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Unusual

Unusual

Sleepless in Seattle

The Pacific Northwest in the United States is rather beautiful, especially if you don't have a problem with rain.  It rains a lot here.  Spring, summer and parts of autumn are lovely, as well, but rain is a defining term for this part of the world. And, as we know, rain fills the land and…

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I know, but I don’t know, y’know?

Does imposing the death penalty lower rates of violent crime? What economic policies will lead to broad prosperity? Which medical treatments should we allow and encourage to treat novel diseases? These questions have a few things in common. They bear important consequences for us all, and so policymakers and the public would like to know the…

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Luvlee!

We periodically write about Wales, the oft-forgotten member of the United Kingdom's family.  The country sits in the background, reinventing itself over and over. Once known only for coal and sheep, Wales has been transforming into a destination, as both of those means of putting food on the table are diminishing. The natural path is…

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Irony Curtain

At its heart, Russia is a fabulous place.  With so much history, expansive terrain and the sheer diversity of its population, its lure as a place to visit is often obscured by politics and other kinds of maneuvering. When we talk about history, we must remember that the Soviet era is now history, too.  And,…

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You see Phou Si

Asia has so many wonders, and so much rich and deep history. One that is well-known, but not always on at the top of everyone's list is Mount Phou Si in Laos.  It is a 100 m high hill in the centre of the old town of Luang Prabang in Laos. It lies in the heart of…

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Take you on a slow boat to Stratford

All apologies to Ella Fitzgerald. England is surrounded by water.  And, as you might imagine, there are rivers and streams that course through the country. Some are tiny and some are navigable. Even better, some are big enough to accommodate boats.  And even better than that, some of these boats have beds and kitchens and…

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Tsk! Kids, these days

First, they want an Xbox.  Then they want a car.  And now they want to roller-skate in an airport!  What's next? Well, the rather great TWA Hotel at JFK Airport in New York (we wrote about them here) are actually featuring exactly that - A 50-minute skating session costs $20 per adult and $16 for…

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Don’t falter in Gibraltar

Gibraltar, colloquially known as The Rock, (or simply 'Gib'), is an overseas territory of the United Kingdom sitting at the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea. It is bordered by Spain to the north and the people of Gibraltar are ferociously loyal British citizens despite being bilingual in English and Spanish.  When you step inside, you'll feel like you're on…

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There’s a snake in my boot

Are you tired of the same old holiday?  That is, sitting on the beach, looking at statues, ziplining, etc? Do you fancy yourself as a cowboy?  If so, then we have some ideas for you. There are places around the world where you can stay at a ranch, rustle cows and wear a hat.  But, if that…

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Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

I've suffered for my art.  Now it's your turn. Hope springs eternal when it comes to budding entrepreneurs.  "Build it, and they will buy it." But sometimes, maybe not.  There is a museum in Miami focused on vehicles that, on balance, just did not make it.  And the museum is a rollicking fun-filled afternoon of almost-rans  and…

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Chunnel of love

As of this writing, the past few years have been tumultuous, to say the least.  Between pandemics, anger in the streets, despicable political maneuvering and change in almost every country, the world is not the one we that thought we knew. One such event was Brexit.  For those not aware, this was an event that…

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Even older than old

A mysterious group of ancient monuments first discovered in Saudi Arabia in the 1970s, known as mustatials, predate the first Egyptian pyramids and Stonehenge by over 2,000 years, making them the world’s oldest ritual landscape, archaeologists now say. Scattered across 77,000 square miles of desert in northwest Arabia, the mustatils (the name comes from the…

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Dome at last

Some choose to follow their own path.  When you're a retired businessman, what do you do to keep busy?  Fish?  Paint?  Travel?  Build a house consisting of six dome-shaped modules on stilts in Florida, and then never move in? The Cape Romano Dome House - now abandoned - is a house consisting of six dome-shaped…

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A warm welcome from the Phlegraean Fields

If you yawn because you think you've seen every kind tourist haunt, here's a place that's really smoking! There is nothing remotely Elysian about the Phlegræan Fields; nothing sylvan, nothing green. The Fields, which lie on the north shore of the Bay of Naples in Italy, are part of the caldera of a volcano that is…

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The Out of Order Warriors

A king who offended the all-powerful Emperor, and then rebelled against him, but failed. How do these dramatic events in China's history link to the finding of 4000 buried miniature terracotta warriors discovered in Jiangsu Province, China? The ancient city of Pengcheng was located near today's Xuzhou in Jiangsu province, and the museum displays 190…

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