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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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The fourth best beach in the world
Six of us got off the plane at the tiny airport in Cayo Largo del Sur, Cuba. It had taken two days to get there. Cubana Airlines scheduling problems delayed us overnight in Cayo Coco—hauling luggage and fighting for a place in the buffet line at a massive busy resort. Thirty minutes in the air […]
15.05.2017 · Filled under: Cuba, Destination Guides, Legendary Landscapes · Tags: Beaches, Cuba, FUN, water
Island-hopping in the Atlantic with Azores Airlines
Black volcanic cliffs shrouded in mist, fantastical ferns and flowers that look like props from an episode of Star Trek. I’ve just returned from a big adventure, island-hopping in the Atlantic Ocean with Azores Airlines (SATA). The two-island 12-day package took us on a voyage of discovery to a part of the planet we’d never […]
28.12.2015 · Filled under: Destination Guides, Europe, Legendary Landscapes · Tags: Beaches, Gardens, water
Travel Cuba: exploring Hemingway’s Islands in the Stream
You never know what you’ll get when you call for a cab in Cuba. The 1958 Oldsmobile that lurched up to our hotel in Cayo Coco was an icon of mid-century design. Its rocket hood ornament, flight-ready fins, chrome starburst accents and windows rounded like stratospheric clouds hinted at jet-age dreams of exploration. Wafting Cuban […]
08.02.2015 · Filled under: Cuba, Destination Guides, Legendary Landscapes · Tags: Beaches, Books, Cuba, hemingway
35 centuries of glass art at Corning Museum of Glass, NY
My fall foliage break was extra-colorful this year as our destination was the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, New York. The four-hour drive from Toronto offered rural vignettes of pumpkin stands, cornfields, crows and Victorian homes decked for Halloween. As night and rain fell, we checked into our hotel and curled up with a […]
16.11.2014 · Filled under: Art, Destination Guides, United States · Tags: GLASS, museums, road trip!
1920s Atlantic City: the real ‘Boardwalk Empire’
If you’re a fan of the HBO series Boardwalk Empire, you’ll know that the character of Nucky Thompson, played by Steve Buscemi, is loosely based on real-life Atlantic City kingpin Enoch ‘Nucky’ Johnson. Treasurer of Atlantic County during Prohibition era, the real Nucky’s empire flourished in the racy, roaring 1920s. On my last visit to Atlantic […]
27.08.2014 · Filled under: Destination Guides, Food, Legendary Landscapes, United States · Tags: Beaches, film, HISTORY
A pilgrimage to Georgia O’Keeffe Country, New Mexico
My pilgrimage to Georgia O’Keeffe Country and the artist’s home and studio in Abiquiu, New Mexico, was exquisite and profoundly felt. Here’s the story, first published on TravelandEscape.ca.*** We cross the Rio Grande west of Taos, New Mexico, and drive south, heading for the legendary landscape that inspired artist Georgia O’Keeffe. An hour of sagebrush […]
Atlantic City’s cool new Arts Garage
I often wish I were in Atlantic City. No more so than today, at the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the new Arts Garage. When I toured the site a few weeks ago, workers were just putting finishing touches to the complex that marks phase one in the creation of a new Arts District in the heart […]
25.11.2013 · Filled under: Architecture, Art, Destination Guides · Tags: Artists, FUN, museums, road trip!
Art glass inspired by nature in St. Petersburg, Florida
Fluid and luminous, art glass seems naturally inspired by ocean waves, sunsets and seashells. St. Petersburg, Florida, is a hotbed of hot glass. Its growing community of glass artists and glass blowing studios offers many opportunities to explore this magical art form. And much of the work is inspired by the area’s natural beauty. […]
16.02.2013 · Filled under: Art, Destination Guides, Florida, United States · Tags: Artists, Beaches, Florida, GLASS
The Staffordshire Potteries, England
One of my favorite art and travel experiences was to the Staffordshire Potteries in the UK. The Staffordshire Potteries are centered around Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England. Once the industrial heart of England, much of the area now has a rural feel with over 30 pottery-related sites snugged in a pretty landscape. Though I was there in February, my memories are warm: […]
03.12.2012 · Filled under: Art, Destination Guides, Europe, Legendary Landscapes · Tags: England, HISTORY, museums
Lagoon dreams: Venice, Burano & Torcello
I’ve dreamed of the lagoon since returning from Venice, dreamt of jade water shivering as it crosses sandbars, spangled with sun diamonds. Though we rented a car for several days to explore, we left it at the hotel that Sunday morning and took Bus 19 (about a 15-minute ride, 1.30 Euro) from our hotel in Campalto […]
20.10.2012 · Filled under: Architecture, Destination Guides, Europe, Italy, Legendary Landscapes · Tags: CITIES, hemingway, HISTORY, Italy, water