Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Archive for February, 2011
The Fur Flies in Alaska
By Linda Tancs
An event celebrating winter’s transition is Alaska’s Fur Rendezvous, also known as Fur Rondy. Fur in this instance refers to fur swappers, who would meet at winter’s end and exchange their pelts. Held in Anchorage since the 1930s, the event includes sled dog rides, craft shows, a carnival, reindeer runs and a blanket toss. Of particular note are the Rondy pins (as in lapel pins) commemorating each year’s festival, a popular collector’s item. This is also home to the World Championship Sled Dog Races. Enjoy it through 6 March.
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The Carnival Crawl in Venice
By Linda Tancs
Italy’s Pre-Lenten Carnival in Venice evokes costume balls and ornate masks and…pub crawls? Apparently, that’s the missing link during these festivities, so a pub crawl will kick off Carnival season on 26 February at the foot of the Academia bridge, just in front of the Academia museum at 7p.m. You’ll visit five local bars know as Bacari in the Venetian dialect. In each bar you will be offered a glass of local wine and, at the final bar, a shot of grappa. If it’s your birthday the tour is free, so please bring some ID. Costume dress, of course.
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Internet Science
By Linda Tancs
There are any number of science fairs occurring at any given time around the world, but armchair travelers may appreciate the advent of the first Global Science Fair hosted by Google. Google is looking for the best and brightest young scientists from around the world to submit their earth-changing experiments before 4 April. Open to students aged 13 to 18 from around the world working on their own or in a team of two or three, the grand prize is a 10 day trip to the Galapagos Islands with National Geographic Expeditions. Ready, set, experiment!
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Dominican Republic is Attractive to Pensioners
By Linda Tancs
The Dominican Republic is known for baseball superstars, sugar cane and cigars. But did you know that the economy has doubled in size since 1990 according to the President’s address at the 2010 UN Millenium Development Goals Summit? The government recognizes that foreign inputs of currency or capital contribute to the development and collective well being of the population, so foreign pensioners can establish exemptions from the payment of tax on dividends, interest, realty and other property as residents of the Dominican Republic. Of course, if you choose to work, you pay local taxes. But why would you do that when you can laze away on the beaches, watch the whales, golf, or venture among 16 national parks, nine natural monuments and six scientific reserves? The choice is yours.
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The Power of Words in Adelaide
By Linda Tancs
Sustainable word energy. That’s the new buzz phrase at the Fringe Festival in Adelaide, Australia, now through 13 March. In the fabulous X-Space of the Adelaide College of the Arts, the free spoken word event allows visitors to get into slams, workshops, and improvs to, as they put it, spout, tout or simply shout! Go on, get a word in.
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A Hare-Raising Experience in San Francisco
By Linda Tancs
The rabbit, or hare, is the fourth animal in the 12-year cycle of the Chinese zodiac. Welcome to the year of the rabbit. San Francisco’s Chinese New Year Festival will culminate on 19 February with an evening parade from Market and Second Street to Kearny and Jackson. Named one of the top ten parades in the world by the International Festivals and Events Association (IFEA), the San Francisco march is one of the grandest night illuminated parades in the country (think: Disney), not to mention one of the largest celebrations of Asian culture outside of Asia. Parade highlights include elaborate floats, lion dancers, folk dancers, Chinese acrobats and a 250 foot long Golden Dragon (“Gum Lung”) flowing along the parade route. Happy Year 4709.
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Ridgway Rendezvous
By Linda Tancs
The art of wood carving takes center stage at the International Chainsaw Carvers Rendezvous in Ridgway, Pennsylvania through 26 February. Previous entries have included life-sized bears, owls and other animals, statues, bench works, human-like depictions and gargantuan works of art. According to a founder of the event, chainsaw carving will do for art what the electric guitar did for music. Considering that the event is 12 years’ strong, maybe you should stop by and see if you agree.
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Life and Liberty in Kansas City
By Linda Tancs
Designated by Congress as the United States’ official World War I Museum, the National World War I Museum at Liberty Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri opened to the public in 2006. The Museum presents a comprehensive interpretation of World War I (1914-1919). In poignant fashion, visitors cross a Western Front poppy field to enter the Museum. Each of the 9,000 poppies represents a thousand combatant deaths, or 9 million souls. In addition to gun and tank displays, the war is made palpable through the use of trenches with actual objects and relevant ambient sounds as well as a walk-through crater illustrating the devastating effects of a 17-inch howitzer shell on a French farmhouse. Combine these features with animated battle maps that draw the visitor into the planning and execution of the battles. A worthwhile visit–and active and career military are welcome free of charge.
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The Curious Class in Vegas
By Linda Tancs
Nearing a whopping $4 billion, the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas opened in mid-December. A new luxe resort on The Strip, they aspire to cater to what they refer to as the “curious class.” Are you curious? Given the low fares to Vegas these days, you can afford to indulge it.
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Seaworthy in San Diego
By Linda Tancs
American author George William Curtis once said, “It is not the ship so much as the skillful sailing that assures the prosperous voyage.” That could certainly be said of the Star of India, a wood-and-iron trader constructed in 1863 as the Euterpe. Now a museum piece at San Diego’s Maritime Museum, the masted beauty was made seaworthy again in 1976 after years of decay and holds the Guinness World Records distinction as the oldest active sailing ship. The downtown waterside museum also boasts a replica of a British frigate as well as a submarine, steam ferry and steam-powered yacht. All aboard!
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