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 Underground Celebration
By Linda Tancs
London’s famed Underground–the Tube–is celebrating 150 years of service this month. The oldest of all underground systems, it comprises 250 miles of track, circuiting the capital both overground and underground. Its 426 escalators perform the equivalent of two trips around the world every week, and the miles traveled per year add up to 90 return trips to the moon. On that note, we love you to the moon and back–and happy anniversary!
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A Grand Parade in the Philippines
By Linda Tancs
Think Mardi Gras without the beads. On the third Sunday of January each year Cebu City in the Philippines (the oldest Spanish settlement in the country) brings to a close the nine-day Sinulog Festival with colorful parades and dancing to the beat of drums, trumpets and gongs. For the origins of this street party, look to the 1500s, when Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan planted a cross at Cebu and claimed the territory for Spain. He presented an image of the baby Jesus, the Santo Niño, to the island’s rulers, resulting in a conversion to Catholicism. The annual fiesta honors Santo Niño, and Magellan’s cross made of tindalo wood is a popular attraction in Cebu today.
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68 Miles of Art
By Linda Tancs
Most underground maps serve no other purpose other than to help travelers navigate the labyrinth of tunnels among terminal points. Not so in Stockholm. You’ll be guided not only to the underground system but also to its art. Sweden’s capital city has the largest collection of underground art in the world, gracing more than 90 of its 100 stations along the 68-mile route. Guided tours are available.
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Riding the Circuit in Patagonia
By Linda Tancs
Torres del Paine National Park is a UNESCO biosphere reserve in Chilean Patagonia. Rich with mountains (particularly the iconic Paine massif), glaciers, lakes and rivers, small wonder the area offers a plethora of activities like fishing, climbing, ice trekking, whitewater kayaking, environmental education and wildlife observation. The park offers a number of trails, or circuits, for day or overnight trekking. Those include the Pingo Zapata, Dickson and Grey Glacier circuits (leading to glaciers), the Paine Circuit (no pun intended–an arduous trail requiring seven to 10 days of walking), and Las Torres circuit (leading to the base of Torres del Paine). Get there via Santiago to Punta Arenas by air or via Puerto Natales overground.
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Simply Cool
By Linda Tancs
Amidst the aerial highway linking Zermatt and Matterhorn lies a castle of ice worthy of a princess. Zermatt’s palace of ice is the highest glacier palace in the world. Created in 1999, the 990-square-meter palace, 15 meters below the glacier surface, is accessible from an elevator at Matterhorn glacier paradise station. Your entry begins with a walk through an ice tunnel, accompanied by soft lighting and mood music. Besides the view, the site features ice sculptures and an ice slide. If you dare, walk back via a glacier crevasse.
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Gathering in Ireland
By Linda Tancs
If you want to understand what it means to be Irish, then make your way to Ireland for the year-long Gathering Festival. Of the 70 million folks worldwide claiming Irish ancestry, many will enjoy a homecoming to the cities, towns and villages of their heritage. The festivities include sporting and music events and clan gatherings. Someone once remarked, “There are two kinds of people in the world. The Irish, and those who wish they were.” Are you lucky enough to be Irish?
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European Capitals of Culture
By Linda Tancs
Marseille-Provence in France and Košice in Slovakia ring in 2013 as the year’s European capitals of culture. The cultural heart of Marseille Provence includes an area stretching from Martigues to La Ciotat. As usual, the opening ceremony in each city promises to be a spectacular kick-off event. In Marseille, the opening is a two-day event on 12 and 13 January. The twelfth features such events as a flyover of Patrouille de France, an art trail in Aix, and the Grande Clameur (a wall of sound incorporating ships’ sirens, bells and fog horns). The thirteenth offers treasure hunts across the region and a fireworks display at dusk over the Rhone at Arles. Košice will likewise inspire with a two-day opening beginning on 19 January. One of the most architecturally significant symbols in old Košice is the indoor pool, a structure experiencing an exciting makeover as an art and media showcase thanks to aid from the European Commission and the European Capital of Culture project.
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Trip the Light Fantastic
By Linda Tancs
Iceland may seem like a no-brainer as a winter new year’s destination, but not for the reasons you may think. Did you know that the average temperature in January is actually a bit higher than that of New York? What makes Iceland appealing to ring in a new year is the fireworks celebration. Their law places no limits on fireworks, so the lights will be flashing well into the night. Happy New Year!
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Costa Rican Adventure
By Linda Tancs
From the misty coolness of the cloud forest to the eternal spring found in the Central
Valley, there’s something for everyone year round in Costa Rica. Travelrific Radio®
looks at the following popular stops: San José, the Central Valley, Guanacaste, Arenal, Monteverde and the Nicoya Peninsula.
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Innocent Fun in Ibi
By Linda Tancs
What’s a little flour, egg and a firecracker or two among friends? The southeastern Spanish town of Ibi sponsors a food fight each year on 28 December to commemorate the Day of the Innocents. The 200-year-old Els Enfarinats festival requires participants to dress in mock military uniforms as they take over the city for the day and threaten infidels with flour, eggs and fireworks. The day is the equivalent of April Fool’s Day in the U.S.
