Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Archive for england
Living Art in London
By Linda Tancs
Forget your measly 15 minutes of fame. Lucky UK citizens get an hour’s worth in London as part of the One & Other living exhibition on the empty stone plinth at Trafalgar Square. The art project allows applicants from every part of the UK one hour atop the plinth, day and night, to exhibit themselves in any manner they wish. Needless to say, the results have been very colorful. Over 32,000 have applied for 2400 places. Some of the winners, chosen at random, include a town crier, an Elvis impersonator and a woman dressed as a pigeon.
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Family Fun in the UK
By Linda Tancs
It may seem a bit strange to think of family fun and youth-appropriate events amongst hop farms and oast houses. Yet that’s exactly what you get at The Hop Farm, just 45 minutes from London. Located near Paddock Wood, Tonbridge, this tourist attraction offers an oast-themed amusement park complete with a carousel, magic show, animal farm, wax museum, and outdoor play area. Don’t miss the new and upcoming Halloween 3D goblin festival and Santa’s Magical Kingdom. True to its hops heritage, the park even offers a hop history museum and a festival in September to celebrate the custom of hop picking. So hop to it!
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Tree Tops
By Linda Tancs
Dunster is a tiny medieval village situated in England’s Exmoor National Park. What it lacks in size it makes up for in notoriety as the site of England’s tallest tree. Near Dunster Castle a Douglas fir measuring almost 200 feet stands sentinel on the Crown Estate. For comparative purposes, consider that the venerable California Redwood grows to at least 300 feet. Perhaps there’s something in the water around Somerset. The castle grounds also sport the oldest lemon tree.
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City of Film
By Linda Tancs
Hollywood, Bollywood, Cannes, Sundance, Venice–and Bradford? It’s time to add a new place name to the list of luminaries in cinema. Bradford, a west Yorkshire city in the U.K., beat out the traditional media moguls for the coveted title, City of Film. The moniker is a new award being bestowed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to a city having historic links and a notable infrastructure related to filmmaking. No doubt Bradford–once a poster child for industrialization–was helped in its bid as the host city of the National Media Museum, one of the most popular museums outside London. Three annual film festivals and a landscape conducive to movie shoots certainly didn’t hurt, either. Bravo!
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Worthy Boss
By Linda Tancs
In case you haven’t heard, Bruce Springsteen (aka The Boss) is headlining the U.K.’s Glastonbury festival on 27 June. Taking place now through the 28th, the event at Worthy Farm in the Vale of Avalon is the largest greenfield music and performing arts festival in the world. As you might imagine, tickets are sold out, but don’t fret. Venture outside London’s Hyde Park on 28 June and you’ll get an earful of The Boss at the Hard Rock Calling summer music extravaganza. There are lots of other acts in the lineup as well but not many tickets. Better act fast!
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Let the Good Cheese Roll
By Linda Tancs
Most of us would likely prefer our double Gloucester on a cheese plate with some table crackers, but on Cooper’s Hill in the Cotswolds they’d rather roll it down a very steep slope. Yes, it’s another centuries-old custom across the pond. Think of it as bowling without the pins, but you don’t lose your grip on the ball! Conditions on the hill are expected to be favorable this year, with the first race starting at noon on 25 May. The cheese wheels weigh between 7 and 8 pounds. Not surprisingly, their escorts have suffered an injury or two on the Alpine-like slope. Spectators, too, should be wary of wayward cheeses. Though only one will get the brass ring (in this case, a lot of cheese), the joy for the rest will surely be the thrill of competition, and maybe the agony of ‘de feet.’
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A Different Kind of River Walk
By Linda Tancs
Morecambe Bay, just south of England’s Lake District National Park, gives new meaning to the phrase “to walk on water.” Every year from May to September, intrepid travelers brave the shifting sands in a six-mile walk from Arnside Promenade to Kents Bank Station–dependent on the tides, of course. If it sounds dangerous, make no mistake–it is. That’s why this centuries-old jaunt is led by an official guide with an ancient moniker, Guide to the Kent Sands. Best to wear your shorty shorts and plimsoles or sandals. Leave the fancy gear at home.
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Live Like a Novelist
By Linda Tancs
Fans of mystery writer Agatha Christie will be pleased to learn that her beloved Devonshire home, Greenway, has been reopened to the public after refurbishments restoring it to its original condition. Deeded to Mrs. Mallowan (her married name) in 1938, she resided there with her husband for over 20 years, transferring the property in 1959 to her daughter. Now owned by the U.K.’s National Trust, a cottage on the grounds can be rented. Timed tickets are available for tours of the main house. Who knows, maybe you’ll find your muse there. As Christie once said, “Everything that has existed, lingers in the Eternity.”
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Earth Day Celebrations
By Linda Tancs
Happy Earth Day. Kermit the Frog says it’s not easy being green. Earth Day advocates surely don’t agree. This year’s events will show you why. Listen in at Travelrific Radio.
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London Airport is a Trendsetter
By Linda Tancs
Pillows, blankets and aisle seats. Ka-ching. Two checked bags. Ka-ching. As deficit-plagued airlines continue to dream up ways to spike revenues comes news out of London that an airport is getting in on the act. The Times of London reported that Luton Airport is assessing a 1 pound fee for airport drop-offs of up to 10 minutes. You can avoid the fee by dropping your baggage-laden beloved at the car park for a free shuttle. Let’s hope the rest of the world’s airports don’t seize onto this.
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