Linda Barnard

Award-winning travel, food and film writer; National Newspaper Awards recipient

Travel Media Association of Canada

Society of American Travel Writers

International Food, Wine & Travel Writers Association

Toronto Film Critics Association

Vacay Network •

A Vienna Classic Waltzes Into the Final Frontier

Vienna is righting an interstellar wrong as part of the year-long 200th birthday celebrations for Waltz King Johann Strauss II.
The composer of “The Blue Danube” waltz, Strauss gave the world a hummable tune that still sets people swaying. From Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 masterpiece “2001: A Space Odyssey”, to Homer Simpson munching chips in weightless space, “The Blue Danube” is welded into popular culture.
In a place where music reigns, it’s undeniably the theme song of Vienna. It’s even played to...
Vacay.ca •

Devour! Fest Helps Jasper Get Back Into a Starring Role

Chef Neal Brown pulls a glistening hunk of seared meat from the flames in the short film “Heat & Meat”. He holds it in his hands and bites into it like an apple. The juices run. Within minutes, 130 guests at the sixth Devour! The Canadian Rockies Food Film Fest in the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge are having the same delicious experience.
Unlike the on-screen chef, we used knives and forks for Edmonton chef Blair Lebsack’s thick, grilled pork chop. Lebsack, co-owner and chef of RGE RD, was assigned...
YAM MAGAZINE •

Where the Sea Wolves Play

Our boats drifted silently in the early-morning gloom of the Great Bear Rainforest. We squinted and raised binoculars and cameras, trying to make out the shapes on the beach.

Was that a sea wolf lying on the white sand? Two sea wolves? Oh boy — pups!

We were up before dawn to board a pair of 10-passenger tenders from Maple Leaf Adventure’s 138-foot expedition catamaran Cascadia. We hoped to spot the sea wolf, a rare marine species unique to the Great Bear Rainforest and certa...
Travelier •

Pop Rock and Pinot Noir: A Transplanted Canadian in Japan

“I think I’ll be living here for the rest of my life,” says Blaise Plant. He’s not talking about his hometown of Ottawa. He’s referring to his adopted home near Sendai, the capital city of Miyagi in Japan’s northern Tohoku region. Plant is part of a growing winemaking industry in this part of the country, proud to be the first officially licensed Canadian farmer in Japan.

This is not his only job: Plant is also a founding member of J-pop/rock band Monkey Majik with his older brother Maynard.
The Globe and Mail •

Vienna strikes a high note with Johann Strauss birthday celebrations

Vienna is hosting a year-long 200th birthday party for Johann Strauss II, celebrating the composer who gave the Austrian capital its unofficial theme song with The Blue Danube Waltz.

Vienna’s Waltz King has also been dubbed the world’s first pop star. Strauss was a master self-promoter, whose huge catalogue of lively music created fans across the globe.

From its starring role in the opening scene of Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey to the final moments of the year when...
The Globe and Mail •

Screening Britain: Where to visit film and TV sets of your favourite shows

Forget tea with the King. Most visitors to Great Britain say they’re more interested in visiting Harry Potter, Bridget Jones or Bridgerton’s gossip sheet writer, Lady Whistledown.

According to VisitBritain, 90 per cent of potential U.K. visitors said they want to explore places where their favourite movie and TV scenes were set or filmed.

“Globally, we are all devoted to a particular show,” says Lewis Swan, a longtime James Bond fan who started Brit Movie Tours in 2009. He credits social media...
Vacay.ca •

Healing Caves and Elevated Cuisine Add Lustre to Kingfisher Pacific Resort

Wellness becomes a multi-sensory experience at the new $3.5 million Healing Caves at the oceanfront Kingfisher Pacific Resort & Spa in the Comox Valley of eastern Vancouver Island.
The global feel-good virtual trip begins in the blazing heat of 82 Celsius degrees (180 Fahrenheit) designed to emulate a red rock desert, moves to a steamy El Salvador rainforest, and is followed by the minus-10 Celsius (14 Fahrenheit) chill of British Columbia’s Coast Mountains. And that’s just the first half.
With...
Food, Wine & Travel •

Walking in Bob Dylan’s Shoes in New York City

For more than 40 years, Greenwich Village record shop owner John Pita has had a window on Bob Dylan history.


He owns The Record Runner store, which faces the single block of Jones Street where Dylan was photographed walking arm-in-arm with his girlfriend and muse Suze Rotolo on a snowy February day in 1963. The photo became the cover of Dylan’s second album, The Freewheelin‘ Bob Dylan, and a pop culture calling card for one of New York’s most historic and fascinating urban neighborhoods.


S...
YAM MAGAZINE •

Sweet Sensation: Victoria's viral chocolate bar

Move over, Dubai. Safaa Naeman thinks Victoria deserves its own homegrown take on the viral pistachio chocolate bar. The owner of Syriana Restaurant and Catering started making and selling the lusciously crunchy-gooey bars encased in rich white, milk or dark chocolate shells.

“I decided just to do it because we use kataifi all the time in our place. And I know the recipe for it. So absolutely I can do it,” says Naeman, whose Esquimalt c...
Vacay.ca •

Newfoundland Magnate Zita Cobb Says Trade War Can Benefit Canada’s Tourism

Zita Cobb, the visionary innkeeper of Newfoundland’s Fogo Island Inn, says the U.S.-Canada trade war could mean big wins for the Canadian travel sector.
With Canadians cancelling U.S. travel, Cobb issued a challenge to turn the crisis into an opportunity to grow Canada’s tourism economy.
Tourism employs about 10% of the nation’s labour force, Cobb said, yet it only contributes 2% to GDP.
“Let’s give ourselves a target to make it 10% of our GDP,” Cobb said.
Cobb spoke with Vacay.ca after her Marc...
Best Side Magazine •

On an island off an island at the Fogo Island Inn

The best amenity at the Fogo Island Inn, the striking, X-shaped hotel on stilts, is the people of Fogo.
Their stories, heritage and labour are tied to everything at the award-winning inn, designed by Newfoundland-born, Norway-based architect Todd Saunders to echo a traditional outport fishing station.
The address is in the community of Joe Batt’s Arm, population 778, but the inn says its location is “on an island, off an island, at one of the four corners of the Earth.”
Post Media/National Post •

Step into 'A Complete Unknown' on this tour of New York City

For more than 40 years, Greenwich Village record shop owner John Pita has had a window on Bob Dylan history.

His store, the Record Runner, faces block-long Jones Street, where Dylan and his girlfriend and muse Suze Rotolo were photographed on a snowy February day in 1963.

The photo became the cover of Dylan’s second album, The Freewheelin‘ Bob Dylan and a pop culture calling card for one of New York’s most historic and fascinating urban neighbourhoods.

Article content

With James Mangold’s bi...
Best Side Magazine •

In a Wild Embrace

In the pristine and remote Great Bear Rainforest on British Columbia’s north coast, you can hear the exhalations of humpback whales in the morning and be lulled to sleep by waterfalls tumbling down mountain faces at night.
There are no through roads and no cruise ships in this protected area roughly the size of the Republic of Ireland. Small vessels are the only way to explore the rainforest, islands, mountain-lined fjords and rivers of this area 650 kilometres north of Vancouver.
Toronto Star •

John Grisham on Framed, his new book about the wrongfully convicted

Bestselling novelist and former lawyer John Grisham made his name writing tense courtroom thrillers, where the drama turns on legal intrigue and protagonists determined to get to the truth. These themes run through his new non-fiction book, “Framed: Astonishing True Stories of Wrongful Convictions.”

Grisham, former Democratic member of the House of Representatives for Mississippi, wrote “Framed” with Jim McCloskey, founder of Centurion Ministries, a New Jersey-based non-profit that works to exonerate wrongly convicted prisoners serving life sentences or facing the death penalty.
Best Side Magazine •

Germany's Erzgebirge: Where Christmas Comes to Life

From the Middle Ages, people living in the low ranges of Germany’s Ore Mountains — called the Erzgebirge in German — went deep underground to mine silver. By the 16th century, the precious metal had run out and they needed a new way to feed their families. With forests full of free materials around then, miners swapped pickaxes for chisels to make toys, candleholders and figures in a Christmas craft tradition that still delights kids and collectors today.
Food, Wine & Travel Magazine •

In the Great Bear Rainforest, a Wild Visit That’s Gentle on the Land

Snout cresting the water, the sea wolf passed about 20 feet from our 10-passenger boat, swimming strongly for shore from a rock islet in British Columbia’s Great Bear Rainforest.

We had been up before dawn on Maple Leaf Adventures‘ 138-foot expedition catamaran Cascadia, hoping to spot an elusive sea wolf, a rare species whose main diet is seafood. Remarkably, it swims to get it.


We’d had reason to be optimistic. There had been two brief sea wolf sightings the day before while Cascadia’s 18...
Vancouver Sun •

Why a visit to magical Maui is healing in more ways than one

Legend says that the demigod Maui lassoed the sun at the summit of Haleakala — the dormant volcano whose name means “house of the sun” in Hawaiian — to slow its descent and make the days on the island of Maui last longer.

Another way to make a day in Hawaii last longer is by catching the spectacle of sunset 3,050 metres (10,000 feet) up at Haleakala National Park.

“We’ll be above the clouds,” guide Lance Phelps of Unique Maui Tours promised. “You’ll feel like you’re flying.”

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Vacay Network •

Cirque du Soleil Hits the Beach at Waikiki

Cirque du Soleil is heading to the beach at Waikiki with ʻAuana, its first permanent resident show in Hawai’i.
ʻAuana opens in December and will run for at least 10 years at the Outrigger Waikiki Beachcomber Hotel on Oahu in the hotel’s newly renovated 784-seat theatre.
ʻAuana, which means “to journey off the beaten path” in Hawai’ian, begins with the story of the Polynesian migration and tells stories of Hawai’i with eight acts featuring 31 cast members, 13 of whom are from the state. The show...
Vacay.ca •

Where’s the Beef? How to Eat Vegetarian in Calgary

Can a vegetarian get satisfaction in Cowtown?
The home of the Canadian Centre for Beef Excellence, Calgary is synonymous with great steaks. Top restaurants like Major Tom crow about their “beef programs.” A slab of something beefy (or bison) seems like a must have.
While I love a well-charred, medium-rare ribeye, I am eating far less meat these days. Creeping cholesterol levels prompted the switch to a Mediterranean diet a year ago. Fish is my main source of animal protein and about 70% of my me...
Life’s Incredible Journey •

Ljubljana Slovenia - fairy tale magic of dragons and castles

Here be dragons. With centuries of folklore about mythical, fire-breathing creatures, snow-capped mountains and more than 500 castles, it’s no wonder the landlocked European country of Slovenia is often described in fairy-tale terms.You may not know much about Slovenia, the relatively newly independent nation which broke from the former Yugoslavia in 1991. About the size of New Jersey, Slovenia and photogenic capital Ljubljana (pronounced loo-blyah-nuh) are hidden gems for travellers looking for...
Vacay Network •

Soak Away Your Troubles in Legendary Czech Spa Town

The sip-and-stroll parade starts well before breakfast in the centre of Karlovy Vary, the Czech Republic’s famed spa town.
Since Celts discovered soaking in the hot pools and eddies of Tepla River eased their aching bodies more than 2,000 years ago, people have luxuriated in the mineral-rich water from underground springs more than a mile below the earth.
Today, Karlovy Vary is on the UNESCO list of the Great Spa Towns of Europe. Unlike most mineral springs resorts where guests stick to soaking,...
Vacay.ca •

Want to Save $2,000 on Airfare? Pull Up a Seat to Learn About Germany’s Condor Air

One of life’s joys is boarding a plane and turning left at the doorway.
Flying in the business-class cabin means reclining seats that transform into lie-flat beds, noise-cancelling headphones, personalized service, and unlimited glasses of bubbly. But all that legroom doesn’t come cheap.
What if you could get that pampering at a more wallet-friendly price?
German leisure carrier Condor Airlines, which has been expanding its presence in the Canadian market, has business-class fares for around $2,...
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