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
Dining Guide For New Year’s Revelers
By Linda Tancs
We’ll take a cup of kindness yet for auld lang syne, as the song goes. Would you like a four-course meal with that? How about seven? Barcelona’s Noti restaurant is offering a four-course, fixed-price fiesta for 120 euros per person. For less than 100 euros, you can add 3 more courses along with a midnight snack and fireworks at Hamburg’s Landhaus Dill. Look up more specials like these at The Europe Restaurant Guide. Happy eating, and happy new year!
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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.
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Petrol Costs Wallop Travelers
By Linda Tancs
The economy may yield more hotel vacancies in Europe than one would otherwise expect, but one thing that hasn’t changed is the cost of petrol, averaging over seven U.S. dollars per gallon in countries like France and Italy. And if you’d bank on using plastic to settle the bill, consider this: your card must have a computer chip in it, technology increasingly adopted in Europe to combat credit and debit card fraud. The use of the card is effectuated by verifying a PIN (personal identification number). It does not appear that any U.S. credit and debit cards currently possess this “chip and PIN” technology for use in Europe. The solution? Buy your petrol with cash on weekdays when an attendant is usually present, and avoid the chip and PIN conundrum you’ll likely encounter on weekends.
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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.
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The Spectacle of the Everyday
By Linda Tancs
Pablo Picasso famously observed that art washes the dust of everyday life from the soul. Imagine what he’d think of the 10th edition of the Biennale de Lyon, carrying the theme “The Spectacle of the Everyday.” The exhibition, running through 3 January 2010, encourages visitors to contemplate art’s place in a world defined by consumption. Through sculptures, paintings, videos, photographs or installations by around 50 international artists, the complexity and diversity of simple human existence–the dust, as Picasso would see it–is celebrated. While you’re in the city, why not experience the rest of the culture and heritage of this region in east-central France? Get a city card for 1, 2 or 3 days, which includes free access to the Biennale.
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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.
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A Millenium of Wine
By Linda Tancs
So what does Hungary’s Tokaj wine region have in common with the Taj Mahal and the Great Wall of China? Why, each of them is designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Such a designation may seem surprising for a quiet, unassuming wine region less than 3 hours from Budapest, but the story goes that they’ve been harvesting the fruits of the vine here since the Magyar conquest over 1000 years ago. The medieval cultivation process has been well-received over the years; Louis XIV, in particular, called the sweet white wine produced here the wine of kings. You might likewise feel like royalty at Gróf Degenfeld Castle Hotel, a former palace set amidst the rolling hills of a 250-acre vineyard. The Degenfeld family offers great food, wine tastings and tours from this four-star hotel in the heart of the Tokaj-Hegyalja wine region. Considering the lush pastoral surroundings of this historic area, you’ll no doubt find a peaceful respite fit for a king.
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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.
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Geoparks Celebrate Geological Diversity
By Linda Tancs
Shetland is, as its website says, an area where Scotland meets Scandinavia and the North Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean. Given this description, you would imagine there’s a fair degree of diversity in the landscape. Indeed, the region boasts a geological bonanza of newly-birthed mountains, ancient rivers, tropical seas and deserts. No wonder that Shetland has recently been designated a European Geopark. Simply put, a European Geopark is an area with a unique geological heritage that fosters the development of geotourism. There are currently 34 geoparks among 13 European countries. Learn more here.
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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.
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Gifts That Travel
By Linda Tancs
Humans and their furry companions aren’t the only things traveling. During the holiday season in particular, gifts travel too. For those traveling into the U.S. bearing gifts, you might be interested in knowing the Customs and Border Patrol regulations on the subject. As a nonresident, you are allowed up to $100 worth of merchandise, free of duty and internal revenue tax, as gifts for other people. To claim this exemption, you must remain in the U.S. for at least 72 hours, and the gifts must accompany you. This $100 gift exemption, or any part of it, can be claimed only once every six months. U.S. residents returning to the U.S. from a foreign country with gifts must declare them on a Customs declaration form along with items purchased or received. The goods may be eligible for an exemption or reduced duty rate depending on the total amount of goods involved. If you’re sending goods not exceeding $100 via mail, put the words “Unsolicited Gift” on the outside wrapping. Gift packages should also indicate the donor’s name, the nature of the gifts in the consolidated package (e.g., to or sweater), each gift’s accurate, fair retail value and the name of each recipient. Now make like Santa and let the gift giving begin.
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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.
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The Cognac of Napoleon
By Linda Tancs
In the vineyard-embellished countryside of Jarnac in western France stands the house that Courvoisier built. That is, Maison Courvoisier, a refurbished warehouse of brandy barrels overlooking the Charente River. The story goes that Napoleon sailed away to oblivion with several barrels of Courvoisier’s doubly distilled elixir. Enough to forget one’s troubles, I suppose. No wonder this house markets its drink as the cognac of Napoleon. Just a three hour train ride from Paris, this region is the homeland of cognac. Nearby you’ll find Hennessy, Martel and Rémy Martin.
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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.
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Tattoo You
By Linda Tancs
The 19th International Tattoo Convention gets underway in Berlin at Arena Berlin from 4 to 6 December. Here’s where you’ll find Isobel Varley, the most tattooed senior woman in the world, as indicated in the Guinness Book of World Records. Also appearing are legendary tattoo artist Herbert Hoffman and well-known illustrator Sarah Horwath. Will Elaine Davidson of Brazil, the most pierced woman on Earth with 6000 body piercings, make a return appearance? Some things really must be seen to be believed.
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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.
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Book Now for Shroud Viewing
By Linda Tancs
The Shroud of Turin will be available for viewing after a ten year break from 10 April to 23 May 2010. Revered by many as the burial cloth of Jesus Christ, it underwent restoration in 2002 and will be available for viewing at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Torino, Italy. You can now book your ticket online. Without a ticket, you can still enter the central nave of the Cathedral but access to the shroud will be foreclosed.
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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.
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Vampire Tales and Tourism
By Linda Tancs
Dracula is just so yesterday, as any adolescent movie goer today would likely tell you (think: “Twilight” and “New Moon”). I wonder what they’d think of Grando, though. Legend has it that Jure Grando, a farmer in the tiny village of Kringa, Croatia, died in 1656 and came back to life in 1672 to wreak havoc on his former neighbors until a stake through the heart ended the bedlam. Over 300 years later, however, the vampire mystique remains in full throttle in this hamlet of 400 souls in the Istrian peninsula, a Tuscany-inspired vacation destination. In fact, there’s now a Caffe Bar Vampire in honor of its earlier inhabitant, one of the first bloodsuckers ever to be documented. Point of interest on the vampire tourism trail to be sure.
