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
Belfast’s City Hall
By Linda Tancs
In 1888 Queen Victoria granted Belfast in Northern Ireland the status of a city and it was agreed that a grand and magnificent building was required to reflect this new status. The resulting Belfast City Hall does not disappoint. Built in the Baroque Revival style and constructed in Portland stone, it opened in 1906. A one-hour guided tour will reveal its cherished features, including the stained glass windows, civic regalia in the Robing Room and the two royal thrones used by George V and Queen Mary in the Council Chamber. The building is located at Donegall Square.
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The Home of Concorde
By Linda Tancs
England’s Bristol Aeroplane Company at Filton was the heart of aviation excellence for over 100 years. At that site began one of the most famous aircraft projects in the world—the design, development and production of the world’s first and only supersonic passenger aircraft, Concorde. The first flight of Concorde took place from the Filton tarmac on April 9, 1969, a short but historic trip to nearby Fairford. Thereafter every British Concorde made its maiden flight from the airfield. Although Filton airport eventually closed, it is now redeveloped and hosts Aerospace Bristol Museum. Set over three hangars, the most exciting exhibit is arguably Concorde, boasting a multimedia experience all around the jet to educate visitors on its history. You can board the plane, once a benefit reserved for the wealthiest of travelers (or their employers). Give yourself three or four hours to tour the facility and learn about all the important flight developments that occurred at Bristol Filton. The museum is located on Hayes Way, adjacent to the historic Filton Airfield.
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Valley of the Flowers
By Linda Tancs
Blessed with an ideal, year-round climate, Panama’s Boquete is affectionately known as the Valley of the Flowers. Nestled in the Chiriqui Highlands, it’s adorned with masses of red and purple flowers. It’s also known for its coffee, the main industry in this region. Both the flowers and the coffee are celebrated each January during the Flower and Coffee Festival. The event features over 30,000 blooms (highlighting the prized orchid), coffee vendors and over 200 stalls with a variety of local artisans.
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Capitals of Culture in 2025
By Linda Tancs
In keeping with tradition, we begin the New Year with an announcement on the European Capitals of Culture for 2025: Chemnitz in Germany and Nova Gorica in Slovenia. Chemnitz is the third-largest city in the German state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden. Over 100 projects and 1,000 events are planned for the year. One of their flagship features is the Purple Path art and sculpture trail, an exhibition featuring over 30 international contemporary art works in public spaces. Nova Gorica is a town in western Slovenia bordering Italy. The key word for their festivities is “borderless,” a commitment to being the European Capital of Borderless Culture in partnership with the Italian town of Gorizia. Highlights include the first permanent cross-border dance ensemble in the town’s history as well as the launch of Europe’s first cross-border bee trail, an area along the border with locations where bee-friendly plants have been planted. More than 30 restaurants and bars in Gorizia and Nova Gorica have put together a menu of dishes based on honey products.
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New Year, New Travels!
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The Snotgreen Sea
By Linda Tancs
The Forty Foot is a promontory on the southern tip of Dublin Bay at Sandycove, County Dublin, Ireland, from which people have been swimming in the Irish Sea (dubbed “the snotgreen sea” by author James Joyce) all year round for some 250 years. It’s a bit of a tradition to take a dip on Christmas Day, if you dare, considering that the temperature may be in the single digits. To get there, jump on the Dart (train) from Dublin city centre, get out at Dún Laoghaire and walk all along the coast to Sandycove beach and the Forty Foot.
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Nine Ladies in Derbyshire
By Linda Tancs
The Nine Ladies is a standing stone circle located on Stanton Moor in Derbyshire in the English East Midlands. Dating to the Bronze Age, it is thought to depict a folk tale concerning nine ladies turned to stone as a penalty for dancing on Sunday. Actually, there were 10 ladies; one stone was discovered on its side in 1977. Although the circle’s purpose is unknown, it is not uncommon for formations of this sort to have been used as a meeting place, landmark, or place of ceremony or burial. The site can be accessed via a number of footpaths depending upon your start point. Formal car parking is available just outside of Birchover, less than a mile from the circle.
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Cavaliers and Roundheads
By Linda Tancs
The history of England’s Corfe Castle in Dorset includes the country’s civil war era. Among its many owners, the castle passed into the hands of the Bankes family, prominent members of the Dorset gentry, who turned the former stronghold into their country seat. The Bankes family supported King Charles I and his supporters (the Cavaliers) against Oliver Cromwell and the Parliamentarians (the Roundheads) during the civil war. They defended the castle unsuccessfully against bombardment, and the castle was ultimately destroyed. Due to the courage of Lady Mary Bankes during the conflict, the victorious Parliamentarians eventually presented her with the keys to Corfe Castle as a tribute notwithstanding its destruction. The castle remained in the family for over three centuries before being handed over to the National Trust. Take a walk among the castle’s ruins and grounds (which features an audio tour covering its long history), and look out for wildlife like the grey bush cricket and red kites, birds of prey with their distinctive high-pitched whistle sound and reddish-brown forked tail.
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A Scottish Neuk
By Linda Tancs
Famous for its idyllic fishing villages, Scotland’s East Neuk (nook) is generally accepted to comprise the most northerly part of the Firth of Forth and the land and villages slightly inland. St. Monans is the smallest of the East Neuk fishing ports, and that’s where you’ll find a picturesque windmill that was used in salt production to provide the power to pump sea water from tidally-fed reservoirs cut into the rocks offshore into salt pans. The industry is credited to Sir John Anstruther, who became the local laird in 1753. A village was named for him, which happens to be the largest of the Neuk and features a fisheries museum that tells the history of the fishing industry in the region. The festive spirit is in full swing this time of year, complete with loads of lights and Christmas markets.
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The History of Basildon Park
By Linda Tancs
Basildon Park is a country estate in Berkshire, England, with an interesting history. The 18th-century Palladian-style mansion was owned by Francis Sykes, who made his fortune in the East India Company. In modern times, the house was used as a 50-bed convalescent home for officers and soldiers of the Berkshire regiments during World War I and was used during World War II for D-Day training as well as a prisoner-of-war camp for German and Italian soldiers. Suffering damage as well as disuse, the house and estate were later restored by Lord and Lady Iliffe, who gifted the house and 400-acre parkland to the National Trust in 1978. Today Basildon Park is perhaps better known as a popular filming location for shows like Bridgerton.
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The Island of Dreams
By Linda Tancs
Home to the second largest lagoon in the Tuamotu atolls, Fakarava is affectionately known as French Polynesia’s Island of Dreams. A UNESCO Marine Biosphere Reserve, it’s prized for its multicolored coral as well as for its school of sharks in the Tumakohua Pass. Not surprisingly, these assets present irresistible diving opportunities, the most popular activity on the island. Rotoava is the main village, and there are regular flights there from Tahiti.
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