Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Archive for travel
Free Museums in Italy
By Linda Tancs
Free museum entry on the first Sunday of every month is making a comeback in Italy for state-operated museums, palaces and archaeological sites. That’s good news for tourists visiting renowned venues like the Colosseum in Rome, Florence’s Galleria dell’Accademia, Pompeii, the Palace of Caserta, Trieste’s Castello di Miramare and Turin’s Palace of Venaria. A complete list of participating sites is on the Ministry for Culture’s website.
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Lights Galore in Staten Island
By Linda Tancs
A world of light is waiting for you at Staten Island’s Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden. That’s where the stunning NYC Winter Lantern Festival is taking place until January 5. Over 1,000 lanterns will be on display over eight acres, sculpted into magnificent displays. The event also features a skating rink and cultural performances like a Tibetan folk dance and a form of Chinese Sichuan opera. Take the free Staten Island ferry from Lower Manhattan; free shuttles will transport you from the ferry terminal to the event.
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Christmas Magic in Lausanne
By Linda Tancs
Designers, wineries and food producers convene this time of year in Lausanne, Switzerland, for the annual shopping tradition, Bô Noël. Among the activities you can sample local cheeses and meats and indulge in a fondue ritual. The event is child friendly, too, including a festival of lights (Lausanne Lumières), featuring light sculptures in the streets. This year’s event runs through December 31.
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Eating Well in St. Barth’s
By Linda Tancs
There’s no shortage of Caribbean islands vying for the title “gourmet capital of the Caribbean.” St. Barth’s (Saint Barthélemy), a French island in the West Indies, is no less a contender. Graduates of the best hotel schools in France, many of the chefs on the island are experts at classic French cuisine. No wonder, then, that fine dining is a passion there. So is food shopping. In fact, the locals say that grocery shopping should be treated like a event, not a chore, and there are plenty of grocery shops dotting the island to buy a baguette or two. Most visitors arrive by air, which is an event in itself; the landing runway is 2,170 feet long, and the approach is often plagued by varying degrees of turbulence. As a result, the French aviation authorities require special training for any pilot who intends to land there.
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French Heritage in Illinois
By Linda Tancs
If it weren’t for the place names, you’d likely forget the influence of the French in what was once known as Illinois Country. Fort de Chartres State Historic Site, for example, served as the French seat of government and its chief military installation in Upper Louisiana from 1753 until 1765 when it was occupied by the British. Home to a succession of four forts, the present-day structure at the site is a partial reconstruction of a French colonial fort built in the 1750s, a massive stone fort that had replaced three earlier wooden forts, only to fall into ruin with the encroachment of the Mississippi River. The imprint of original foundations remains, along with two reconstructed stone buildings and a restored powder magazine, believed to be the oldest building in Illinois. Declared a National Historic Landmark and added to the National Register of Historic Places, the site is located 4 miles west of Prairie du Rocher.
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The Guards of Amalienborg
By Linda Tancs
Amalienborg Palace, the residence of Denmark’s royal family, is a people’s palace; in one of its four royal quadrants, some residents of the family share space with the palace museum. Like any other palace, a changing of the guard delights visitors. Every day they march from the barracks to Amalienborg for the changing of the guard at noon. What you’ll see, however, depends on who’s home on any given day. When the queen is in residence, the Royal Guard provides an extensive display of pageantry; when no family members are home, a Palace Guard suffices. You’ll know who’s coming by the flag flying atop the palace—the Royal Standard, the Flag of the Heir to the Throne, the Flag of the Regent, the Flag of the Royal House or the Swallow-Tailed Flag (which indicates that none of the members of the Royal Family is in residence).
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A Kiwi Christmas
By Linda Tancs
Auckland, New Zealand’s capital, offers adventure in every direction. In the area known locally as East Auckland, the coastline beckons water enthusiasts eager to experience the Hauraki Gulf, an area comprising over 2 million acres of blue waters dotted with emerald islands reachable by water taxis. This time of year, though, it’s the pohutukawa trees (known as the New Zealand Christmas tree for its crimson flowers) that grab the regional spotlight. One of Auckland’s most spectacular driving routes is along the Pohutukawa Coast, named after the iconic tree.
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Contemplating Bruges
By Linda Tancs
The Beguinage in the Belgian city of Bruges is the only preserved beguinage (a complex created to house beguines, lay religious women who lived in community without taking vows or retiring from the world). Dating to the 13th century, it’s one of the city’s best-known landmarks, comprising a collection of white-painted houses, a chapel and various buildings. Now occupied by nuns of the Order of St. Benedict, the park-like ambience (which does include an actual park populated with swans and poplar trees) provides a tranquil resting spot for locals and tourists.
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The Burghers of Calais
By Linda Tancs
France and England may seem like kissing cousins in modern times thanks to the Chunnel (the predominately underwater rail tunnel linking the two countries), but history reminds us that it wasn’t always the case. Consider the Hundred Years’ War, when Calais was under siege by the English for about 11 months. Facing starvation, the French decided to surrender, led by six noblemen who were willing to be executed for the cause, only to be spared by the English king’s wife. The episode is marked by Rodin’s sculpture, La Statue des Six Bourgeois de Calais, the most photographed monument in the city. It stands in front of the Town Hall, considered one of the most beautiful in Europe, adorned with a massive belfry.
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Wetlands in Spain’s Heartland
By Linda Tancs
Castilla-La Mancha is a region in central Spain particularly known as the setting of the 17th-century novel “Don Quixote.” But it’s also a bird watcher’s paradise, especially amid the wetlands in Tablas de Daimiel National Park on the La Mancha plain. Formed by the overflowing in the confluence of the Guadiana and Cigüela rivers, the wetlands are strategically situated on the migration routes of many bird species, including those that winter in the park. Its water birds are primary ambassadors, including the great crested grebe, little grebe and black-necked grebe, heron and cattle egret. The main access road to the park departs from the N-420 road from Ciudad Real to Puerto Lapice, which leads to the visitor center.
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