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Blog Written: Vancouver - February 10-12, 2009
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San Miguel de Allende: Conde Nast Traveler and More

Since coming back from Mexico (January 24, 2009) I have seen two references to San Miguel de Allende.

The first was a short travel article in the The Province (a Vancouver based newspaper) entitled "Now I Know Why They Rave About It .... It is Hip" which basically plays up the cool bars and restaurants of San Miguel.

The second reference was an interesting link http://www.infosma.com/?s=Conde+Naste sent to me by Silvia Estefan Karam of Puente Viejo Residencial. (more about her in the next blog)

The article was published in Info San Miguel http://www.infosma.com , which is a great source of information about San Miguel. This link lists the findings of a Conde Nast Traveler reader's survey on the "Top 10 Cities To Visit in the Americas". Conde Nast Traveler is arguably the foremost American publication on the travel experience.

According to the survey the top 10 are:
   Buenos Aires
   Vancouver
   Quebec City
   Victoria
   San Miguel de Allende
   Cuzco
   Montreal
   Oaxaca City
   Toronto
    Rio de Janeiro

The list is interesting in the context of "Travels With Lobo" for the reasons that I cite below.

By the way, I still hope to establish my own website www.TravelsWithLobo.com. I have the domain name but nothing has actualized as of yet

No. 1 - Buenos Aires

My first travel blog was from Argentina and it was then that I discovered and extolled the virtues of one of my favourite cities - Buenos Aires. It is not by accident that it is known as "the Paris of South America".

No. 2 - Vancouver

Vancouver is another city that I have blogged extensively and that I enjoy visiting. While writing this blog, I am looking out over the beautiful skyline of Vancouver as I am spending the week here.

Here is some recent "good news" and some "bad news" about Vancouver.

.....as they say, the "good news" first.......

The "good news" is that the Winter Olympics 2010 will kick off exactly one year from February 12, 2009. There is much anticipation expressed on radio and television to mark the event in both Vancouver and Whistler, the ski resort which is located two hours north of Vancouver.

The "bad news" is that at the moment, the city is gripped by a state of disbelief as a series of drug/gang related shootings have traumatized local citizens. In the last 11 days there have been a total of nine targeted shootings in the greater Vancouver area resulting in 4 deaths. Particularly troubling is that the shooting between alleged gang members have take place in public areas putting bystanders at risk.

To that can be added the weekend trauma of a young couple being run down by an SUV driven by an intoxicated 18-year-old male. This happened as they were crossing a street near Granville Island, one of the most popular spots in the city. The male victim was a second year cardiology resident with a very promising career who was described as "an inspiration" while his fiancée was studying for a career in social work.

On my way back from Vancouver to Prince George yesterday (February 12, 2009) I made a point of taking the Sea to Sky Highway to Whistler. I wanted to be there for the 18:00 ceremony that marked the exact one-year-point to the start of the 2010 Winter Olympics. The photos will be published in my Vancouver blog.

No. 3 - Quebec City

Quebec City probably still rates as my sentimental favourite as it was my introduction to Canada in 1954. I have been enchanted with this historical city ever since and my most recent visit was this past summer while doing my yet to be published video blog: Driving Canada and America.

No. 4 - Victoria

Victoria is my west coast sentimental favorite ever since Barbara and I lived there for four months in 2007. Our enchantment with Victoria is chronicled in my Victoria travel blog.

No. 5 - San Miguel de Allende

For a place that most people have not even heard of, a number 5 rating is pretty good. Having now visited and blogged San Miguel de Allende I am not surprised that the city rates so highly.

No. 6 - Cuzco (Peru)

I visited Cuzco in 1999, which puts it in my pre-blogging days. While Cuzco is in and of itself a beautiful destination most visitors go to Cuzco on the way to nearby Machu Picchu.

No. 7 - Montreal

My love for Montreal started in 1967 when I worked as a host at the Canadian pavilion at EXPO 67. My motive in moving to Ottawa in 1968 was to be as close to Montreal as possible while still teaching in Ontario. Over the next 40 years I made frequent visits to Montreal. If you can't walk around Paris then Montreal is the next best thing in terms of the "French" cultural experience. I would have to say that based on architecture and wide boulevards so characteristic of Paris, Buenos Aires would be the winner over Montreal.

No. 8 - Oaxaca

I am glad to report that Oaxaca is part of the "Mexico: 23 Destinations to Spend the Winter Months" travel blog. Any place that prides itself in its coffee, chocolate and colonial architecture would be hard to beat.

Another Mexican favorite, which must have rated high in the survey, would have been San Cristobal de las Casas located in the state of Chiapas.

No. 9 - Toronto

For a former long-time resident of Ontario this is sacrilegious, but I don't know why Toronto would have made the list. Suffice it to say that this is one city that I never warmed up to despite occasional visits and spending a summer there while going to Teacher's College.

No. 10 - Rio de Janero

Ok, I admit it, I have not seen the beautiful girls on Ipanema Beach nor for that matter any of the other beautiful women that allegedly live in Brazil.
Rio, the beautiful, definitely suffers from a perceived security problem. During our visit to Tulum, Mexico we spent some time with a French couple. He had worked for the Metro (subway) system in Paris and as a result spent four years in Rio as a consultant while the subway system was built. He loved Rio and went back frequently. Just when I thought it was safe to "go into the water" (visit Rio) I was again confronted by a newspaper article describing recent robberies and attacks on tourists in Rio.

Having said that, this is an image problem that Mexico is not immune to as well but that is the subject of another blog.

So to get back to my original point about the "10 Top Cities to Visit in the Americas", I have blogged or have detailed knowledge of 9 out of the 10. That is a pretty good "batting average" but on the other hand, it does not make me immune from "striking out" in my analysis. But that is the beauty of blogs - they are an expression of opinion subject to all the foibles that are inherent in opinion.
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Of Note: What's Happening Today

This is a follow-up to blog no. 65 Frank Turner and the Yukon Quest

http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lobo/excursions/1196817480/tpod.html

The 2009 Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race will start today on Saturday February 14, 2009 at 11:00 a.m. This epic two weeks of sled dog racing covers 1,000 miles through arctic winter wilderness from Whitehorse, Yukon to Fairbanks, Alaska.

http://www.yukonquest.com/site/race-information

While legendary musher Frank Turner, the subject of my blog, is not competing in this year's Yukon Quest race, there are two rookies of interest to watch.

Jamaican musher Newton Marshal whose main sponsor is Jimmy Buffet of "Margaritaville" fame.

http://www.yukonquest.com/site/mushers-and-sled-dog-teams/?musher=41

and Yuka Honda who is a young Japanese lady who is undoubtedly the first female of her country to participate in this race.

http://www.yukonquest.com/site/mushers-and-sled-dog-teams/?musher=56

If Frank Turner can't be there, at least Hans Gatt, another legend and a three-time champion is competing.

Hans Gatt

http://www.yukonquest.com/site/mushers-and-sled-dog-teams/?musher=60
 
It should be interesting to see how the two rookies stack up against the veteran.

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Coming Soon:

San Miguel de Allende and Real Estate