Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Born Free
By Linda Tancs
In Africa’s Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, the animals are born free. One of the largest conservation areas of its kind, the absence of man-made barriers allows game including lions, leopards, cheetahs, antelope, springbok and wildebeest to roam freely. Although wildlife can be spotted year-round, viewing is best before the end of the rainy season this month. The park is located between South Africa and Botswana in the southern Kalahari Desert.
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A Symbol of Resilience in Manhattan
By Linda Tancs
Today marks the official opening of New York City’s National September 11 Museum to the general public. The complex includes an outdoor memorial plaza with reflecting pools (already accessible to visitors from around the world) and a museum of 10,000 artifacts and exhibits, including personal effects, wreckage and videos. The twin reflecting pools sit within the footprints where the World Trade Center’s twin towers once stood. The name of every person who died during the 1993 attack as well as those who died on September 11, 2001 at the World Trade Center, near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, and at the Pentagon are inscribed into bronze panels edging the pools. Inside, the museum’s Last Column (an imposing hulk of steel that helped support the inner core of the south tower and was last to be salvaged) serves as a somber backdrop in a cavernous hall that recounts the heroism and courage displayed on that fateful day. Purchase advance museum tickets for access at your preferred time and date. The site is within easy reach of public transportation.
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Gone With the Wind
By Linda Tancs
The Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Gone With the Wind spawned one of the highest-grossing motion pictures of all time, not to mention classic quotes. Fans may love to talk the talk, but now they can walk the walk via the Gone With the Wind Trail. Winding its way in and around Atlanta, the journey takes in sites such as Margaret Mitchell’s house (an apartment in the 1930s, which she famously referred to as “the dump”), her grave at Oakland Cemetery and the Gone With the Wind Museum, where Scarlett’s honeymoon gown (one of only eight originals known to exist) is a popular attraction. Springtime is a great time for a visit, when the state is awash in color thanks to plentiful azaleas, wisteria and magnolias. Don’t expect to complete the entire circuit (taking in Atlanta, Marietta and Jonesboro) in a single day. Why should you? As Scarlett so aptly put it, “Tomorrow is another day.”
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Take a Walk
By Linda Tancs
Writer Robert Louis Stevenson once remarked that the forest changes and renews a weary spirit. That’s good news for England’s Midlands: the centre of England, once a hub for the Industrial Revolution, is being renewed and recharged with the dedication of 200 square miles to conservation. Dubbed The National Forest, it embraces parts of Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Staffordshire. And what better way to explore a forest than on foot! This year marks the launch of the National Forest Way, a 75-mile waymarked path traversing the region. Coinciding with the launch of the trail is the National Forest Walking Festival. Taking place through 29 May, you’ll have over 70 walks to choose from as you ramble in the woodlands.
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Hanseatic Links are Celebrated
By Linda Tancs
Throughout the North Sea and Baltic Sea regions, seafaring merchants joined together centuries ago to form a social, cultural and economic alliance known as the Hanseatic League. During medieval times, League members met on a “Hanse day” to agree on commercial matters. Nowadays Hanseatic unity is celebrated each year on International Hanse Day. Celebrated on the third Saturday of May, the maritime communities commemorate their Hanseatic links, past and present. At England’s King’s Lynn, for instance, the medieval maritime town will feature guided walking tours along the waterfront, fire breathers and minstrels, archery, craft demonstrations and fireworks.
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The Spice Coast of India
By Linda Tancs
Located on the southwestern coast of India, Kerala is a bridge to many cultures thanks to its ancient standing as India’s Spice Coast. Trade brought gastronomic, literary and architectural influences from the Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Chinese, Portuguese, Dutch, French and the British. Nowadays, Kerala is equally celebrated for its unique geographical features and tourist appeal. Bounded by the Arabian Sea in the west, the Western Ghats in the east, and networked by 44 rivers, India’s most pristine state offers a pleasing, year-round climate to enjoy its beaches, backwaters, hill stations and exotic wildlife. Small wonder that it’s known as God’s Own Country.
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The Biblical Zoo
By Linda Tancs
There’s a veritable alphabet soup of animals mentioned in the Bible: from ants and bears to vultures and wolves. Those references come to life at the Biblical Zoo. Officially known as The Tisch Family Zoological Gardens in Jerusalem, the facility has amassed a vast collection of God’s creatures in every category: mammals, birds, fish, invertebrates, reptiles and amphibians. Noah would be proud; there’s even an ark-like visitors’ centre.
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A Beautiful World
By Linda Tancs
Derived from the French “belle” (beautiful) and “monde” (world), Belmond is the new brand name for a collection of hotels and travel experiences around the world originating from the Orient-Express banner. The storied Venice Simplon-Orient-Express will retain its identity, however. To celebrate the launch of the new brand, guests booking for travel by 30 June 2014 can enjoy 15% off standard rates (space permitting) across Belmond’s beautiful world.
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City of the Thousand White Sails
By Linda Tancs
In the late Middle Ages Camogli, an Italian fishing village, was awash in tall ships, giving rise to its venerable moniker “city of the thousand white sails.” Lesser known than its nearby cousins Portofino and Cinque Terre, it’s nonetheless a go-to destination for those seeking the peace and tranquility of a sleepy seaside village. The locale’s name is said to derive from “case delle mogli” (house of wives), a nod to the life of a fisherman’s wife. Even today the tuna nets lowered since the 17th century (the last working fishing nets in the northern Mediterranean) are observable from April until October in the sea at Punta Chiappa. The annual Fish Festival of Saint Fortunato, patron saint of fishermen, is held on the second Sunday of May.
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Chocolate in Paradise
By Linda Tancs
There’s nothing like a little chocolate in the jungle. In Bali you can tour Pod Chocolate, a hillside cacao farm located amidst jungle, rice fields and an elephant camp near Ubud. One of the few places in the world where chocolate is made just minutes from where it’s grown, your tour there includes an educational foray into the cocoa pod and a chocolate-making exercise. Their equation is simple: chocolate + antioxidants = health. So is yours: you + Bali = paradise.
Travelrific® Travel Journal 