Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Author Archive
Catacombs of Palermo
By Linda Tancs
The residents of the Capuchin Monastery Catacombs in Palermo, Sicily, have been dying to meet you. That’s where you’ll find thousands of mummified bodies and other corpses dressed in various forms of finery. It was considered a status symbol to be buried there so, not surprisingly, the dead include doctors, lawyers and friars. The oldest corpse is that of Silvestro da Gubbio, a friar who passed in 1599. More than just a macabre tourist attraction, the chamber provides a historical record as well as scientific data for medical study.
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On the Reedy
By Linda Tancs
It might be hard to believe that the beautiful waterfalls and gardens at Falls Park on the Reedy were once covered by a four-lane highway. Located in Greenville, South Carolina, it’s the locals’ downtown park. The falls are revealed by the 345-foot-long Liberty Bridge that spans the Reedy River. Described as “floating on air,” its spectacular curvature is rivaled only by its unique construction—a concrete, reinforced deck supported by just a single suspension cable. The park is popular with visitors, who rank it among the likes of New York’s Central Park and San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. Open daily, there’s no admission fee.
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Linchpin of the Great Lakes
By Linda Tancs
Michigan’s Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie are referred to by the Army Corps of Engineers as “the Linchpin of the Great Lakes.” A feat of engineering, the locks comprise two canals and four locks that allow vessels of many types and sizes to safely traverse the 21-foot drop in elevation of the St. Mary’s River between Lake Superior and lakes Michigan and Huron. The observation platform located in Soo Locks Park provides a fantastic vantage point to watch the locking process of “Lakers” and “Salties” (ocean-going vessels). The Soo Locks Visitor Center is located near the entryway into the park and is open between mid-May and mid-October.
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Britain’s First Recreated Street
By Linda Tancs
York Castle Museum is a museum located in York, England, on the site of York Castle, which was originally built by William the Conqueror in 1068. The most iconic part of the museum is Kirkgate, a recreated Victorian street. Created by Dr. John Lamplugh Kirk (founder of the museum), it’s one of the oldest recreated indoor streets of its kind in the world and the first to be opened in Britain. Each shop and business on Kirkgate is named after a real business that operated in late Victorian York. Costumed guides can tell you more about each shop when you arrive.
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Lyon’s Natural History Museum
By Linda Tancs
At the confluence of the Rhône and the Saône, Lyon’s Musée des Confluences is a futuristic-styled museum that tells the story of Earth, humanity, history and geography from a variety of scientific, technical and cultural perspectives. Touted as a “landscape building” for its unique merger with nature, it received the designation “Musée de France” from the Ministry of Culture and Communication. The facility boasts nearly 3.5 million objects and specimens in the fields of natural sciences, human sciences, science and technology. You can get there easily via the tram T1, Musée des Confluences stop.
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Matisse’s Final Masterpiece
By Linda Tancs
The Rosary Chapel (also known as the Matisse Chapel) in Vence, France, is the final masterpiece of French artist Henri Matisse. His involvement arose out of a friendship with his private nurse who later became a Dominican nun. The nuns were in need of a true chapel, and Matisse was persuaded to not only decorate but also design the entire chapel. Completed in 1951, he designed features like the candelabras, crucifix, altar and liturgical vestments. The Matisse Museum in Nice has important works linked with the chapel, including several maquettes (models or sketches) for vestments, the chapel, stained glass windows and murals.
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Rare Warbirds in California
By Linda Tancs
Rare warbirds (vintage military aircraft) are just one of the treasures awaiting visitors to March Field Air Museum in Riverside, California. In fact, the facility showcases 115 aircraft from World War I to the present. The museum offers self-guided tours of its expansive 30-acre campus, but for a more in-depth experience, consider the 45-minute narrated Tram Tour of the outdoor “Flightline,” where numerous aircraft are on display. March Field is one of the oldest military airfields in the country; the museum is located just outside the base, so no base pass is required.
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Budapest’s Opera House
By Linda Tancs
Originally known as the Hungarian Royal Opera House, the Hungarian State Opera House is a historic opera house located in central Budapest. From its limestone façade to its stunning parlours, the Neo-Renaissance palace has been open to opera and ballet lovers for more than 130 years. Franz Joseph I and Queen Sissi trod the marble steps of the Royal Staircase that lead up to the salons on the first floor. The upstairs gallery opening from the staircase leads to the magnificent Bertalan Székely Parlour. Besides the rich oak woodwork, the other main ornament in this room is Bertalan Székely’s Rococo-style frieze entitled The Four Seasons. There’s no official dress code to attend a show, but dress to impress.
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Soul History in Memphis
By Linda Tancs
The golden age of soul is commemorated in Memphis, Tennessee, at Stax Museum of American Soul Music. It’s located at the original location of Stax Records, where legends like Otis Redding, Carla Thomas, the Mar-Keys, Booker T. and The MGs, Rufus Thomas and Isaac Hayes recorded. The building opens with a fully reassembled 1906 Mississippi Delta church, honoring the roots of Stax in Southern gospel music. You’ll also find period recording equipment in the control room and Studio A, an exact replica of the legendary converted movie theater where Stax artists cut records. Another gem is the Wall of Sound, where you can hear classics at the listening station and see the records and album art in floor-to-ceiling exhibits. And don’t miss Isaac Hayes’ glittering custom Cadillac Eldorado, fully equipped with unique amenities like a refrigerated mini-bar, television, 24-carat gold exterior trim and white fur carpeting on the floorboards.
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California’s Clam Comeback
By Linda Tancs
In the mid-20th century, Pismo Beach, California, deemed itself “The Clam Capital of the World.” In its heyday, the Pismo clam and the Pacific Razor clam made up most of the catch by clammers in the state. In fact, the largest Pismo clam recorded in California came from Pismo Beach and was 7.37 inches across and estimated to be 26 years old. Decades of overharvesting devastated the industry, but there’s been an unprecedented recovery with thousands of small clams reappearing on the beaches around Pismo Beach. A valid sport fishing license is required to take Pismo clams for anyone 16 years old or older. You must also have with you a measuring device to measure clam size; anything under 4.5 inches must be reburied. The legal limit is 10 clams, and they cannot be taken at night. Every October you can celebrate the Pismo clam at the annual clam festival, featuring clam chowder competitions and a clam-themed parade.
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