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
An African Treasure
By Linda Tancs
The Blue Nile is a river originating in Ethiopia, heading northwest into Sudan. Of particular interest (and a prime tourist attraction in Ethiopia) is the waterfall, the Blue Nile Falls. Following the rainy season, the width of the plunging waters is impressive this time of year. The waterfall is located about 17 miles southeast of Bahir Dar.
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The City on Three Hills
By Linda Tancs
You’d expect a hillside city with lake and mountain views to provide stunning panoramas. And Switzerland’s Lausanne does not disappoint. Home to the International Olympic Committee, this city on the shores of Lake Geneva offers amazing views from a series of viewing points accessible through a downhill stroll. Start at the top of Sauvabelin Tower, a wooden tower offering views of the lake as well as the three major landscapes: the Savoy Alps, the Jura and the Plateau. And who could resist the almost mythic view from the Hermitage, combining the lake, mountains, cathedral and St. Maire castle. From the Flon footbridge to the esplanades, the city’s natural wonders are unveiled every step of the way.
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The World’s Largest Book
By Linda Tancs
Mandalay is Myanmar’s second largest city, an exotic locale celebrated in a namesake poem by Rudyard Kipling. Among its charms is the riveting Kuthodaw Pagoda, located at the southeastern base of Mandalay Hill, where it was prophesied that a Buddhist metropolis (named after the hill) would take root. The unique feature of this temple is the 729 miniature pagodas surrounding the central shrine. Each of these smaller shrines contains a marble tablet inscribed with a page of text from the Tipitaka, the Buddhist sacred scriptures. Assembled together, the tablets would cover about one third of an acre or rise to a height over 300 feet. No wonder, then, that these pages are hailed as the world’s largest book.
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Great American Stations
By Linda Tancs
One of America’s great rail stations marks its 80th birthday this year. The honoree is Newark Penn Station, an Art Deco landmark in Newark, New Jersey. Dedicated in 1935, the station is a linchpin of the northeast corridor, a nexus of travel between New York and New Jersey and, thanks to connecting service via NJ Transit to Newark Liberty International Airport, the rest of the world.
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Navigating the Zambezi
By Linda Tancs
On its journey to the Indian Ocean, Africa’s Zambezi River meanders through six countries. It forms a border at various points involving Zambia, Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe. Flanked by two national parks (Lower Zambezi National Park on the Zambian side and Mana Pools National Park on the Zimbabwean side), it also provides a wilderness area that many tout as unparalleled, free of the tourist hordes found in many South African parks. The two parks sit on the Zambezi flood plain, a peaceful haven for buffalo, elephants, lions, leopards, antelope, crocodiles and hippos.
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One Scary Walk
By Linda Tancs
Touted as the world’s deadliest walkway, Spain’s El Caminito del Rey (The King’s Little Path) is a king-sized fright for those daring enough to walk this narrow pathway over 300 feet above a dizzying gorge. Re-opened just a few months ago since its closure in 2001 after a series of deaths, the refurbished 110-year-old walkway features new wooden planks and safety lines. Located in the village of El Chorro (northwest of Málaga), the route’s royal association came when it was inaugurated in 1921 by King Alfonso XIII.
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Cornwall’s Only City
By Linda Tancs
Truro is Cornwall’s only city and the most southerly one on mainland Britain. You’ll find Cornwall’s only cathedral here, a Gothic Revival stunner with an unusually unaligned nave and chancel. What Truro is aligned with, though, is literary great Winston Graham. His Poldark novels are set in Cornwall between the 18th and 19th centuries and inspired by Truro.
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Africa’s Water Tower
By Linda Tancs
Far from just being second banana heightwise to Kilimanjaro, East Africa’s Mount Kenya provides water for about 50 percent of the country’s population and produces 70 percent of Kenya’s hydroelectric power. That’s one tall order. But lest you think it’s only a workhorse, you’ll be pleased to learn that the scenery is just as compelling. In fact, UNESCO describes it as one of the most impressive landscapes in the region, boasting glacier-clad summits, moorlands and enough diverse forest for the hard-to-spot leopard, bongo, giant forest hog and rhino to peacefully abide.
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A City Between Two Castles
By Linda Tancs
The Czech city of Brno sits between two castles—Špilberk Castle on the hill in the city centre and Veveří Castle on the Svratka River. The castles play an important role in Brno’s history, having been laid siege by the Swedish army in the 1600s during the Thirty Years’ War. Despite their significant power, the Swedish forces failed to maintain their position and retreated empty-handed. The Moravian victory is celebrated each year on 15 August, Brno Day. The festivities include a re-enactment on the slopes of Špilberk, a period market fair and costumed parades.
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Chile’s Storied Island
By Linda Tancs
Out of the three islands comprising the Juan Fernández Archipelago (so named for Spanish navigator Juan Fernández), Robinson Crusoe Island has a storied past—in the literary sense. Aside from the navigator and his sojourn in the 1500s, the only other visitor to the island over the centuries was Scottish seaman Alexander Selkirk, who was abandoned there for several years in the early 1700s. His adventures are commonly believed to have inspired Daniel Defoe’s novel, Robinson Crusoe. Sparsely populated today, it is administratively part of Chile and a mecca for scuba diving with visibility extending more than 65 feet. A World Biosphere Reserve, it also reportedly has 61 times more native plant species and 13 times more birds than the Galápagos Islands.
