Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Christmas Market Celebrates 25 Years
By Linda Tancs
Situated in the picturesque World Heritage City of Bath in southwest England, Bath Christmas Market is celebrating its 25th year. The event features nearly 200 chalets showcasing artisan jewelers, cheesemongers, homeware and more. The stalls span a majority of the city’s main shopping areas, including around Bath Abbey, Union Street and Milsom Street. Weekends are quite busy; for a calmer experience, try lunchtime or Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday evenings. This year’s market runs until December 14.
Share this:
The House With the Eye
By Linda Tancs
Although it sounds like the title of a mystery novel, The House With the Eye is a red, wooden house-turned-museum in Leadville, Colorado. Built in 1879 by architect Eugene Robitaille, the eye refers to an eye in a stained-glass window tucked under an arched eve. Using the house as a model home, it was later turned into a museum, featuring contents donated by locals. Artifacts include a Studebaker horse-drawn hearse from 1890 and a whiskey still from the Prohibition era. The museum is located on West Fourth Street.
Share this:
Britain’s First Public Museum
By Linda Tancs
Founded in 1683, the Ashmolean is the University of Oxford’s museum of art and archaeology. Britain’s first public museum, it was erected to house the cabinet of curiosities that Elias Ashmole gave to the university in 1677. Their renowned collection ranges from an Egyptian mummy to contemporary art. It includes the Alfred Jewel, a masterpiece of goldsmithing made for King Alfred, the only monarch known as “the Great.” Arguably the most famous painting is The Hunt in the Forest (circa 1470), the last known work of an Italian artist named Paolo Uccello. You can browse more than 300,000 treasures like these online. Admission to the museum is free.
Share this:
Alligator Bay
By Linda Tancs
Neither alligators nor crocodiles are naturally found in Europe. Nonetheless, the continent’s largest community of these reptiles is found in France. Just minutes away from Mont-Saint-Michel is Alligator Bay, an animal park boasting more than 700 animals from five continents. You’ll find 150 crocodiles and alligators, including albino alligators, viewable from a raised walkway. In addition, the park exhibits a variety of turtles (featuring a new enclosure for giant tortoises) as well as lizards and snakes. Opening times vary according to the season.
Share this:
Italy’s Early Roman Splendor
By Linda Tancs
Located in the northeastern Italian province of Udine, Aquileia was established in 181 B.C. as a Roman military colony along an essential trade route that connected Milan and Rome. One of the largest and wealthiest cities of the Early Roman Empire, much of it lies unexcavated. For this reason, it is considered the greatest archaeological reserve of its kind and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. You can visit Aquileia as a day trip from Venice or Trieste.
Share this:
Avenue of the Giants
By Linda Tancs
Touted as the finest forest drive in the world, Avenue of the Giants is the most scenic drive along California’s Redwood Coast. Lined by those titan redwoods, the 31-mile road parallels Highway 101 and runs through Humboldt Redwoods State Park. It offers access to hiking trails, memorial groves and the Eel River, part of the federally-designated Wild and Scenic Rivers System with idyllic swimming, fishing and paddling spots. The area is also characterized by its standing, living drive-through redwoods, a treat for motorists.
Share this:
Where Rock Art Reigns
By Linda Tancs
Australia’s biggest national park, Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory has one of the world’s greatest concentrations of rock art sites. Providing a fascinating record of Aboriginal life over thousands of years, some paintings are up to 20,000 years old, which makes the artwork one of the longest historical records of any group of people on Earth. Far from archival, the paintings show objects they still use, animals they still hunt and activities they still do. You can view the works at Nourlangie, Nanguluwurr and Ubirr.
Share this:
Captivating History in Brittany
By Linda Tancs
Just a couple of hours away from Paris by train, Saint-Malo (named for a Welsh saint who fled to Brittany) is a historic walled city overlooking the English Channel. Its ramparts were built in the 12th century to protect the residents from Vikings, but it’s perhaps more famed for its population of pirates. Sanctioned by the king of France, this special class of pirates built the city’s wealth by pillaging ships passing through the Channel. A popular spa and wellness destination, the locale also experiences some of the highest tides in Europe, making its breakwater defenses an iconic part of the cityscape.
Share this:
Human History in Zion
By Linda Tancs
Utah’s Zion Human History Museum displays artifacts and archival materials from the permanent collections of Zion National Park. Visitors can learn about human history in the area, from the Southern Paiute from thousands of years ago to the Mormon pioneers of the 1800s. Once the park’s main visitor center, the facility is prized as much for what’s outside as for what’s inside. Check out the back patio for a dramatic view of the West Temple and the Towers of the Virgin. In front of the building you’ll enjoy views of Bridge Mountain. When the canyon shuttle is running, the museum is stop #2. Otherwise, you’ll find it one half mile north of the park’s south entrance on the main park road or 11 miles west from the east entrance.
Share this:
Bonaire’s Underwater Park
By Linda Tancs
Bonaire National Marine Park is one of the oldest marine reserves in the world. It includes the sea around Bonaire and Klein Bonaire from the high water line to a depth of approximately 200 feet. The area includes Lac Bay, a shallow water lagoon featuring a fringing coral reef, seagrass meadows and the largest mangrove forest in the Dutch Caribbean. Boasting nearly 100 dive sites, the park is a popular diving destination year round, with sites accessible by boat or from the shore.
Travelrific® Travel Journal 