Port Profiles | Portipedia

Stockholm may just be the most beautiful city in the world to reach by water. The journey begins nearly 50 miles east, at the tip of a beautiful archipelago comprised of 30,000 islands, islets and rocks. Many of the islands are uninhabited, rocky outcrops that are homes only to birds. Other islands are dotted with quaint red-and-white summer cottages.

If you are in Stockholm for a few days, you surely will want to venture out to the archipelago on ships that depart from the city center. It’s about a two-hour journey to Sandhamn, a small village where you can take lunch at Sandhamns Vardshus before setting out on kayaks for smaller, uninhabited islands just a few miles away. Return to relax in the sauna before boarding the ship back to Stockholm. The experience is quintessentially Swedish and one that should not be missed.

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A few key points that you should keep in mind if you are cruising to or from Stockholm:

Most cruise passengers arrive in Stockholm at one of two places: Arlanda Airport (Stockholm serves as the initial port of departure for many cruises); or for those arriving by sea, the city center.

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If there is one phrase that characterizes Quebec, it is ‘et pourquoi pas?’ The phrase, which translates to ‘and why not?’ seems to be on the tip of every Quebecer’s tongue. It is a ready response of permissiveness and tolerance, a defender of an important concept — the joie de vivre or ‘joy of living’ — that is alive and thriving in Quebec. Continue Reading »

It’s a 2.5-hour drive from Quebec City to the Saguenay region. We pointed our car toward La Baie, where we checked in to L’ Auberge des 21. Located on the shore of the Saguenay Fjord, the warm family inn also features fine regional (read: French) cuisine at a shockingly good restaurant for such a small inn. Continue Reading »

Quebec City offers beauty, fine dining and delightful diversions. And that’s just in the train station. Our three-hour train journey from Montreal to Quebec ended in what has been called ‘the most beautiful train station in North America.’ Reminiscent of similar grand terminals in Europe, Quebec City’s train station attracts those who come here not only to travel by rail but also to dine at the best steak house in town, according to our cab driver. The train station also houses a few shops and even a dentist office, should you want to dash in for a quick cleaning before the conductor calls ‘All Aboard.’ Continue Reading »

A bartender at Quebec City’s fashionable L’EChaude restaurant expresses mock indignation when a visitor asks how Quebec’s capital compares with the province’s largest city, Montreal. ‘They are not truly French,’ the bartender says, conveniently overlooking the fact that as a Canadian, neither is he. ‘In Montreal, people speak French 50, maybe 55, percent of the time.’ He steps back from the bar and folds his arms to proclaim, ‘Here, we speak French 95 percent of the time.’

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I had traveled the world before traveling to Quebec, and if my foot could reach my behind, I would kick myself for doing so. Of all the places I have visited, Quebec surely ranks in my top ten. The irony is that I traveled halfway around the world to visit less-inspiring places when Quebec was (and is) fewer than three hours by air from my home. The French-speaking Canadian province is practically in my own backyard, and yet it took a cruise (from Boston) and 49 years to get me there. Continue Reading »

YOU’VE GOT TO LIKE A TOWN WHOSE FIRST KNOWN EUROPEAN SETTLER WAS A PIRATE. Especially one who interrupted his illicit adventures to fight the heroically for the United States in the War of 1812.

That’s just what French privateer and smuggler Jean Lafitte did before returning to his old ways and setting up base camp in 1817 in the city that would become Galveston. Nearly 1,000 followers eventually came to live in the commune called Campeche, from which Lafitte and his pirates launched attacks against Spanish ships.

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Galveston’s downtown is compact by big-city standards, more than 36 square blocks. But within those blocks is more than 100 shops, antique stores, restaurants and art galleries. 

Begin your exploration in The Strand National Historic Landmark District (pick up a map and other literature at the Downtown Visitors Center at 2215 Strand in the Old Galveston Square Building, phone 409-797-5101). 

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During the 1920s through the 1940s, Sam Maceo’s famous Galveston nightclubs, the Balinese Room and the Hollywood Dinner Club, were host to such performers as Phil Harris, Paul Whiteman, Guy Lombardo, Duke Ellington, Freddy Martin, Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee and Jimmy Dorsey. Galveston attracted people from all over the nation with great dining, big name entertainment, roulette, blackjack, craps tables and slot machines. This era ended in 1957 when the Texas Rangers raided the city and closed all the illegal gambling spots. 

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