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
At the World’s Edge
By Linda Tancs
Located just north of the Arctic Circle in Norway, the former fishing village of Myken sits at the world’s edge. You might say the world is its oyster. Soon enough you can toast to that. Once the aging process is complete, the tiny hamlet of six full-time residents will be home to the world’s first Arctic whisky, using desalinated seawater from Vestfjorden. The first bottle should debut in 2017.
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The Largest Colosseum in North Africa
By Linda Tancs
Few amphitheaters match the grandeur of the Colosseum in Rome except for the ruins at El Djem in Tunisia. The largest colosseum in North Africa, this testament to imperial Rome built during the third century could have seated as many as 60,000 spectators, all awaiting the gruesome play among prisoners, animals and gladiators. The games are long gone, but tourism remains high in this sleepy agricultural village thanks to its architectural wonder as well as stunning mosaics housed in a nearby museum.
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More Than a Bird Park
By Linda Tancs
Wingham Wildlife Park has come a long way since its humble beginnings as a bird park in 1986. Now it’s the only zoo in the U.K. sporting pardine genets, Gray’s monitors, Spix’s night monkeys and little red flying foxes (a species of megabat native to Australia). Kent’s fastest growing zoo, it’s located on the A257 between Canterbury and Sandwich.
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The Spa of Kings
By Linda Tancs
Kissing the borders of Belgium and the Netherlands, Germany’s Aachen enjoys a distinctive history. This is where Charlemagne (Charles the Great), founder of the Holy Roman Empire, ruled in the eighth century. He’s buried in the cathedral, Germany’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site and the coronation church for more than 30 German kings. Other royalty have flocked to this ancient locale as well, a Roman military spa town dubbed the Spa of Kings. Indulge yourself with a princely treatment at Carolus Thermen spa, where they serve Printen, a local spicy biscuit, fresh from the ovens that heat the sauna.
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Block 42
By Linda Tancs
Ever wonder what $168,000 tastes like? Apparently, it’s very fruity, with an intense aroma of blackcurrant, dark chocolate and licorice. That’s what you can expect from a bottle of 2004 Kalimna Block 42 cabernet sauvignon, one of the most expensive bottles of wine ever at time of release. Offered by Australian wine producer Penfolds, this limited edition hails from the 10-acre Block 42, planted only 30 years after the great 1855 Bordeaux Classification and comprising the oldest plantings of cabernet sauvignon continuously produced in the world. A wine this special comes with an equally rare casing, a glass vessel based on an ancient jar used to store wine.
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Irish Lights
By Linda Tancs
The Commissioners of Irish Lights operates over 70 lighthouses around the coast of Ireland. Although automated and unmanned, many are historic buildings that boast of Ireland’s proud maritime history. Supported by several tourism boards, Irish Lights is undertaking an All-Island Lighthouse Tourism Trail project that will feature up to 20 lighthouses. In the meanwhile, in conjunction with the commission, Ballycotton Island Lighthouse has begun offering tours for the first time. About 25 miles east of Cork, the light at Ballycotton was commissioned following the wreck of Sirius, the first vessel to cross the Atlantic Ocean under steam in 1838. Completed in 1850, sandstone for the lighthouse was quarried on the island itself.
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A Nut in Tasmania
By Linda Tancs
Stanley is a quaint historical fishing village in northwest Tasmania. It’s located at the base of an extinct volcanic plug called The Nut. Standing 470 feet tall, the ancient plug’s spectacular overlooks can be reached by hiking or by chair lift. Not far away at the southern head of the Arthur River is the fabled “edge of the world,” a great place to watch the unruly seas crashing in from the Indian Ocean.
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The Cradle of Whipped Cream
By Linda Tancs
It’s hard to imagine an extravagant French estate as “the cradle of whipped cream.” Yet that’s exactly the distinction enjoyed by Château de Chantilly, where crème was whipped up in the 17th century (invented, that is) by a headwaiter for the master of the house, le Grand Condé. You might fancy an association with the lace of the same name, popularized by a song released in 1958. And, indeed, lace was produced in Chantilly in the 1600s. The château is better known, though, for its porcelain production in the 1700s. Just 25 minutes from Paris, Chantilly is France’s horse capital, where daily dressage shows delight visitors.
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Peterborough’s Most Haunted
By Linda Tancs
Britain’s Peterborough Museum is situated on Priestgate in the city centre, a place dating to the 12th century when the city was planned by the monks of Peterborough Abbey. The town’s origins may be divinely inspired, but it’s the city’s dark side that draws visitors. In fact, the museum is reputedly haunted by eight different ghosts. Are you a believer? Head to the museum’s cellar, where you just might catch a glimpse of one on the ghost cam.
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Visit the Stone Age
By Linda Tancs
Goa is a state in western India with coastlines stretching along the Arabian Sea. Needless to say, it’s known for its beaches, but a visit here will take you back a step (or two) in time to the Stone Age. Rock carvings and rock engravings founds at various places in Goa indicate that Stone Age people had settled there around 10000 – 8000 B.C. Usgalimal in South Goa boasts one of the most important prehistoric sites in the region.
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