Legoland Opens in Orlando on October 15th
I’m not a big fan of theme parks. I find them overwhelming, with far too many humans waiting at hour-long lines for a 2-minute ride. But I’ve always enjoyed visiting Legoland, just north of San Diego when my kids were younger. It’s a much mellower version of a theme park, catered to the 2 to 8-year-old crowd, even fascinating parents with all the items made out of Legos, from amusement park rides to cities around the world. Now a new Legoland is being unveiled in Orlando on October 15th, making it easier for East Coast families to sample the Legoland experience. The 150-acre park features more than 50 rides, shows, and attractions.
In the world of exhibitions, there are juxtapositions of talent and space that just work brilliantly. Take Chihuly’s twisting and curving glass, now a mainstay at botanical gardens across the country. Putting contemporary fashion into five medieval cloisters is another gem of an idea. The Cloisters, at the tip of northern Manhattan, is now the uptown branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Take the A-train to 190th Street, grab an elevator up, and you’ll soon be walking through Fort Tryon Park high above the Hudson to the monastery-like buildings that John Rockefeller donated to the city in the 1920s. Living in the city for close to a decade, I only made it up here once to see the celebrated Unicorn Tapestries and Medieval manuscripts in the towering buildings. Now there are crowds coming to see Alexander McQueen, Valentino, Balenciaga and more than 50 other designers presenting their interpretations of a Catholic theme in the show titled 
There’s no better way to see a city then with a local, and if that person has to be a passionate historian, then you’ve hit the jackpot. Yesterday morning I had the pleasure of going on a 90-minute tour of the St. Lawrence Market with 
Less than an hour outside of Calgary, you reach the U-shaped valley of Kananaskis, the tumultuous river of the same name that beckons whitewater rafters and kayakers, and the snowcapped jagged peaks of the Canadian Rockies that’s ripe with hiking and rock climbing opportunities. Albertans have no qualms about letting the masses rush by on their way to Banff, Lake Louise, and the Icefields Parkway up to Jasper. This is their mountain playground and what a spectacular spit of scenery it is. 
It’s no surprise that a river cruise appeals to all ages. Just ask active travels tour operator, 
Few sights I’ve seen are as majestic as Machu Picchu. After a 2-hour train ride from Ollantaytambo, you arrive at the town of Aguas Calientes and switch to a bus for a 20-minute drive on a series of switchbacks up to the base of Machu Picchu. When you arrive, you better have one of the coveted timed tickets to enter these late 15th-century Incan ruins that miraculously the Spaniards never found. Row after row of stone walls lead up the steep hillsides creating a far more vast archaeological wonder than one can imagine on that quintessential photograph from above Machu Picchu. We arrived a little after 2:30 pm, when the crowds were already thinning, to feel the smooth rocks of the temple, see the maze of aqueducts, and find the sun dial that was used to predict summer solstice. The tightly knit stone structures are impressive, but to be honest pale in comparison to the surrounding landscape, a panorama of jagged peaks that lead to the snow-capped Andes in the distance. This includes Huayna Picchu, the striking peak you see behind every photo of Machu Picchu. We had the opportunity hike this peak the next morning at 7 am, but I chose to hike part of the Inca Trail rising above Machu Picchu to the Sun Gate. Every step you took on the 3-hour round-trip trek was another mesmerizing view of Machu Picchu and the surrounding mountains. Fantastic!