roll out. Earlier that day, […]
Cherry blossoms in Toronto
Of all the beautiful things that grow better with age, the magnificent Somei-Yoshino cherry trees in Toronto’s High Park are some of the best. The donation of blossoming cherry trees, or sakura, has been a project of the Japanese Consulate in Toronto for years. With the support of private donors, the consulate’s Sakura Project has planted […]
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 […]
On a carousel in North Tonawanda, New York
“Sure!” she replied and pointed to one of the larger and wilder-looking outer horses. “Climb onto Big Billy there.” The crazed-looking stallion creaked as I swung my leg over his saddle and I instantly regretted the second beef on weck—a Buffalo area specialty—I’d polished off at lunch. But no time to reconsider. The attendant hit […]
Toronto Christmas Market magic
Toronto’s historic Distillery District glows each December with the lights and flavours of a European-style Christmas Market. From traditional German sausage and schnitzel to Canadian favorites like pure maple taffy and poutine, there’s lots to munch on as you stroll the Distillery District’s frosty brick lanes. The atmosphere is even more convivial as the Market’s liquor […]
Luminato Festival: first the happy faces
I didn’t have time to catch much of Luminato 2010 in Toronto other than the Wish Come True Festival presented by FriendsWithYou, a Miami-based visual arts collective. Queen’s Park looked as though a giant box of toys had been spilled: bouncy mushrooms you could crawl inside, smiling lollipops and totem-pole peppermint sticks, super-sized beach balls […]
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 […]