Author: Ms. R.

Prior to the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) putting their support behind the Democratic Party, laborers often supported the Socialist Party. An early 20th-century political party that empowered the working class to seek a better representation of their interests. Inspired by the Bolshevik revolution in Russia and immigrant socialist Finns, the Socialist Party of Montana was a popular political party in the state’s mining boomtowns. By 1911, the Socialist Party in Butte held the city……

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The Studenica Monastery is considered the most beautiful example of Serbian medieval ecclesiastical architecture. For over eight centuries, the monastery survived numerous conquests and still houses some of the most amazing examples of medieval frescoes and treasures.  The monastery was established during the late 12th-century by Stefan Nemanja, the founder of the medieval Serbian state and the famous Nemanjić dynasty. It’s the largest and richest Serbian Orthodox monastery and earned a spot on the UNESCO World Heritage list in……

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Erected along the facade of the Olomouc Museum of Art is a sculpture that draws crowds and certainly confuses locals. Erected in 2017, the installation features a robber escaping the museum with a prized piece of art in his rucksack. It also features various mechanisms that allow the sculpture to move and shout down to visitors as he dangles. It was created as a message to how often we are unaware of our daily surroundings.  The sculpture appears to……

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Arguably one of Central Italy‘s most spectacular hermitages, San Giovanni all’Orfento is located in a cliff above the wild and protected Orfento Valley, one of the nature reserves within the Majella National Park in Abruzzo. Peter of Morrone, the famous Pope Celestine V (who, as a former hermit, resigned from his position only to be later imprisoned by his successor Boniface VIII), is said to have retired here between 1284 and 1293. His goal was to seek solitude in……

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Constructed in 1972, Casa Sirena was the brainchild of local hotel magnate Martin V. “Bud” Smith. Located in the heart of Channel Islands Harbor, the seaside resort once boasted 274 rooms, including a spacious lobby, pool, hot tub, and countless other amenities.   In 1976, a 90-room annex was completed next door to accommodate Casa Sirena’s seasonal crowds. In 2006, Casa Sirena was redeveloped, and its annex was rebranded as a Hampton Inn that remains in operation to this day…….

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The Caglieron Caves (Grotte del Caglieron) are located near the town of Fregona, in Veneto, Northern Italy. The cave complex consists of various cavities, some of which are natural, while others have artificial origins. The natural part of the caves, which is actually a gorge, was incised by the Caglieron stream over millions of years. The torrent flows on calcareous conglomerates and marl creating various waterfalls, some of which are several feet high. A wooden path crosses the entire……

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The drama in Beit Guvrin-Maresha National Park in Israel is not apparent on the surface. It is down below. The park, approximately 120 acres, holds the excavated remains of two ancient cities—Beit Guvrin and Maresha—where much of life and death took place underground. This fertile area in the Judean foothills, known as “The Land of a Thousand Caves,” consists of a thin crust of hard rock on top of a layer of soft chalk, which allows for easy excavation……

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