Author: Ms. R.

Every February in Catania, an ancient Sicilian city in the shadow of Mount Etna, the breast reigns supreme. During the first week of the month, crowds fill the streets in tribute to Saint Agatha. Local guilds carry massive, golden candle holders, or candelore, featuring sculptures that depict the martyred maiden and her gruesomely amputated breasts. Amid these brutal images of the saint, commemorated every February 5, Catania’s bakeries contribute a curious local specialty: small, breast-shaped cakes topped with a……

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While much of America rehashes the outcome and aftermath of a recent election, voters in Massachusetts have been electing another official. The job description is vague, the duties negligible. The gig is mainly as a figurehead, which is good, because the candidates aren’t particularly revved up about representing their constituents. They demonstrate astonishingly little interest in local government. In fact, they’ve been dead for millions of years. If Massachusetts Representative Jack Patrick Lewis has anything to say about it,……

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This magnificent geyser has become a must-see for visitors to this region of Germany. The geyser was actually the result of a drilling expedition in 1903 to extract carbon dioxide from mineral water. The geyser is fed from an artisan well and became a well-known tourist attraction in 2006 inside the Geopark Vulkanland Eifel. Every two hours, the Andernach erupts, shooting water into the air some 200 feet (60-80 meters).  In Andernach, district Namedy near the Rhine, visitors will find……

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This nearly 40-year-old plane wreckage is located near the Great Smoky Mountains of Western North Carolina. A moderately difficult two-mile round trip hike from the Waterrock Knob Visitor Center and trailhead in Sylva, North Carolina lead to the wreckage.  The trail begins at the Waterrock Knob Visitor Center and continues for a quarter mile up a well-marked, paved path to an observation point of the valley below. The trail turns to dirt and continues for another quarter mile until……

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The exact age of the painting in this cave is unknown, but it’s estimated that the artwork is well over a thousand years old.  According to creation stories from Aboriginal Australians, Bunjil is a principle legendary hero, the creator who provides for all and remains a protector of the natural world, his people, and their beliefs.  It’s believed Bunjil created the land, water, plants, and animals. It’s also a belief that Bunjil established the laws and religion of the……

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The little town of Fillmore is known for its authentic steam train rides and this unique curiosity shop that also happens to have a bakery.  Across from city hall is a classic 1900s bungalow that is home to various industrial treasures. Visitors to this curiosity shop will find a collection of carefully displayed objects that reflect a cinematic flair, as the owner is a Los Angeles area camera artist who works on various films.  The name of the store……

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Constructed in 1934, this small service station is an architectural rarity. American architect Carl-August Petersen designed the building in the Tudor Revival style. The rounded doorways and windows, steeply-pitched roofs, and chimneys are similar to those found on old English cottages and homes in the surrounding Island Park neighborhood.  It served as one of Ottawa‘s first drive-in gas stations during the early boom of automobile ownership in the 1930s. It operated as such until the late 1960s when it became a used……

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More than 20 million years ago, off the coast of what is now northern Taiwan, a marine creature tunneled vertically in the seafloor sand, then veered to the side. Every now and then, the animal—probably a skinny, sprawling, ancient worm—jutted its head above the sediment, snatched some prey, and dragged the unwitting morsel into its warren. Presumably, the creature feasted again and again, until it eventually died. When it did, its body wasn’t preserved—water, time, and predators can all……

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