Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Archive for short reads
Spoonbridge and Cherry
By Linda Tancs
A beloved icon of Minneapolis-St.Paul, Minnesota, the Spoonbridge and Cherry is a giant sculpture of a spoon topped off with a cherry. It’s located in the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, one of the nation’s largest urban sculpture parks. Designed by husband and wife Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen, the giant 5,800 pound spoon stretches 52 feet across a small pond shaped like a linden tree seed. A fine stream of water, just enough to make the aluminum 1,200 pound cherry gleam, flows over the cherry from the base of the stem. A second stream of water sprays from the top of the stem over the cherry, down into the spoon and the pool below. See it now; a major renovation of the park is scheduled for the spring, and its garden artworks will be placed in storage during construction.
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An Architectural Gem in Newark
By Linda Tancs
One of the few remaining early gambrel-roofed stone houses in New Jersey, Plume House is one of two 18th century dwellings still standing in Newark, the state’s largest city. Formerly a colonial farmhouse surrounded by an apple orchard with sweeping river views, it now stands sentinel at Broad and State streets adjoining a thunderous interstate highway and rail station. Built by John Plume in the 1700s, this old house bore witness to many events of the Revolutionary War, including George Washington’s retreat from the Battle of Long Island. Later it became the site of invention of flexible photographic film by Rev. Hannibal Goodwin, founder of Goodwin Film and Camera Company. Nowadays the house serves as the rectory for the House of Prayer Episcopal Church.
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Germany’s August City
By Linda Tancs
Reputedly Germany’s oldest city, Trier is quite august. Founded as Augusta Treverorum in 16 B.C. during the reign of the Roman emperor Augustus Caesar, its Roman heritage is omnipresent. You’ll find the famous Imperial Baths where the Romans went to relax, remnants of the St. Barbara Roman Baths from the second century and the Roman Bridge, which is still part of a main road into the city. And don’t forget the iconic Porta Nigra, the tallest Roman gate north of the Alps, measuring 98 feet high, 71 feet wide and 118 feet long. It’s one of the city’s eight UNESCO World Heritage sites.
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Tribute to a Mountain Man
By Linda Tancs
Near an unpaved road on the south side of Shadehill Reservoir in northwestern South Dakota stands a tribute to a mountain man. The honoree is Hugh Glass, a fur trapper in the 1800s who was mauled by a grizzly bear and left to die in the wilderness. Luckily for Hugh, his indefatigable spirit set him crawling for 200 miles from the site of the attack to eventual safety (and medical assistance) at Fort Kiowa. A monument marks the spot where the bear attacked. His life is commemorated in the film The Revenant.
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The 2016 European Capitals of Culture
By Linda Tancs
New year, new cultural pursuits. The European Union’s honorees for 2016 Capitals of Culture are the Spanish city of Donostia-San Sebastian and Wroclaw, Poland’s fourth largest city. San Sebastian, the third largest city in the Basque Country, is focusing their agenda on a community of culture to foster peaceful coexistence. Seeking to link the two cultural capitals, Wroclaw’s opera director is planning a massive Spanish folk musical at the local stadium, featuring 50 dance groups and 80 choirs performing under the direction of a Spaniard. What a perfect way to promote understanding through culture and the arts.
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Rocks of Ages
By Linda Tancs
Cappadocia, Turkey, is a kingdom of caves and rock formations. Above ground, the chimney-like rocks have been carved into dwellings and, in some cases, luxury hotels. Below ground teems an ancient metropolis, carved deep into the earth by troglodytes. How best to view it depends on your point of view, literally. How about a hot air balloon ride above ground? Some of the underground cities, like Derinkuyu (the deepest), are open for tours.
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New Glass in China
By Linda Tancs
Twenty-five times stronger than other forms of glass, the glass-bottomed suspension bridge at Shiniuzhai National Geological Park in southeastern China’s Hunan province is aptly named Brave Man’s Bridge (Haohan Qiao). It stands, after all, 590 feet above a valley, a vertigo-inducing attraction in a land enamored with skywalks these days. But, as the saying goes, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet. The skywalk to end all skywalks is afoot (no pun intended) in Zhangjiajie National Park. Spanning a gap between two cliffs at a height of 984 feet and a length of 1,410, it will be the world’s highest and longest glass-bottomed bridge.
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Chocolate for a Cause
By Linda Tancs
Famagusta Gate is one of three original entrances into the old city of Nicosia, the capital of Cyprus. Not surprisingly, it serves as a cultural center. This weekend you could call it a chocolate center. That’s because the third annual chocolate festival is coming to town. A festive event, previous participants included ION chocolate, Lindt, Kalopesas and Platres Chocolate Workshop. Live chocolate shows, lessons and exhibitions are on the agenda. As usual, proceeds will be donated to local charities, a good reason to indulge without guilt.
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The Graveyard of the Pacific
By Linda Tancs
The Columbia River Bar represents a clash of the titans. That’s where the mighty Columbia River (the largest in the Pacific Northwest) meets the Pacific Ocean. As the river surges towards its meeting point, it drops a deposit of sand and silt that extends six miles into the ocean. Not surprisingly, this can result in a navigational nightmare. In fact, since 1792 around 2,000 ships have sunk in this area, earning it the moniker “Graveyard of the Pacific.” One of the most popular shipwrecks is the Peter Iredale. Its skeletal remains are on the beach at Clapsop Spit at Fort Stevens State Park in Hammond, Oregon.
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On the Ridge of First Mountain
By Linda Tancs
Originally known as “Kypsburg,” Kip’s Castle and its grounds span the ridge of First Mountain, on the border between Montclair and Verona townships in New Jersey. Constructed in the early 1900s for textile inventor and industrialist Frederick Ellsworth Kip and his wife, the estate’s glorious 9,000-square-foot mansion replicates a medieval Norman castle. The first floor is open for self-guided tours, a particular treat this time of year with holiday décor in full swing.
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