Author: Ms. R.

Palm trees aren’t native to Arizona, but they grow in Phoenix, and in a neighborhood called Mountgrove, regal palms soar like nowhere else in the city. Thick-trunked, lavish silvery-green fronds floating in the desert breeze, they lean skyward above sleepy roads, green yards, and rooftops in vaguely military formation. In all, some 300 palms stand. They are date palms, and not just any date palm. This small suburban stretch is the nearly exclusive home of the Black Sphinx, a……

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The imposing bell towers of the Monastery of São Vicente de Fora can be seen from several vantage points around Lisbon. Known as a cultural and spiritual mecca in the Alfama neighborhood, the site attracts many visitors throughout the year. One of the monastery’s least promoted, but undeniably fascinating attractions is its collection of seashells from the shorelines and estuaries of Portugal. Chosen from the collection of Maria Cândida Consolado Macedo, former Director of the Malacology Department of the Portuguese……

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Created by artist Michael Wallace and a team of around 300 volunteers and school students, the artificial fossils of Calabacillas Arroyo is a large-scale art installation in Albuquerque. Inspired by the way that buried fossils serve as a timeline of natural history, it serves as an interpretive timeline of New Mexican history from the Precambrian era through the unknown tomorrow.  The arroyo itself is an important flood-control structure that empties into the Rio Grande as well as a major……

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The little wood-framed house and its idyllic garden look out of place in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan. With lots of fascinating corners and angles, the two-story building is dwarfed by those surrounding it on Charles Street. It is one of the oldest homes in the Village, but it was not constructed there. The wee, white-clapboard home began life as a farmhouse on the Upper East Side. It earned the nickname Cobble Court because of the cobblestones that……

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Florida‘s love affair with Mediterranean Revival-style architecture is evident in buildings throughout the state. Several can be found in St. Petersburg and include buildings such as the Vinoy Hotel, The Princess Martha Hotel, St. Mary’s Church, and Comfort Station One. This style also extends to a post office located at the corner of 1st Ave North and 4th Street North. The post office has been a functional landmark in continuous operation since 1916. In 1975, it was added to……

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The Sabatino volcano is one of two volcanic complexes in the central Italian region of Lazio, the other is located in Alban Hills. Around 600,000 years ago, the Sabatino volcano occupied the entire region from the coast to Mount Soracte. This led to the formation of various craters, such as the lakes of Bracciano and Vico. There are0 also other traces of volcanic activity.  One such example is the otherworldly landscape of the Caldara di Manziana, a small caldera……

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The Zwinger Gardens were formed as a result of Olomouc‘s tumultuous past, in which religion, wars, and money all intertwined to create the foundation for this now beautiful location. The garden is often overlooked by tourists and even many locals.  Across the garden, visitors will find various religious figures. The location also provides residents of Olomouc a place to reflect and feel secure, despite its association with a major war. During the mid-18th-century, the Seven Years’ War was tearing……

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A hidden gem of geology nestled in the Smoky Hill River Valley, Cedar Bluff offers unparalleled views of the lake and surrounding countryside. It was formed by years of erosion along what was once the floor of the Great Interior Seaway, that once stretched from the Gulf of Mexico to the Arctic Circle. The sandy seafloor turned to limestone and has been eroded over the millennia by wind and water.  Atop the bluff, visitors can see for miles in……

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