Travel

Standing on his newly purchased patch of bare Arizona desert in 1951, Grover Cleveland Thompson found the place to make his dreams come alive. Using abundant local resources of dirt, sand, rocks, broken crockery, Halloween masks, scrap metal and other artistic essentials, Grover spent the next several decades building a Gaudí-esque wonderland in Phoenix. He continued […]

If you get off the Seibu Railway train at Higashi-Murayama station, a gateway to the suburban Tokyo city of the same name, you will be greeted by a somewhat surreal statue of a feudal lord in kimono giving a chin-level salute. It might leave you puzzled if you don’t know the context, but a majority

After the devastating earthquake in Christchurch in 2011 destroyed this coffee shop’s original location, they found a new home in an unexpected place: the former High Street Post Office building. With its high ceilings and immense windows, this rare architectural jewel is one of the most picturesque spots to grab a coffee anywhere.  To add to

The island of Sandoy in the Faroese Archipelago, is made up of cliffs, caves, lakes, giant fields of green grass, and lots of sheep. The picturesque island’s scenery is the perfect setting for a slew of local folktales, including Nykur on Vágar, the Seal Women of Mikladalur. According to the tale, the lake of Gróthúsvatn is home

Victoria Bridge, also known as Enggor bridge, is Malaysia’s oldest railway bridge. Located slightly north of Perak’s old capital Kuala Kangsar, it crosses the Perak River at Karai. Perak was the first sultanate on the peninsula to sign a treaty with the British, which began its colonial era. A mining boom followed, making colonial Perak

According to Japanese mythology, the Nue is a chimeric yōkai monster with the head of a macaque, the body of a raccoon dog, the limbs of a tiger, and the tail of a snake. The creature is known for its creepy, thrush-like cry of hyo-hyo. The medieval epic The Tale of the Heike claims that, in 1153, the Nue appeared

On May 1, 1942, a small group of communists enjoyed a clandestine celebration in central Vienna. It didn’t matter that they were imprisoned by the Gestapo and each in solitary confinement; they had long ago realized that their toilets were connected to the same pipes, and by removing water from the siphon and sticking their

Every day, hundreds, if not thousands, of visitors arrive via train, into central Edinburgh, via Waverly Station. Not knowing the layout of the city, these sightseers would be forgiven for mistaking the building that rises to the east as Edinburgh Castle. What they are actually looking at are the final remnants of Calton Jail and

A working pharmacy might seem like an unlikely place to find religious mosaics, but the counter at Farmacia del Puente in Santa Cruz de la Palma is home to several that would look right at home in a Byzantine cathedral. Since 1910, patrons have stopped by this spot nestled in La Palma not only to pick

England has a substantially large canal network, and generally, navigating these canals is relatively straightforward. The canal boats do not need the types of nautical aids that larger ocean-faring vessels need. Nonetheless, a lighthouse stands alongside the Bridgewater Canal 30 miles inland from the coast within the suburban area of Monton to the west of