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
Living in Eden
By Linda Tancs
The biblical Garden of Eden is often depicted as a paradise filled with lush greenery, flora and fauna. That’s probably what most folks living in Sweden’s Tanto allotment garden think of their digs: a modern day Eden, complete with pastel-hued fairy tale cottages, picket fences, manicured hedges and gardens. Lots of gardens. Located south of Old Town on Södermalm, one of 14 islands comprising central Stockholm, the one-time potato farm boasts designer gardens, kitchen gardens, countryside gardens, vegetable gardens and any other kind of garden you can dream of. Visitors are welcome. There are frequent buses to Tanto and the nearest underground station is Zinkensdamm.
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Great Deal for Rum Runners
By Linda Tancs
Smooth and white with a hint of coconut. No, this isn’t just another garden variety Caribbean beach. It’s the Malibu rum distillery at Cockspur Beach Club at Barbados’ Brighton Beach. If the spirits move you, then now is the time to catch a great deal from JFK to Bridgetown with new service from JetBlue. For less than $500 per person, you can spend 4 nights in the quiet, adults-only Divi Heritage Beach Resort with private verandas overlooking exclusive St. James Beach. Welcome to Fantasy Island.
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200 Years of Beer
By Linda Tancs
Munich’s Oktoberfest is celebrating 200 years in 2010. So what better way to mark the occasion than to extend the party one more day. This year’s festivities will allow you to visit the Wiesn and imbibe the weizen until 4 October instead of 3 October. Better reserve your tent space early. The extra “anniversary day” is likely to bring out even more crowds.
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Bach is Back
By Linda Tancs
This weekend marks the 325th birthday of composer Johann Sebastian Bach. In perfect conjunction is the opening of the newly restored Bach Museum Leipzig, highlighting his original manuscripts and a multimedia exhibit. Saturday offers concerts and programming for the whole family. Sunday’s official opening coincides with the traditional celebration of Bach’s birthday at Thomaskirche, complete with a birthday concert to ring out the festivities.
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The Town of Boiled Beans
By Linda Tancs
One wouldn’t normally associate Bangalore, the tech haven of India, with boiled beans. That is, unless you consider the tale that the name of the subcontinent’s fifth largest city is derived from the term “bende kaalu ooru”–translated as the town of boiled beans. Not to be confused, of course, with “Beantown,” some 8000 miles away as the crow flies. Want to fly from Beantown (Boston) to Bangalore? You could try winning some free tickets with Emirates.
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Bizarre Foods
By Linda Tancs
In Hokitika, New Zealand, they don’t call it the Wildfoods Festival for nothing. On 13 March you’ll find various and sundry kiwis sampling such delights as worm sushi, pickled grubs, anyway-you-like beetles and crickets, and insect larvae. Top it off with some udderly divine desserts and wine made with flower petals to wash it all down. If you’ve got an iron will, you might need an iron stomach to match.
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Free Ride for Women
By Linda Tancs
It’s International Women’s Day, a day to celebrate women’s strides in equality, peace and development. In Greece, it’s an opportunity to ride public transport for free, particularly in Athens. Check with your local transport authority for benefits. Happy travels!
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The Bird’s Eye View
By Linda Tancs
Looking for a high-end eco adventure? You can enjoy the bird’s eye view of Curaçao’s azure blue waters from the treetop mansion at Lodge Kura Hulanda Beach Club. Set on wooden stilts amidst the island foliage, the “mansion” has two beds and two baths in over 1300 square feet of living space decorated safari-style for that out-of-Africa feel. The experience will only set you back $1000 a night–for starters. The more price conscious might settle for a Swiss Family Robinson experience for $100 a night. For that you’ll climb a ladder, then make your way through a trap door to a platform housing a zippered tent with limited utilities (lights, refrigerator and television), a bed and a nightstand. Bathroom facilities are below the platform. Not quite as luxe but hey, happiness isn’t a place–it’s a state of mind.
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Something Old, Something New
By Linda Tancs
There’s nothing borrowed or blue about St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, but there is something old and new about it. What’s new is the 60-plus million dollar renovation, timed to conclude (in substantial part) with the church’s 300-year anniversary. Today’s cathedral, built over three decades, was completed in 1710. Among the many recent improvements, the diocesan seat has been cleaned, repaired and restored both inside and out, the lighting and sound systems have been upgraded and the Grand Organ has had a facelift. What’s old is the battered slab of stone left untouched at the west entrance, a memorial of sorts to a storied past begun three cathedrals ago in A.D. 604 that has since triumphed over the ravages of fire and war and celebrated weddings, funerals, birthdays, jubilees and a number of other remembrances, both imperial and ordinary.
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Mojo for Your Moto
By Linda Tancs
Nothing says sexy like a 1966 Fiat 1600 S or a 1974 Lancia Flavia. Ready to add some mojo to your moto? Then head to Italy where you can tool around in one of these and other well-kept beauties on a vintage car tour around Rome, Milan, Tuscany, Abruzzo or your own custom itinerary. You won’t find a lemon in the bunch.
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The author has not received any compensation for writing this content and has no material connection to the brands, topics, products and/or services that are mentioned herein.
