Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Archive for travel writing
Visit the Stone Age
By Linda Tancs
Goa is a state in western India with coastlines stretching along the Arabian Sea. Needless to say, it’s known for its beaches, but a visit here will take you back a step (or two) in time to the Stone Age. Rock carvings and rock engravings founds at various places in Goa indicate that Stone Age people had settled there around 10000 – 8000 B.C. Usgalimal in South Goa boasts one of the most important prehistoric sites in the region.
Share this:
Europe’s Destination Station
By Linda Tancs
Tax-free shopping. Chauffeur service. Europe’s longest champagne bar. Musical entertainment. Public art. Is it any wonder that London’s St. Pancras is acclaimed as Europe’s destination rail station? One of the city’s greatest Victorian buildings, its iconic roof was constructed of a series of wrought iron ribs resulting in a space 100 feet high, 240 feet wide and 700 feet long. Its only rival is perhaps the presiding St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel, hailed as London’s most romantic building. Its glorious Gothic Revival metalwork, gold leaf ceilings, hand-stenciled wall designs and jaw-dropping grand staircase are as dazzling as the day Queen Victoria opened the hotel in 1873. Walking tours of the station complex are available for individuals and groups.
Share this:
35 Centuries of Glass
By Linda Tancs
Founded in 1951 by Corning Glass Works (now Corning Incorporated) as a gift to the nation for the company’s 100th anniversary, the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, New York, is a key resource on the history of glassmaking. The galleries boast more than 3,500 years of glass history, ranging from the glass portrait of an ancient Egyptian pharaoh to contemporary sculptures. You can even make your own glass at a daily workshop or immerse yourself in the art with a one-day, weekend or multiple-week course. The facility is located in the heart of the Finger Lakes region, halfway between Niagara Falls and New York City.
Share this:
Seeing Double in Orangeville
By Linda Tancs
Columbia and Montour counties in Pennsylvania have the third largest concentration of covered bridges in the state—25 of them, to be exact. And in the tiny hamlet of Orangeville (Fishing Creek), you can double the pleasure of seeing these storied structures because there you’ll find the rarity of twin covered bridges. Known as East Paden and West Paden, they were constructed in 1884 and named after a local sawmill operator, John Paden. The price of construction was $720. When West Paden washed away in a flood in 2006, its reconstruction cost in 2008 would have been much higher were it not for a federal grant and the generous work of a contractor. A detailed driving map of the area bridges is available from the Columbia-Montour Visitors Bureau.
Share this:
An Oasis Out of Waste
By Linda Tancs
Rising like a phoenix from defunct rail yards and industrial wasteland, New Jersey’s Liberty State Park is an oasis out of waste. Located in Jersey City, it’s the only location in the state with ferry service to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, offering sweeping views of America’s gateway icons. Enjoy the views with a two-mile walk along the promenade.
Share this:
Motoring in Britain
By Linda Tancs
Beaulieu Palace House in Hampshire, England, is the ancestral seat of the Barons Montagu of Beaulieu. It’s also the place where over 250 vehicles tell the story of motoring in Britain from its pioneering origins to the present day. The 3rd Baron Montagu of Beaulieu created Beaulieu National Motor Museum in tribute to his father, who was the first to drive a motorcar into the yard of the Houses of Parliament. The exhibition includes land speed world record breakers like Sir Malcolm Campbell’s Bluebird and the equally fantastical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
Share this:
America’s Subtropical Wilderness
By Linda Tancs
Florida’s Everglades National Park forms the largest subtropical wilderness in the country. Covering 1.5 million acres of South Florida across three counties, this national treasure is a haven for rare and endangered species like the manatee, American crocodile and the Florida panther. It also preserves one of the largest stands of pine rockland in the world, a globally imperiled ecosystem. No wonder, then, the park has been designated a Biosphere Reserve, a World Heritage Site and a Wetland of International Importance. Visitor centers are located at the main entrance in Homestead (including the Flamingo Area), the Shark Valley entrance in Miami and the Gulf Coast entrance in Everglades City.
Share this:
Monkeying Around in Israel
By Linda Tancs
At the Ben-Shemen forest near Modi’in is a monkey park containing 250 species of monkeys from locales around the world like Africa, Asia and South America. You’ll find one of the smallest monkeys in the world–the marmoset–here. Another citizen is the crab-eating macaque, a medium species of monkey found in the tropical and subtropical forests and jungles throughout southeast Asia. The white-ringed eyes of the dusky leaf langur, a native of Thailand, Myanmar and Malaysia, give it the appearance of wearing eyeglasses. Located halfway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, the park provides guided tours every half hour on weekends.
Share this:
The Shrine of Democracy
By Linda Tancs
President Franklin D. Roosevelt referred to Mount Rushmore as America’s “shrine of democracy.” Created by famed sculptor Gutzon Borglum and his army of workers, the granite portraits of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln represent the birth, growth, development and preservation of the country. Borglum created an opening called the Hall of Records behind the heads that was intended to house important information on the significance of these four presidents in American history. The chamber was left incomplete at the time of the sculptor’s death but was finished over 50 years later. The Hall of Records houses both original texts and copies of important American documents. Due to its precarious location, public access to the vault is closed, forever to remain a mysterious part of this national treasure. The mountain housing this monumental carving is named for Charles E. Rushmore, a New York City attorney who visited the area in 1885. The park is located in the Black Hills of South Dakota near Keystone and draws millions of visitors annually.
Share this:
Water on the Mountain
By Linda Tancs
Ricketts Glen State Park is an oasis in Benton, Pennsylvania. Covering over 13,000 acres in three counties, it’s named after Col. Ricketts, a Civil War soldier who led the defense against a Confederate attack on Cemetery Hill in 1863 and acquired much of the parkland after the war. Ricketts named the 22 waterfalls gracing the area after native tribes, family and friends. Ganoga Falls is the highest at 94 feet, named after a Seneca Indian word meaning “water on the mountain.” Most of the waterfalls are visible from Falls Trail, the most difficult hike of all the trails. Less difficult, especially this time of year, is leaf peeping. You’ll experience true splendor thanks to the rich crimson shades enveloping the gum, dogwood and oak trees.
Travelrific® Travel Journal 