Since shortly after the Norman conquest of England in 1066, the charming fishing village of Clovelly has been privately owned. Once the property of William the Conqueror, Clovelly alternated between royal and private ownership until the village was inherited by the Hamlyn family in the late 1800s. Descendants of the Hamlyn family still run Clovelly…
In the 12th century, a group of Christians built an ornate wooden church in Luster, Norway, adorned with carvings that fused Norse and Christian symbolism. Nearly 900 years later, the Urnes Stave Church still stands on the shores of the placid Lustrafjord. The Urnes Stave Church is Norway‘s oldest stave church— a wooden church constructed…
County Kerry, Ireland is a windswept coastal region that is home to rolling hills, verdant fields, and mysterious dry stone beehive huts of unknown origin. The rounded beehive huts of Fahan—which are known as clochan—are some of the most well-preserved in all of Ireland. Visitors can explore the domed stone dwellings of the Dingle Peninsula…
In 1932, a fun-loving man named “Crawfish Eddie” Walker converted a small barge resting on a sand flat off the coast of Miami in Florida‘s Key Biscayne into a bait and tackle shop that served fresh seafood by day and functioned as a raucous gambling den that served copious amounts of bootlegged rum by night….
If you hop on the Pan-American Highway at the road’s origin in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, and drive 18,640 miles all the way to the end, you will find yourself in the magnificently beautiful city of Ushuaia. Located in Argentina‘s rugged Patagonia region, Ushuaia is often referred to as the ‘End of the World’ and the…
Approximately 7,700 years ago, the Klamath people in what we now know as Oregon witnessed a cataclysmic explosion that became an important part of their oral history. Towering Mount Mazama collapsed in a dramatic volcanic eruption. In Klamath lore, the god of the heavens and the god of the underworld engaged in a fiery battle…
Prior to the era of widespread exploration, travel, and trade, Portugal‘s Algarve Coast—which is located near the southernmost tip of continental Europe—was considered by many people to be the point where every map ended. The Algarve Coast’s stunning beaches, dramatic cliffs, and moody sea caves certainly have a mythical quality. If you’re searching for a…
In the 12th century, a Welsh cleric known as Geoffrey of Monmouth mentioned a courageous king named Arthur in his semi-historical, semi-mythical book The History of the Kings of Britain. Historians have never been able to verify if King Arthur ever actually existed. The vast collections of stories about King Arthur are most likely folklore….