Author: Ms. R.

Although Hallstatt is the first thing that pops up on maps when viewing the Obertraun in the Austrian Alps, there is much more to the area than a quaint little town. Visitors to the Dachstein Mountains will find a free observation deck that offers astonishing views. Named 5 Fingers due to the hand-shaped form of the platform, the observation deck reaches out over a 400-meter drop. Each finger allows visitors to view various perspectives of Hallstatt and Hallstättersee lake. Opened in October……

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Walking into this pub near the westerly end of Oxford Street, visitors may think that they have time-traveled back to the Victorian period. The bar is indeed from the late 1800s and features historic fixtures like a “snob screen,” a panel of etched glass that swivels, allowing the patrons to have an air of privacy between themselves and those working behind the bar. The Victorian-era apparatus in the Champion is one of only a handful in existence in the United……

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In mid-August, 17-year-old Lynette Alvarez and her aunt, Nellie Botello, put on matching camouflage snake guards and steel-toed boots for their work gathering prickly pear cactus fruit. Snake-season is year round in the Arizona desert, and there are baby rattlesnakes in the summer that may not make warning rattles yet. Along with a handful of pickers, they start as early as 4 a.m. to avoid the scorching afternoon heat. By 9 a.m., when they stop, the group will have……

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On the Mongolian steppe, there are predators, there are prey, and there are the bankhar. These large, powerful dogs weigh up to 125 pounds, with shaggy, thick coats that give them a bear-like appearance. For 15,000 years, bankhar dogs have been the guardians of the steppe. In these grasslands, sheep and other livestock kept by traditional nomadic herders are under constant threat from wolves, eagles, and even snow leopards. For millennia, the bankhar safeguarded both animals and the family’s……

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Located near the River Derwent is the quirkiest tourist attraction in the Lake District.  Standing around 29 feet (nine meters) high and 49 feet (15 meters) in diameter, there is some debate over whether this massive rock is a glacial erratic from Scotland or a huge piece of rock that fell from Bowder Crag above.  Borrowdale was once littered with rocks and was avoided by travelers due to the difficult terrain. However, in the early 1800s, this enormous boulder was……

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Situated right outside this train station is a life-sized bronze statue of steam railway innovator George Stephenson, often known as the “Father of the Railways.” Stephenson lived in Chesterfield at nearby Tapton Hall during the latter part of his life. At the time, he was working on the North Midland Railway between Derby and Leeds.  Commissioned as part of Chesterfield Borough Council’s Percent for Art Policy, the sculpture was paid for by developers in town. Stephen Hicklin was the……

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If you’d driven along Pittsburgh’s Webster Avenue decades ago, you may have caught a glimpse of Black suffragist and civil rights activist Daisy Lampkin at her home. The red-brick building on the corner stretches three stories tall, with ornamental cornices and rows of windows. It was Lampkin’s house for four decades, when she wasn’t traveling for work with the NAACP. The building still stands today—and now, so does a miniature version of it. An eight-inch model of Lampkin’s residence……

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This impressive two-level bridge spanning the canyon of the Tounjčica is also historically important.  The first level of the bridge was inspired by Roman architecture. It was constructed in 1775 to honor the Austrian emperor and Croatian king Joseph II. In 1836, with the renovation of the road, a second level was designed with sculptures.  During World War II, the upper level was mostly destroyed and replaced with a temporary wooden structure between 1957-1973 when the bridge was finally……

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