Author: Ms. R.

In the land of 10,000 lakes, everyone has a favorite spot to fish, swim, hike, canoe or spend the day relaxing. In the Twin Cities metro, there is no shortage of lake life one can experience without leaving the city. Lake Phalen, is one of the many that are accessible within the city limits, but it is often overlooked in favor of the famous chain of lakes in Minneapolis or Lake Minnetonka. Part of Phalen Regional Park, Lake Phalen……

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In October of 1976, the construction of a 59-story midtown Manhattan skyscraper was completed. This $175 million project, originally called Citicorp Center (now Citigroup Center), was considered an architectural marvel for its unique design, which used four massive stilts to lift the tower over an existing structure. But a design flaw that went unnoticed for several years held catastrophic potential. While designing the building, lead architect Hugh Stubbins and lead structural engineer William LeMessurier were faced with the challenge……

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The Haliç Metro bridge was designed to link two of the most central districts of Istanbul through Metro Line 2: The historic Fatih area and the Beyoglu hill. In order to give common access to both areas, the metro station is located above the bridge over the famous estuary. The word “haliç” means estuary. First opened in February 2014, the bridge was developed by Michel Virlogeux and Hakan Kiran. Virlogeux, a French engineer, is also responsible for two of……

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James Holland bought the land that sits at the corner of modern-day Norwood and Ednor roads in 1860 and opened a store shortly thereafter. The intersection became known as Holland’s Corner and in 1889, Holland became the first postmaster of the growing community known as Norwood. Shortly after the turn of the century, Holland sold a vast majority of the property including the store to P.F. Carroll, who in turn sold the property to Robert E. Smith in 1944…….

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These tools may look rough, but in the right hands they could be surprisingly precise. A British country magazine from 1958 contains this account of a man describing how his mother used hers: With a scoop in one hand, and an apple in the other, she would carve away the fruit’s flesh until nothing was left but a hollow skin, which would “crumple in the hand like paper.” Yes, these were apple scoops, and their purpose was quite practical:……

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Rokku, the sixth district of Asakusa, has been known as one of downtown Tokyo‘s major entertainment districts since the late 19th century. Lit by garish neon signs, the streets were crammed with a variety of cabarets, comedy venues, strip clubs, and numerous theatres including the very first cinema in Japan. Its popularity started to decline by the so-called bubble era of the late 1980s, and very few of the old venues are in operation today. That does not mean……

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In the grand scheme of the American Revolution, much of the glitz and glamor of colonial rebellion can be linked to Boston. The site of the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, so on and so forth. Yet 70 miles north, in the small town of Weare, New Hampshire, a small monument marks the site of one of the country’s first instances of fighting back against British oppression. New Hampshire’s economy has long been built on the state’s beautiful……

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While some might find the concept of dining just steps away from buried corpses to be unsettling for Berliners in the Kreuzberg neighborhood of Bergmannkiez, it’s the most natural thing in the world. After all, Friedhof, the German word for “cemetery,” translates roughly to a “peaceful place,” and it’s hard to picture a more peaceful place than the shady, serene grounds of Friedrichswerderscher Friedhof. Ever since 2013, when architect Martin Strauss and his wife Olga set up shop in……

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