Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!A Doggone Good Time
By Linda Tancs
Traditionally, the second Monday of February kicks off America’s biggest pooch pageant, the Westminster Dog Show at Madison Square Garden in New York City. This year is no exception. On Monday and Tuesday, the great breeds of the world with origins from Egypt to Newfoundland will compete for the coveted title of Best in Show. This is a champions-only competition; no slouches here. They say with age comes experience, but some of these winners are quite young and accomplished. So which will it be: age before beauty or will the young and glamorous win out? It’s been a while since an oldie took the prize. In 1999, an eight-year-old Papillon took top honors. That’s doggone good.
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Fire and Ice
By Linda Tancs
On Saturday, Minnesotans in Plymouth will celebrate their Fire & Ice Festival. That means Parkers Lake Park will be converted into an outdoor gymnasium with bowlers and basketball players trading hardwood floors for nature’s white carpet. Don’t forget the ice fishing, ice skating, dogsled demos and fireworks. If the frozen tundra proves too much, you could head for the Mall of America, the country’s biggest shopping center, just miles away.
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Road Rage
By Linda Tancs
Of the world’s economic superpowers (to the extent we have any these days), the award for worst traffic goes to (drumroll, please) Russia. Funny that a country producing over 15 Nobel Prize winners has accomplished so little to unblock the box–gridlock, that is. Moscow stands on the brink of traffic collapse as drivers idle along at 8 to 11 miles per hour through major arteries that were never designed for the influx of over 3 million vehicles pounding the pavement daily. Add to that reports of the underground suffering under the weight of nine million commuters; it’s only been designed to handle seven million. So what’s an anxious motorist to do? Might want to try the helicopter taxi–at a mere 2000 euros per hour. As the writer Jim Herron observed, “All they have to do is look down at the traffic and suddenly they don’t feel like [flying is] that expensive a way to travel after all.”
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The Not So Bitter End
By Linda Tancs
Snow. Rain. Sleet. Freezing Rain. Snow again. Ice. Does this sound familiar to you? If so, then you must be thinking, as the old commercial goes, Calgon take me away. Tell your friends you’ll tough it out to the bitter end. The Bitter End Yacht Club, that is. Situated on a mile-long stretch of shore along the protected waters of the North Sound, this Virgin Gorda getaway promises to delight romantics and kids alike. The romance part is undeniable–secluded villas, sunset walks, his and her hammocks. The kid part, on the other hand, may make you skeptical. It might help to know that this Caribbean gem was reviewed, favorably, by the Family Travel Network. Apparently, teens and tweens can vacation without TVs. Maybe you should test that theory yourself. Tell them Blackbeard sent you.
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Ambulance in the Sky
By Linda Tancs
The US Air incident taught us many lessons. One question to ponder is this: if you’re hospitalized as an inpatient hundreds of miles from home, do you have the resources to get transported to the hospital of your choice? Your insurance coverage may require you to choose the medical facility closest to your location–whether that’s in Toledo or Timbuktu. If it’s choice you want, then Air Ambulance card membership gives you the option to get flown from your current locale to the facility you designate. How’s that for simple?
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Chinese New Year Continues
By Linda Tancs
Here’s one New Year’s celebration that doesn’t end the morning after. Chinese New Year is a fifteen-day event (having begun this year on 26 January), culminating with the Lantern Festival, when brilliantly decorated paper lanterns are strung and parades mark the end of the New Year festivities. This year marks the Year of the Ox. Legend has it that Buddha invited all the animals to meet him on New Year’s Day. Of the twelve that arrived, Buddha named a year after each one. The other animals are rat, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and boar. The ox is denoted as hardworking and dependable, marking a characteristic of those born every twelve years under its influence. As an English proverb says, “The old ox plows a straight furrow.” May your path be long and prosperous.
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Germans Ace Driving Survey
By Linda Tancs
Volkswagen called it Fahrvergnügen (driving pleasure). That is, the experience of handling one of its vehicles on the open road. No doubt that sentiment extends to any driver on the miles of connected highway in Germany known as the Autobahn, particularly if light traffic means you can ignore the “recommended” speed limit of 80 mph, as many often do. It should come as no surprise, then, that the German specialty of white-knuckle driving ranks them #1 amongst Europeans as the best drivers in a poll conducted by Ipsos. Best doesn’t mean safest, of course. Another survey bestows that appellation on the British, who perhaps observe the adage, “Never drive faster than your guardian angel can fly.” That’s one rule we should all do well to remember.
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Happy 169th Birthday
By Linda Tancs
Those of us in the northern hemisphere can still celebrate the 169th birthday of Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city. And how did the locals mark the day? With a regatta, of course. The Auckland Anniversary Regatta takes place each year on the last Monday of January. Holding dual distinction as New Zealand’s oldest sporting event and the biggest day in the city’s sailing calendar, the festive occasion showcases a wide range of vessels from tall ships to dinghies competing for honors in their respective categories. Spectators find best views at Viaduct Harbour, Bastion Point, North Head, East Coast Bays, Tamaki Drive and Orakei Wharf. Take note for next year.
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Mozart Celebrated in Austria
By Linda Tancs
The hills are indeed alive with the sound of music as Salzburg readies for its annual Mozart Week beginning tomorrow, timed as always to coincide with the birthday of Austria’s musical genius on 27 January. The International Mozarteum Foundation organizes performances from musicians, singers and orchestras around the world. Of special note is a series of concerts to commemorate both Mozart and Haydn, Mozart’s mentor. At the Mozart Residence an exhibition highlighting their mutual admiration will continue until 31 May. Here’s a good opportunity to understand Mozart the artist and Mozart the man.
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St. Lucia Honors Laureates
By Linda Tancs
January 23 marks Nobel Laureate Day, an annual event in the Caribbean island of St. Lucia celebrating its two winners of the prestigious award, Sir Arthur Lewis (Economics) and Derek Walcott (Literature). The day tops off a current weeklong celebration of the honorees, which focuses this year on Lewis’s prize in light of the struggling financial climate. Situated north of Barbados, this relatively unspoiled bit of paradise has much to recommend itself, including its twin volcanic peaks, the Pitons, a World Heritage Site. Although nicknamed Helen of the West Indies after the literary telling of Helen of Troy, its beauty is no myth.
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Travelrific® Travel Journal 