Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Archive for tourism
Mini Wonderland Draws Mega Crowds
By Linda Tancs
If you thought Legoland was the only expression of world travel in miniature, that would be no surprise given that it receives the lion’s share of publicity. But there’s another micro world drawing large crowds in Hamburg, Germany. That’s where you’ll find Miniatur Wunderland, a warehouse sporting three floors of tiny replicas of life in Europe and America–a dollhouse world of such sights as alpine pistes, Scandinavian castles, the glamor of Las Vegas and a bird’s eye view of the host city, Hamburg. Although the site has been in operation since 2001, it has gained distinction for its labyrinth model railroad system comprised of eight miles of track winding its way through this little universe. Sort of gives new meaning to the expression, “it’s a small world.”
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Tempest in a Teapot
By Linda Tancs
I read an article recently about Irish teapots. Apparently, in the antiques and collectibles market, those little shamrock-adorned porcelain Belleek teapots make hearts go aflutter. One of the best known products of Ireland, they say. That may be true, but it’s doubtful that the area responsible for its production rolls off the tongue of most people. That would be County Fermanagh, the westernmost of the six counties that form Northern Ireland. Reputedly translated to mean Men of Monach, the region is supported largely by tourism and agriculture. The pottery visitor centre in the tiny hamlet of Belleek is nicely situated at the banks of the River Erne. Inside the lobby, the 28-inch tall Belleek International Centre Piece takes pride of place as the winning entry at the Paris Exhibition of 1900. Seems like teapots aren’t the only thing causing a tempest.
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Baja Tourism
By Linda Tancs
With tourism reportedly halved in Tijuana due to kidnappings and other misdeeds, it might be easy to forget about the assets of the rest of the state of Baja California in northwest Mexico. Located at the northern end of the Baja California peninsula, the area is rife with activities for landlubbers and seafarers alike. Just 20 minutes south from Tijuana you’ll find the beaches of Rosarito. Or go a little farther inland for some golf at one of two resorts in Ensenada. If it’s white-knuckle action you crave, then why not take in a bullfight at Mexicali? A few hours’ drive away is the port of San Felipe, a fisherman’s delight. There may be a 120 things to do in Tijuana, but the rest of the state is a peninsular jewel in the crown.
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Old Stones and Recipes
By Linda Tancs
Forget the glitz and glamor of promotional travel writing. In the Bergerac region of the Dordogne in France, they call it like they see it–old stones and recipes. That sums up the food and lodging respite befitting a swashbuckling Cyrano at the 17th century Le Manoir du Grand Vignoble and its 3-star restaurant. There’s plenty of old stone in this western part of the Dordogne, on the northern bank of the Dordogne River. Just head for the old town–vieille ville–immediately north of the river to the 12th century cloister Maison de Vins de Bergerac. You’ll find their recipe for wine-making success at the exhibition housed there.
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Andalusian Provinces
By Linda Tancs
Heavily influenced by Muslim rule during the Middle Ages, the Andalusian region of Spain is well known for its Moorish architecture. Experience the grandeur of Seville, Cordoba and Granada. Listen in at Travelrific® Radio.
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Equinox Approaches
By Linda Tancs
An equinox is an astronomical event at which the sun is directly above a point in the equator. Occurring twice yearly (in March and September–the vernal and autumnal equinoxes, respectively), the practical effect is equal parts day and night. The mystical effect, however, is something else entirely. For thousands of years the Mayans have celebrated the equinox with a convergence of architectural and astronomical glory at Chichén-Itzá and Dzibilchaltun. The event begins at sunrise at the ancient city of Dzibilchaltun where the rising sun aligns with the Temple of the Seven Dolls. As magnificent as it is, nothing compares with the global audience in attendance at El Castillo, the great pyramid of Chichén-Itzá . The structure, honoring the feathered snake god Quetzalcoatl, has a staircase on all four sides, the steps of which total the 365 days in a solar year. On the afternoon of the equinox, the temple is aligned perfectly so that the sun and shadows create the appearance of a giant snake going down the side of the stairwell. Snake phobics might want to sit this one out.
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Of Nooks and Crooks
By Linda Tancs
Of all the little nooks in the world, the Guinness Book has it that Scotland’s Ebenezer Street in Wick takes top honors as the world’s shortest street. Situated in the Northern Highlands, Wick owes its origin to the Vikings, who named it Vik (meaning “bay”). Measuring just two yards and nine inches, the tiny thoroughfare sports one front door. For a long and winding road, you’ll need to visit Lombard Street in San Francisco, California, where the world’s most crooked street at its crest gives visitors the most stunning views of Fisherman’s Wharf, Alcatraz and the rest of San Francisco Bay. Those with nerves of steel can drive their way through the switchbacks. The rest can get there via the city’s storied cable cars on the Powell-Hyde line.
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Sleepy B.C. Village Energized with Tourism
By Linda Tancs
If you can’t immediately place Esowista Peninsula, you are forgiven. But give it a short while longer and everyone is likely to be talking about the quiet, little fishing village at its tip along the west coast of Vancouver Island in Canada. Named in 1792 after Vicente Tofino de San Miguel, Rear Admiral of the Spanish Naval Academy, Tofino is roughly 5 hours from Victoria, British Columbia and offers a variety of wildlife, hot springs and cultural tours. Largely dependent on tourism and aquaculture, you can count on year-round saltwater fishing opportunities, with world-class salmon fishing and flyfishing in Clayoquot Sound. Environmental preservation runs strong here. Just ask the locals to point out Eik Cedar Tree, the mascot of Tofino, an 800-year-old Western Red Cedar saved from the brink of condemnation thanks to the activism of its citizens. That may seem like nothing compared with the Hanging Garden Cedar, a living tree with a trunk circumference of 20 meters and estimated to be over 2,000 years old! A tree is our best antique, as the saying goes.
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Getting Away From it All
By Linda Tancs
Off the florida keys
There’s a place called Kokomo
That’s where you wanna go to get away from it all
That’s what The Beach Boys sang. Never thought much about it–until today. So where, or what, is Kokomo? Apparently it’s a beach bar at Florida’s Holiday Isle Beach Resort & Marina in Islamorada, translated to mean “purple isle.” Apart from enjoying the original frozen rumrunner cocktail, what else is there to do in this neck of the Keys? Answer: sport fishing. According to the local chamber of commerce, Islamorada is known as the sport fishing capital of the world, hosting the largest fishing fleet per square mile. You can also kayak, dive, snorkel, parasail or feed a giant silver tarpon. For more of a “taste” of the four islands comprising this area, drop by the Island Fest on 4 and 5 April at Founder’s Park. So get there fast, and then take it slow.
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Are You a Wanderer?
By Linda Tancs
“Why do people so love to wander?” mused American impressionist artist Mary Cassatt. Why, indeed! U.S. government statistics show that in 2005 approximately 28,787,000 U.S. residents visited overseas destinations. Similarly, overseas visitors to the U.S. that year totalled nearly 22 million. That translates into lots of tour directors leading tours. Do you want to be one of them? ITMI in California has been training tour leaders for 30 years. Maybe it’s time to broaden your horizons. In the immortal words of Robert Louis Stevenson, “The great affair is to move.”
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