Author: Ms. R.

The Höckerlinienweg is two things: an interesting walk of approximately one hour through nice landscapes and weird anti-tank barriers, but also a close-up view of Germany‘s dark history. Walking through the moss-covered barriers in the woods is a special experience. You can feel how soldiers were supposed to hide behind the lines, wait for attacks from France. The barriers are all in good condition and even some bunker ruins are accessible along the hike. The Höckerlinie was originally part of……

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If it’s lucky, Adelomelon brasiliana spends its life in coastal waters of Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina, half-swallowed by sand. There, the snail, whose tawny or ashen shell measures more than seven inches long, mates and eats. Scientists don’t know a ton about its diet, but its brethren—other gastropods in the family Volutidae—are carnivorous. What’s certain is that during breeding season, pearly orbs drift through its neighborhood. Unlike species that deposit their eggs somewhere sturdy, like on a rock, A…….

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Potsdam South Train Station opened in 1958 at the intersection of Berlin‘s outer ring rail line and the regional rail line from the city center to Michendorf. It gave residents of Potsdam direct access to Schönefeld Airport and East Berlin via the outer ring without traveling through West Berlin. In 1960 the station was renamed Potsdam Central Station, and it remained a busy transportation hub until the unification of Germany in 1990. In 1991 the station stopped servicing intercity……

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Zahra Azad’s recipe for gulgulay contains precise instructions for cooking, but also for serving the sweet. Made by frying balls of sweetened flour in oil, it is “Perfect for entertaining children and pacifying adults with a sweet tooth,” Azad writes in her cookbook, Indo-Pakistani Cuisine. Gulgulay evokes the cocoon of childhood memories; the warmth that comes with round, deep fried desserts. Azad’s cookbook is aptly titled, since it contains recipes eaten by families in the Indian subcontinent before partition……

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Twelve Vultures is an eccentrically curated curiosity shop right in the middle of Minneapolis‘ St. Anthony East neighborhood. At first, Twelve Vultures doesn’t stand out as particularly bizarre or unusual. In fact, it’s easy to drive or walk by, time and time again, the storefront perhaps blending in with the vintage shop next door. But once you peek through the window, you see a stunning display of taxidermy animals, specimen jars, and steampunk-esque gears and mechanisms. Beyond the display,……

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Prospero’s Books is located in a historic building that was built in 1890 that is one of the oldest operating retail spaces in Kansas City, Missouri. For its first 20 years, the building housed a grocery store, then a hardware store for 90 years after that. That history can still be seen in some of the architectural details: the pressed-tin ceiling and exposed brick walls are ornamented with original art, and library ladders roll across the wooden floors. The shop……

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Grant Wood, a pioneer of the American Regionalism art movement painted some of his most famous works at his studio, 5 Turner Alley.  In 1924, Wood agreed to do carpentry work for the Turner Mortuary in exchange for free rent at the carriage house. This became Wood’s home and studio. He modified the space himself and lived at the location with his mother from 1924 to 1935.  Wood painted “American Gothic,” “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere,” “Woman with Plants,”……

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