Author: Ms. R.

At the entrance to this Mississippi park, an anthropomorphic bronze coin welcomes visitors with open arms. This little coin is just the first of several smiling pennies, joined by an assortment of little houses wearing skirts. These whimsical figures, created by American sculptor Tom Otterness, are scattered around the public space known as PlayGarden Park, located in downtown Fulton. One coin stands on a rock, another peeps out of bushes, and a cute little couple sits with their arms around……

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Tucked deep into the slopes of Mount Beljanica in Eastern Serbia, stands the Veliki Buk (“The Great Hum”) or Lisine Waterfall. The waterfall originates from a small river named Vrelo, the right tributary of the Resava river. It’s located at more than 1,000 feet (380 meters) above sea level and is 82 feet (25 meters) tall. The waterfall is one of the largest in all of Serbia and was formed due to natural sinter (tufa) accumulation. A shallow pond……

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Vespa Muzej Srbija was founded by members of the Vespa Club of Serbia and contains a massive collection of classic models made by the famous Italian scooter manufacturer. The museum arose from a desire to showcase the unmistakable Italian vehicle. Although it had been in works for several years prior, the idea for the museum didn’t gain real steam until 2012, after an exhibition celebrating the vehicle garnered great interest.  The permanent exhibit showcases the chronological history of the……

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On a typical Friday at midday, the racks at the entrance to the Dedeman Mosque in northern Istanbul would be full of shoes, doffed by members of the congregation before they enter the building for the most important Islamic prayer of the week. But when Turkey suspended mass prayers in mid-March, to try to stop the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, those racks stood empty. And as businesses around the city shut their doors, the mosque’s young imam, Abdulsamet……

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Unlike most major cities, Atlanta is not built around a waterway, like a bay or river. Atlanta was founded around railways. And railways are best designed where there is minimal elevation change, such as along a hydrological feature known as a continental divide.  A continental divide is a ridge line dividing major watersheds in an area, and the Eastern Sub-Continental Divide runs right through Atlanta, by design. Although the well-known Chattahoochee is Atlanta’s largest river, it was not central to……

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As fighting during the Pacific War grew more intense, Tokyo was often subjected to air raids from the Allied forces. To escape the bombings, civilians constructed shelters across the city. Although many didn’t survive the war, a few are still easily accessible. One such shelter can be found within the grounds of Senju Shrine, which contains two shrines originally founded in 926 and 1279. The makeshift concrete shelter could house around a dozen people should the occasion arise. Although abandoned today,……

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In the small seaside town of Whitehead, history is a huge part of the town’s cultural identity. It was known as a Victorian railway village and is home to Victorian and Edwardian buildings, the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland, steam trains, and of course, this Victorian walkway. At the Beach Road end of the Whitehead Train Station is a small footbridge that dates back to the Victorian era. The railway structure is an important historic monument and has been……

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For a few days in mid-July 2020, a botanical spectacle began to unfurl at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. Over the course of these two days, a massive titan arum, better known as a “corpse flower,” bloomed before crowds of hundreds of people waiting in socially distanced lines. Among the largest inflorescences (the “bloom” is covered in smaller flowers) in the world, titan arums earned their popular name by emitting the overwhelming smell of rotting flesh to attract……

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