Highwood, IL–Birds sing, snowmelt rushes in the drainage canals. Ah, the signs of spring. At Lake Michigan’s edge, the huge ledge of ice slowly melts. It’s a wonderful time to check out Openlands Lakeshore Preserve in Ft. Sheridan.  Colorful rocks litter the beach, exposed from the [...]]]>

Lake Michigan ice ledge melts. Photo by Laurie Borman

Highwood, IL–Birds sing, snowmelt rushes in the drainage canals. Ah, the signs of spring. At Lake Michigan’s edge, the huge ledge of ice slowly melts. It’s a wonderful time to check out Openlands Lakeshore Preserve in Ft. Sheridan.  Colorful rocks litter the beach, exposed from the melting ice.
If you’ve seen the movie Departures, a Japanese film about an out-of-work cellist who takes a job preparing bodies for burial, you’ll know rocks tell a story. Choose your story from a wealth of shapes and colors.

Deerfield, IL– It’s a sure sign of spring when maple sugar hikes begin at Ryerson Woods.   Jen Berlinghof, an environmental educator at the 552-acre  conservation area owned by the Lake County Forest Preserve District, leads the hikes.  She’s also the manpower behind tapping 35 trees each [...]]]>

Big Mama sugar maple holds two buckets of sap. Photo by Laurie Borman

Deerfield, IL– It’s a sure sign of spring when maple sugar hikes begin at Ryerson Woods.   Jen Berlinghof, an environmental educator at the 552-acre  conservation area owned by the Lake County Forest Preserve District, leads the hikes.  She’s also the manpower behind tapping 35 trees each year, boiling the sap, and making the syrup.  Hikes begin in the green architecture Welcome Center, where families sample sap and syrup, and learn the age-old process.  Then it’s off to the woods.

“We put our arms around the trees, and if our hands don’t reach,  it’s big enough to tap,” says Berlinghof of the 15-in. diameter minimum tree size for tapping.  There seem to be plenty of big sugar maple trees, however, and she points out “Big Mama”, a giant tree with two buckets. 

Hikers see the taps up close, practice hand-drilling into a log, learn how to identify sugar maples by their branches, and even taste test some maple sugar candy.

Two more weekends remain for the hour-long maple syrup hikes, but reservations are suggested.

Switzerland–The English had their bulldogs baiting bulls (outlawed in the 1800s) and the Spanish have their bullfights.  In spring, it’s time for cow fighting in Switzerland.

A special small, black breed, Heréns, found in  Central Valis, and Valle d’Aosta in Northern Italy as well) like [...]]]>

Bikers ride past cows in St. Moritz. Photo by Laurie Borman

Switzerland–The English had their bulldogs baiting bulls (outlawed in the 1800s) and the Spanish have their bullfights.  In spring, it’s time for cow fighting in Switzerland.

A special small, black breed, Heréns, found in  Central Valis, and Valle d’Aosta in Northern Italy as well) like to fight for the chance to lead the herd up the Alpines in the spring.  Sort of a cow beauty queen contest, with locked horns and a lot of head butting involved. 

According to Swiss tourism, “The fights do not take place in organised fashion; each cow simply chooses her opponent on the spur of the moment. She suddenly stops grazing, lowers her head, snorts, and paws the ground with her hooves. If a cow of similar strength accepts the challenge, she wastes no time in informing her opponent in the same manner.” 

Then they start takin’ names and kickin’ butt.  Or rather, butt heads.  They wrangle for a few minutes, and eventually one gives up and turns tail.  The winner will follow aggressively, getting in a last few licks before the contest ends. 

The Swiss also organize a few contests and declare a regional and cantonial queen.  But does she get a tiara?

The cows I encountered on my visit to Switzerland a few years ago were quite docile and not inclined to head butting at all. 

Chicago, IL–One of the great things about living in a city with serious winter weather is that entertainment kicks into high gear when the weather gets bad.  That’s why February is  Chicago Flamenco Festival.  Last night at the Instituto Cervantes at 31 W. Ohio, Concha Jareño entertained a sold-out crowd with a series [...]]]>

Flavio@Flickr

Chicago, IL–One of the great things about living in a city with serious winter weather is that entertainment kicks into high gear when the weather gets bad.  That’s why February is  Chicago Flamenco Festival.  Last night at the Instituto Cervantes at 31 W. Ohio, Concha Jareño entertained a sold-out crowd with a series of dances, ending in a difficult palo style.  Watch a bit of her style on YouTube or MySpace.  Even if you don’t know much about flamenco (and I don’t) you will be amazed at her moves.  She’s doing another concert tomorrow and Wednesday night at the Instituto Cervantes.  Tickets are $20, $15 for students.  Guitarist Flavio Rodrigues–a Brazilian living in Madrid-and singer Pedro Obregón accompanied her, and their music alone could have made the evening.  Combined with Concha Jareño’s dancing, it was a flamenco afficiando’s dream.

The February Flamenco Festival wraps up on Friday with a free performance at the Instituto Cervantes that features Chicago flamenco trio Idilio, and a lecture/demonstration by Catalina Maria Johnson.

The events were acollaboration of the Instituto Cervantes and the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, the Old Town School of Folk Music, the Flamenco Arts Center in Chicago, and Arte y Vida Chicago.

Aquabus will take you in and around Vancouver. Photo by Laurie Borman

Vancouver, British Columbia–Everybody’s watching Vancouver, with the Olympics in full swing.  It’s cool, it’s sophisticated, it’s laid-back, and one of the best cities to visit.  Here are my top five favorite things about Vancouver:

Artful Caffe Artigiano latte. Photo by Laurie Borman

Custom-made lattes.  Get a [...]]]>  

Aquabus will take you in and around Vancouver. Photo by Laurie Borman

Vancouver, British Columbia–Everybody’s watching Vancouver, with the Olympics in full swing.  It’s cool, it’s sophisticated, it’s laid-back, and one of the best cities to visit.  Here are my top five favorite things about Vancouver:

Artful Caffe Artigiano latte. Photo by Laurie Borman

Custom-made lattes.  Get a latte, cafe au lait, cappuchino, double-shot espresso.  Whatever your prefernce in coffee, Vancouver barristas serve it with style.  At Caffé Artigiano, (I like the one at 574 Granville) they’ll pour a leaf design, maybe make Olympics rings.  Ask and you shall enjoy. 

Water taxis.  Hop aboard a water taxi for a shortcut to the city’s sites.  They’re so much fun you might want to take a taxi to nowhere.  The most colorful: Aquabus.

Boutique bonanza.  You don’t have to buy, but you’ll definitely be tempted by the many shops here.  There’s a veritable bevy of fashion designers.  Check out Smokin’ Lily on Main St.

Breakfast, Lunch, Pie.  Coffee’s great, but if you really want some good grub, I’d head over to Sophie’s Cosmic Café in the Kitsilano neighborhood, 2095 4th Avenue West.  She serves a mile-high pie to die for, tasty breakfast burritos.  Oh, I’m drooling.  Excuse me.

Sophie of Sophie's Cosmic Cafe, shows off her mile-high pie. Photo by Laurie Borman

Stanley Park.  It may be cliche, but Stanley Park really makes my stay.  Walk amongst the trees, watch crew teams out on the water.  It’s 1000 acres of park within a walking distance of major hotels downtown.  An outdoor lovers’ dream. 

Stanley Park. Photo courtesy Tourism Vancouver / Tom Ryan

Naper Settlement Museum. Photo by Laurie Borman

Naperville, IL–West of Chicago, Naperville once was the boom town of Illinois. That’s back when you needed to cross a wooden plank toll bridge to get to Chicago. Unfortunately, Napervillians didn’t think the railroad would amount to much, and passed on the [...]]]>

Naperville Riverwalk. Photo by Laurie Borman

Naper Settlement Museum. Photo by Laurie Borman

Naperville, IL–West of Chicago, Naperville once was the boom town of Illinois. That’s back when you needed to cross a wooden plank toll bridge to get to Chicago. Unfortunately, Napervillians didn’t think the railroad would amount to much, and passed on the opportunity to serve as a stop. The world passed Naperville by.

Now you can take a train from downtown Chicago to Naperville. (Yes, they relented on the train stop idea.) I strolled the snowy banks of Riverwalk in downtown Naperville, listened to the carillon, then headed up to see the Naper Settlementthis week. It’s all walkable. Naper Settlement has a wonderful interactive history museum that’s open now, and while you can see the outside of the many historic buildings that make up the Naper Settlement, the buildings aren’t open for visitors.  Check back on March 13 and 14, when trees are tapped for Maple Sugaring Days, and docents will be on site. 

Mmmmm….maple sugar. 

Naper Haight House. Photo by Laurie Borman