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
The Dunes of Dorob
By Linda Tancs
Sea and sand meet at Sandwich Harbour along the Atlantic coast of Namibia. One of the area’s key attractions are the sand dunes backing the coastline, rising in many cases to over 300 feet. Historically a commercial fishing and trading port, legend has it that the name derives from an English whaler, the Sandwich, that operated in the area in the 1780s. The scenic locale is now part of Dorob National Park, a conservation area running from Walvis Bay to the Ugab River.
Share this:
Stanway’s Famous Fountain
By Linda Tancs
Located in the heart of the Cotswolds, Stanway is noted for its Jacobean manor house, which boasts a famous fountain in its watergarden that opened in 2004. Rising over 300 feet, the fountain is the tallest gravity-fed fountain in the world. The rest of the manor’s watergarden is, of course, much older, created in the 1720s and considered one of the finest of its kind in England. It features a canal, a cascade and a pond at the tithe barn. While you’re there, don’t miss the restored watermill with its massive 24-foot overshot waterwheel, the eighth-largest waterwheel in England.
Share this:
Wildlife of Skomer
By Linda Tancs
Designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest, the Welsh island of Skomer is a haven for wildlife. Over 22,000 puffins reside there alone. Also, together with its sister island Skokholm, Skomer has the largest known concentration of Manx shearwaters in the world. In addition to its wildlife wonders, the island sports a standing stone of unknown origin known as the Harold Stone as well as two large 19th-century lime kilns that were used to heat lime for mortar and fertilizer. This season is a great time to visit. During spring the island is covered in a display of bluebells so vast that the whole island appears blue. Just off the coast of Pembrokeshire, the island (open from April to September) is accessible by boat from the village of Marloes.
Share this:
London’s Oldest Bookshop
By Linda Tancs
Hatchards is London’s oldest bookshop. It was established in 1797 by publisher John Hatchard and has occupied its current space at 187 Piccadilly since Georgian times. Far from a crusty old bookstore, it shelves are lined with the latest bestsellers and contemporary works along with time-honored classics. The store’s dedicated team can even source out-of-print titles. As one might expect, they’re the Official Bookseller to the Royal Household.
Share this:
England’s Woodland Memorial
By Linda Tancs
A site of national remembrance, England’s National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire is a woodland oasis featuring 25,000 trees with a collection of nearly 400 memorials honoring those who have served and sacrificed. The memorials are diverse in size and scope and represent a broad population of society, from military associations and charities to emergency services, fraternity groups and individuals. The 150-acre site is located on the edge of the National Forest on Croxall Road in Alrewas, close to all the Midlands motorways.
Share this:
Eye of the Sea
By Linda Tancs
The Tatra Mountains form a natural border between Poland and Slovakia and are the focal point for Tatra National Park, so-named on both sides of the border. One of the most indelible images on the Polish side is Morskie Oko, which means “eye of the sea.” Legend has it that the name harks back to an ancient belief that the lake’s bottom has a hole connecting it to the sea. It may lack a hole, but it doesn’t lack a superb reflection of the surrounding Tatras. You’ll find the lake in the middle of the park in southern Poland near the resort town of Zakopane.
Share this:
Glowing in New Zealand
By Linda Tancs
New Zealand’s Waitomo has a certain glow to it—literally. It’s home to glowworm-studded caves, a popular tourist destination. The most famous of the caves, The Glowworm Caves, offers visitors a boat ride through a grotto displaying a galaxy of these illuminating creatures. The narrators of this hour-long tour include direct descendants of the Maori chief who originally explored the cave. Waitomo is located less than three hours from Auckland.
Share this:
Israel’s National Trail
By Linda Tancs
From the northernmost border to the southernmost tip of the Red Sea, Israel’s National Trail was once named by National Geographic as one of the 20 best “epic hiking trails” in the world. It stretches around 683 miles, boasting a variety of landscapes from deserts in the south to forests, rolling hills and beaches in the north. A popular hike is the Big Fin, requiring a steep climb up the side of a makhtesh, a geological formation unique to the region that’s formed when soft sandstone is washed away by erosion, leaving behind steep walls of harder limestone. You may be lucky enough to find a “Trail Angel,” part of a network of volunteers assisting hikers through the mammoth trek as well as in the preparation.
Share this:
The Venice of Brazil
By Linda Tancs
Embraced by the Atlantic Ocean, the Brazilian city of Recife developed as a city of trade and as a major port. It’s known as “the Venice of Brazil” because the city is crossed by waterways linked by numerous bridges. Recife Antigo (the old town) offers glimpses into the city’s colonial past following the Dutch and Portuguese occupations. Other sites to visit include the Mamulengo Theatre (puppet theatre, a staple in northeast Brazil) and Paço do Frevo, a cultural space dedicated to frevo dance and music, which has been recognized as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.
Share this:
Ancient History in Romania
By Linda Tancs
Once a major fortress in Transylvania, Rupea Citadel is one of the oldest archaeological sites in Romania with human settlements dating to the Paleolithic period. The 14th-century, stone fort sports 10 towers, the most spectacular being the Pentagonal Tower, its angular structure being uniquely suited to act as a sundial by reading its shadow. Sitting on a basalt cliff, many forts occupied the site over the ages. It would’ve been lost to history if a restoration team hadn’t rehabilitated the site around a decade ago.
Travelrific® Travel Journal 