Author: Ms. R.

One might suppose to be the subject of or the artist behind a piece of civic art would be a desirable way to leave a physical legacy in the world. Future generations would stop to admire the result, gently patinaed by age and made even more striking than when it was first unveiled. Manchester is replete with monuments recognizing the many achievements of its citizens. Scientists, politicians, activists, musicians, and artists rendered in stone, metal, and paint adorn every corner……

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This ain’t just one waterfall. It ain’t even two waterfalls, but three waterfalls,  all pouring off the same 48-foot-tall bluff.  Now some say it’s just two waterfalls, on account of there only being two water sources, but the wet season brings the triple fall effect. The falls are also called Twin Falls. But there are other, better-known Twin Falls in Arkansas, so the title “Triple Falls” has taken effect.  Two of the falls are spring-fed. The spring can be……

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In a quiet suburb of Athens, the sound of a hammer breaks the silence as it meets heated sheets of bronze. Inside a small garage turned into a workshop, blacksmith and artist Dimitrios Katsikis has spent the past 12 years designing and forging. He transforms the malleable metal by hand, using only traditional techniques, into unique and functional pieces of art that replicate the armor of antiquity for display in museums. Like a modern Hephaestus, the god of blacksmiths,……

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This 124-year-old, 50,000-square-foot Gothic-style building only showcases a small part of Cleveland‘s rich and diverse history. Built in 1898 and opened in 1900, the 42-room structure originally served as a clubhouse for the German Society where the Cleveland Gesangverein, a singing group, would perform for the next 14 years. The building was then converted into a hospital for Hungarian immigrants. After that, it housed the Cleveland Hebrew Institute for 18 years. Allegedly, the lower level was a meeting spot……

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When Magdalena Perrotte arrived in the U.S. from France in 1982, she had a secret stashed in her purse—a large jar, filled with a precious golden liquid. “I had it carefully wrapped in a scarf, as well as some raw milk cheeses and cured saucisson—French ingredients you couldn’t buy in Florida,” Perotte, a former owner of Orlando institution Le Coq au Vin, recalls. “I became an expert at hiding food from customs officials.” Four decades later, Perrotte still uses……

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A Taíno ceremonial site with monoliths, petroglyphs, and ball courts. Considered one of the most important Pre-Columbian archaeological sites in the Caribbean, Caguana is nestled in the mountains of Puerto Rico’s Cordillera Central, a short but fun drive away from the crowded beaches along the coast. The site is estimated to have been built around 1270. Archaeologists have identified approximately 13 ball courts and plazas (bateyes), many of which have been restored how they might have looked when they were……

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Opened in 1929, Molly Stark Sanatorium was one of 25 tuberculosis hospitals in Ohio. The main four-story Spanish Revival style facility wasn’t the only structure to occupy the property; there was also a nurse’s home, a supervisor’s home, a children’s hospital, and a power plant. Some 1,200 feet of underground tunneling connecting the buildings completed the hospital grounds, for now. In 1952, the west and east wings as well as the kitchen and laundry rooms were expanded despite the……

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There’s a moment in F.W. Murnau’s silent film Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror in which Thomas Hutter, the story’s unwitting protagonist, enters a world of nightmares. When he crosses the river to where the thinly disguised vampire Count Orlok resides, the intertitle reads “Als er sich auf der anderen Seite der Brücke befand, kamen die Geister, um ihn zu treffen.” (“As he reached the other side of the bridge, the spirits came to meet him.”) It is a literal……

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One of the popular works in the English language, prior to the invention of the printing press, is the Middle English poem, “The Prick of Consciousness.” This 14th-century tome consists of over 900 lines and pertains to humans who are seeking forgiveness, or penance, over enduring the wrath of the impending apocalypse. It also relates to the metaphysical feeling of experiencing guilt through touch or other sensory methods. Situated on the south bank of the River Ouse is the……

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