Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Archive for November, 2024
Art and Architecture in Portland
By Linda Tancs
The McLellan-Sweat Mansion is a historic house museum on High Street in Portland, Maine. It forms the rear component of the Portland Museum of Art complex, the state’s oldest and largest public art institution. The Federal-style, three-story mansion was completed in 1801 for Major Hugh McLellan, a wealthy merchant who owned Maine’s largest shipping fleet. The house was thereafter owned by Margaret Jane Mussey Sweat, a writer and philanthropist who bequeathed the home to a society now known as the Portland Museum of Art. Admission to the museum is free to the public every Friday from 4 to 8 p.m.
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Arts and Crafts in Woodstock
By Linda Tancs
One of the most iconic landmarks in Woodstock, New York, is Byrdcliffe Arts Colony. It was founded in 1902 by Ralph Radcliffe Whitehead and his wife Jane Byrd McCall out of an ideal to form a “brotherhood of artists.” It’s the oldest operating Arts and Crafts colony in America and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The organization continues to be a thriving year-round home to an ever expanding community of artists. Private tours can be booked by appointment. You can also take a self-guided walking tour of the grounds or a guided tour of White Pines, the original home of Byrdcliffe’s founders.
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An Italian Village in South Tyrol
By Linda Tancs
Bruneck (Brunico) is the largest town in the Puster Valley in the Italian province of South Tyrol. It boasts a hilltop castle dating to the 13th century with restored rooms and a museum exploring mountain culture in Asia, Africa, South America and Europe. The museum, MMM Ripa, is one of six mountain museums set up by mountaineer Reinhold Messner and is a permanent exhibition at the castle. The castle is a short walk from the Brunico train station; a museum ticket will grant you access to all six mountain museums within a one-year period from date of issue.
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Peru’s Sacred Valley
By Linda Tancs
Ollantaytambo is a village in the Sacred Valley of south Peru that’s known for an Inca archaeological site. Lauded as an architectural jewel on the way to Machu Picchu, a big draw is the Temple of the Sun. The locale served as a city, a fortress and a site for nobility and is one of the very few places where the Incas held back the invading Spanish. An easy commute from Cusco, be sure to hire a local guide to understand the history there. A tour lasts about two hours.
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A Phone for the Birds
By Linda Tancs
In Takoma Park, Maryland, there’s a phone fit for the birds. Known as The Bird Calls Phone, it’s an old payphone rewired by a local artist to play bird calls. The dial tone is replaced with the sound of a mourning dove, and each number corresponds to the call of a local bird. The phone’s buttons also play facts about the bird species. Instructions on use of the phone are provided in English, Spanish and Amharic (to accommodate Takoma Park’s sizable Ethiopian community).
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Capital of the Azores
By Linda Tancs
Ponta Delgada, on São Miguel Island, is the capital of the Azores archipelago of Portugal. Its status as a gateway to the Azores is represented by the City Gates, a set of three arches constructed in the 18th century. Nearby is a bell tower adjacent to City Hall that provides extraordinary views. The local museum also provides a good orientation regarding the history and geography of the archipelago. While you’re there, don’t miss out on dolphin and whale watching tours departing from the harbor.
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