Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Archive for travel
Arts and Crafts By the River
By Linda Tancs
The 37th season of Oregon’s Portland Saturday Market,the largest outdoor craft market in the U.S., begins on 6 March. The event, located at SW Ankeny St and Naito Parkway in historic Old Town, gives 250 or more artists the opportunity to showcase their handicrafts. While there you’ll enjoy live music and exotic foods. The kickoff includes a children’s parade at 2pm. Are you a master crafter? Maybe you should think about joining.
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Flower Power in Philly
By Linda Tancs
Winter white will mix with “Rainbows in Flight” at this year’s flower show in Philadelphia. Now through 7 March at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, the largest and oldest indoor show of its kind has amended its moniker to the “Philadelphia International Flower Show” in recognition of its past exhibitions of landscapes and plants from Asia, Europe, Africa, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. This year’s “Passport to the World” theme builds on previous celebrations of the world’s flowers and gardens. Among the many offerings, visitors can experience the Amazon, trek through an Indian wedding, peek into Zulu culture, enjoy a tribute to the orchid and giant Victoria water lilies and witness exotic displays from New Zealand’s Maori tribe among the popular Casablanca and calla lilies. All the world’s a stage here, and you don’t have to trot around the globe to see it.
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The Ice Man Cometh
By Linda Tancs
The bogeyman may make sad the heart of childhood, but the Ice Cream Man makes glad the palate when he delivers personalized sundaes to kids before bedtime at Boston’s Four Seasons Hotel. For that you’ll need to book the VIK (Very Important Kids) package. What child wouldn’t love their own bathrobe and slippers, complimentary gift from the toy wagon, toy boat filled with treats and a scavenger hunt! Childhood is a short season, as actress Helen Hayes observed. The Four Seasons makes it a little sweeter.
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The Bird’s Eye View
By Linda Tancs
Looking for a high-end eco adventure? You can enjoy the bird’s eye view of Curaçao’s azure blue waters from the treetop mansion at Lodge Kura Hulanda Beach Club. Set on wooden stilts amidst the island foliage, the “mansion” has two beds and two baths in over 1300 square feet of living space decorated safari-style for that out-of-Africa feel. The experience will only set you back $1000 a night–for starters. The more price conscious might settle for a Swiss Family Robinson experience for $100 a night. For that you’ll climb a ladder, then make your way through a trap door to a platform housing a zippered tent with limited utilities (lights, refrigerator and television), a bed and a nightstand. Bathroom facilities are below the platform. Not quite as luxe but hey, happiness isn’t a place–it’s a state of mind.
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Something Old, Something New
By Linda Tancs
There’s nothing borrowed or blue about St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, but there is something old and new about it. What’s new is the 60-plus million dollar renovation, timed to conclude (in substantial part) with the church’s 300-year anniversary. Today’s cathedral, built over three decades, was completed in 1710. Among the many recent improvements, the diocesan seat has been cleaned, repaired and restored both inside and out, the lighting and sound systems have been upgraded and the Grand Organ has had a facelift. What’s old is the battered slab of stone left untouched at the west entrance, a memorial of sorts to a storied past begun three cathedrals ago in A.D. 604 that has since triumphed over the ravages of fire and war and celebrated weddings, funerals, birthdays, jubilees and a number of other remembrances, both imperial and ordinary.
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Mojo for Your Moto
By Linda Tancs
Nothing says sexy like a 1966 Fiat 1600 S or a 1974 Lancia Flavia. Ready to add some mojo to your moto? Then head to Italy where you can tool around in one of these and other well-kept beauties on a vintage car tour around Rome, Milan, Tuscany, Abruzzo or your own custom itinerary. You won’t find a lemon in the bunch.
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Age Is Just a Number
By Linda Tancs
Age limits are arbitrary. Just ask the folks at Exploritas. Formerly known as Elderhostel (sounds a bit hostile to elders, don’t you think?), they removed their travel barriers limiting tours to those aged 60 or over. That change, of course, does not magically transform the composition of a group. So why would a millenial explore the wilds of Iceland with grandpa? Therein lies an answer: family. As it was so wisely put in the movie The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, family is the most precious gift we are given. Looks like Exploritas figured that out, too.
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Do Not Disturb
By Linda Tancs
Those Do Not Disturb signs are as yesterday as dinosaurs at Seattle’s Hotel 1000, where infrared sensors let chambermaids know whether anyone’s home. The question is: does that technology protect Fido’s privacy, too? The hotel is, after all, pet friendly. At a wallet-friendly $40 per stay, your furry friend gets a bed, food and water bowl, chew toys and custom treats, among other things. It’s a dog’s life, indeed.
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A Hotel That Turns Heads
By Linda Tancs
The Marmara Antalya Beach and Resort Hotel in Turkey can turn heads. Perhaps your head–if you stay in one of their 24 club rooms that rotates 360 degrees to give you panoramic views of the Falez Hills of Antalya, the perenially sun-drenched Mediterranean and the hotel’s private beach and grounds. Sounds like a truly eye-catching experience.
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Hawke’s Bay Kidnappers
By Linda Tancs
Although it might sound a bit like something out of a comic strip, Cape Kidnappers is a luxe destination on Hawke’s Bay on the eastern coast of New Zealand’s North Island, a site said to be blessed with mucho hours of sunshine. The “kidnappers” part of the equation allegedly derives from an attempt in the 1700s by the local Māori to abduct the servant of a member of Captain Cook’s crew aboard the HMS Endeavor. Nowadays, you can steal away on your own at the resort occupying this site, The Farm at Cape Kidnappers. How about a tour of the 6,000 acre working sheep and cattle farm? Or maybe you’d rather commune with the 20,000-strong Booby gannet colony. Much rarer, of course, is the kiwi. Maybe you’ll see one on your discovery walk. Or discover your true handicap at the imposing golf course, hailed as one of the top 50 courses in the world, designed by the legendary Tom Doak. Whatever you do, better rattle your dags while the sun shines. It’s summer in the Southern Hemisphere, you know.
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The author has not received any compensation for writing this content and has no material connection to the brands, topics, products and/or services that are mentioned herein.
Travelrific® Travel Journal 