Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Archive for May, 2021
Ancient Ireland
By Linda Tancs
Older than Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids, Newgrange is a prehistoric monument in County Meath, Ireland. Situated within a bend in the River Boyne, it’s an exceptionally grand passage tomb built during the Neolithic period. Newgrange, together with nearby ancient sites Knowth and Dowth, contain the largest collection of megalithic art in western Europe. Access to the ancient mounds is via the Brú na Bóinne Visitor Centre.
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To limit the spread of COVID-19, attractions may be closed or have partial closures. Please keep those affected by the virus in your thoughts and be sure to follow the safety practices advocated by the Centers for Disease Control. Stay safe, and be well.
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Spain’s Red River
By Linda Tancs
There’s nothing particularly unusual about Spain’s Red River (Río Tinto) until you reach the town of Niebla, where the reason for its name becomes strikingly apparent. That’s where you’ll see an orange and red hue that gives the river an otherworldly appearance. But there’s nothing supernatural about the reason. For 5,000 years, copper, gold, silver and other minerals had been mined along the river, with dissolving iron giving it a reddish hue. In fact, the river is often considered the birthplace of both the Copper Age and Bronze Age, a site mined by the ancient Iberians and others for copper, gold and silver. The Rio Tinto Mining Museum in Huelva explores the history of mining in the area from prehistoric times to the present.
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To limit the spread of COVID-19, attractions may be closed or have partial closures. Please keep those affected by the virus in your thoughts and be sure to follow the safety practices advocated by the Centers for Disease Control. Stay safe, and be well.
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Lifeboat History in Southwold
By Linda Tancs
There’s a museum for everything, even lifeboats. You’ll find one in the English seaside town of Southwold on the northeast Suffolk coast. Known as the Alfred Corry Lifeboat Museum, it showcases the 1893 Southwold No.1 Lifeboat ‘Alfred Corry’, Southwold’s lifeboat from 1893 until 1918. Launched 41 times, she saved 47 lives. Now restored to her former glory, the museum displays not only her story but that of the crew and local maritime history. The museum is located on the grounds of the harbor car park on Ferry Road.
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To limit the spread of COVID-19, attractions may be closed or have partial closures. Please keep those affected by the virus in your thoughts and be sure to follow the safety practices advocated by the Centers for Disease Control. Stay safe, and be well.
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A Grand Prospect in Oregon
By Linda Tancs
Nestled between Seaside and Cannon Beach is Oregon’s Ecola State Park, a protected coastal area 9 miles long with scenic views so striking that explorer William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition described it as the “grandest and most pleasing prospect” he had ever surveyed. He was speaking of the view from the north slope of Tillamook Head, a high point on the trail between Seaside and Indian Beach, a popular surfing locale. Named for the Tillamook tribes in whose ancestral territory the headland is located, the trail follows the coastal exploration route used by Captain Clark in the winter of 1806. But the grand views begin at the entrance road itself, which follows an old growth Sitka spruce forest, eventually opening up to a grassy bluff offering breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean where the historic Tillamook Rock Lighthouse stands just offshore on a lone basalt rock. Take advantage of the numerous paved trails for panoramic views.
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To limit the spread of COVID-19, attractions may be closed or have partial closures. Please keep those affected by the virus in your thoughts and be sure to follow the safety practices advocated by the Centers for Disease Control. Stay safe, and be well.
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Hoodoos at the Four Corners
By Linda Tancs
Weathered sandstone often forms otherworldly rock formations known as hoodoos that take the shape of pinnacles, spires and cap rocks. You’ll find plenty of examples of this at the Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness (Bisti badlands), a 45,000-acre wilderness area in New Mexico. The badlands’ name is as unusual as its landscape. Taken from the Navajo language, “bisti” means “a large area of shale hills.” De-Na-Zin is taken from the Navajo words for “cranes.” Just south of Farmington, the area is one of the most extraordinary attractions in the Four Corners region, where the states of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah meet.
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To limit the spread of COVID-19, attractions may be closed or have partial closures. Please keep those affected by the virus in your thoughts and be sure to follow the safety practices advocated by the Centers for Disease Control. Stay safe, and be well.
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The Cornish Caribbean
By Linda Tancs
About 30 miles off the coast of Cornwall, England, the Scilly Isles are a Cornish Caribbean, featuring azure seas, subtropical gardens and white, sandy beaches. It’s yours for the taking among the five inhabited islands—St. Mary’s, St. Martin’s, St. Agnes, Tresco and Bryher. St. Martin’s is the first island you’ll spot as you cross from the mainland. It offers an abundance of activities for an island just 2 miles long. You can relax on a remote bay with a colorful name like Bread and Cheese Cove. Or you might want to see the Day Mark (built in 1683), the earliest surviving dated example of a beacon in the British Isles. And then there’s the flower farm and vineyard and a dive school offering underwater adventures and snorkeling with seals. Everything is reachable on foot; you can also rent a kayak for a different perspective as well as a view of the surrounding islets. The island is a short flight away from Exeter, Newquay or Land’s End.
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To limit the spread of COVID-19, attractions may be closed or have partial closures. Please keep those affected by the virus in your thoughts and be sure to follow the safety practices advocated by the Centers for Disease Control. Stay safe, and be well.
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Medieval Meets Art Deco in London
By Linda Tancs
In London’s Royal Borough of Greenwich, medieval meets Art Deco at Eltham Palace and Gardens. Indeed, the manor house is a unique combination of ancient and contemporary. The oldest part of the dwelling is the Great Hall, the only remains of the medieval palace that served as the boyhood home of King Henry VIII. The rest is an Art Deco-style mansion built in the 1930s by millionaires Stephen and Virginia Courtauld, who saved Eltham Palace from ruin after years of neglect. Among the rooms of interest in the house are the map room where they planned their exotic world travels and the centrally-heated sleeping quarters designed for their pet lemur. The 19-acre garden is likewise not to be missed. The Rock Garden leads to the moat, crossed by London’s oldest working bridge. Closer to the palace, the terraced beds are awash in color now with primulas, pansies and tulips. The property is about a 15-minute stroll from Mottingham railway station, which is served by London Charing Cross and Cannon Street stations.
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To limit the spread of COVID-19, attractions may be closed or have partial closures. Please keep those affected by the virus in your thoughts and be sure to follow the safety practices advocated by the Centers for Disease Control. Stay safe, and be well.
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Prehistoric Europe in France
By Linda Tancs
Move over, Stonehenge. Impressive (and famous) as it is, England’s prehistoric monument is dwarfed by Carnac, the largest collection of megalithic standing stones in the world. Situated around the French village of Carnac in northwestern France, the Neolithic structures are believed to be funerary monuments. Comprising more than 3,000 prehistoric standing stones cut from local rock, the site features stone alignments, dolmens, tumuli and single menhirs erected by the pre-Celtic people of Brittany. Due to Brittany’s abundance of megalithic wonders, take advantage of the Megalithic Pass, which will give you reduced rates of entry to nearby attractions.
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To limit the spread of COVID-19, attractions may be closed or have partial closures. Please keep those affected by the virus in your thoughts and be sure to follow the safety practices advocated by the Centers for Disease Control. Stay safe, and be well.
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Tilting at Windmills in Spain
By Linda Tancs
The expression “tilting at windmills” means to attack imaginary enemies. It originated from the novel “Don Quixote” by Miguel de Cervantes, wherein Quixote mistakes windmill towers for giants and picks a fight with them. The iconic windmills of Consuegra in central Spain are attributed as the towers in question. Originally built to grind grain, the line of 12 Dutch-like towers is a tantalizing backdrop for the nearby medieval castle. Both the mills and the castle are a cultural historic site.
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To limit the spread of COVID-19, attractions may be closed or have partial closures. Please keep those affected by the virus in your thoughts and be sure to follow the safety practices advocated by the Centers for Disease Control. Stay safe, and be well.
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Wedded Bliss in Accettura
By Linda Tancs
Call it mat-TREE-mony—that is, a wedding of the arboreal kind. That’s right: a wedding of two trees, an oak and a holly. The unusual union is celebrated this time of year in southern Italy. Il Maggio di Accettura is an ancient pagan wedding festival celebrated in Accettura, a mountain village of about 2,000 people in the region of Basilicata. In case you were wondering, the oak is the groom and the holly is the bride. They’re cut, joined together (by the trunk of the oak and the top of the holly) and hoisted by a pulley over the main square of the town, followed by a procession of women wearing tiered headdresses made of candles and flowers. This centuries-old festival is undoubtedly one of the most unusual you’ll ever experience.
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To limit the spread of COVID-19, attractions may be closed or have partial closures. Please keep those affected by the virus in your thoughts and be sure to follow the safety practices advocated by the Centers for Disease Control. Stay safe, and be well.
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