Annually rated one of the world's best cities, I rediscover Vancouver as though I have just touched down from London or Bangkok.

The 10-member crew of M/Y Big Fish, the 45m yacht built specially for a polar circumnavigation, is back in South Florida this month after six weeks at the bottom of the world.

Still charmingly reminiscent of the Caribbean of 50 years ago or more, Grenada has no traffic jams, little crime and buses to anywhere for about $1US.

On our way from Athens to Toulon on the 26m motor yacht Aisling a few summers ago, we had decided to brave all the perils of the Strait.

The small but active volcanic islands off Sicily are worth a visit.

No matter the far corner of the world in which I may be traveling, when I say I live in Victoria, British Columbia, fellow travelers invariably smile knowingly, "Ah yes, Butchart Gardens and afternoon tea at the Empress Hotel. Victoria is so British!"

The island of Elba is Italian, and has been so for much of the past three or four thousand years, but it is inextricably linked with French history. It was, of course, the place where Napoleon was banished for his first period of exile.

If you talk to people about the northwest of Italy, most folk will think you mean Tuscany, or Toscana as the Italians would have it. They have heard of Tuscany mainly because of Florence, with its plethora of churches and arty things, and Pisa, with its ubiquitous tower, yet few seem to have heard of Liguria, which lies to the north and west of Tuscany.