Travelrific® Travel Journal

Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!

Archive for norway

Earth Music

By Linda Tancs

From 22 to 25 June at Tromøy, the largest island in southern Norway, the organizers of Hove hope their alternative music fest will elevate your eco-mind as well as your rhythm. In fact, the only metal you’ll find at this shindig is in the music. The two-year-old carbon-neutral event rounds out the task with organic food. So pitch a tent at the campgrounds and be at one with the elements.

If you enjoyed this post, please share it on sites such as StumbleUpon, vote for it, or bookmark it. Thanks for your support! Travelrific® was featured as Blog of the Day on NJ.com!

Norway Celebrates Culture

By Linda Tancs

The Norwegian government has designated 2009 the Norwegian Year of Cultural Heritage with an emphasis on everyday life. To that end, a site has been created to highlight cultural trends and present articles from a vast cross-section of the public on Norwegian ways and customs. Gratulerer, Norge!

If you enjoyed this post, please share it on sites such as StumbleUpon, vote for it, or bookmark it. Thanks for your support! Travelrific® was featured as Blog of the Day on NJ.com!

More to Svalbard Than Seeds

By Linda Tancs

The Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard gained national attention recently when it opened its seed vault to visitors.  The vault, housed deep within an Arctic mountain in the capital city of Longyearbyen, was designed to safeguard seeds for the world’s crops to sustain life in the event of an apocalyptic event.  But Svalbard, which means “cold edge,” and its capital city should be remembered as more than just a “Noah’s Ark” of sorts for farming.  As with other Arctic destinations, you’ll find your fair share of reindeer, polar bears, blue ice and, between April and August, midnight sun.  Also, jazz and blues enthusiasts will find festivals at the end of January and October, respectively.  And around mid-March you can celebrate the end of Arctic darkness during SunFest.  Just like the rest of Norway, though, prices here are outrageously expensive.  Tent-based camping remains one of the most popular and cost-efficient ways to enjoy this northernmost inhabited tip of the world.

A Port City in Norway Celebrates Culture

By Linda Tancs

The unassuming little oil metropolis of Stavanger is celebrating this year as one of Europe’s capitals of culture.  Sharing honors this year with Liverpool, Stavanger is but a quarter of its size and is Norway’s fourth largest city.  Unlike Liverpool, Stavanger’s program of events is devoid of big-name celebrities and glitzy events.  Instead, Stavanger is providing a forum for innovative national and international artists, among them a Belgian musical group (in residence), an Israeli dance troupe, Lithuanian Oskarus Koršunovas’ provocative theatre, and a South African puppeteer, all in keeping with the theme “Open Port.”  Look for more daily departures from London Gatwick beginning in March.