Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Archive for tourism
The Strawberry Gateway
By Linda Tancs
Strawberry Point, Iowa is home to the world’s largest–what else–strawberry. A gateway to Northeast Iowa, you get the best of two worlds. On the one hand, you’ll see the flat lands to the South and West; scenic rolling hills are to the North and East. Besides the obligatory photo in town beside the World’s Largest Strawberry, there’s plenty else to see in Clayton County. The kids will love Spook Cave, offering 35-minute tours. Nearby is the campground, featuring locally handcrafted Amish log cabins. Looking for something less rustic? Then visit the Franklin Hotel, a slice of quintessential small town charm.
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Secrets of the Silk Road
By Linda Tancs
The formidable Silk Road was a trading route of ancient Chinese civilization. The 7000-mile route stretched from China and India to the Middle East and parts of Africa and southern Europe. Amidst this terrain was the Tarim Basin, the second largest desert in the world. Located at the crossroads of the Silk Road, artifacts recovered from the area, like mummies and masks, suggest the area was active for thousands of years. Exhibits showcasing the diverse languages, lifestyles, religions, and cultures of the remote area are on display through 5 June at the Penn Museum, formally known as the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in Philadelphia.
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Morne Brabant
By Linda Tancs
Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean. At the extreme southwestern tip is a peninsula, Le Morne Brabant. Its cultural landscape, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, includes a basaltic rock with a summit of 556 metres above sea level. At this most scenic site is the Dinarobin Hotel Golf & Spa offering, among other things, a private club reserved to guests of Club Suites. The atmosphere is typically British colonial, bearing testimony to Mauritius’ rich colonial past. The circular shape of the tower and thick walls in stone replicate the structures which hark back to the days of the British Empire when several were built as protection against enemies during Napoleonic wars.
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Power in the Pyrenees
By Linda Tancs
The Song of Roland is a historic saga set in the Pyrenees, recounting the epic tale of a heroic knight who died saving Charlemagne (Charles the Great) from an ambush. That’s not the only legendary aspect of this area. Consider Andorra, a country between France and Spain in the Pyrenees Mountains. The sixth smallest nation in Europe with an estimated population of 83,888 in 2009, it tourism industry is estimated at over 10 million visitors annually. Some of them undoubtedly go to El Castell de Ciutat (Castle of the City), a hotel located on a small hill overlooking La Seu d’Urgell, the town of the Prince-Bishops. With the Pyrenees as the backdrop, this hotel is surrounded by Catalonia’s biggest nature reserve. Retreat into luxury.
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Going Green in Bellevue
By Linda Tancs
To say that Bellevue, Washington, is green is an understatement. With nearly 100 parks, the cityscape offers lots of green in between. Even in the heart of town lies a 20-acre oasis featuring a one-half mile promenade, bordered by a double row of shade trees, and a stepped canal leading to the 240-foot wide waterfall that cascades into a reflecting pond. A 10-acre lawn area invites picnickers to dine amidst Bellevue’s skyline with Mount Rainier in the background. Located at 10201 NE Fourth Street, the park is open from dawn to 11 p.m.
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A Day Fit for a Queen
By Linda Tancs
The House of Orange (the Dutch royal family) takes center stage on 30 April with the celebration of Queen’s Day, a national holiday celebrating the birthday of the Queen of the Netherlands. Beatrix, the current queen, was actually born in January but celebrates her birthday on this day in April, her mother’s birthdate. Orange banners, orange-colored foods and drinks, and copious amounts of people in orange clothing dancing in the streets and in boats along the canals rule the day.
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The Castled Crag of Drachenfels
By Linda Tancs
“The castled crag of Drachenfels/Frowns o’er the wide and winding Rhine” wrote English Romantic poet Lord Byron. That’s a reference to Drachenfels, a 1,053 foot mountain range near Bonn, Germany. The ruined castle atop the mountain bears the same name. A newer castle, down the Rhine and frequently referred to as the Neuschwanstein of the Rhine, is named Schloss Drachenburg, a palace constructed in the late 19th century. A German legend recounts the slaying of a dragon in a cave in the mountain. Hence, the mountain is named the “Dragon’s Rock”, or Drachenfels. An electric railcar connects the summit with the resort town of Koenigswinter.
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The Road to the Right
By Linda Tancs
Just past the entrance to Laguna La Restringa on Margarita Island, Venezuela you will come to a split in the road. Take the road to the right to see the bird life of this western remote area of the island known as the Peninsula de Macanao. Small green parrots and fire engine red cardinals dominate; an easy thing to do in a habitat devoid of tourism owing to lack of water and essential services. Enjoy it while it lasts.
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The 40-Foot Pheasant
By Linda Tancs
When the first settlers of the Dakota Territory arrived in the 1880s, rumors swirled about a giant pheasant. Legend has it that the elusive bird produced the winds of the Dakota Prairie, his footprints in the spring forming creeks and river valleys. The tale is memorialized on Highway 14 in Huron, South Dakota in the form of a 28 foot, 22 ton fiberglass pheasant. Eight miles west of Huron on the highway you can see real ringnecks at the Maga Ta-Hohpi Waterfowl Production Area, part of the National Wildlife Refuge System. Named Maga Ta-Hohpi (meaning “duck nest) by the Sioux Indians who dedicated the area in 1992, the refuge system includes breeding and nesting habitats for millions of waterfowl and is home to hundreds of wildlfie species including fish, migratory birds, pheasants, deer, and many other plants and animals.
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The Buffalo City
By Linda Tancs
Jamestown, North Dakota is The Buffalo City, home to the world’s largest buffalo statue–a 26-foot-tall, 60-ton concrete giant at the Frontier Village. Adjacent to the Frontier Village is a herd of real bison roaming 250 acres, including three rare albino bison. Culturally and historically significant, the bison’s saga from prehistoric times to the present is preserved at the National Buffalo Museum. Here’s one opportunity where you won’t mind being buffaloed.
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