Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Rolling on the River
By Linda Tancs
Rafting, canoeing and kayaking get all the attention, but the simple pastime of tubing is still a family-fun way of drifting downstream through some of the greatest rivers in the U.S. All you need is a tire tube, life preserver and some sunblock! Then head to the Delaware River, for instance. You can float through historic valley towns like Narrowsburg or Minisink Ford in New York, past eagle lookouts, campsites, magnificent riverfront homes and Revolutionary War settings. Worth the price of admission, as they say, don’t you think?
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Budget Travel in Dubai
By Linda Tancs
For better or worse, Dubai is one of those places with a reputation that you need a trust fund to play there. Sure, that may be true when it comes to the super-luxe shopping malls and hotels, but you can enjoy la dolce vita at this Middle Eastern hotspot without breaking the bank. How about enjoying a museum depicting the pre-oil days of this gleaming metropolis? Or window shop at the Bastakiya historical district, where you can find a bed and breakfast in the area for as little as 350 dirhams. You can even rent your own abra (a wooden boat) at the quay to take you across the Dubai Creek for a mere 100 dirhams per hour. Are you ready, captain?
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Steering Committee
By Linda Tancs
Although Dallas, Texas may be better known for its financial wheeling and dealing, at its heart (both metaphorically and geographically) lies a monument to its pioneering past. Appropriately enough, at Pioneer Plaza in central Dallas (near the Convention Center) is a sculpture series comprising 50 bronze longhorns steered by three cowboys on horseback. Said to be the largest sculpture of its type in the world, the work is a celebration of the working life of the area’s earliest settlers. Featuring native landscaping, a flowing stream and waterfall, here’s a place for peaceful contemplation in the financial district. Feeling bullish?
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Bestival Festival
By Linda Tancs
Boutique music is celebrated again this year over the weekend at Robin Hill, a country park near Downend and Newport in the heart of the Isle of Wight. Known as Bestival, the event promises peace, love and dancing to eclectic acts like Bjorn Again, Future Sound of London and Alejandro and the Magic Tombolinos. Add to that a
campsite experience (complete with gypsy caravans and mini yurts), Bollywood Cocktail Bar and a fancy dress parade. In the spirit of keeping it green, public transport or ride share is encouraged.
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The Other Edinburgh
By Linda Tancs
Amidst the rough waters of the far South Atlantic lies Tristan da Cunha, a tiny island sharing nature’s resources with the neighboring albatrosses and giant crawfish. The most remote inhabited island in the world, this British possession is settled in its capital–and really only–locale, the very swashbuckling-sounding Edinburgh-of-the-Seven-Seas. Originally self-named by the Portuguese explorer Tristão da Cunha, the islanders live a peaceful life off the land and sea, exporting crawfish and tending to their livestock in the shadow of volcanic St. Mary’s Peak. Ah, the simple life. Alas, you can’t make it your own; outsiders can’t live or invest there. You’ll have to settle for a cruise stop, instead.
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Currywurst Museum Opens
By Linda Tancs
Think you know it all about German sausages? Well, forget your brats, bocks and weisswursts. These days, currywurst is king. Enjoying a cult-like status, the wurst has its own museum in Berlin, a stone’s throw away from Checkpoint Charlie at Schützenstrasse 70. This national dish of hot pork sausage and curry sauce claims its origin there. At the museum you can enjoy a multimedia experience complete with a spice chamber, experimental eat-in kitchen and faux snack bar for photo ops. There’s even a personality test to determine the type of curry you are. Open daily from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Bring your appetite.
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Spanish Festival Marks End of Season
By Linda Tancs
From 6 to 9 September this year is the Mare de Deu de Gràcia Festival in Maó (Mahon), the capital of Menorca, the second largest of the Balearic islands of Spain. Sometimes confused with its neighbor Mallorca and not as jetsetting as its sister island Ibiza, this hidden gem offers visitors a wonderful display of equestrian skill and majesty at its annual festival marking the end of the summer season. Beautiful black horses from the local area are paraded spectacularly through the streets, ridden by ornately dressed caixas demonstrating stunning feats of bravery, including jousting. The action takes place at Plaza del Ayuntamiento, where the party continues with music and dancing long after the four-footed stars have retired for the evening. So make hay while the summer sun still shines. Mahon is located near the island’s international airport.
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Nature Conserved in Venezuela
By Linda Tancs
Larger than the U.S. state of Maryland or the country of Belgium, Canaima National Park in Venezuela guards some of the area’s richest natural resources. So it should come as no surprise that it holds the title of World Heritage Centre. Comprising rolling savannas, forests, dense river woodlands, and sheer cliffs, the expansive park (30,000 km squared) in southeastern Venezuela along the border between Guyana and Brazil is covered by flat-topped mountain (tepui) formations of great geological interest. The sheer cliffs and waterfalls, including the world’s highest (1,000 m), form a spectacular landscape. Of course, all this natural beauty attracts tourists in throngs; the ongoing onslaught is not managed entirely correctly, according to some sources, and mining of its treasures is a constant threat. Let’s hope that the incalculable richness of the area can be balanced against the economics of tourism.
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Wheeling Around Princeton
By Linda Tancs
Albert Einstein biked his way around Princeton, so why shouldn’t other brilliant minds (yours included) do just the same? Princeton is a biker’s dream. If you’d like a little help learning your way around, there’s a tour company in Princeton that’d be happy to help. Tours include Albert Einstein’s house, Princeton University Nassau Hall, and the D&R Canal. You can rent a bike along with a universal fit helmet or bring your own gear for a discounted rate! Time to start wheeling and dealing.
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Self Expression Rules at Black Rock
By Linda Tancs
Starting today through 7 September an annual experiment in communal living and survival–the Burning Man Festival–welcomes guests in Black Rock Desert in northwestern Nevada. What is Burning Man? As the organizers will tell you, it defies description; it’s to be lived to be believed. I’ll offer an analogy: it’s a sort of Woodstock for the intellectually curious, but be sure to bring your own towels. In fact, bring anything you’d need to survive. Each year’s event has its own theme. Draw your own conclusions about the festival from these past monikers: Fertility, Time, Hell, Outer Space, The Body, The Floating World, Beyond Belief, Vault of Heaven, Psyche, Hope and Fear, The Green Man, and The American Dream. The theme for 2009 is Evolution. Of course, as with any movement in self expression, there’s art: performances, sculpture, installations and costumes. And, of course, the Man. This year, the Man will burn on the evening of 5 September.
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Travelrific® Travel Journal 