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
Unspoiled in Cornwall
By Linda Tancs
Largely unspoiled, Polperro is a quaint fishing village on the south coast of Cornwall, England. It’s dreamy for shutterbugs, picturesque as it is with cottages clinging to steep hillsides around a small harbor. That’s probably why it’s regarded by many as one of the most beautiful villages in Cornwall. It’s also well known for its smuggling history. By the late 18th century, much of the success of the smuggling trade through Polperro was controlled by Zephaniah Job, a local merchant who became known as “the smuggler’s banker.” You’ll find the village’s fishing and smuggling history recounted at the heritage museum.
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Portugal’s Prized Heritage Complex
By Linda Tancs
The Jerónimos Monastery (also known as the Hieronymites Monastery) is a former monastery of the Order of Saint Jerome near the Tagus River in Lisbon, Portugal. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the complex is renowned for its Manueline architecture as well as for being the final resting place of luminaries like explorer Vasco da Gama. The 16th-century masterpiece was the site of the ceremony for the signing of the Treaty of Lisbon in 2007, which initiated significant reforms within the European Union.
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Bath’s Tower on a Hill
By Linda Tancs
A key landmark in Bath, England, Beckford’s Tower was commissioned by William Beckford in 1827. Originally built to house his extensive art collection from the family’s fortune, the 120-foot neoclassical tower on Lansdown Hill ultimately fell into disrepair before a structural restoration in the late 1990s. Today’s Grade I-listed building features a tour allowing visitors to climb the spiral staircase, examine the museum collection, explore the Victorian cemetery and descend to the hidden grotto used by Beckford to access the tower. An add-on adventure allows small groups to climb to the tower’s lantern. The lantern is at the top of the tower with 154 steps to the start of the lantern tour and over 50 steps within the lantern.
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Saxony’s Towering Landmark
By Linda Tancs
A short trip from Dresden, Germany, Bastei Bridge is one of Saxony’s most famous landmarks. Located in Saxon Switzerland National Park, rock formations tower over the River Elbe spanned by a sandstone bridge about 250 feet long. Popular with hikers, there is no shortage of scenic routes. One of the most popular is called the “Golden Triangle,” a hike that runs between Stadt Wehlen via Bastei to Kurort Rathen. Lookouts abound, like Basteiaussicht, where shutterbugs will appreciate the opportunities at sunrise or sunset.
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Opera in the Amazon
By Linda Tancs
The Amazon Theatre (Teatro Amazonas) is an opera house located in Manaus in the heart of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil. Built at the height of the rubber industry, this jewel in the rainforest features a tiled mosaic dome in the colors of the Brazilian flag. It has a capacity of 701 seats and houses the Amazonas Philharmonic Orchestra. Located in front of Plaza San Sebastián, it also hosts the annual Amazonas Opera Festival. Guided tours, in English, are offered throughout the day.
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The City of Three Cultures
By Linda Tancs
Toledo, Spain, has been dubbed “the city of the three cultures.” That’s because after the Islamic invasion tolerant overlords allowed the co-existence of Jewish and Christian neighborhoods. In the historic Jewish quarter, visit the well-preserved Synagogue of El Tránsito, where you’ll find one of the most striking examples of Spanish-Jewish art in existence. At Paseo de la Virgen de Gracia, you’ll come to the area of Toledo’s convents. A peaceful stroll yields convents of San Antonio, San Clemente and Agustinas Calzadas, to name a few. Keep walking until you find Bisagra Gate, a monumental stone gate flanked by two circular towers. Of Arab origin, it was rebuilt in the Renaissance style in the 16th century.
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Barnard’s Silver Swan
By Linda Tancs
The Bowes Museum is an art gallery in the town of Barnard Castle, County Durham, in northern England. Opened in 1892, it was built to house the art collection of John Bowes and his wife Joséphine Benoîte Coffin-Chevallier. Not your average-looking gallery, it’s housed in a magnificent French-style château, boasting exhibitions of art, fashion and design. Its biggest boast may be the Silver Swan, an automaton dating from the 18th century acquired by John Bowes from a Parisian jeweler in 1872. The swan, which is life size, is a clockwork-driven device that includes a music box. It performs daily at 2 p.m. and additional times during holidays.
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In the Footsteps of Mythology
By Linda Tancs
Cited by Homer in his epics, Mycenae is the kingdom of the mythical Agamemnon. About 86 miles from Athens, Greece, archaeological fragments indicate that the site of Mycenae was inhabited since around 7000 B.C. The sole surviving piece of Mycenaean sculpture is the Lion Gate. Near that you’ll find a collection of beehive tombs, referred to as “tholos” tombs in archaeological terms. Another characteristic of the area is the Cyclopean masonry, a type of stonework built with massive limestone boulders, used to build the city walls. Don’t miss this trip back into prehistory to see some of the oldest remains of one of the most complex civilizations in all of Europe.
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The Black Wine of Lot
By Linda Tancs
Cahors is a town on the Lot River in the Occitanie region of southern France. It’s well known for its Malbec wine with dark, inky hues that ancient Romans called “black wine.” You’ll find plenty of it at Cahors market, a Saturday staple at the foot of the magnificent Cathedral of Saint-Etienne where tourists and locals alike gather. In addition to the wine, exhibitors offer local Rocamadour cheese, pastis apple cake, walnuts, truffles, saffron and foie gras, among other things.
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A Baroque Jewel in Austria
By Linda Tancs
Melk Abbey is more than just a monastery; it’s one of the most impressive Baroque ensembles north of the Alps and plays an important role in the history of early Austria. Since 1089, the Benedictine monks have been living and working in Melk Abbey in uninterrupted tradition. Saint Coloman (Austria’s first patron saint) is buried there, along with members of the Babenberg family, the country’s first rulers. The size of a small village, the abbey boasts 1,365 windows, 497 rooms and over 5 acres of roofage. A guided tour takes approximately 50 minutes and includes the museum rooms, the Marble Hall, the balcony and the library, which contains over 100,000 books. From April to October admission includes the abbey park with its Baroque pavilion as well.
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