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 Crags Deliver
By Linda Tancs
Jackson Hole, Wyoming is known as much for its signature tram ride as for its skiing. Emblazoned with the Wyoming Cowboys logo, the newly-refurbished fire engine red tram cars haul visitors over 4000 feet to the summit. Once there, you better “know the code” as they say and observe all safety requirements as you descend the pistes. Jackson Hole boasts 2500 in-bound acres and even more backcountry awaiting snowcat skiers, helicopter skiers, and snowboarders. At the Nordic Center you can find instruction on cross country skiing, skate skiing and snowshoe tours.
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Fun in the Sun Valley
By Linda Tancs
Sun Valley, Idaho is considered by many to be the birthplace of the U.S. ski resort industry. Now in its 75th season, the resort destination has had plenty of time to perfect its ski-town image. Located in central Idaho, this wealthy enclave has something for every level of skier. Those willing to test their mettle should head on over to Bald Mountain, or Baldy, where the vertical drop is over 3000 feet. For the more faint of heart, stick to the treeless Dollar Mountain where the vertical drop is a mere 600 feet. Cross country skiers will love the 25 miles of groomed and marked trails that begin at the Nordic and Snowshoe Center. If you need to brush up on your technique, you’ll find the area’s largest Nordic ski school in Sun Valley. This location may also be familiar to you as the site of ice skating shows presented by the world’s best skaters. Sun Valley Ice Rink continues to draw the biggest talent, and ice shows begin at dusk for a fabulous celestial experience.
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Life on Ice
By Linda Tancs
Over 15,000 icebergs are formed in the Arctic each year, and you can see them in places like Disko Bay in the Labrador Sea in western Greenland. The native Inuit spend their winter months hunting for polar bear, seals, and walrus to feed and clothe their families. Consider a visit to their local archeological sites.
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Mythic Kiev
By Linda Tancs
Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, is one of the oldest cities in Eastern Europe, known as much for the abundance of historic architectural monuments as for the shady horse chestnut trees lining the city from end to end. There’s almost a Parisian flair to this distinctive Slavic city—after all, the Dnieper River divides the city into two banks, left and right—just like its sister city to the west. Learn more at Travelrific Radio.
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The Fourth Test in Melbourne
By Linda Tancs
Playwright George Bernard Shaw once remarked that baseball has the great advantage over cricket of being sooner ended. No doubt it can’t end soon enough for the Aussies, currently entrenched in a two-month battle with the English known as The Ashes. The annual cricket match between England and Australia is playing out the fourth of five Tests in Melbourne this year until 30 December. The next and final Test is scheduled for 3 to 7 January in Sydney. Will the championship urn return Down Under?
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A Magical Winter at Europa Park
By Linda Tancs
Europe has had its fair share of snow already this winter season, and that makes the winter wonderland at Europa Park in Rust, Germany even more authentic. If the scent of freshly baked gingerbread and mulled wine doesn’t put you in the holiday spirit, then maybe the international parade of lights each evening through the miniature versions of England, Russia, Holland, Greece and Switzerland will cast a holiday glow. Couple that with a larger ice skating rink than years past, a Christmas market, winter circus and a giant ferris wheel presiding over the winter landscape and you have an unforgettable seasonal experience. Visit now through 9 January.
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Landmark Christmas Fair Awaits You
By Linda Tancs
Originating in Germany, Christmas markets have been imitated the world over but the grand dame of the genre is 576 years strong in Dresden. The Christmas Market features, of course, the usual hand-made goodies like glass, candles, wooden toys, puppets and other treats. Edible treats include deep fried curd balls rolled in sugar, ginger bread, sugar roasted almonds, candy floss and stuffed roasted apples. Top it off with a warming wine or rum punch. And don’t forget that Santa Claus arrives promptly each day at 4 p.m. with special treats for the kids until the festival’s close on 24 December.
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Just Ducky in Guy Mills
By Linda Tancs
Life is just ducky at Erie National Wildlife Refuge in Guy Mills, Pennsylvania. Its lakes and wetlands attract up to 20 species of ducks, not to mention the migrating Canada geese and bald eagles. One of over 500 national wildlife refuges in the United States dedicated specifically to wildlife conservation, the Pennsylvania landmark features at its heart Beaver Run Trail, a one mile loop with a spur trail at its eastern end. The four-seasons trail takes visitors through woods, cultivated fields and beaver ponds (as the name implies). Take PA 198 east one quarter mile to Cooper Road, then merge onto Hanks Road for one mile to the parking area on the right.
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Beguiling Orcas Island
By Linda Tancs
Orcas Island is the largest of the San Juan Islands, which are located off the northern coast of Washington State. Despite its size among the islands, Orcas is not named after the Orca whale if that’s what you expect. Instead, this cozy community approximately an hour and twenty minutes from the mainland city of Anacortes is named after Don Juan Vincente de Guemes Pacheco Padilla Horcasitas y Aguayo Conde de Revilla Gigedo, the patron of a Spanish explorer and viceroy of Mexico. Its fjords and coastal waters are a favorite among kayakers. Whale watching is, naturally, an option. So is yoga, biking, boating, fishing, golfing, camping and sailing. A solid experience awaits you. Maybe that’s why the locals call it “the Rock.”
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Nouveau Art in Monaco
By Linda Tancs
Modern, contemporary works of art have new digs in Monaco at the recently opened Nouveau Musée National de Monaco at Villa Paloma. The first exhibition is curated by German artist Thomas Demand and features works highlighting the natural world, a fitting tribute for an art museum situated nearby the Exotic Gardens and its stunning views of The Rock. The museum is open daily from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
