"We are in a unique location, and you have to have a pioneering spirit to make it all the way up to the festival if you don't have ties here," says Caroline MacLennan, festival director of the Hebridean Celtic Festival -- Fèis Cheilteach Innse Gall in Scotttish Gaelic. The place she's speaking of is the Isle of Lewis, the northernmost island of the Western Isles, some forty miles off the north west coast of Scotland.

London may be an ever-expanding tangle of concrete and gleaming glass but it also harbours wildlife that goes beyond pigeons, park ducks, and increasingly brazen gangs of foxes. From roaming deer and leaping lemurs to wallabies and alpacas, there are surprising creatures in every corner of the capital. Yes, a diverse array of city farms – originated by the band of early 1970s pioneers who turned a disused Kentish Town timberyard into London’s first rural hideaway – are dotted all over the capital.

I was in Prague a few years ago with two of my children, both in their early twenties at the time.  We were researching accommodation for the Good Night and God Bless travel guides and one morning, found ourselves in the restaurant of a vast medieval monastery on the perimeter of the city.

The rainforest often seems like it is another world - full of animals, plants, and cultures that are unfamiliar to us. Yet something about this area draws us to learn more about it. I've recently read an extraordinary book that documents one journalist's many years among the people of Central America, in the cradle of the Maya civilization.

Guatemala is becoming an ever more popular destination for travelers of all ages. With volcanoes to climb, markets to explore, delicious culinary experiences, incredible scenery, and a culture steeped in tradition, it’s absolutely an ideal getaway. If you’re reading this, you’ve probably already started planning a trip to Guatemala of your own. You’ve researched where to go, what to see, and what to pack. You’re starting to feel excited, and a little overwhelmed. There’s so much information out there, so much to see and do.

Midsummer celebrations take place across Canada in the time surrounding Canada Day on the first of July. How about music to go along? Canada has poured forth a wealth of singers and songwriters, from legendary folk poet in song Gordon Lightfoot to million selling country musician Shania Twain. For this year’s Canada Day, here are four artists who make their homes in Canada’s west.

Those that live in the area and travel along Rt 9W, Rt 218, or Rt 9D see it every day. Most wonder, “what the heck is out there?” 

If your family includes history buffs, this is the ONE thing you need to make time for when you visit Fredericton, New Brunswick - a town that we just love.

Twice a day in the summer, there is a changing of the guard. 

Save for later:

Canoeing - it sounds romantic, doesn't it? My aunt and uncle had their first date while canoeing a Michigan river. My parents gave my husband and I a double kayak for our wedding present. I am a nature photographer, and most of my photographs are taken out on the lake, during a quiet paddle. Every other week our daughter and I go out and clean up the lake, picking up people's trash.

It is all about the water, and how you can truly experience nature by being on it.

Florida Culture for the Week of June 25 and a 3rd & 4th of July Fireworks Preview By Josh Garrick 
 
FINAL WEEK -- NOW to July 2 – ‘Animal Crackers,’ the Marx Brothers Musical