Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Here Comes the Sun
By Linda Tancs
Sandwiched between high mountains in Telemark, Norway, the town of Rjukan has been enveloped in darkness during the autumn and winter months. But thanks to the ingenuity of local industrialists, the town is now bathed in light from new mirrors set up on the hillside to direct the sun’s rays to worshippers below. Don’t worry, though, the newfound light won’t melt the area’s prized snow and ice. Rjukan is still one of Europe’s best destinations for ice climbing.
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Whiskers in Washington
By Linda Tancs
Washington, D.C.’s Smithsonian is a treasure trove of artifacts and ephemera, often referred to as “the nation’s attic.” One of the many curiosities housed there is the 18-foot beard of deceased North Dakota farmer Hans Langseth. Dubbed the “Supreme Whiskerino of the Universe,” Hans (aka King Whiskers) continues to hold the record for the world’s longest beard. It can be viewed by appointment at the National Museum of Natural History’s Anthropology Department.
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The Castle and the Egg
By Linda Tancs
The oldest castle in Naples, Italy is Castel dell’Ovo (Egg Castle). This fortified site once housed the luxurious villa of a Roman knight before its transformation to a fort, then a prison, and later, a castle. So what’s an egg got to do with it? Well, legend has it that the poet Virgil placed a magic egg beneath the castle to protect it and the city from ruin.
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Into the Stratosphere
By Linda Tancs
In Las Vegas, the rides at The Stratosphere Casino, Hotel & Tower will make your head spin, as actors Michael Douglas and Mary Steenburgen discovered while shooting the movie Last Vegas. They rode the X-Scream, which propels you over the edge of the Stratosphere (866 feet above the ground) for that cherished bird’s-eye view. Stunt double, anyone?
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Serengeti of the West
By Linda Tancs
One hundred miles north of Los Angeles, California’s Carrizo Plain is the largest remaining grassland in the state, a terrain aptly nicknamed the “Serengeti of the West.” Poppies, lupine and monolopia dot the native expanse, as do fauna like the pronghorn, kit fox, antelope squirrel and giant kangaroo rat. Rimmed by mountains, its centerpiece is Soda Lake, a sheet of white salt guarded by the sacred pictographs of nearby Painted Rock.
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Ye Greate Street
By Linda Tancs
Ye Greate Street sounds more like a Shakespearean-inspired thoroughfare in jolly olde England than a main street in The Garden State, yet that’s exactly what you’ll find in Greenwich, New Jersey. Tucked in Cumberland County, this historic Delaware Bay community is anchored by the colonial and Victorian charms of Ye Greate Street. Its quiet country roads are perfect for bald eagle and bird watching. You also won’t want to miss Gibbon House (a mansion modeled after a London townhouse), the Tea Party Monument (marking a protest on British tea taxes in 1774) and the Cumberland County Prehistorical Museum, featuring artifacts of Native American life in the area as well as fossil collections.
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A Birthday Bash in Norway
By Linda Tancs
Norway’s most famous painter, Edvard Munch, was born on 12 December 1863– 150 years ago today. To celebrate this milestone, his homeland has been pulling out all the stops. In October, a viewing spot opened to mark the point on Ekeberg Hill where “The Scream” was painted. And the postal service is offering anniversary stamps of his artworks, including “The Scream,” “Self-Portrait,” and “The Sun and Madonna.” A member of the Munch family unveiled a new bronze and granite sculpture of his mother and his aunt, too. Although the artist’s vast collection of prints and paintings has long been stored at the Munch Museum, Norway’s cultural icon will be honored with a gleaming new glass museum on the waterfront next to the opera house.
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The Gem Capital of Brazil
By Linda Tancs
It’s easy to understand why tourism is becoming a major industry in Brazil. Consider the charm of Carnaval, the glam of Rio de Janeiro and the majesty of the Amazon. But gem hunters have a different reason to sing the country’s praises: Téofilo Otoni, a city in northeast Minas Gerais state where minerals reign (or, some might say, rain) supreme. Its trade in precious stones (particularly aquamarine) renders the city the gem capital of Brazil. In fact, an International Gemstones and Minerals Fair is held there every year.
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A River Runs Through It
By Linda Tancs
Minutes from Nashville International Airport and next door to the Grand Ole Opry, Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center beckons visitors with a glass atrium stretching seven football fields in length. Beneath the atrium lies a stunning display of indoor gardens and cascading waterfalls, viewable along an indoor Delta River tour aboard a Mississippi-style flatboat. Look out for Danny, the 80-pound catfish and mascot of the meandering indoor river. And what better time to visit Music City than during the holidays! The resort’s 30th annual “A Country Christmas” features more than two million lights and dozens of shows and attractions.
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Battery Travel
By Linda Tancs
Alkaline, nickel cadmium, lithium ion. Sounds like a chemistry class, doesn’t it? No wonder, then, that the transport of these battery-making materials is addressed by the Transportation Security Administration. You might be surprised to learn that typical, consumer-sized batteries are allowable in carry-on baggage. In fact, whenever possible the TSA encourages the safe packing of your batteries in your carry-ons rather than checked bags so that the items are easily accessible in the event that onboard conditions give way to potential hazards.
Travelrific® Travel Journal 