Japan‘s vibrant pink cherry blossoms are among the world’s most beloved signs of spring. Kawazu, a small town less than 3 hours from Tokyo, is home to a special type of cherry blossom that is a slightly more vivid shade of pink, has larger petals, and blooms earlier than the average Sakura tree thanks to…
Route 66 was officially decommissioned in 1985, but America’s most celebrated highway lives on in songs, movies, and the imaginations of travelers embarking on the Great-American Road Trip. In John Steinbeck’s Great Depression-era novel The Grapes of Wrath, Route 66 serves as a symbol of the euphoric highs and crushing lows of the pursuit of…
One day, ceramicist and architect Octavio Mendoza Morales was chatting with one of his nieces. She suggested that he combine his passions by building a house out of clay. Captivated by the idea, Morales set out to turn this whimsical concept into reality. Casa Terracota, located in Villa de Leyva, Colombia, is entirely made of…
A striking pink, 17-story Buddhist temple in Khlong Mai, Thailand, with a green and gold dragon coiled around its exterior, is a surprisingly obscure destination. The design for Wat Samphran—otherwise known as the Dragon Temple—came to a member of the Bhavana Buddho sect during an extended fasting meditation. The dragon, whose face looks towards the…
In the 1500s, a group of Saracen pirates, often erroneously referred to as ‘Turks,’ scaled an enormous cliff in Sicily, marked by natural stone steps, to plunder a town. This cliff, after witnessing similar invasions by various pirate groups over centuries, became known as Scala dei Turchi, or the Turkish Steps. Surrounding the Turkish Steps,…
In 1434, the Dresden City Council received the green light from the powers that be to allow a Christmas Market to take place in Dresden on Christmas Eve. The outdoor Christmas Market sold meats that revelers could purchase to serve on Christmas Day. Dresden’s Christmas Market was so successful that it ultimately became one of…
Neist Point Lighthouse in Scotland is one of the most photographed lighthouses on Earth. Located near the edge of a windswept cliff on the Isle of Skye, the stark white tower of Neist Point never fails to attract crowds of visitors. Although still fully functional, Neist Point Lighthouse does not allow tours of its interior….
An underwater river may seem like a contradiction, but there are a handful of places in the world where underwater rivers actually exist. A flooded cave in Chumkopo, Mexico, known as Cenote Angelita, is home to an eerie underwater river. This phenomenon occurs due to a variance in the salinity of the water and a…