Polar Opposites for Winter Vacations
November 7, 2007. When it comes to choosing a luxury vacation rental, the ideal destination is a matter of opinion. The divergence in tastes ranges from ski vacation versus tropical escape to urban amenities versus country living.
The Washington Post Travel section always has a great Q&A feature, and this week's column featured two locales that lie on polar opposites of the getaway spectrum: Montreal and Buenos Aires. One will be rather frigid, the other will be sizzling.
A concerned reader asked whether there would be anything to do Montreal in the depths of winter, specifically over the holidays. To which writer Scott Vogel replied:
"You're kidding, n'est-ce pas? Are we being punk'd? Given Montreal's love of the season, not to mention its deep French Catholic roots, you'll be stumbling over buches de Noel at every turn."
Apparently, Montreal has serious Christmas celebrations. To protect its denizens from the cold, the city also has a 20-mile pedestrian network linking shops, restaurants and cultural institutions.
The second writer asked whether she could travel to Buenos Aires if she didn't speak Spanish, to which Vogel replied an emphatic yes. Another South American hotspot where English is often spoken is Venezuela's Caribbean Coast.
