I just finished a story on winter carnivals in North America. One of the finest is in Quebec City, where for 17 days, the party never stops. More than one million people descend upon the fortified city to cheer on the competition in Le Grande Virée, a dogsled race that cruises through the heart of the historic Old City, or watch paddlers sprint across the turgid waters of the St. Lawrence Seaway. The French-flavored festivities continue with tours of the Ice Palace, a giant medieval castle constructed of pure crystalline water, parades, snow sculpture contests, inner tube sled rides, dancing to live music, and late night jaunts to heated tents to sample the potent drink called Caribou, made of whiskey, red wine, and maple syrup. One swig of this and you might be running naked through the snowfields.
While in Quebec City, spend a memorable night 30 minutes outside of town at North America’s only ice hotel, Hotel de Glace. 32 new rooms are created each year out of 12,000 tons of snow and 400 tons of ice, along with an Absolut ice bar, Jacuzzis, and a dance club. Bring those long johns. Temperature inside is a mere 27 degrees Fahrenheit.
All it takes is a 5-minute stroll from our spectacular hotel, Corral del Rey, on the winding, narrow cobblestone streets to reach the largest Gothic cathedral in Europe and its massive bell tower. When that clock tower lights up at night, Seville is truly magical. Built along the river, protected from the pirates that attacked the southern coast, Seville flourished in the 1500s and the 1600s, when gold and other wealth from South America arrived on its shores. It’s a wonderful city to bike, as we did on a 3-hour ride with SeebyBike’s Ivan, a recent graduate of art history from the city’s large university. Ivan provided a great overview of Seville as we crossed the river into the neighborhood of Triana, visiting two historic churches that will be the starting point of parades this week as the city celebrates Easter with Holy Week festivities. We biked along the river and downtown on bike paths, visiting Parque de María Luisa to see the roses, lilies, and peonies in bloom. At nearby Plaza de Espana, flamenco dancers and singers were performing while rowboats fought for space on the manmade canal. Afterwards, we grabbed lunch at one of Ivan’s favorite spots in the city for tapas, Baratillo, known for their delicious pork cheeks, grilled artichokes, and roasted chick peas. 
Whenever we head to the Delray Beach/Boca Raton section of Florida to visit my father-in-law and his wife, we always stay at the 
With early spring weather in Boston this week, I’m already thinking of booking another windjammer sail in Maine this summer. A question I’m always asked is where does a travel writer/advisor go for downtime? For me, I’ll jump on one of these historic schooners any chance I get. Two summers ago, I made the wise choice to sail on the 
The best way to tackle the immensity of the 1,506,539-acre Everglades National Park is to take it in chunks. At 
Piestewa Peak
One of Amy’s Dream Days of 2017 was