Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Archive for travel
Jersey City’s Oldest Apple
By Linda Tancs
In the 17th century the Dutch village of Bergen occupied an area south of Journal Square in present-day Jersey City, New Jersey. Historically, the village’s location provided perfect ground to keep an eye on the Loyalists during the Revolutionary War, particularly from a one-story, one-room deep farmhouse built of locally cut ashlar sandstone. That old Dutch homestead (subsequently enlarged) became known as the Apple Tree House, listed on both the state and national historic registers. Bounded by apple orchards and a cider press, legend has it that George Washington and Major General Marquis de Lafayette met under an apple tree on the front yard to discuss war strategy. Once owned by the Van Wagenen family, one of the area’s original settlers, Jersey City purchased the property in 1999 and has renovated it for use as a museum.
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Cavernous Appetites in Helsinki
By Linda Tancs
Caverna Restaurant is situated deep in a natural limestone cave near the center of Helsinki, Finland. Debuting last summer, the venue offers lunch and dinner buffets, including Brazilian churrasco meat skewers and Japanese teppanyaki-style food. Designed to make dining an entertainment event, the facility seats 300 guests. It’s just a stone’s throw away from Helsinki Central Railway Station at 5 Yliopistonkatu.
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England’s Wool Town
By Linda Tancs
Located in the heart of Suffolk, Lavenham is widely recognized as one of England’s prettiest medieval villages. Known in particular as a wool town, it was granted its market charter in 1257 and started exporting its famous blue broadcloth across the globe. Although its woolen trade fell to market forces in the 16th century, the village’s half-timbered medieval cottages remain the same today as they would have looked in those halcyon days. The Guild Hall, in particular, dominates the town and offers exhibitions on local history, farming and industry, as well as the story of the medieval woolen trade.
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Sweet Devouring in Mississippi
By Linda Tancs
Eudora Welty was a writer of international acclaim whose novels and short stories earned numerous literary awards, including the 1973 Pulitzer Prize for her novel “The Optimist’s Daughter.” She spent the vast majority of her life at 1119 Pinehurst Street in Jackson, Mississippi, in a Tudor Revival-style house built by her parents in 1925. There she crafted many of her works of fiction, book reviews and essays. A National Historic Landmark since 2004, the Welty House welcomes thousands of visitors a year from all parts of Mississippi, every state in the nation and from an average of 23 foreign countries. One of the most intact literary homes in the country, her vast library underscores her description of reading as a “sweet devouring” and her devotion to the arts. Tours of the house and its gardens are by reservation only.
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America’s First Settlement
By Linda Tancs
Historic Jamestowne in Virginia is the original site of the first permanent English settlement in America. It all started in June 1606 when King James I granted a charter to a group of London entrepreneurs, the Virginia Company, to establish an English settlement in the Chesapeake region of North America. They landed on Jamestown Island, where the settlers built a fort and the First General Assembly (the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere) convened to govern the Crown colony some years later. Thanks to archeological efforts, the lives of the first settlers and their relations with Native Americans like Pocahontas are displayed through exhibits and artifacts at the award-winning Archaearium museum.
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America’s Oldest Landscaped Gardens
By Linda Tancs
Home to America’s oldest landscaped gardens, Middleton Place is a National Historic Landmark. Located in Charleston, South Carolina, the gardens were planned by Henry Middleton, a planter and public official whose son Arthur became a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Its 65 acres are ablaze year round with blooms: camellias in winter, azaleas in spring and a collection of kalmia, magnolias, crepe myrtles and roses in summer. A trained garden interpreter leads a discussion of the garden design, history and horticulture. Guided tours include the Middleton family home, where original portraits, furniture, silver, china and documents belonging to family members are on display.
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Flying Tomatoes in Spain
By Linda Tancs
Tomatina is a festival that takes place on the last Wednesday of August each year in Buñol, Spain. Revelers parlay pelting tomatoes into prize-fighting furor, complete with chants of “Tomato! Tomato!” The hour-long street battle attracts participants from around the world, who gather around six trucks offloading 160 tons of ripe, red tomatoes. Be sure to wear old clothes and goggles.
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Jazz in Queens
By Linda Tancs
Jazz great Louis Armstrong was born in one of the poorest sections of New Orleans. He was rich and famous enough to live anywhere, yet, true to his roots, chose a modest house for himself and his wife for the remainder of their lives in Corona, Queens. No one else has lived there since. Now a National Historic Landmark and a New York City landmark, the Louis Armstrong House Museum is shown only through guided 40-minute historic house tours that start every hour on the hour. The tour offers glimpses into his life and legacy, including audio clips from Louis’s homemade recordings and snippets of him practicing his trumpet, enjoying a meal or talking with his friends. The museum is located in the northern part of Queens, New York City, close to LaGuardia Airport.
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Queen of the North Sea
By Linda Tancs
Part of Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National Park, Germany’s island of Sylt is the largest North Frisian island and the fourth largest island in the country. Referred to as the Queen of the North Sea, its popular holiday resorts (Morsum, Keitum, Rantum, Hörnum, Kampen and List) make it an attractive summer destination. Known for its tranquil beaches, a visit would be incomplete without a stop at the aquarium in Westerland, boasting a fabulous collection of North Sea and tropical fish. See more marine life in its natural habitat via a guided boat trip at the Wadden Sea, the largest unbroken area of mudflats in the world. The Hindenburg Causeway joins the island with the mainland.
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An Invitation to the Palace
By Linda Tancs
A longtime papal summer residence, Castel Gandolfo is a scenic, lofty little town overlooking the Alban Hills, roughly 15 miles southeast of Rome, Italy. Because Pope Francis has declined to stay at the pontifical villas there, they are now open to the public. So, too, is the Apostolic Palace, where an audio tour relates 500 years of papal history amidst paintings, relics, liturgical vestments, uniforms and other artifacts, including the sedan chair of Pope Pius IX and the BMW used by Pope John Paul II during his summer stays at Castel Gandolfo. Arrive in style via a special train running on Saturdays only that links the historic Vatican City railway station with the pontifical villas.
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