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Adventures in Ecuador: A Worthwhile Stop in Baños de Agua Santa

Heading southeast from Quito, snowcapped volcanoes line both sides of the road while you pass through towns that specialize in one industry like stores selling only jeans in Pelileo. Three hours later, you reach the quaint town of Baños below the steep green flanks of the volcano Tungurahua. The small town has become an outdoor hub for folks who want to visit the numerous waterfalls in the region, go bungee jumping, hiking in the hills above town, or simply soak in the hot springs Baños is named after. La Piscina de la Virgen, located across from the Sangay Spa-Hotel, features three large pools of varying temperatures, from tepid to very hot. The town is also known for its taffy and you’ll find numerous candy stores around town to sample the goods. A great bakery, also known for its rich coffee and freshly made juices like tree tomato or guanabana is Café Ricooo Pan. Go there for breakfast to start the day. 

 

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Holiday Cheer in Toronto—The City’s Architectural Boom

Over the past five years, Toronto has enjoyed an architectural renaissance, with Daniel Libeskind’s bold addition to the block-long stone and brick Royal Ontario Museum, Frank Gehry’s tasteful redesign of the Art Gallery of Ontario, and hometown favorite, Jack Diamond’s acoustically perfect opera house, the Four Seasons Centre. Outside the ROM, shards of aluminum and ribbons of glass jut out onto the sidewalk with knife-like precision, without care or need for right angles. Libeskind’s whimsy lends itself well to the child-like intrigue that one can’t help but muster when visiting the mind-boggling collection of wares inside the ROM. More than a mere natural history museum with requisite brontosaurus skeleton, the ROM has a vast collection of gems and treasures from ancient Egypt, Greece, and China. On display until January 6, 2013, is the exhibition “Ultimate Dinosaurs: Giants from Gondwana.” The show displays bizarre dinosaurs, virtually unknown to North Americans, before they were discovered in South American and Africa. 
 
Highlights of Frank Gehry’s new addition at the Art Gallery of Ontario include a stairwell that extends outside the blue titanium back wall to reward guests with vistas over Grange Park. And Galleria Italia on the second floor, a large lounge where ribs of soft Douglas fir curve upward, as if you’ve just entered the inverted hull of a ship. A spacious gallery devoted to the sculptures of Henry Moore and landscapes by the Group of Seven, highly regarded Canadian painters from the 1920s, are a small sampling of the impressive works found at the AGO. But I’ll be headed there this morning to view the latest blockbuster exhibition, “Frida & Diego: Passion, Politics, and Painting.” This rare showcase of 155 works by and about the artists Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera was created primarily from the collection of Mexico’s Museo Dolores Olmeda. It’s only on view through January 20, 2013, so find a way to get to Toronto soon. 
 
 
 
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Kids Stay Free at Iberostar Properties April 8 to December 13

Hey New Englanders! Still want to get away over Patriots Day Week with the kids. Iberostar Resorts just announced that two kids will stay free at their Mexican and Caribbean properties when two adults pay the full price. These include several of my favorites, Iberostar Paraiso Maya in Riviera Maya and Rose Hall Beach, outside of Montego Bay. If you prefer to head to one of their all-inclusive properties over the summer, the offer is good from April 8 to December 13.

 
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Family Vacation Critic Names Top Hotels for Families

Since 2008, I’ve written over 120 hotel and destination reviews for Family Vacation Critic, TripAdvisor’s family travel site. Many of the properties I personally visited have just been chosen in Family Vacation Critic’s Listing of Top Hotels for Families. To achieve award status, travel writers had to first visit and vet the resort, giving the property at least a 4-star rating. In addition, the hotel had to be recommended by at least 75% of families commenting on TripAdvisor. The elite group of hotels selected represents the top 12% of hotels listed on the Family Vacation Critic site. I’m happy to play a small role in this inaugural listing, hopefully steering families to a memorable resort and a special vacation. 

 
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Harbour Island, the Best of the Bahamas

With more than 700 islands (20 of them inhabited) scattered from Florida’s doorstep to the edge of the Caribbean, the balmy Bahamas offers every type of warm-weather lifestyle imaginable. For some, the Bahamas is an afternoon’s port of call in Nassau and Freeport. Others are lured by the massive Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island, where the beach life includes large pools, water slides, and a walk-though aquarium. Yet, there’s another side of the Bahamas called the Out Islands that have yet to be discovered. My favorite is Harbour Island, a three-mile-long, half-mile-wide speck off the coast of Eleuthera. With 18th-century clapboard houses edged with picket fences, this tiny island looks as if someone shrank Nantucket and plopped it down in the tropics. Cars are all but forbidden, replaced by golf carts.  Aptly named Pink Sands Beach runs the length of the island, speckled with the perfect blush of flamingo pink. Kids can ride horseback along the shores or don mask and snorkel to go eyeball-to-eyeball with the fishies. Stay at the Coral Sands Hotel, smack dab in the middle of that pink beach.  

 
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Fall Foliage Deals in New England

New England Inns & Resorts, a collection of more than 250 inns and hotels in New England, has some fall foliage deals up on their website. Harbour Towne Inn in Boothbay Harbor, Maine is offering a leaf and lobster tour, starting at $149 a night, including a bountiful harvest breakfast. If you prefer mountains to the sea, the Bethel Inn Resort in Bethel, Maine, home to Sunday River, is offering rooms as low as $119 a night, including breakfast. At the Daniel Webster Inn in Sandwich, on Cape Cod, rooms are as low $120 a night (including a 25% discount), champagne and chocolates upon arrival, and a $50 meal credit for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Even exclusive Nantucket is getting in on the deal. If you can wait till late October to hit the island, rates at the Jared Coffin House drop to $125 a night, with a $25 dinner credit.
 

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Florence, The City of Chocolate

One of Florence’s best-kept secrets is taking place right now. The annual Fiera Del Cioccolato will be lining Piazza Santa Maria Novella in the Renaissance city from February 10-19. Vendors offer amazing chocolate masterpieces that are unique to the region and allow you to stock up just in time for Valentine’s Day. Offerings range from handmade crepes, waffles, chocolates, cookies, and much more. Along with vendors, the chocolate festival offers cooking shows and parties that allow visitors to truly engage with their love of all things chocolate. The festival’s close proximity to some of Florence’s well-known sights such as the Duomo and the Ponte Vecchio make this a perfect place to relax as you take in the best the city has to offer.  
 
Guest Post by Mack Kingman 

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