In Manitou Springs, a place perched on the edge of a mountain and history, you’ll discover an enchanting, colorful rendition of the 19th century. The extra flair is for the tourists’ benefit. There are boutiques and museums that showcase local designers and artists, pottery shops featuring Native American craftsmanship, and fun places for kids. All of this is brushed with a sugary mix of hemp, hippies, and mysticism. Whether in for the day to ride the Cog Railway up Pike’s Peak or passing through Colorado Springs, there are hours of enjoyment to be had in this little town.

​In 1887, J.G. Hiestand built what is known today as the Iron Springs Chateau Melodrama Dinner Theater. From its origins as a candy and cigar store in 1880, the operation changed owners a number of times before the Iron Springs Company purchased it and began to use the venue to sell mineral water commercially. 

Satisfy your taste for old-school (cash only) at Mo's Diner & Lounge with its eclectic 1940s decor and friendly staff. Serving good traditional food, they specialize in generous, classic breakfasts, burgers, meatloaf, biscuits and gravy, and some Mexican dishes, like burritos and green chili. Nothing fancy and prices to match. A warm family atmosphere with lots of locals.

For some more adult refreshment, the Ancient Mariner Tavern, built like a ship’s galley, features some rocking local entertainment, often without a cover charge. It boasts a full bar featuring Colorado draught microbrews. It’s a rowdy place and the music is loud – perfect for quenching your thirst after hiking up and down the hilly streets.
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Older than the state of Colorado itself, the walls of the Cliff House have seen history transpire. Once a stagecoach stop and gold rush boarding house, the inn was converted in 1886 to a sophisticated resort hotel capitalizing on the mineral springs in the region. The list of famous guests includes Theodore Roosevelt, P.T. Barnum, and Clark Gable. Food and service are impeccable at this reasonably priced vintage hotel.

The downtown Manitou Outpost has stood on the same spot since its beginnings as a livery stable in the 1800s. By 1913, a cafeteria pavilion showcasing an erupting geyser had replaced the stable. Later, a garage offering both mechanical work and tours of Pikes Peak was built at the site. Souvenirs, homemade fudge, and ice cream are the main attractions these days, along with the Navajo geyser well that is still preserved inside - but has ceased to spout.

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Born in 1932, C. H. Rockey came to Colorado as a young child. First a Marine and then a teacher, Rockey paid his dues before earning a chance to do what he truly loved – paint. He is one of the Pikes Peak region’s finest and least commercial artists. His whimsical images of a Tolkienesque ‘Manidoon’ will charm fantasy lovers the world over.

PATSY’S CANDY The product of an Irish popcorn vendor’s vivid imagination, this family-run business has been churning out delectable confections for decades. Tour the factory in Colorado Springs, where chocolate, taffy, and butterscotch popcorn are still produced using specialized machinery dating to the 1940s or give your kids a taste of the past at their original 930 Manitou Avenue location.  

Right next door, an old-fashioned penny arcade houses an impressive antique and retro collection that includes pinball, coin-operated rides, 1964 skee ball, and the latest video games. Competing in 12-player mechanical horse-racing, you could win a fistful of tickets to exchange for prizes. A sweet treat for all generations, this whimsical spot will tickle your senses and put a smile on your face.

COLORADO, USA

Entering Toronto, you’ll find yourself surrounded by inordinate construction, either towering above you as half-finished condominiums or lurking all around you in various public works convolutions. A decade-long building boom shows no signs of slowing— testament to the city’s will to keep up to its own growth and breathe life into its downtown core. Many designs seek to restore as they renew— architectural innovation meets heritage preservation, making for an exciting future. Nevertheless, it can all be just a bit overwhelming, so if you’re looking to bring things down to street-level (and human scale), here are some reference points for the labyrinth. On your walk, you’ll get a good sense of some of the Old Town’s most historic buildings, neighborhoods, parks, and landmarks.

​The Vault – One King West Hotel & Residence
Savings Department Safety Deposit Vaults
From the street, you may question your decision to stay at this historic hotel, but the gorgeous lobby and classy rooms will quickly win you over. It’s got a friendly little reception bar for a nightcap, and a beautifully restored hall at the top of a winding staircase for major events. The underground vault, built into bedrock in 1913, features a four-foot-thick steel door that weighs 40 tons, but can be moved with your little finger. Best of all, it’s as central as central gets.

Just up the road, you can get breakfast at a place that's been serving simple, classic and delicious fare for over 90 years: 

Shopping
​Located in the core of the trendy Queen Street West shopping district, Fashionably Yours specializes in buying and selling pre-owned, authentic designer clothing, bags, shoes, sunglasses, and other accessories by names like Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Hermes, and Gucci. Priding itself on its exceptional customer service, the store has been the recipient of numerous well-deserved accolades. A lifetime 100% authenticity guarantee is provided for all purchases.

Self-described as “your source for curated vintage,” Black Market, an alternative clothing store at Queen and John offers all its wares for $10 or less. T-shirts feature unique designs, and there is a fantastic selection of seasonal articles, like their famous holiday sweaters. The store also offers sweet vinyl finds from Shortstack Records and a professional silk-screening service with very reasonable rates.

​Speaking of vinyl, Toronto’s oldest Indie record store, Kops Records, has been around since 1976 and boasts the city’s largest stock of near-mint used records and value bins. 

​Toronto’s Old Town is one of the most concentrated areas of 19th century buildings in Ontario, including the site of the first Parliament in Upper Canada. The St. Lawrence neighborhood grew up around the still-standing market of the same name. 

Part of a restored historic corner of commercial buildings (est. 1840) at Front and Jarvis Streets, the Corner Place Restaurant and Lounge is a friendly neighborhood hangout right across from the St. Lawrence Market. Delicious burgers or eight-hour, slow-cooked brisket are perfectly paired with local beer and wine. Soak up some sun on their great people-watching patio; once you're fed and watered, you’ll be ready to continue your walk. ​
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​Truth. It’s in the news – including the ‘fake news,’ which begs the question of what the fake news is reporting truthfully – about the truth. No one even really agrees on the definition of ‘fake news.’ Its etymology is missing from mainstream sources, which is somewhat ironic given that the most vocal critics blame the mainstream for its existence. In referencing one such standard source, I found no accepted etymology of the term. According to this dictionary, it doesn’t exist yet.

​Separate definitions of the words ‘fake’ and ‘news' do exist, of course:

​The term ‘fake news’ entered the public lexicon late in 2016, but it has actually been around much longer, except for those who think ‘history’ is just the list of bookmarked sites in their browser. In the first half of the 20th century, the term was used to describe some components of wartime propaganda, specifically the “impact that false information could have on societies.” (Leetaru, Forbes)

​The relative importance of the term over the past 100 years is illustrated in the following graph. 

The original definition of fake news was briefly replaced by one more useful to the digital age and probably coined by Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg. It was intended to refer to malicious and “willfully false clickbait.” (Leetaru, Forbes) ​

​But in the light-speed virtual world, even etymology is forced to evolve at a pace only a superhuman network of computers can keep up with. Interestingly, it was the US President-elect who sent it spiraling into the future with its past definition intact – the one it had earned as WWI and II propaganda. The less mainstream and more nimble Urban Dictionary (Vantius, December 2016) has since proposed a dual definition: 

Back to Truth. Contrary to popular opinion (pun intended), there is no consensus as to what constitutes Truth. Yes, the definition of this word is brief and readily available, and we would probably all agree that truth does exist, and that there is a difference between the truth and a lie. Truth is real. Lies are false/fake.
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Humanity has given a lot of thought to what truth really is. The concept of truth has been discussed and debated by thousands of thinkers in diverse contexts across millennia (fact-check THAT). The notion should give one pause, though: 

​What IS Truth, when truth itself has been questioned for so long, and by so many?
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In the Western intellectual tradition, there are numerous theories proposed by philosophers, but perhaps one of the most succinct and practical definitions for our age can be found in Avicenna's Islamic proposition restated by Aquinas:

(Truth is the conformity of intellect and thing.) ​–

​​In other words, a generalized correspondence theory wherein truth in thought/communication is equated with our observation of the actual state of things around us.

And that’s where it all falls apart, because in-between ‘thoughts’ and ‘things’ is a process referred to as perception. Perception is not opinion, which is opposed to fact, and passes through thought before being born into the world. Perception is base, it’s visceral, it’s knee-jerk, it’s utterly subjective. Perception, without the filter of thought and the humility of opinion, allows us to let ourselves off the hook individually and as a species as to what constitutes reality. ​

​And then there is paradox, the idea that two (or more) conflicting truths can and will co-exist. For instance, we know (knowledge being somewhat different from truth, but close nonetheless) that throughout time humans have been both predators and prey, simultaneously. Naturally, this has had far-reaching consequences for perception. Our evolutionary history (perceiving and knowing that the world contains actual dangers) makes it understandably difficult to strike the balance between our nature as prey and our nature as predator. This unfortunate paradox is most visible in our notions of the Other, beginning with our conflated love and fear of animals or the natural world as a whole, leading into misconceptions of human individuals and different ​cultures. We control none of these; indeed, we are sometimes unable to exert much control over our own selves. Moreover, we are also taught from infancy to fear invisible forces – gravity, electricity, heat, cold, lack of oxygen. It does seem that the very planet that keeps us alive is also out to get us – the ultimate paradox.

Perception is both our greatest strength and our worst weakness. It is a dangerous and limitless power. In youth, it may lack objectivity and wisdom; in old age, it may fall short of full cognition – and there are many states in between.

​People acting according to their perceptions, without reflection or consideration of another's perspective, can have a devastating impact on those they love and society: broken relationships, divided families, ruined livelihoods, impoverished communities, wars, loss of life. None of us has the right to act on perception alone. It is immature, inadequate and irresponsible.

Thankfully, we are in possession of an exquisitely developed tool to solve this problem – a network of conscious, thinking, feeling, communicating, ever-learning minds.  It is possible to create a reality in which ALL can thrive.
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Most of the images treat a similar subject, in this case, a building; if you plug in a picture of a red car, you’ll get mostly red cars parked in the same position. But then it gets more interesting. Looking at the examples, you’ll see that composition and geometry play a significant part, and that each picture has several such elements in common with others. Artists will connect with this immediately: strong perspective views, lighter fields of ‘sky’ or ‘ceiling’, squares, triangles, arches, and blocks of dark that contrast with the pallor of the overall image. ​

Finally, all of these images comes with a story: the Vietnamese village of 30 old French villas, a fleet of floating hotels on the Providence River, some Sci-fi guy who is building a model of a frontier power generator at a plasma plantation, a shop-front in the tiny Welsh town of Hay-on-Wye, where the ratio of bookstores to residents is approximately 1:60… The possibilities for artists, authors and historians are literally endless.

Search by Image does return a list of the instances of a specific image online, much like Reverse Image Search by TinEye, which can assist the user in tracing rights owners or infringements. But it also scans the content of the image using some kind of magical algorithm. And this produces results that will be pleasing to all types of users with infinitely diverse missions. At the very least, it is likely to quench one's curiosity about all those snapshots of unanswered questions that tend to rattle about in an avid traveller's luggage. 

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​Newcomers to Tampa Bay may be unaware 'tis a pirate's haven, but what could be more beguiling to kids than a town that revolves around these legendary time travellers? From January through May, the city is invaded by buccaneers during the Pirate Fest Stage Street Festival, the Gasparilla Parade (tons of elaborate floats and marching bands), the Outbound Voyage with Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla, and Searle’s Sack of St. Augustine, a thrilling reenactment of Robert Searle’s deadly raid in 1668 (complete with an authentic battle). Join the assault, and snatch up some sparkling beads and doubloons while yer at it!     

Ella's Americana Folk Art Cafe is a whimsical eatery that offers eclectic cuisine, supports local artists, and features live entertainment on Friday and Soul Food Sunday nights. The creative menu reflects the personality of its chef, and is best washed down with one (or more) of the cafe’s beers, ciders, wines or specialty drinks. The quirky art collection will amuse and charm even young children. Not to mention the ‘world famous two-headed alligator of Seminole Heights’ (or a reasonable facsimile), captured by local trappers, and on display here.       

​Want to get right out of town to the ocean and fresh air? Drive for 25 minutes down the coast to see manatees in their natural habitat near the Big Bend Power Station at Apollo Beach. The station's discharge canal sends clean, warm saltwater back to the Bay where these gentle mammals seek sanctuary when the surrounding ocean reaches less than 68 degrees.

​The site also features educational tours of the power plant, solar energy, a boardwalk, a wildlife observation tower, and an award-winning butterfly garden.     

​In Tampa, when it rains, it floods. And lightning strikes. It's no accident that's the name of their hockey team. So you'll want to have great accommodations, especially if travelling with little ones. For a taste of southern hospitality in a quiet location, you can't go wrong with a two-room suite priced at $149 offered by Palmer House Bed and Breakfast. You’ll be treated like royalty in this remarkable blend of the comforts of home and style of an upscale resort. The hosts could not be kinder, nor could there be greater attention to detail in the services. And it’s conveniently located just out of the city and close to parks and activities, such as canoeing, horseback riding and biking.

It's the most wonderful time of the year, especially for kids in the Northern Hemisphere. If they're really, really lucky, they may get the chance (and you, too!) to escape winter's last gasps by running away to a sunnier place. And how better to celebrate than with a Tampa Extravaganza! Here, we lay out a few of the lesser-known best times in this city on Florida's Gulf Coast - a blast for both the young and the young at heart.

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​Ybor City is a historic neighborhood near downtown Tampa, founded in the 1880s by cigar manufacturers and populated mostly by tabaqueros from Italy, Spain, and Cuba. Known as the “Cigar Capital of the World,” the factories rolled millions of cigars annually for 50 years – about 700 million at the industry's peak. Ybor City was unique in the American South as a successful town nearly completely owned and operated by immigrants - not a bad place to start a good discussion with your kids, if you're up for it.

​The delightful Ceviche tapas restaurant is intimate and romantic. Sparkling fresh sangria and spicy tapas make a great combination, either hot or cold: ceviche de la casa (chilled and marinated lime shrimp, seabass, and squid); tabla fixta (Spanish cheeses and sausages); calientes (stuffed artichokes in sherry sauce), gazpacho, paella… on and on into gourmet heaven. An authentic slice of Tampa that will make a great first impression.    
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​
​What is a travel app?

​A GPS-guided travel app embeds GPS coordinates of locations mentioned in your favorite articles, along with a map guiding you from place to place. There are thousands of articles available from more than 750 cities at GPSmyCity that you can upload free of charge, to read at your leisure without wi-fi.

There is usually a small fee to upgrade ($1.99) to access the GPS-guided article you would like to select for your trip. For just a few dollars, you can plan your entire itinerary within minutes, according to your interests, without having to search any further than a few key words.

​May and June are part of the shoulder season in Florida when the weather is still fantastic. Cheaper hotel rates can be found from June onwards, and then it starts to get hot and humid. Prices are 40% lower than peak season highs when the temperature reaches 90°F from July-September.
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Economical, next to nothing, cheap - everyone likes to find a bargain. Spring is the season for new styles, as well as holiday deals, and hundred wunders has a bunch of exclusive tips and treats for you. 

​San Francisco’s climate is mild throughout the year, so it’s fun to visit at any time. But if you’re into cheap, with good weather and great city events, May must be the best month. It's famous for the most monthly celebrations, including Cinco de Mayo, How Weird Street Faire, Bay to Breakers, and Carnaval at the end of the month.

For one week only (May 7-14),
you can get two of hundred wunders' travel apps with full GPS functionality as a free upgrade.

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​
hundred wunders'
spring 2017 'scrapbook' collection...
at storenvy.com

hundred wunders started out as a scrapbook for storing my good memories and doing something useful with the many albums of pictures I've taken over the years. Nothing intense, and much of the time it has simply been a nice place to visit. 

But with patience and dedication, hundred wunders has begun, slowly but surely, to live up to its name. I've been invited to write for travel websites, such as trip.com and GPSmyCity, spent a lot of hours wondering, but best of all, met a whole bunch of incredible people. This fascinating adventure recently inspired me to launch the hundred wunders brand and multiply the iterations of what can be done conceptually with archival photographs taken over the years and all over the world.

hundred wunders' leggings, dresses, scarves, gender-friendly baby clothing, and handmade soaps are all produced locally in Montreal, Canada, which helps to limit our carbon footprint. Our fashionable, eco-friendly leather bags are handmade by small, genuine leather crafters around the world. These manufacturers use vegetable tanning, a traditional process employed to tan leather without chemicals. Each satchel, duffel and backpack is unique, exhibiting its own grain, nuances and scars. The bags will be among the most reasonably priced and beautiful pieces of leather you will ever purchase.

​Who knows what else you'll find, off the beaten track? Welcome, and enjoy! And please, shop! In so doing, you'll be supporting some of the finest lesser-known artists and artisans of the world.

The creations in the hundred wunders collection are inspired by photographs of urban environments, representing otherwise random moments in city time. Each piece is completely original - you will not find either the concept or the designs anywhere else. A far cry from the standard framed print, although I love those too, they capture something precious about each of the strange cities I've travelled, mainly on foot. They are the canvas on which these pieces will live from now on.

​The 'architecture' series is the heart of the project, and it plays upon the notion of where the environment stops and the people start. The process involves transforming a single view of a place at a given moment, with all its qualities and limitations, to create a completely unique article of clothing that is true to that view: a snapshot of the city has been laid across cloth so that it can wrap around your body, making you one with the urban environment.