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Win a Trip to the Calgary Stampede

Look for the lucky white hats

Attention, cowpokes: mosey on down to the plaza outside the Vancouver Art Gallery at 11:30 a.m. on May 9 and you could win a trip to this year’s Calgary Stampede (Jul. 6 to 15), complete with red-carpet and white-hat treatment. To celebrate the 100th birthday of “The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth,” the Stampede is giving away three VIP prize packages, one each in the cities of Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto. Round-trip airfare, tickets to the Stampede, gift cards for clothing and fine dining, tickets to a Garth Brooks concert, and passes to Calgary attractions are just some of the goodies in store for the lucky winners. Simply select the one lucky hat—out of hundreds of white hats—in each city that contains a red envelope. Then yeehaw! Find out more at www.calgarystampede.com.—Sheri Radford

Toronto’s St. Michael’s Cathedral at Dusk

Every Friday we feature an inspirational travel photo of a Canadian destination taken by one of our readers.

Why we chose it: Now that winter is nearly here, it can be depressing to see the skies darken in the afternoon. But if we all had this view from our balconies, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. In capturing a gorgeous combo of man-made and natural light, the (lucky) photographer, who took this photo from home, makes Canada’s largest metropolis look downright cozy.

Want to be featured in our Photo Friday? Join our Flickr Group and upload your favourite travel shots! We’ll credit you and link to your photo.

Photo by BriYYZ.

Coming Soon to Toronto: Canada’s First Urban National Park

Rouge Valley Park. Photo by Paul Henman.

On Wednesday, the Canadian government started the ball rolling on Canada’s next national park—Rouge Valley, in the Greater Toronto Area. A preliminary “visioning” workshop was attended by park stakeholders: representatives from the Province of Ontario, local municipalities and community groups.

Not mentioned among the workshop attendees was David Suzuki, longtime proponent of a Rouge Valley national park.

The government’s intention to upgrade Rouge Valley Park to national park status was first introduced in June’s Speech from the Throne. Among the details to be hammered out: the park’s boundaries, which could expand well beyond the current 12,000 acres.

Rouge National Park will be Canada’s first urban national park, and will be easily accessible to a fifth of Canada’s population who live in and around Toronto.

Getting to the Sweet Spot in BIXI Bike Pricing

Photo by Ian Muttoo

By Amanda Yiu

Montreal-based bike-sharing company BIXI, which launched in Toronto, Ottawa, and Boston in the past few months, may be expanding to Vancouver in the near future, and plans for a 10,000-fleet New York City launch are set for next summer.

BIXI has grown rapidly since first launching in Montreal in 2009, beginning operations in Toronto, Ottawa and Boston in the past four months and rolling out overseas in 2010, in London, Melbourne and DC. The bike-sharing program is undeniably popular, with more than 3 million BIXI trips taken since the beginning of 2010.

For visitors, borrowing a bike at a pay-as-you-go rate can be a fabulous way to explore the city. But be sure to keep your ride short. A friend visiting from Australia last month made the mistake of taking out a BIXI bike in Toronto for the full day and ended up paying over $100 in usage fees. As the breakdown of non-subscriber fees (below) shows, long trips can add up quickly. (Subscribers can pay $95 for a one-year membership, waiving the $5 daily flat fee, but the same time-of-use rates still apply.)

BIXI fees for 8 hours of continuous usage:

$5 flat 24-hour access fee (includes first 30 minutes)

+ $1.50 for 31–60 min

+ $4 for 61–90 min

+ $104 for additional 6.5 hours ($8 x 13 half-hour increments)

= $113.50 before tax

Additionally, a $250 security deposit is charged to your credit card and refunded after 10 days.

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Interview With DobbernationLoves’ Andrew John Virtue Dobson

Dobson at a noodle house in Tokyo, Japan.

Andrew John Virtue Dobson started his blog DobbernationLoves (on Twitter: @dobbernation) after his first solo backpacking trip through Europe. The Toronto-based blogger’s day job is at Planeterra Foundation, the charitable arm of Gap Adventures, the Canadian-based travel company that hosts tours around the globe. The blog’s title is a clever play on Dobber (a nickname) and Nation (which he sees as “an authoritative stance on what I was doing and where I was going”). Dobson describes DobbernationLoves as a “lifestyle blog with an encyclopedia’s worth of information on travel, Toronto-based restaurants, cheese, wine and beer. I post consistently throughout the week all of the things I love, whether it be covering a fashion or arts based event, or some recipe I came up with over the weekend. I share whatever makes me smile.”

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Interview With Travelfix Blogger Timothy Chan

Timothy Chan in India earlier this year.

Timothy Chan has traveled all over the world: India, China, Uganda, and Peru, just to name a few. He started tracking his experiences and inspirations on his travel blog, travelfix.ca over a year ago, and has been working at Gap Adventures Toronto HQ as a Public Relations Specialist for about a year. Travel, for Toronto-raised Chan, is a way to immerse himself in a “completely foreign country where chaos reigns and the culture, food, transportation, language and everything in between are virtually unfamiliar.”

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The CN Tower opens its latest attraction, EdgeWalk, to the public today

CN Tower Edgewalk View. Photo: CN Tower EdgeWalk

The CN Tower’s latest attraction, EdgeWalk, takes thrill seekers to new heights today. The first of its kind in North America, EdgeWalk is the world’s highest full circle hands-free walk encircling the top of the CN Tower’s main pod, 356 metres, (1168 feet, 116 stories) above the ground. The half-hour experience, which includes re-admission into the CN Tower’s other attractions (Look Out, Glass Floor, Sky Pod Levels, movie and ride) costs $175.
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Hot Dining: Notable Newcomers

Sizzling steaks at Sidecut in Whistler

The regional editors of Where recently unveiled their list of 2010’s best new restaurants across Canada.

1. Bao Bei Chinese Brasserie – Vancouver, BC; 604-688-087; www.bao-bei.ca

2. Sidecut (pictured) – Whistler, BC; 604-966-5280; www.fourseasons.com

3. Prime Steakhouse and Lounge – Victoria, BC; 250-386-2010; www.primesteak.ca

4. Charcut Roast House – Calgary, AB; 403-984-2180; www.charcut.com

5. Zinc – Edmonton, AB; 780-392-2501; www.zincrestaurant.ca

6. Habitat Restaurant – Canmore, AB; 403-678-8880; www.granderockies.com/habitat

7. Segovia Tapas Bar and Restaurant – Winnipeg, MB; 204-477-6500; www.segoviatapasbar.com

8. Enoteca Sociale – Toronto, ON; 416-534-1200; www.sociale.ca

9. Taste, the Restaurant at Touchstone – Muskoka, ON; 705-764-5353; www.touchstoneonlakemuskoka.com/taste.html

10. Town – Ottawa, ON; 613-695-8696; www.townlovesyou.ca

11. Fujiyama – Halifax, NS; 902-492-1133; www.sushifujiyama.ca

Hot Art: On the Horizon

"Blowing Light" by Sasha Rogers is at Jennifer Kostuik Gallery

A prairie girl at heart, Toronto artist Sasha Rogers reflects on the seemingly endless sightlines of her childhood environment in New Paintings at Jennifer Kostuik Gallery (Feb. 3 to 24). These are the largest works Rogers has ever produced, with paintings nearly two metres (six feet) tall (“Blowing Light,” pictured).—Kristina Urquhart