Author: Ms. R.

The history of this castle dates back to 1204. It soon became a center for both local politics and Staufen culture, with many important guests and cultural figures visiting and staying in the castle. From 1255 to 1503 Trausnitz was the residence and seat of government for the dukes of Lower Bavaria. The castle kept its importance as a cultural venue after the political changes and unification of Bavarian states. The building was reconstructed and extended many times, it……

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Mike Bacchus remembers the man only as “the Texan.” A few years back, the Texan, well into his 70s, was a guest at New Zealand’s Lakestone Lodge, which Bacchus and his family own. The man had made his way from Texas to the Mackenzie region of New Zealand’s South Island for the landscapes, to see vivid swathes of violet lupins set against blue glacial lakes, and snowy peaks rising beyond golden tussocked hills. He hadn’t realized one of the……

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Thomas Hudson McKee joined the army in 1861 in Independence, Pennsylvania. He fought in the Civil War and was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant in November 1862. After his death in 1924, McKee’s wife had a curious monument built at his burial place. McKee married his wife, Nancy Matilda Funk in 1868 in Mifflintown, Pennsylvania. She apparently had a strong distaste for his superior officer, Brigadier General Benjamin Franklin Kelley. Kelley had passed in 1891, and was……

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Situated in Portugal‘s Sintra-Cascais National Park is the westernmost point of mainland Europe. Rugged cliffs meet the Atlantic Ocean in this place of natural beauty, where sea, land, wind, and forest come together to create a unique atmosphere. When the earth was thought to be round and have a beginning and an end, many believed that Cabo da Roca was one of the ends of the known world at the time. From the edge of the promontory, you can see……

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The names James P. Ball, Glenalvin Goodridge, and Augustus Washington may not be widely known, but each man was a pioneer from the dawn of the photographic era, and each produced images that tell a story of Black life before the Civil War, as well as the role artists played in abolition. For 45 years, a collector named Larry West searched for the works of these three Black daguerreotypists who were active in the 1840s in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and……

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The word defuffa is though to derive from either the Nubian word for a mud-brick building or the Arabic word daffa, meaning “pile.” There are only three deffufa remaining in the world, all of which are located at the former site of the Nubian Kingdom of Kerma, which existed between 2500 and 1500 B.C. The remains of the walled city of Kerma are one of the largest archaeological sites in ancient Nubia. Archaeologists have identified a system of roads and well-differentiated……

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Nestled among the farmlands of Kearney, Nebraska, lies a cookbook wonderland with titles penned by everyone from church ladies to soap opera stars to gay clowns. Morris Press Cookbooks is the United States’ largest community cookbook publisher, and if there’s a community—no matter how niche—they’ve probably published a cookbook for it.  Morris Press’s origins date back to the 1930s when the company opened as a general printer and office-supply store. Commercial printing had always been a strong part of……

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The Hardanger Fartøyvernsenter (Hardanger Maritime Center) is a living museum. They build and repair wooden boats that range from smaller row boats up to larger wooden fishing boats. In addition, they have a blacksmith and one of the few rope-making facilities in Northern Europe. The center, which is located in a former furniture factory in Norheimsund, was established in 1984. Visitors can see ropes being made, blacksmiths at work in the forge, and boats being built and repaired. There are around……

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