This week in travel news: A tribute to Alexander McQueen, an East Coast tribute exhibit and candles that smell like vacation

This month’s travel news, shopping and curiosities

Business

travel tax relief

When Bhutan, the famed Happy Kingdom, reopens after the pandemic ends in September 2022, it will also impose a hefty tax on international tourists: $200 per person per night. (Only Indian nationals of neighboring countries are eligible for a waiver of the coveted fee.) The tax caught Western tour operators off guard, many of whom were in the country that month celebrating the reopening of the Trans-Bhutan Trail while showing journalists and tourists alike. this country. travel agency. Local authorities have remained firm and confident in the pent-up demand to explore the ancient wonders of the remote Buddhist country bred in the Himalayas, and several luxury hotels have opened. In an interview conducted at the time, Prime Minister Lotay Tshering was open to change but argued that the SDF was important to support the country and its people. Well, things have changed. slightly. The fee is still in effect, but the Bhutan Ministry of Tourism recently announced a long-stay “concession”. For example, travelers who book and arrive before the end of 2023 can stay eight nights but only pay the SDF for four nights. A two-week stay means visitors only pay for seven nights. While still pricey, the price of admission is worth it for many eager to make the pilgrimage to the Paro Taksang Mountain at the Tiger Cave Temple. For more details, visit bhutan.travel

destination

Quebec City’s Haute Couture Tribute

Last week, Quebec’s National Museum of Fine Arts hosted Canada’s first exhibition dedicated to fashion bad boy Alexander McQueen. Titled “Alexander McQueen, Art and Fashion,” the exhibition debuted in Los Angeles and will remain on view in Quebec City until early fall. It explores how the designer’s collections are often inspired by artworks from different historical periods and cultural contexts, as well as the different techniques employed. Works by Quebec artists, ranging from established artists such as Clarence Gagnon to contemporary artists such as Patrick Bernatchez, are discussed and showcased in visual references that reflect McQueen’s fashion guru reflect. MNBAQ, in partnership with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, presented the show, featuring 69 costumes donated by Los Angeles collector Regina J. Drucker, 50 works of art, including historic costumes, headgear and shoes, and 32 pieces from the museum’s own collection in Quebec City. Alexander McQueen, art meets fashion until September 10. mnbaq.org

obsessed

our home and little land

If you can’t make it to the East Coast this summer, consider visiting the Little Canada Wing in downtown Toronto for a taste of Atlantic Canada. Little Canada is a fantastic permanent exhibition of artists and model makers dedicated to recreating the country—or at least parts of it—in exquisite miniatures. Every year it gets bigger. Toronto, Golden Horseshoe, Ottawa and Quebec will open in 2021 and 2022. This year it’s Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island.

Time is lost as you explore the intricate scenes of many of the East Coast’s most popular spots, including Hopewell Rock in New Brunswick, accompanied by moving tides, and the Cabot Trail in Nova Scotia, where There are moving cars and a cabin for hosting kitchen parties. Bluenose sails out of Lunenberg harbour, Aboriginal dancers perform at Metepenagiag Heritage Park in New Bruns (NB), St Johns . John’s, George Street is buzzing day and night. But don’t miss Quidi Vidi Lake just around the corner, where a fishing boat laden with small jumping cod sails back to the dock (a jaw-dropping miracle created with 3D printers, toothpick paint “brushes” and vibrating ).

Founder and chief visionary officer Jean-Louis Brenninkmeijer noted that next year’s additions will focus on northern Canada, but he’s also looking forward to helping create his favorite Canadian city: Vancouver. “I want to see Stanley Park, and I really like the Capilano Suspension Bridge,” he said.

Little Canada (10 Dundas St. E), tickets $22-32, little-canada.ca

trend

smells like…run away

There’s a way to relieve the stress of traveling — lighting a candle from your dream destination. Lifestyle book publisher Assouline has jumped on the luxury scented candle trend with its own wax offering that complements its coffee table books. Assurin’s tome of travel series uses evocative photographs to capture the spirit of dreamlike places such as Mykonos, Ibiza or Gstaad, to name a few. Now, a new line of soy/paraffin candles aims to bring you destination-inspired scents. For example, French perfumer Jérôme Epinette added notes of bergamot, lemon, green apple and patchouli to his Ibiza candle, while Mykonos blended almonds, rhubarb, wild fig and lingonberry Cougar beans. Other destinations are ready to fit into your room: Marrakech, Tulum and, funnily enough, the Moon. The candles are $80 on assouline.com, or on the shelves at Maison Lipari in Montreal.

investment buy

light up the night

Can garden lights still repel mosquitoes quietly? Maybe now you can sip that evening glass of wine on the deck without having to walk in the first time a mosquito is slapped. Thermacell mosquito zappers have been around for a while, but this new rechargeable light unit adds a more pleasing element to the backyard and is easier to track in the dark. Thermacell products work by heating the active ingredient and vaporizing it, providing a mosquito-free 20-foot radius. Paradise for any sharecropper. The new EL55 luminous model uses metofluthrin, a chemical version of the chrysanthemum ingredient. The insecticide is considered safe for humans, but not for aquatic animals, so be careful when throwing away empty repellent inserts. Metofluthrin is also harmful to bees, but a 2016 Health Canada report stated that bees are unlikely to be exposed to it based on how similar products are used. The EL55 Rechargeable Mosquito Repellent and Glow Light provides over 5 hours of protection when the light and battery powered repellent are on, or 9 hours when the light is not in use. You can buy them for $85 at hardware stores across the country. thermocell.com