Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Archive for tourism
Oklahoma City Remembers
By Linda Tancs
The Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum remembers those who were killed, those who survived and those whose lives were changed forever following the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. The memorial comprises an outdoor symbolic garden featuring the gripping Field of Empty Chairs, one for each of the lives lost. Indoors, the highly interactive museum takes visitors on a chronological, self-guided tour through the events of the day and its aftermath. The 20th anniversary of this significant terrorist attack is on 19 April.
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Denver’s Oldest House
By Linda Tancs
Denver’s Four Mile House is the city’s oldest structure, a testament to Colorado’s frontier past. Operating as a stage stop in the 1860s, it was the last stop coming west to Denver along the Cherokee Trail. The house is the centerpiece of Four Mile Historic Park, a 12-acre park just miles from downtown Denver. The locale offers year round educational programming showcasing Colorado’s rich pioneer history. The house museum is open for tours Wednesday through Sunday.
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Great American Main Street
By Linda Tancs
What do New Jersey, Wyoming and Missouri have in common? For the current year, at least, the answer is that each state boasts a winning town in the 2015 Great American Main Street Award® contest. Each year the National Main Street Center (a subsidiary of the National Trust for Historic Preservation) bestows honors on those communities it deems to be a shining example of commercial district revitalization. This year’s honorees are Cape Girardeau in Missouri, Montclair Center Business Improvement District in New Jersey and Rawlins, Wyoming. Thanks to the art of reinvention, you won’t find them rolling up the sidewalks at night.
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Tropics Trivia in Taiwan
By Linda Tancs
The Tropic of Cancer is one of five major circles of latitude (the others being the Tropic of Capricorn, the Antarctic Circle, the Arctic Circle and the Equator). In Taiwan, the Tropic of Cancer cuts through Shuishang Township (Chiayi County) and Ruisui and Fengbin townships (Hualien County), all of which have landmarks on the line. Chiayi County is a special treasure, the only county in Taiwan with three major national scenic areas: Alishan National Scenic Area, Southwest Coast National Scenic Area, and Siraya National Scenic Area. Some of the treasures you’ll find are Alishan (home of the renowned Alishan Forest Railway and the Tsou indigenous people), the fishing harbor of Dongshi (where Aogu Wetland Forest Park, the largest lowland forest park, is located) and the Budai salt fields, busiest this time of year when the sun is strongest and rain is scarce.
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Plein Air on the Teche
By Linda Tancs
Picture this: a juried art exhibition amidst stately oak trees draped in Spanish moss framed by a classic antebellum historic house. If that doesn’t get paint brushes moving, then what will? This weekend marks the weeklong inaugural Plein Air Competition at Shadows-on-the-Teche, a 19th century southern Louisiana plantation. Located in New Iberia’s Main Street District on the banks of Bayou Teche, The Shadows was built in 1834 for sugar planter David Weeks and preserves 150 years of history through four generations.
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Palace of the Normans
By Linda Tancs
A stronghold of Palermo, Sicily, the Palace of the Normans is a testament to the cultural, historical and religious influence of the region’s invaders over the centuries. The palace was begun in the 9th century when Sicily was under Islamic rule and still retains Arabian vaults in the basement. When the Normans conquered Sicily in 1072, the building was transformed into an administrative and residential compound marked by arcades and exquisitely designed gardens, an appropriate dwelling for the Sicilian kingdom established under Norman rule. King Roger II added the stunning Cappella Palatina, a chapel boasting Byzantine, Islamic and Norman styles that is highly prized for its elegant mosaics. Following additional reconstruction by the Spanish and Bourbons, the palace ultimately became, and remains, the seat of Sicily’s regional parliament.
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The Finger of God
By Linda Tancs
Known as the “finger of God,” the church steeple at Ulm Minster in Germany is the tallest in the world at nearly 530 feet. You can reach the apex by climbing a mere 768 steps; congratulate yourself with a well-earned Märzen beer. Striking as the church tower is, it’s not the only thing that sets this historic German city on the Danube apart from the rest. For starters, it’s the birthplace of Albert Einstein. It’s also home to such curiosities as the Schiefes Haus (crooked house) and homes on stilts in the Fishermen’s Quarter. And don’t miss the Rathaus (town hall), boasting beautiful 16th century murals and an astronomical clock dating from 1520. Love carbs? Then the Museum of Bread is for you, dedicated to the 6,000-year history of bread and the bakery trade.
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The United States of North America
By Linda Tancs
Named for its two private owners, the Pope-Leighey House represents renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s vision to create affordable housing for middle-class families. The architectural convention is often referred to as Usonian (thought to be an acronym for the United States of North America), characterized by a single-story, L-shaped home crafted with native materials. Situated in Alexandria, Virginia, the house is part of the Woodlawn estate, which was originally part of George Washington’s Mount Vernon.
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Most Beautiful Village in England
By Linda Tancs
William Morris, a leader of the Arts & Crafts movement, referred to Bibury as the most beautiful village in England. With the River Coln flowing alongside the main thoroughfare, it certainly is very charming, and the row of 17th century stone cottages along what is known as Arlington Row is a big draw. Little did Morris know how popular indeed his pick would become. The iconic image of Arlington Row is featured on the front inside cover of United Kingdom passports in an effort to deter forgery. Everyone has their favorite Cotswold hamlet, of course. What’s yours?
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Bounding Europe and Asia
By Linda Tancs
Associated with the boundary between Europe and Asia, the Ural Mountains (the Urals) stretch for 1,500 miles roughly north to south from the Arctic Ocean down to central Russia and reach into Kazakhstan. Among the world’s oldest mountain ranges, the tectonic activity giving rise to the Urals occurred about 300 million years ago between two long extinct continents. The range is divided into five parts: northern, southern, central, polar and sub-arctic. The southern Urals, stretching from the valley of the Ural River near the city of Orsk to the valley of the Ufa River north of Mount Yurma, are the most popular with tourists thanks to rafting opportunities, but you wouldn’t want to miss a glorious sunset over Shugor River in the polar Urals.
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