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
Kayak Race in Australia Ends the Year
By Linda Tancs
Along Australia’s mighty Murray River from Yarrawonga to Swan Hill comes the Murray Marathon. One of the world’s largest annual kayak races, the event is a 404 km, five day flat-water race along the Murray River, which borders Victoria and New South Wales. The YMCA Victoria fundraiser begins on 27 December and heads downstream through Tocumwal, Picnic Point, Echuca, Torrumbarry and Murrabit before finishing in Swan Hill on New Year’s Eve. Just in time for a festive rendering of Auld Lang Syne.
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The Hotel Tell-All
By Linda Tancs
Are you in search of the bare naked truth about your next travel destination? Is the beach really as pristine as those sun-kissed glossies would suggest? Wonder no more. At Oyster, they aim to expose those photo fakeouts that could upend your next holiday. Oyster visits hotels undercover and takes hundreds of photos of each hotel so their members can see the truth before they book–from Bermuda to Botswana. As the saying goes, the world is your Oyster.
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A Christmas Celebration at Winchester Cathedral
By Linda Tancs
The choristers of Winchester Cathedral have toured to international acclaim. Today and 22 December are your chances to make beautiful music with them at the free carol service. In this historic setting representing the seat of Anglo-Saxon and Norman power, you’ll bear witness to 15 centuries of English history. The cathedral is also the final resting place for literary great Jane Austen. And as she so aptly put it, may your Christmas abound in the gaieties which that season generally brings.
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Eye on Blackpool
By Linda Tancs
Blackpool is a seaside borough in northwest England. Heavily dependent on tourism, its newly regenerated Promenade features, among other things, a reopening of its iconic, Eiffel-esque tower. After a 10-month restoration project, the structure boasts an entertainment complex befitting any tourist destination, including a dungeon and 4D cinema. But nothing beats the panoramic view of the Eye, the refurbished observation deck with views rivaling London’s famous wheel. On a clear day you can see forever, as the song goes.
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The Artist Behind Brazilian Architecture
By Linda Tancs
Today is the 104th birthday of Oscar Niemeyer, a Brazilian architect specializing in international modern architecture. His whimsical creations include the concrete hyperboloid Cathedral of Brasilia and the UFO-like Museo de Arte Contemporânea de Niterói across the bay from Rio. You could plan a tour of Brazil solely around his works alone as this list of Niemeyer buildings will attest.
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A Titanic Cruise Fare
By Linda Tancs
Following the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic in April next year, Horizon & Co. will mark the occasion with a series of space-limited excursions to her final resting place. In July and August, the company will offer three opportunities to visit the wreck site and dive down in a deep sea submersible unit to explore the vessel close up on the ocean floor. For an experience like that, expect to pay a titanic sum–that is, from $66,257 for submarine divers or $12,498 for non-submarine divers. If those numbers give you pause, consider the effects of inflation. In 1912, a first class suite on Titanic was around $4300; that’s $50,000 or so in today’s money.
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Extreme Driving in London
By Linda Tancs
London’s International Horse Show at Olympia hardly sounds like the venue to be associated with extreme driving. Yet that’s exactly what’s happening for the first time at this year’s event. Extreme driving is a high speed indoor driving competition featuring the world’s top three drivers. A new equestrian disicpline, the action will take place on the evening of 15 December and the afternoon of 16 December. Sure gives new meaning to the expression, hold your horses.
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A Whirlwind Event in Turkey
By Linda Tancs
A whirling dervish is to Turkey what baseball is to America, a symbol of national pride and part of its custom, history and culture. Celebrated each year in Konya during the weeklong Mevlana Festival, the dancers commemorate the life and death of Sufi master and poet Rumi, founder of the dervishes. The event takes place at the sports stadium from 10 to 17 December.
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New Space at Tel Aviv Museum
By Linda Tancs
A new complex was recently unveiled at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. At 20,000 square meters, the Herta and Paul Amir Building is a study in contemporary building technologies, combining 430 polished cement panels into a mix of linear and multi-layered dimensions that ultimately unite to form a striking orientation for the visitor. Resembling a giant paper airplane, the space puts a fresh spin on the phrase “a new angle.”
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King of Wines and Wine of Kings
By Linda Tancs
In the Eger-Tokaj region, a quiet, unassuming wine region less than three hours from Budapest, the world renowned Hungarian wine, the Tokaji Aszú, ages in the cellars as it has done for centuries. Louis XIV called the sweet white wine produced here the wine of kings. During the first-ever Hungarian Wine Festival in America, you too can experience “the king of wines and the wine of kings.” On 3 and 4 December, Kossuth House in downtown Miami will host the seminal event featuring wine tastings and techniques designed to show you that Magyar culture is more than paprika and goulash.
