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
Chicago’s Front Yard Food Fest
By Linda Tancs
Chicago’s Grant Park, at Michigan Avenue and Congress Drive, is dubbed Chicago’s “front yard.” Maybe that’s because it’s large and centrally located, the perfect venue for a foodie fest attracting more than 2 million visitors each year. The second largest tourist attraction in Illinois, the ten-day free event offers the usual fare (no pun intended) of top chops from Chicagoland’s best eateries, arts and crafts, music, chef demonstrations and lots of family fun in keeping with the current theme, America’s City Picnic. Visit anytime between 24 June and 3 July.
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A Boatload of Religion
By Linda Tancs
When the friendly skies are not so friendly, passengers often take to prayer. On the high seas, it’s likely the same scenario, particularly so if you happen to be on a religious-themed cruise. One example is the upcoming Music Boat tour on Carnival’s Imagination. Featuring today’s top Christian artists, the cruise beginning on 7 November promises to be inspirational. But don’t take it on faith, check it out for yourself.
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Through the Looking Glass
By Linda Tancs
Stained glass, leaded glass, art glass–the possibilities are endless. That’s what the folks at the Shanghai Museum of Glass want you to take away from their new museum celebrating the art and technology of glass making. Boasting ancient and contemporary collections from around the world, the glass-encased facility includes a hot glass demonstration hall for those interested in understanding the process and performance of glass blowing. Handle with care!
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Lost on the Beach
By Linda Tancs
Remember the secluded and pristine sandy beach of the TV show “Lost”? That’s Mokuleia Beach Park, a popular kite surfing spot. Tucked away on Oahu’s North Shore across from Dillingham airfield, there’s not a lifeguard in sight on this miles-long stretch of paradise. What you will find are scores of marine life (particularly sea turtles) and a long flat reef ideal for snorkeling. Find a local hotel and get lost for a while.
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A Taste of London
By Linda Tancs
There’s great taste abiding at Taste of London. From 16 to 19 June, 40 local restaurants and world class chefs will compete for your palate in Regent’s Park. The event features a boutique food market, cooking lessons from culinary greats in the Taste Theatre and a Secret Garden. No roses there, just a gourmet oasis of wines and first-class foodstuffs. Hope you’re hungry.
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Open Garden Days in Amsterdam
By Linda Tancs
Think of Amsterdam and you probably envision wooden shoes and tulips. But did you know that Amsterdam has more canals than Venice? Along those 17th century canals where you’ll experience some of the oldest homesteads in the city as well as its industrial heritage, watch out for the clock gable and the fabulous canal houses along what’s known as The Golden Bend. Along Prinsengracht, you’ll find very old homes, including the location of the Anne Frank House and museum. For a taste of the city’s industrial past, sail by the giant warehouses of Keizersgracht. The canal gardens have a charm of their own, highlighted each year in June during Open Garden Days. Located around Keizersgracht and Herengracht, features include the floating gardens on the houseboats’ roof and behind the canal houses. On the 17, 18 and 19 of June this year some thirty canal gardens will be open to the public. Reachable on foot, a three-day pass will give you plenty of time to discover the color in the canals.
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Czech, Mate
By Linda Tancs
Czech immigrants have settled in the tiny town of Tabor, South Dakota since 1869. The founders of this town (population under 1000) are celebrated during the third weekend of each June at the Czech Days festival. Fireworks are scheduled for 16 June. See the Beseda Dancers, 238 colorful costumed dancers performing Friday and Saturday evenings at 8:30 pm in Sokol Park. Other features include a heritage museum boasting a log school and log house, homemade noodles and Czech music. Also, watch the screening of the film “Tabor: A Little Czech Town on the American Prairie.” Bring your appetite. Tiny Tabor is located on SD Highway 50, 100 miles southwest of Sioux Falls.
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India’s Longest Urban Beach
By Linda Tancs
Bad news for swimmers: India’s longest urban beach in Chennai–Marina Beach–is not a swimming beach due to strong undercurrents. Good news for walkers: the wide, 12 km long beach begs for long walks, particularly in the morning when crowds are thinnest. A major tourist attraction, the beach is particularly noteworthy for its roadside statues celebrating local and national luminaries like Gandhi, Kannagi (a goddess) and Thiruvalluvar, a poet. With three railway stations adorning the route–Chepauk, Thiruvallikeni and Light House–you have plenty of options to get there.
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The Seventh Sister of Connecticut
By Linda Tancs
At Connecticut’s southernmost of hills known as the Seven Sisters, actor/director/playwright William Hooker Gillette built a twenty-four-room mansion reminiscent of a medieval castle. The fieldstone structure with a southern white oak woodwork interior is part of Gillette Castle State Park, an East Haddam treasure accessible from road or ferry. In fact, from late April to late November take the Chester-Hadlyme ferry across the Connecticut River from Chester for majestic views of the clifftop castle. The castle is open from Memorial Day to Columbus Day but the park is open year round.
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Sloth Central
By Linda Tancs
The sleepy surf of Costa Rica’s Caribbean side may seem like an unlikely place for a rescue center for the native sloth, but three miles north of Cahuita lies the world’s only sloth rescue center, Aviarios del Caribe. The learning center and sanctuary is home to special adult resident sloths named Millie, Toyota, Spiderman, Einstein, Nala and TopoGigio. The sanctuary offers visitors the opportunity to sleep with the sloths (well, kind of) via a small hotel on the premises. Just one more way to get up close and personal with the natives.
Travelrific® Travel Journal 