Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Archive for international travel
A Memento in Budapest
By Linda Tancs
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Europe’s Oldest Ghetto
By Linda Tancs
Five hundred years ago today the rulers of Italy’s Venetian Republic created a ghetto for Jews in the city. Europe’s oldest ghetto, its occupants were subject to harsh laws governing their freedom to leave the community and to practice a profession. Emancipation followed over two centuries later when Napoleon conquered Venice. Still relatively intact, the area has five synagogues and a museum.
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Meatballs and Fries
By Linda Tancs
An important political center in medieval Europe, Liège is a historic Belgian city on the Meuse River. It abounds with puppets, feasts and legends—as well as an ample supply of meatballs and fries (boulets à la liégeoise). The most traditional dish from the region, it comprises meatballs prepared with pork and beef along with fries and a sweet sauce (a mixture of pears and apple syrup, wine, onions and a local gin). Spend Sunday like a native and have a platter after visiting La Batte, a Sunday institution (the largest and oldest market in Belgium) stretching over a mile with colorful stalls offering fruit, cheeses, clothes, flowers and local products.
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A Devil of a Place
By Linda Tancs
Tasmania, an isolated island state off Australia’s south coast, is widely known as the home of the Tasmanian Devil. Reputation aside, this shy creature is the world’s largest carnivorous marsupial since the extinction of the Tasmanian tiger in 1936. But there’s so much more to this island nation than its protected inhabitant. Consider Hobart, Tasmania’s historic waterfront capital. It comes alive each Saturday at Salamanca Market, an outdoor market set between plane trees and sandstone facades of historic warehouses that draws hordes of tourists and locals. More sandstone is on display at Battery Point, the city’s oldest suburb, accessible via the 175-year-old Kelly’s Steps from Salamanca. In addition to beautiful sandstone mansions, you’ll see colonial cottages and delight in impressive river views.
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Into Thin Air in Austria
By Linda Tancs
The best way to climb the majestic Nordkette mountain range (the heart of Innsbruck, Austria) is to step onboard the Nordkettenbahnen (cable car). The futuristic Hungerburgbahn hybrid funicular railway travels through a tunnel, then over an imposing bridge across the Inn River, and finally traverses an incline of 46 percent to reach the Hungerburg, over 2,800 feet above sea level. If the panoramas from the spacious gondolas don’t meet your requirements, then continue on to the final stage of the Nordkettenbahnen, the Hafelekarbahn. It takes you from Seegrube to Hafelekar, a 7,400-foot-high summit that promises 350 days of cloud-free views a year.
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The Pilgrims’ Pride
By Linda Tancs
South of Amsterdam and a short distance from The Hague, Leiden is home to the Netherlands’ oldest university and the birthplace of Rembrandt. An often overlooked part of its history, however, is its role as host to the Pilgrims (of Mayflower fame). Indeed, it is in Leiden where a group of English Calvinists settled after fleeing persecution in their homeland, thereafter setting sail for Plymouth, Massachusetts. Their story is told at the American Pilgrim Museum in the city center.
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Sicily’s White Elephant
By Linda Tancs
The Grande Hotel San Calogero in Sicily has been waiting for guests for over 60 years. Dubbed the ghost hotel, it stands vacant for decades now thanks to governmental gaffes and design flaws. The 300-bed, five-story hotel was intended to showcase southern Sicily’s Sciacca, a pretty seaside town built on rocky heights that overlook the Mediterranean. Sicily’s white elephant stands atop a rocky outcrop on Monte Kronio, within walking distance of the thermal springs and basilica.
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A City of Watchtowers
By Linda Tancs
Cádiz is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Spain. In fact, the Phoenicians named it Gadir and established a trading post there in 1100 B.C. It went on to become a thriving Roman port from which Christopher Columbus would later set sail for the New World. In the 18th century the city thrived thanks to international trade, a prosperity symbolized by its watchtowers. Approximately 160 watchtowers dominated the cityscape back then; over 100 remain today. The centerpiece is the Tavira Tower, located in the center of the city’s old town at its highest point above sea level. It’s named for the tower’s first watchman, Antonio Tavira.
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Culture for Connoisseurs
By Linda Tancs
A small city in northwest Switzerland, Basel is big on culture. Art lovers acknowledge that every year during the giant Art Basel fair. Situated on the Rhine (a scenic plus), Basel also happens to have the highest concentration of museums in the country (numbering 40 or so), including Basel Art Museum, the museum devoted to the iron sculptor Jean Tinguely, the Fondation Beyeler and the Museum of Cultures. Foodies flock there as well for local treats like traditional Basel honey cake. Today marks the start of the city’s carnival (the largest popular festival in Switzerland), Fasnacht. The festivities begin every year at 4:00 a.m. on the Monday following Ash Wednesday with the “Morgenstraich,” when all the lights in Basel go out and a colorful procession through the city streets begins. The party will continue until exactly 4:00 a.m. on Thursday.
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A Hotbed of Activity in Australia
By Linda Tancs
Though it may be like little more than a trickle in a rain bucket, a tiny speck of southern ocean in Australia’s remote southwest is a hotbed of activity every February and March. For reasons yet unknown, Bremer Canyon is one of the only places on earth this time of year where killer whales can be consistently observed in a mass congregation (even more than 100 at the same time). Daily tours capture all the action as pods of killer whales (along with sperm whales, sharks, giant squid, sunfish and schools of tuna) participate in an unparalleled feeding frenzy. This is one annual phenomenon you won’t want to miss.
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