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
Flying 101
By Linda Tancs
Can you identify the location of a jump seat on aircraft? Did you know that the “black box” is actually orange? These and other curiosities of air travel are demystified courtesy of Kulula Airlines’s Flying 101 aircraft. Talk about truth in labeling! The South African carrier is also celebrating its ninth birthday. If you register for their eBucks program, you might even get to fly for free. That’s right–free. eBucks are earned for doing everyday things like shopping and paying bills with eBucks partners. Earn enough eBucks and redeem them for a flight–or pay part of the balance with a credit card. Ten eBucks equals one Rand. That sounds grand.
Share this:
Cruise Safety Measure Signed Into Law
By Linda Tancs
Thanks to a new U.S. law recently given effect, cruise travel will get even safer for its vast constituency. The Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act imposes new requirements regarding onboard video surveillance, medical personnel qualifications, railing heights and peepholes in cabin doors. In particular, the law requires 42-inch railings (already a staple on many lines) and mandates that medical personnel meet American College of Emergency Physicians guidelines. Peepholes are required on cabin doors for passengers and crew as well as key and lock systems to further bolster security. In addition to the safety measures, the act demands that carriers provide more transparency in the reporting of cruise ship crime by maintaining crime logs, a move no doubt welcomed by the International Cruise Victims Association.
Share this:
Dublin Gets Nod for Literature
By Linda Tancs
A city like Dublin is defined by its literary giants–writers like James Joyce, George Bernard Shaw, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, William Butler Yeats and Oscar Wilde. No doubt that’s why UNESCO has seen fit to award the city with the designation City of Literature. One of only four cities in the world so designated, the move might increase tourism to an island hard hit by the worldwide economic meltdown. What better way to celebrate the city’s new moniker than by taking a walking tour of literary Dublin, beginning at the Writer’s Museum at Parnell Square and ending at Trinity College where many of the legends were educated. Just two hours of your time to experience a timeless treasure.
Share this:
A Tour for the Millenium
By Linda Tancs
Imagine what a best-selling series of novels set in a popular European city can do for tourism. In Stockholm, they’ve seized the day with the Millenium tour, an offering by the Stockholm City Museum celebrating the late novelist Stieg Larsson’s three Millennium blockbuster bestsellers about journalist Mikael Blomkvist and computer hacker Lisbeth Salander. Now through September, the museum is offering a summertime tour around the central island of Södermalm, where the novels’ main characters lived and worked. Starting at Bellmansgatan (nearest Metro: Slussen or Mariatorget), the two-hour tour includes the apartment buildings of the lead characters as well as a view here or there of other views like Stockholm City Hall. Do take some time to tour the museum as well, the city’s cultural history authority housed in a 17th century palace.
Share this:
Celebrating the Gold Rush in Canada
By Linda Tancs
On the third Monday of August Canada’s Yukon Territory celebrates the advent of the Klondike Gold Rush spurred on by the discovery of gold in Bonanza Creek in 1896. That means today is a public holiday in the territory, and you should plan on traveling early to avoid traffic to and from the various locales offering events to celebrate the day. The usual roundup includes Watson Lake (known as the “gateway to Yukon recreation”), the Yukon capital of Whitehorse and, of course, Dawson City, the heart of the Klondike gold rush. In fact, the celebration began at Dawson City on 12 August, and there’s plenty to see here, like Diamond Tooth Gertie’s Casino, the Klondike Institute of Arts and Culture and the spectacular wilderness of Tombstone Territorial Park, protecting over 2,000 square kilometres in the south Ogilvie Mountains off the Dempster Highway. Did you know that gold is 19 times heavier than water? You can pan for your own on Bonanza Road at Claim #6, where it all began.
Share this:
Non Stop Fun in Iowa
By Linda Tancs
Attracting more than a million fans the world over each year, the Iowa State Fair kicks off now through 22 August at the Fairgrounds, located 10 minutes east of downtown Des Moines at East 30th Street and East University Avenue. Today’s opening day festivities are highlighted by a tribute to the armed forces, including a live Skype chat with Iowa military in Kosovo, Iraq and Missisippi, a performance by the Central Iowa Hooves horse drill team and an evening concert by country music star Lee Greenwood (free with your fair ticket admission). The grandstand lineup includes Keith Urban, Pat Benatar, REO Speedwagon, Darius Rucker, Sugarland and Sheryl Crow. The entertainment may change from year to year, but annual staples like the Butter Cow (sculpted from butter, you see), double ferris wheel, livestock judging and endless stalls of food will remain–all to keep you in “non stop fun,” as this year’s theme goes.
Share this:
An Island Festival on the Danube
By Linda Tancs
Óbuda Island in Budapest hosts Sziget, an arts and cultural festival taking place this year from 11 to 16 August. The 24/7 festivities include a series of tents producing entertainment of every genre: folk, blues, classical concerts, ballets, operas, motion-and dance theatre and cabaret. Add to that numerous exhibitions, performances, an outdoor museum, puppet theatre and outdoor cinema in the evenings and you have a family friendly event worthy of a visit. There’s even a supervised day care center. Similar to earlier years, a ferry line runs daily both from Buda and Pest during the festival. You can buy tickets with cash only at the ferry station; otherwise, buy them online. Bikers should note that there’s a cycling lane running on the Buda riverbank that leads right up to the festival gate, and they’ll even mind your bike for free.
Share this:
World’s Fair of Money
By Linda Tancs
The American Numismatic Association’s World’s Fair of Money takes place in Boston today until 14 August. Sponsored by the nonprofit American Numismatic Association, the show’s theme espousing the locale as the birthplace of American money is an apt choice considering the story of American money began more than three centuries ago when the early settlers of New England relied heavily upon foreign coins for conducting their day to day business affairs in the New World. Featuring more than 1,000 of the nation’s best coin dealers at Hynes Convention Center, the show will also feature museum-quality exhibits from the Smithsonian Institution, the ANA Edward C. Rochette Money Museum and private collectors. As many as 20 mints from around the world will give visitors an opportunity to collect coins from five continents, recalling America’s reliance on foreign currency in early American history.
Share this:
A Magic Carpet in Belgium
By Linda Tancs
Every two years in Brussels an array of colorful begonias graces Grand-Place in the form of a giant Flower Carpet. This year marks the fourteenth happening of this horticultural phenomenon, opening this weekend to the public from 13 to 15 August, preceded on 12 August by a fireworks display at 10 p.m. celebrating a day of construction of this floral masterpiece by over 100 volunteers. This year’s arrangement honors the Belgian presidency of the Council of the European Union, with the EU logo appearing in the carpet’s center. Surrounding that design are locally relevant images like patron Saint Michael slaying the dragon, the region’s emblem of blue and yellow iris and depictions of the city’s striking Gothic architecture. Be sure to view the work from the balcony of the Hotel de Ville between 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m.
Share this:
Drawing Lines in the Sand in California
By Linda Tancs
In Imperial Beach, California they’ll be drawing lines galore in the sand at the 30th annual U.S. Open Sandcastle Competition. An event for pros and amateurs alike, the competition on 8 August includes a Masters contest for pros and cash prizes up to $21,000 for pro and amateur sand carvers in other categories. Works will be available for viewing until 4 p.m. due to the tides. Why wait until Sunday? Make it a beach weekend and enjoy the Sandcastle Dance on Friday and the street fair along Seacoast Drive on Saturday. Sounds beachy keen to me.
Travelrific® Travel Journal 