Skip to content Skip to sidebar Skip to footer

Crumbly Corinth

We would imagine that many of us were educated in more or less the same ways, using the same topics and walking away from it with ever-lasting notions about what history was all about. We've moved on in our knowledge, of course, and every day bring a new enlightenment.  Modern science and technology are turning…

Read more

Art of glass

Seems like the real thing. If you find yourself in San Francisco airport, skip the Dunkin Donuts and feast on something truly delectable - the Lipofsky glass exhibit. Marvin Lipofsky (1938–2016) was a founding member of the American studio glass movement. Throughout his career, Lipofsky explored the limits of form and color in glass and…

Read more

Rumble in New York

New York City has one of the world’s biggest subway systems, but some areas of the city are poorly served. Even though New York City has the most extensive subway system in the Americas, less than two-thirds of the city’s population actually lives within walking distance of a station. For the last 15 years, construction crews…

Read more

Constantino/bul

History is a "funny" old thing.  Like tunics tumbling in a dryer, around and around the dynasties come and go.  And, of course, sometimes they just melt into one another and no-one really remembers what it once was like. At one of the most important places on earth sits Istanbul, Turkey.  It still has a sharp…

Read more

Thoughts o’ Palazzo

If you visit this site often - or even other travel sites - you'll know that Venice is heaving under the weight of packed-like-sardines tourists, and rising water levels that threaten its very existence. Fortunately, there are those individuals who recognise the threat and are in a position to do something about it. The Anish Kapoor Foundation…

Read more

Hiking in India

When you start to read this article, you'll ultimately find out that it is about the best places to hike in India.  That's all well and good, as it is an immense country, full of wonderful and kind human beings as well as jaw-dropping sights. But, likely, even if you don't hike, you will be…

Read more

Wham bam thank you tram

Some places just "get it." As we see mother earth in peril, some of us are just not rising to the occasion.  Climate change is not a joke.  It's real. But, some countries (mostly in Europe) are paying attention and doing something about it.  It could be banning automobile traffic in certain places.  It could…

Read more

Madrid nuevo

Spain is building an $8.7 billion USD new urban development in northern Madrid, called Madrid Nuevo Norte. Madrid is the heart of Spain. However, in its north, train tracks and the urban void surrounding them cut the city right in half, creating traffic and connectivity issues. To solve this issue, Spain is building a new…

Read more

Is this Trojan Horse a trojan horse?

You are probably already familiar with the Trojan Horse of Troy, the wooden horse used by the Greeks to enter the city of Troy and win the war.  If not, here is a good tutorial. The horse has been an elusive archeological find, but now, Turkish archaeologists claim they have found what they believe are pieces…

Read more

Next phase – luxury apartments?

Human beings  just seem to love the idea of something being "the best."  Even if it's the best cheese sandwich, it inspires some awe and loyalty. Airports are no different, especially when we have to sit and fidget in them for hours and hours, waiting for a result with our flights So as to be…

Read more

Don’t call me Junior!

If there is one movie franchise that EVERYONE loves (in addition to Star Wars, of course) it's Indiana Jones.  Chances are good that - if you're a certain age - you got your first glimpse of Morocco or Petra via those classics. But, did you know that the films were influenced by a living human being…

Read more

Tollund Man’s missing right toe found

If you're a history fan, you've likely heard of Tollund Man. On May 8, 1950 the police in Silkeborg, Denmark received an alarming message. During a peat digging 2 days earlier a body had been discovered in a bog close to Bjældskovdal, an area located approximately 10 kilometers west of Silkeborg. The finders believed they…

Read more

Blurry faces

We all know Google, love them or hate them. (We rather like them.) They're everywhere, constantly innovating, making money, but providing free services, as well. One of their shining stars is Google Maps.  We're sure that the service doesn't need introduction.  But, did you know how much they've played with Maps to make it even…

Read more

Home of the buzzard

You might have heard of Cleveland, Ohio USA, a scrappy city that never gives up. It was formed in the late 1800's and was a manufacturing and financial powerhouse until things dried up in the 1970's. But, the die-hard residents there still plug away at reinventing the city, over and over.  Having major league basketball…

Read more

Lagos’ lago

Even a dummy will know that the world is changing, but sometimes news comes out of relatively nowhere and completely takes you by surprise. In this case, we're taking about Lagos in Nigeria.  Already a rich and powerful nation, there are estimates that it will have the largest population of any country in the world (see…

Read more

I’ll follow the sun

China doesn't fool around.  When they do things, they tend to go big. Here's an example.  The new Shanghai Astronomy Museum, which recently opened in China, is potentially the world’s most majestic museum devoted to the skies. This elliptical, silvery structure looks part spaceship, part planetary invasion, with angular shapes that “embody some of the…

Read more

Aretha sang

Magic can happen anywhere, at any time, to almost anybody. Take Aretha Franklin, for example. In an innocuous two-story building with a barn-like roof on a side of a nondescript street in Muscle Shoals, Alabama is the home of FAME Recording Studios (short for Florence Alabama Music Enterprises.)  Music lovers will know it well.  They were small, but…

Read more

Give me MOA

Those of us who live up here in the Pacific Northwest of North America are very lucky, in many ways.  The weather, the diversity (especially of our residents) and the history that is constantly being discovered and enjoyed. As with many other countries, Canada has a population that can be considered as First Nation.  In…

Read more