Author: Ms. R.

In the 1970s, former high school athlete and kinesiology student Terry Fox was told he had only a 50 percent chance of surviving osteosarcoma, a bone cancer that claimed his left leg. Fox soon took to wheelchair basketball, eventually winning the Canadian national championship. Next, he set his sights on running. Wanting to bring more attention to and raise money for cancer research, Fox trained for 14 months for a long-distance Marathon of Hope, spanning across Canada. Initially met……

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Carp Hill is one of many rolling hills in Taipei’s Neihu District. Its name comes from its resemblance to a carp, with the “head” at the higher end and the “tail” tapering off. The peak provides a good vantage point over Taipei’s skyline. The path up is mostly a well-trodden path for local hikers — but they’re not the only ones out on the trail. Folk miniatures can be found all along the trail. Liu Yangcheng, a retired local resident,……

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Just outside of Ohio’s capital, a wall of earth rises five feet from the smooth ground in a perfect circle, 1,000 feet wide. Standing inside that ring of mounded terra firma today, you can see the Moon rise right where the walls break and an ancient passageway leads to an enormous octagonal arena. Thousands of years ago, the Native Americans who built it would have been standing in that very spot, watching the same celestial scene. Each stretching 550……

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At the back of the Kagoshima City Museum of Art sits a bizarre stone statue nicknamed Jimesaa. It is well-respected by the locals of Kagoshima, who identify it as an effigy of Princess Kameju or Jimyōin-sama, the daughter of 16th-century daimyo Shimazu Yoshihisa. Female civic officials put a new makeup on the statue in her honor every year on her death date, October 5. Legend has it that, while Jimyōin-sama (or Jimesaa in local dialect) was a rather uncomely-looking……

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Nestled amidst the rolling hills of Moulay Idriss Zerhoun lies an interesting sight: a double-tiered aqueduct with architectural features that resemble closely those of aqueducts built by the Ancient Romans.  This, alongside its proximity to the Ancient Roman ruins of Volubilis, has led many people over the years to assume that it dates back to the time of the Roman Empire. Far from it, the Haroune Aqueduct was built during the reign of the Alaouite Sultan Moulay Abdel Aziz……

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Madrid has almost 2,000 sculptures, some of which are predictably dedicated to former monarchs, military heroes, and other prominent public figures. Yet some of the more interesting statues are compelling precisely because of how ordinary they are. Look carefully and you’ll find life-size depictions or anonymous Madrileños going about their business. El Vecino Curioso, or “The Curious Neighbor,” is a bronze of a middle-aged gentleman created by sculptor Salvador Fernández Oliva in 1999. He appears to be leaning on a railing……

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In the town square of Namur stands a bizarre piece of art: a pair of bronze statues of cartoonish men seemingly in an argument over two snails, one on a leash and another in a cage.  Djoseph et Françwès (Joe and Frank) are not exactly well-known characters like Smurfs or Tintin. Originating in the local newspaper L’Avenir and created by cartoonist Jean Legrand, the dull-witted duo represents the purported nature of the Namurois, who are said to be rather slow—an……

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A leisurely mountain hike from Barèges follows the tracks of an abandoned funicular railway and leads to the now-abandoned former upper arrival station.  The first section of the funicular went into operation in 1937 and was originally deployed to transport winter sports enthusiasts from the village of Barèges to a first arrival station built on the Lienz plateau. About a decade later, a second section was opened to take passengers to an upper station towards the Pic de l’Ayré…….

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Institute Menezes Braganza is a cultural institute located in Panaji, the capital of Goa. It was established in 1871 during the Portuguese Era under the name Institute Vasco da Gama. In 1963, it was renamed Institute Menezes Braganza after Luis de Menezes Braganza, a Goan freedom fighter. The building honor’s him, with a bust of his likeness standing in the centre of the entrance hall, surrounded by Azulejo artwork. Azulejos are traditional Spanish and later Portuguese tin-glazed ceramic tile work…….

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