Author: Ms. R.

These large painted granite rocks, created by Belgian artist Jean Verame, can be found just off of a dirt road that branches from Agard-Oudad street in Tafraoute, Morocco. A brief 20-minute bike ride from Tafraoute brings travelers to this gorgeous valley that perfectly embodies the lifestyle of the region. These rocks covered in a myriad of colors also provide a panoramic view of the surrounding valley and landscape. This vast area of art nestled in this remote region is……

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Plaza San Martín, in the ancient city of Segovia, goes by another name: Plaza de las Sirenas, or the Square of the Mermaids. While the origins of its nickname remain unknown, part of the story can be explained by the mythological, sphinx-like sculptures that surround the plaza. These sculptures, known as sirenas, don’t really resemble mermaids at all. Bearing the heads of women and the bodies of lions, they appear to be mystical yet landlubbing sphinxes.  In 1850, the……

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In 1936, a strange and eye-popping structure came to the Northern California town of Ukiah. The Redwood Tree Service Station was fashioned from wizened, gargantuan trunks, which were chopped down, hauled 17 miles, and outfitted with toilets and other cash registers. The station was hewed from a tree 17.5 feet in diameter, the Ukiah Daily Journal reported; the adjacent bathrooms were made from a different giant. The station was quite a sight for travelers with dwindling gasoline or brimming……

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Every evening, after archaeologist Shanti Pappu and her colleagues head home for the night, two watchmen patrol the team’s excavation site—a plot of dry scrubland near Sendrayanpalayam village, about a two-hour-drive from Chennai in southern India. Without such vigilance, the site could easily be disturbed. To the left of the carefully dug trenches, for instance, lies a bulldozed pit, dredged to remove sand and gravel for a public works project before the researchers started their excavation in 2019, says……

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Due to a massive meteor impact several millions of years ago, the land inside the Siljan Ring is rich in resources and potentially oil in the lower layers. This was known by petroleum companies as far back as the late 19th-century. Many locals were hired to drill for oil in various places inside the crater. This was a physically demanding, but lucrative job. It’s said it wasn’t uncommon for drillers to pour kerosene in their boreholes to keep up……

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The 1939 cookbook of Soviet cuisine, The Book About Delicious and Healthy Food, opens with a Stalinesque slogan: “Towards abundance!” Earlier that decade, famines had devastated the Soviet countryside, and the memory of food shortages was not far off. But these realities appeared nowhere in the Communist Party-issued cookbook. Instead, it served up a utopian future. The Book was intended to both feed and propagandize. After the 1917 revolution, which ended the Russian Empire and established the Soviet Union,……

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In the tiny town of Fushë Kruje’s main square surrounded by a few cafes, stores, and a local bank, stands a nearly 10-foot tall statue of George W. Bush. His sleeves are rolled-up and he gives a casual wave to onlookers.  Bush was the first president of the United States to set foot in post-communist Albania and certainly the first to grace this tiny town with his political presence. Albanians were pro-American long before Bush came to visit in……

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