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
Princess on the Promenade
By Linda Tancs
Created by László Marton in 1989, Budapest’s Little Princess is a bronze statue along the Danube promenade between the Chain Bridge and Elisabeth Bridge near Vigadó tér. Reputedly the most photographed, it is but one of many gems in the city, including the statues at Castle Hill, the Holocaust monuments, the Liberty Monument atop Gellért Hill and the Time Wheel monument (the world’s largest hourglass) celebrating Hungary’s induction into the European Union.
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Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty
By Linda Tancs
Eighteen percent of the finest countryside in England and Wales is designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, or AONB. The 38 AONBs in England and Wales and eight in Northern Ireland are protected by national legislation granting them special legal status. Many are well known, like the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland, the Isle of Wight, Cornwall and the Cotswolds. Other areas may not get as much press–hidden gems just waiting for you to explore them. Consider, for instance, the Ring of Gullion, a ring dyke in Northern Ireland not found anywhere else in the United Kingdom. One of the few lowland AONBs, the Wye Valley straddling England and Wales boasts the first major river to be designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest along its entire length. And don’t neglect the smallest of the AONBs, the granite Isles of Scilly off the coast of Land’s End. What about Scotland, you ask? The countryside acts creating AONBs do not apply to Scotland; they have National Scenic Areas instead. The 40 NSAs cover idyllic landscapes, including legendary peaks like Ben Nevis and Glencoe.
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Chim Chim Cher-ee
By Linda Tancs
Even chimney sweeps have a holiday to call their own. Around 400 years’ strong, the Sweeps Festival has morphed from a May Day procession to a festival weekend with merriment enough to evoke memories of ol’ Bert in Mary Poppins. Held in the town centre of Rochester, England, the event this weekend features music, dancing and entertainment coinciding with Morris celebrations of spring. Sounds supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, doesn’t it?
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Life on the Farm
By Linda Tancs
Is a farmer’s life for you? Here’s one way to find out: choose a Swedish farmstay. With over 300 participating farms, you can choose your length and type of accommodation, like a quaint B&B on an organic farm, for instance. Don’t worry, you needn’t milk the cows. There’s ample opportunity for horseback riding, hiking, swimming, fishing–or just enjoy the fertile farmlands of a district like Skåne.
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The Jesus Trail
By Linda Tancs
From Nazareth to Capernaum, Israel’s Jesus Trail is a 40-mile hike in the Galilee that strives to trace Jesus’s movement through the region. The multi-day trek incorporates Nazareth, Sepphoris, Cana, the Arbel Cliffs, Tabgha, Capernaum and the Mount of Beatitudes, Tiberias and the Jordan River. Overnight accommodations along the route range from hotels to campsites. The breathtaking scenery and pleasing year round weather are sure to interest pilgrims and non-pilgrims alike.
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Geotourism in Malaysia
By Linda Tancs
Malaysia’s first established UNESCO Geopark is located in Langkawi, a popular holiday destination summoning visitors to its 99 islands in the Andaman Sea. Like other UNESCO designations, a Geopark is so named for its contributions to history and culture–in this case, add in its geological value. Datai Bay boasts some of the oldest rock formations in the region, dating back over 500 million years. The boat ride from Datai Bay to Telaga Habour presents scenic rocky cliff formations. And that’s just one of several trails through the area highlighting sea arches, caves, mangrove forests and tropical jungles.
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Behind the Falls
By Linda Tancs
Plenty of countries stake their claim as the land of a thousand waterfalls, but Norway’s falls sport some of the most unusual attributes. Consider, for instance, Steinsdalsfossen. Located in Norheimsund in western Norway, its nearly 300,000 visitors are attracted to the path behind it where you can observe its 50 meter tumble from the backside–a behind-the-scenes view, if you will.
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The Bionic Man
By Linda Tancs
Television viewers may remember the show The Six Million Dollar Man, a popular series about a former astronaut named Steve with bionic implants who goes after the bad guys as a secret agent. Steve, meet Rex. That’s the new bionic man appearing now at the Science Museum in London. Created for less than one million dollars, Rex is the world’s first complete bionic man, featuring an artificial circulatory system and organs. Life (or should I say, science) imitates art–and at a price much less than six million dollars.
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A Weighty Decision
By Linda Tancs
Samoa Air recently announced a world’s first: pay by weight. That’s right–the compact carrier is basing each passenger’s ticket price on the individual’s weight combined with the heft of the baggage being checked. So the airline’s tagline, “The sky’s the limit,” seems oddly appropriate. But given the debate that has ensued, this will no doubt prove to be a weighty decision, indeed.
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Highland Ghillies
By Linda Tancs
Derry (also known as Londonderry) is Northern Ireland’s second largest city and the first city in the UK to be designated a City of Culture in 2013. That means a yearlong slate of festivities is underway, including this weekend’s Highland Dance Festival. A hub for Scottish dance, Derry’s event is expected to draw the best of highland dancers from the UK and Europe. Get your ghillies on.
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