Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Archive for May, 2014
The Biblical Zoo
By Linda Tancs
There’s a veritable alphabet soup of animals mentioned in the Bible: from ants and bears to vultures and wolves. Those references come to life at the Biblical Zoo. Officially known as The Tisch Family Zoological Gardens in Jerusalem, the facility has amassed a vast collection of God’s creatures in every category: mammals, birds, fish, invertebrates, reptiles and amphibians. Noah would be proud; there’s even an ark-like visitors’ centre.
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A Beautiful World
By Linda Tancs
Derived from the French “belle” (beautiful) and “monde” (world), Belmond is the new brand name for a collection of hotels and travel experiences around the world originating from the Orient-Express banner. The storied Venice Simplon-Orient-Express will retain its identity, however. To celebrate the launch of the new brand, guests booking for travel by 30 June 2014 can enjoy 15% off standard rates (space permitting) across Belmond’s beautiful world.
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City of the Thousand White Sails
By Linda Tancs
In the late Middle Ages Camogli, an Italian fishing village, was awash in tall ships, giving rise to its venerable moniker “city of the thousand white sails.” Lesser known than its nearby cousins Portofino and Cinque Terre, it’s nonetheless a go-to destination for those seeking the peace and tranquility of a sleepy seaside village. The locale’s name is said to derive from “case delle mogli” (house of wives), a nod to the life of a fisherman’s wife. Even today the tuna nets lowered since the 17th century (the last working fishing nets in the northern Mediterranean) are observable from April until October in the sea at Punta Chiappa. The annual Fish Festival of Saint Fortunato, patron saint of fishermen, is held on the second Sunday of May.
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Chocolate in Paradise
By Linda Tancs
There’s nothing like a little chocolate in the jungle. In Bali you can tour Pod Chocolate, a hillside cacao farm located amidst jungle, rice fields and an elephant camp near Ubud. One of the few places in the world where chocolate is made just minutes from where it’s grown, your tour there includes an educational foray into the cocoa pod and a chocolate-making exercise. Their equation is simple: chocolate + antioxidants = health. So is yours: you + Bali = paradise.
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Your Poseidon Adventure
By Linda Tancs
Imagine a bit of five-star luxury on the sea floor rather than the seashore. That’s what you’ll get someday at Fiji’s Poseidon Undersea Resorts, the world’s first true undersea resort. Touted as a “once in a lifetime” experience, this undersea hotel is a one-atmosphere habitat, the pressure inside the structure never changing from surface pressure regardless of depth. As a result, diving credentials are not required. Guests will enter the air-conditioned and humidity controlled resort through an elevator at the end of a pier. The luxe facility will feature spa treatment rooms, an undersea wedding chapel, a five-star restaurant and both underwater and seashore excursions and activities. Ready to book your Poseidon adventure? Not so fast. The resort isn’t open yet, but you can register today for the chance to make history later.
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Dramatic Scenery in Alaska
By Linda Tancs
Alaska’s Misty Fjords National Monument is where Nature’s drama unfolds. An area of unfathomable beauty, its two million breathtaking acres feature cascading waterfalls, glistening lakes, lingering mists and goliath walls of granite amidst forests of spruce, hemlock and cedar. Located 22 miles east of Ketchican, it’s the largest wilderness in Alaska’s national forests and the second largest in the nation. Kayaking is a popular way to experience the mighty fjords, but by seaplane you can fully experience its charms, taking in the Tongass Narrows and volcanic Revillagigedo Island on your way.
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Not Your Usual Science Museum
By Linda Tancs
At the historical Camp Evans military base in Wall, New Jersey, you’ll find the nation’s only fallout shelter theatre at InfoAge, a museum featuring the best of wartime technology. There’s a fascinating display of intelligence systems, jamming equipment and rooms devoted to the development of radar. This vital complex is where top-secret innovation took place to protect the United States against German and Japanese forces. Not just for techies, the grounds also include a shipwreck museum, a World War II miniatures room with toy soldiers, a collection of helmets, rifles and early jeeps and an airborne motor scooter. The museum is open on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday.
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