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Lancashire Courting Cake

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A small Lancashire courting cake

Before dating apps, girls in the historic English county of Lancashire would bake romantic cakes for their betrotheds. These were considered love tokens in a time when unmarried men and women were kept apart due to societal norms, but the Lancashire courting cake is still made today, both by professional bakers and people seeking to impress their loved ones. 

The Lancashire courting cake is two layers of firm sponge cake, with whipped double cream and sliced strawberries as the filling and topping. Older and more traditional versions forgo the cream for jam in the middle instead, which was easier to store and less expensive. 

Baker Cindy Dring of Dottie’s Delight in Bolton began her research into Lancashire courting cake after a request to make one from her veterinarian, whose wife had made it for him in his youth. She describes how local couples would meet in the town centers to participate in a tradition known as ‘“promenading.” 

“The blokes would stand on one side of the street and the woman on the other side of the street, and if they made eye contact and they walked off … a couple of months later, she would make him a courting cake,” she says. Older Lancastrians feel nostalgic about the cake, she says, remembering it fondly from their courting days.  

Throughout the centuries, various historical bakes have been labeled as courting cakes. Emma Kay, a food historian and author of Foots, Lonks and Wet Nellies: Lancashire's Food and Drink, explains that girls baking these cakes not only wanted to show their affection, but also wanted to demonstrate their baking skills. Kay believes that this particular cake would have risen to prominence as a dating ritual around the 1920s. “It's also quite visually attractive, and similar to the Victoria sponge which everyone loves,” she says.

The Lancashire courting cake is so iconic that it was featured on The Great British Bake Off in 2013. Local food writer Philippa James helped recreate the cake in an old Lancastrian weaver’s cottage for the show. Then-Bake Off presenter Sue Perkins, on making her own version of it, pronounced that “the spirit of romance is alive and well in Lancashire.” Prince William and Kate Middleton also tasted one on their visit to Lancashire in 2011, prior to their wedding.      

As to why it is still locally popular today, Kay notes that “it's a nice summery cake, which isn't that difficult to make, and it's steeped in tradition, which people like.” While courting cake is not available in shops, it is made by home bakers and small bakeries like Dottie’s Delight for local events or on request. This cake is kept alive by those who have made or tasted it—albeit with a little bit of help from royalty and a popular British baking competition.      


Pont

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In 1914, absinthe was outlawed in France. In the small mountain town of Pontarlier, the world capital of absinthe, the news devastated the livelihoods of thousands of local workers. Nearly all the town's distilleries closed their doors or relocated. But one producer, Distillerie Guy, remained open, all thanks to adaptation and innovation. Its bestselling drink, Pont (formally known as Pontarlier-Anis), was created as a result of the absinthe ban and remains a beloved classic at the distillery to this day.

Pont was the invention of George and Armaund Guy, whose family distillery had been making absinthe since 1890. Following the nationwide ban, the distillers continued to use their absinthe recipe, with one key change: excluding the supposedly “madness-inducing” ingredient, thujone, and replacing it with green anise. 

When poured, Pont is clear as the local mountain water it contains, turning to a cloud of white when diluted. It has a frosty freshness, not unlike the sensation of breathing after chewing on a mint, while whipping the tongue with a smooth licorice sweetness. 

The licorice taste comes from the distillation of green anise, differentiating it from the star anise used in other anise spirits such as ouzo or pastis. Compared to those spirits, "Pont is lighter, purer, more subtle,” says Sébastien Siredey, who works at Distillerie Guy. “It is distilled from natural ingredients. It is more haut-de-gamme than pastis."

Pont also appears in a powerful local mixed drink known as the “Sapont.” The drink is a portmanteau that combines Pont with Sapin, the French word for “fir tree” that's also the name of another liquor produced by Distillerie Guy. Their Sapin is made from local fir trees that provide a sharp botanical flavor. A Sapont mingles together Sapin’s pine-green color and Pont’s snow white, with an icy coolness and wood-infused licorice warmth.

As with absinthe, the strength of botanicals lends a slightly medicinal flavor to every bottle of Pont and Sapin. “We are the pharmacy of Pontarlier,” Siredey jokes. Absinthe, Pont’s troublesome predecessor, was in fact used for medicinal purposes, until it was popularized by French soldiers in the war in Algeria, who grew fond of it for more than its purported healing properties. 

In 1988, France legalized the sale of absinthe (with regulated thujone levels), but did not allow producers to use the word “absinthe.” This odd stipulation was overturned in 2011 and absinthe made its formal return. But despite the notoriety of the “green fairy” Pont has remained a favorite among local connoisseurs. 

When it comes to Distillery Guy, the workers prefer their signature liquor. “At apéro, it’s Pont," says Siredey. "Not one of us drinks absinthe.”

Maultaschen

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Maultaschen can contain a number of different fillings.

The origins of Germany’s Maultaschen are deliciously devious. Legend has it that, in the late Middle Ages, a lay brother named Jakob invented the stuffed pasta dumplings at the Maulbronn Monastery, a UNESCO World Heritage site founded in 1147 by Cistercian monks in southwest Germany.

One direct translation of Maultaschen is “mouth pockets,” though “Maul” could just as easily refer to Maulbronn. Maultaschen are usually square dumplings (though sometimes they're rolled) and can be fried in a pan or served in broth. Commonly described as Germany’s version of Italian ravioli, they allegedly emerged as a way to use up an unexpected bounty of meat that Brother Jakob stumbled upon in the forest outside the monastery walls.

The twist? Although they abhorred waste, these monks weren’t allowed to eat the meat of four-legged animals, especially during the Catholic fasting period of Lent in the spring. So Brother Jakob minced the meat with herbs and onions and wrapped everything inside pasta dough, hiding the forbidden flesh from the eyes of his fellow monks—and even from the eyes of God.

In Swabia, the region encompassing much of Baden-Württemberg and part of Bavaria where Maultaschen originated, one of the colloquial names for the food references this deception directly: Herrgottsbescheißerle means “little God-cheaters.”

Everyone in Swabia has their version of the legend with more or less embellishment. Ludwig Nestler holds a master’s degree in heritage conservation and works for the State Palaces and Gardens of Baden-Württemberg, a government organization that oversees monuments like Maulbronn Monastery. His version of the tale includes a sack of stolen meat dropped in the woods by a fleeing thief, which inspires Brother Jakob’s trickery in the kitchen. But he acknowledges that there’s no undisputed “historically correct version” of how Maultaschen came to be. Similarly, everyone in Swabia has their own Maultaschen recipe, with unique ingredients for the minced filling, called Brät.

“Traditionally the Brät is made from pork mixed with herbs, onions, and occasionally bread crumbs for texture and stability,” says Nestler. Swabia, however, “was a rather poor region with limited amounts of meat due to rather unfertile land, so being adaptive and innovative has always been a part of the people’s nature.” As Maultaschen became popular, fish and seasonal vegetables like spinach, carrots, beets, and mushrooms became common inclusions.

Today, the European Union ties Maultaschen to Swabia with a Protected Geographical Indication, which lists required ingredients the authentic product should feature, but even the necessary inclusions are pretty loose, such as “pork and/or beef and/or veal” for meat Brät and “typical regional vegetables” for meat-free Brät. It speaks to the way the dumplings developed as subsistence food, used to stretch leftovers and reduce food waste.

Today, Germans throughout the country enjoy Maultaschen in dozens of flavors in all seasons thanks to grocery stores that stock packaged varieties made by companies like Ditzingen-based Bürger, whose mascot, Erwin, is a Maultasche (the singular form of the plural Maultaschen).

But the dumplings remain most popular in southern Germany. Maulbronn Monastery offers a special tour that pairs Maultaschen with wine from the monastery’s vineyards. And many locals, including Nestler’s family, still make them from scratch on special occasions—even during Lent, when meat might otherwise be off the menu. There’s no telling if it’s a fraud good enough to fool God, but it’s worth a shot.

Observe the Deadly Plot Twists Eclipses Trigger in Movies

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Eclipses have been present in cinema almost since the invention of film, from silent movies in the early 1900s all the way till turn-of-the-century anime and modern blockbusters. Their portrayals vary from filmmaker to filmmaker and are not always scientifically accurate, but oftentimes on-screen eclipses have a common thread. Many have a propensity to foretell a major change in the plot. Frequently, an eclipse can act as a deus ex machina of sorts that allows the rules of a cinematic universe to be broken.

“An eclipse can cause all sorts of disruptions,” says mathematician Ashley Christine. “It makes things darker and about 10 degrees colder. There’s even a slight change in color as the horizon is tinted orange. In addition to that, animals become confused and begin their nightly routines. Birds don’t sing, crickets chirp. It is so brief, but it makes for great storytelling. Like a portal to another world that only stays open for a few minutes.”

From Guillermo del Toro to James Cameron, eclipses have signaled something major is about to happen (call it a foreshadow), whether it's a climactic scene, confrontational encounter, dramatic closure, or transformation.

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One of the earliest film portrayals of the astronomical event occurred in 1907. This instance is romantic in nature, but ends with a kind of rebirth. Georges Méliès, considered the first filmmaker to experiment with fictional narratives, created the short The Eclipse: Courtship of the Sun and Moon. In the depiction, an anthropomorphic sun and moon ogle each other in anticipation of their encounter. An old astronomer, played by Méliès himself, observes the passionate episode through a telescope and, shocked by what he just saw, falls from a window. He lands in a barrel and is resuscitated by his students. The dazed astronomer takes some time to recover from his life-threatening moment of witnessing the moon overtaking the sun.

After more than a century since this initial portrayal, eclipses continue to lure directors and screenwriters alike with the same intensity that the sun and the moon were drawn to each other in Méliès’ silent film. Movies and even TV shows continue to insert them in the different narratives, sometimes as active elements of the plot and some others simply as part of the mise en scène.

It’s not uncommon for eclipses to appear in climactic scenes. In Barabbas (1961), a film by director Richard Fleischer that narrates the story of the prisoner who was chosen over Jesus to be pardoned and set free, a real eclipse is featured in the background during the crucifixion scene. Fleischer even decided to delay the shooting so the crew could capture the event in real time for the movie. It can’t be denied that there is an esoteric aspect that surrounds cinematic eclipses even now. Despite science having long explained the causes of this astronomical phenomenon, filmmakers seem unable to resist indulging in its obscure mysticism.

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One of the main reasons eclipses continue to be so popular in film and television is because of their rarity and scale, according to Christine. “A total eclipse on Earth is a rare phenomenon even in the solar system,” she says. “Sure, other planets have moons that eclipse them, but our moon is perfectly positioned to block out the sun like a puzzle piece. The sun is about 400 times bigger than the moon and about 400 times farther away. NASA calls it a ‘cosmic coincidence.’”

Oftentimes, an eclipse moves the story forward but also unleashes something dark. In The Little Shop of Horrors (1986), based on the off-Broadway musical of the same name, the monstrous plant Audrey II mysteriously appears in a Chinese store during a total solar eclipse. Similarly, in the “Dreams Take Flight” episode of the Japanese anime series Sailor Moon (2000), a solar eclipse releases a villainous gang that attempts to use the energy of the sun to free an evil queen from a mirror prison. And, in Hellboy, the 2004 film directed by Guillermo del Toro, a lunar eclipse grants the protagonist the opportunity to open the gates of hell to release the seven gods of chaos.

Michael Siegel, astrophysicist and movie enthusiast, agrees that, since eclipses disrupt the natural harmony of sunrise-sunset or moonrise-moonset, it is only natural for creators to use this disruption as an analogy in a fictional narrative. “Human lives are defined by the sun. Our day-night cycles and our seasons are all determined by the location of the sun in the sky. Many ancient cultures worshiped the sun as a god. The sky and the movement of celestial objects has long been connected with the divine and prophecy,” he explains. “Eclipses are also relatively unusual, especially total solar eclipses, so one occurring in a TV show or movie is a big sign that something important is happening.”

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This can include a confrontational encounter or an exchange of power. The film Apocalypto (2006) features a solar eclipse that helps to tip the balance in favor of the protagonist. In one of the pivotal scenes of the movie, the main character, Jaguar Paw, is about to be sacrificed in a Mayan altar, but is spared when the moon suddenly obscures the sun. The Mayans take the eclipse as a sign that the gods have been appeased, so Jaguar Paw’s life is pardoned. Finally, James Cameron is another one of the directors to have succumbed to the eclipse trope by featuring one during the final battle between the Metkayina clan and a group of members of the RDA in Avatar: The Way of Water (2022).

“There is certainly a metaphorical element to the powerful sun being eclipsed by the lesser moon,” Siegel says. “It can represent the powerless triumphing over the powerful. This goes all the way back to the biblical story of the ten plagues, where the 9th plague was darkness during the day, a triumph of God over the Egyptian sun god Ra, their most powerful deity, on behalf of a powerless people.”

Even though eclipses are cyclical and brief, their cameos seem to be tied to the concept of closure or at least transformation. There might not be any more female-looking moons and devilish-looking suns that lick their lips and wink their eyes at each other awaiting their interlude, but that same sense of reawakening experienced by the astronomer after falling from a window is still present within today’s cinematic portrayals.

“I suppose the darkness of an eclipse could be interpreted as a kind of final act or closing of the curtain,” Ashley Christine concludes. “Maybe writers and producers view it as a reboot, a way to begin again. Like a baptism of darkness.”

The Small but Wonderful World of Bird Memorials

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In early March 2024, mourners gathered in New York's Central Park to pay tribute to Flaco, a Eurasian eagle owl. The Central Park Zoo escapee—who, during his year free in the park, captured many of the city's hearts, minds, and rats in his talons—was killed on February 23, 2024, likely by a high-rise window. Hundreds came to his memorial service, and many laid flowers, letters, drawings, and photographs under the oak that was his preferred tree. Some are now seeking something more permanent. A petition calling on the City Council to install a statue of Flaco in the park has more than 4,000 signatures from people who, in the words of organizers Brandon Borror-Chappell and Mike Hubbard, wish "to commemorate his legacy—and to remind us all to keep a curious, respectful eye out for the myriad wonderful beings with whom we share this space."

If this happens, that statue will join a distinctive lineage: the bird memorial. While the world is aflutter with bird art in general, the flock of memorials for individual, known birds is small. Some of these honor domestic companions such as Alec, a goose who liked to walk children to school in 1920s Belfast, and Roscoe, a feral rooster who frequently crossed the road in Takoma Park, Maryland. Others are beautiful memorials for an entire extinct species, placed near where their endlings—the last members of a species, invested with symbolic weight before and after death—were last seen.

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But, as far as I've been able to find,* there is only one statue out there that specifically commemorates a free-living bird who ended up far from where he supposedly belonged. The sculpture, by bronze artist David Smus, portrays a juvenile great black hawk who lived for a short season in Portland, Maine. It's a unique and poignant tribute to a bird who, like Flaco, gave his life to be part of a new community.

A Brief Visit

The great black hawk memorial is at the west end of Portland's Deering Oaks Park. It's a 10-foot granite pillar holding up a shining bronze depiction of its subject: life-sized (great black hawks have a wingspan of about four feet), head swiveled, and one wing stretched as if ready to dive. Near the bottom of the pillar is a wary-looking gray squirrel, also in bronze. The sculpture was made to honor the first great black hawk ever seen in the United States. These birds of prey are common in South America and coastal Mexico, where they call to each other with a special whistle-screech and use their long legs to chase down prey on the ground. They generally don't travel much.

But in April 2018, a juvenile male was spotted in Texas, farther north than ever seen before. Birders got excited. In August of that year, the same great black hawk, identified by his plumage patterns, showed up way farther north, on the coast of Maine. He flew off again, but returned in late October, and eventually settled down in Deering Oaks Park.

Excitement grew. Many birds travel thousands of miles per year as part of their regularly scheduled programming, and make expected visits. East Coast Americans count on warblers coming through in the spring and fall, for instance. But on occasion, individuals from migratory and homebody species can go off course, pushed by wind or confusion or curiosity, and end up somewhere brand new. These birds, known as vagrants, often make a big impression among birders and in the wider communities that come to adopt them as their own. (At least two other vagrants have been memorialized in some way, if not with a full statue: a white-crowned sparrow who visited Norfolk, England, in 2002 was incorporated into a stained-glass window in a church there; and there is a stone in Blidworth, England, commemorating an Egyptian nightjar who was shot by a hunter.)

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Birders, of course, love when an unusual species seems to have gone out of its way to visit—the reverse of the usual situation. But almost everyone tends to appreciate them. Like Flaco and other wanderers or escapees, vagrants seem out of place—a designation complicated by our time of captive breeding, zoos, human-mediated dispersal, and climate-change-driven range shifts, but one that still holds symbolic power and poses interesting problems. Their stories land as heartwarming or goofy; inspiring or tragic.

Maine's great black hawk was all of these and more. His presence was thrilling: Here (again, like Flaco) was a massive bird of prey with a flair for drama, lording over a city park. People came from around the country to see him; some who lived nearby came almost every day.

Watching him was intriguing and rewarding: What was this streaky juvenile, whose species generally lives off lizards and crayfish, going to eat in the winter? (He solved that puzzle quickly, and was rarely photographed without a bloodied squirrel.) "The fact that this incredible bird has survived so long so far away from its native range is simply astounding," wrote naturalist Doug Hitchcox in Maine Audubon. "How many Great Black Hawks have ever seen snow?"

In the end, the story was sad, too—the bird's chosen home could not take care of him. In late January, parkgoers found the great black hawk on the ground, his long legs frostbitten. A local rehab group, Avian Haven, made the difficult decision to euthanize him, and he died on January 31, 2019.

A Permanent Memory

David Smus, who lives about two hours from Portland, never got to see the great black hawk alive. But he has been sculpting herons, puffins, and other Maine birds for years, including some living at Avian Haven. After the great black hawk's death, he got a call from a volunteer there.

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People really missed their visitor. Several organizations, including Maine Audubon, Maine Fish and Wildlife, and the Friends of Deering Oaks, were thinking of working together to make a memorial for him—"a really nice depiction of what the bird really looked like, live in that park," Smus recalls. They asked if he would put together a proposal.

Smus took measurements and photographs of the hawk's body, which was later taxidermied for the Maine State Museum. He noted the attributes of the unfamiliar species—the lanky legs, the featherless lores (the space between the eye and the beak)—and of the individual, whose unique streaked pattern and bent tail feather had allowed him to be recognized easily on both sides of the continent.

Commissions, especially of public art, involve integrating different needs, Smus says. Asked to make the statue vandal-proof, he decided to place it on top of a granite column, where people could "see it from a great distance, and be drawn to it between the trees," he says. To ensure visibility from the ground, he stretched one of the hawk's broad wings, "like it's maneuvering through those trees." He designed the tail with a wonky feather. And to show how the hawk had survived (and to interest children, who might not be able to see up to the top) he included a bronze squirrel.

Smus's proposal was accepted. The finished sculpture, Extraordinary Journey, was unveiled in 2020, in a grove of spruce and catalpa trees, "a favorite spot for the bird to roost" and a good place for a picnic, Smus says. Nearby is an informational plaque that details the whole story in words.

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Smus is also an admirer of Flaco, and hopes that a permanent memorial could take shape. In the meantime, more tributes to the owl are coming in, both abstract (a recent ice skating show was dedicated to him) and concrete (a group of state senators and assembly members proposing a bill that requires new buildings to incorporate bird-friendly designs have renamed it "The FLACO Act"). It's a bit funny to think of bird statues, which pay homage to a free-moving being by fixing it into place. But we're stuck on Earth, and this is one way we can keep them with us.

* If you know of other examples of bird memorial statues, please feel free to write me at caragiaimo@gmail.com.

Cara Giaimo writes about plant and animal science and culture across the Internet, and lives with her wife and two cats in Somerville, Massachusetts. Cara is also co-author of Atlas Obscura's upcoming book, Wild Life: An Explorer’s Guide to the World’s Living Wonders. Pre-order your copy today!

Why Clouds Vanish During Solar Eclipses

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In 1972, a group of umbraphiles gathered in Nova Scotia to witness a total solar eclipse. Just before the celestial event was to begin, clouds completely obscured the view. One of the group members, now-retired geoscientist Steve Dutch, recalled that, as the eclipse began, the clouds suddenly fled. "All of us had perfect views," he wrote in an online post.

The clearing wasn’t a fluke or divine intervention, but the now-documented reaction of certain kinds of clouds to solar eclipses.

Cumulus clouds—the low-lying, fluffy ones with flat bottoms and poofy tops—dissipate as an eclipse begins, according to a recent paper in the journal Communications Earth & Environment. The authors found that the moon needs to obscure a mere 15 percent of the sun to initiate cloud clearing. While this can be convenient for viewing the solar eclipse, researchers worry the phenomenon could be a problem for solar-deflecting technology.

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In the past, satellite data regarding cloud cover before and after solar eclipses hinted that clouds may dissipate during these celestial events. But measuring clouds during the actual eclipse is much trickier, because algorithms for predicting cloud cover and density don’t account for the decrease in solar radiation. Researchers were left in the dark—until they created a new model, which accounts for the percent of the sun obscured throughout the eclipse. Using the new approach, lead author Victor Trees and his research team at the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute and Delft University of Technology were able to revisit old satellite measurements from three eclipses a couple decades ago.

They discovered a chain reaction: The eclipse causes changes at ground level, which in turn affects cloud cover. Blocking sunlight cools Earth’s surface. This temperature change slows the rise of warm air and water vapor, which is responsible for cumulus cloud formation. So less sun means lower temperatures on the ground, which leads to fewer clouds. That's where that 15 percent threshold becomes important: that's the small fraction of the sun that needs to be obscured for clouds to thin out. “At that instant, there is still plenty of light outside and people don’t commonly realize an eclipse is happening,” says Trees.

And if you’re out at sea, you won’t see this phenomenon at all. When the eclipse's shadow passes over the ocean, clouds remain unchanged. The ocean doesn’t cool down as easily as land, keeping cumulus clouds kicking. And on land or sea, other types of clouds are less sensitive to subtle cooling and aren’t directly affected by eclipse-related temperature shifts—which means they can still block your view of the event.

While the clearing of some clouds can be a big plus for eclipse-chasers, these findings could have some negative implications for new technologies aimed at cooling the planet. One idea, for example, is to place reflective solar sails in space, which proponents say could deflect some of the sun's rays and theoretically cool Earth’s surface. If implemented, however, such projects could influence cloud cover in unintended ways, says Trees.

Cumulus clouds in particular play an important role in Earth's water cycle, and influencing their patterns could impact rainfall and actually increase temperatures. “You would weaken the natural cooling effect of these bright, shiny clouds,” says climate change data scientist Rick Russotto, at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, who was not involved in the study. The potential result: You may have to deflect even more light to account for the loss of shade-bearing clouds.

While the implications of proposed technologies are still unknown, you need not fear cumulus clouds blocking a solar eclipse. You may even hope for them, just for the chance to see them disappear.

7 Unexpected Easter Traditions

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In many parts of the world, the Christian holiday of Easter is now synonymous with bunnies and chicks, chocolate and jelly beans, and the decorating and hiding of lots and lots of eggs. But Easter—marked in 2024 by Western Christians on March 31 and by Eastern Orthodox Christians on May 5—has also been a holiday of ball games (in medieval Europe) and tree decorating (1890s New York), and it remains a celebration of bread, in the form of Ukraine’s paska and England’s hot cross buns. Take the Atlas Obscura tour of under-appreciated Easter traditions, from the towering Arches of Bread in Italy to graveyard feasts of Georgia.

How Easter Egg Trees Almost Became an American Tradition

by Anne Ewbank, Senior Associate Editor, Gastro Obscura

In the spring of 1895, Louis C. Tiffany, of stained-glass and jewelry fame, held a lavish “Mayflower Festival” to benefit a local hospital. “Among the evening’s entertainments,” writes culinary historian Cathy K. Kaufman, “was an Easter egg tree, dazzling with different colored eggs.” This wasn’t unusual at the time. In the era before plastic eggs, many Americans carefully emptied whole eggs of their contents and colored them brightly for Easter, hanging them on tree branches with scraps of ribbon or thread.

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Every Easter, a Sicilian Town Builds a Cathedral Out of Bread

by Vittoria Traverso

For months each year, residents of San Biagio in Sicily team up to build life-size structures made of local herbs, cereals, and bread. This monumental display is both centuries old and one of Italy’s most fantastical traditions: the Arches of Bread.

Why Georgians Dine in Cemeteries for Orthodox Easter

by Helena Bedwell

Every year around Orthodox Easter, Georgian cemeteries fill with families drinking wine, nibbling on platters of sweet bread, and rolling eggs dyed a deep blood red. They cry, they offer sweet words of remembrance, and they eat. It’s all part of a longstanding Georgian tradition of dining with the dead every spring.

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The Powerful Symbolism of Ukraine’s Easter Bread

by Anne Ewbank, Senior Associate Editor, Gastro Obscura

It’s hard to imagine celebrating Easter, a holiday of spring and rebirth, in the middle of a war. But in Ukraine, bakers are still making their Easter breads, known as paska, with pride and defiance. Sweet, egg-laced breads are part of nearly every European country’s celebratory menu, especially around Easter, but Ukrainian bakers go all out, covering their breads with tiny, flour-y birds, braided shapes, and curved crosses, occasionally baking them into towering domes with lots of icing.

Remembering the Tansy, the Forgotten Easter Pancake of Centuries Past

by Natasha Frost

Almost every holiday comes with its own accompanying foodstuff. Easter treats seem self-evident: chocolate, eggs, and chocolate eggs. But for hundreds of years, the English ate something entirely different at Easter: a sweet, herbal concoction—somewhere between a pancake and an omelet—known as a tansy. It was green, herbal, and slightly toxic.

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How This London Pub Got Its Buns Back for Easter

by Anne Ewbank, Senior Associate Editor, Gastro Obscura

Hanging hot cross buns from the ceiling has a long history in the United Kingdom. In ancient times, worshippers ate sweet buns marked with a cross to honor Eostre, the goddess of the dawn. When “Eostre” became “Easter,” the buns stuck around. Still today, the tradition continues in some London pubs.

The Lost Tradition of Playing Ball in Church to Celebrate Easter

by Sarah Laskow

In Auxerre Cathedral and other places of worship in northern France, on Easter Monday in the medieval era, clergy gathered around the church’s labyrinth, danced in a circle, and tossed a ball from person to person—a joyful celebration of Easter, with strict rules, that evolved from pagan rituals.

Wild Life: Relocated Tortoises

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Each week, Atlas Obscura is providing a new short excerpt from our upcoming book, Wild Life: An Explorer’s Guide to the World’s Living Wonders (September 17, 2024).

Desert tortoises know how to weather change. Residents of the Mojave for more than three million years, they’ve stuck around even as their ecosystem went from a dripping jungle during the Miocene to today’s sunbaked desert. In recent years, the landscape has begun to shift again as new wind, solar, and housing development projects fence tortoises out of their habitat.

And so, with the help of concerned local citizens, some tortoises have taken up a new survival strategy: They live in people’s backyards. Since 1998, the California Turtle and Tortoise Club has been rehoming reptiles who find themselves displaced by energy companies or housing developers. Many tortoises removed from project sites are adopted by human families. (Other rehoming candidates come from households who took them from the wild as pets decades ago, before it was illegal, but can no longer care for them.) Desert tortoises are the only species on the United States “threatened” or “endangered” lists that can be kept in this way.

The slow-paced lifestyle of these tortoises translates well to many California desert homes. Tortoise caretakers feed their charges grasses, but the reptiles are also known to nibble on garden flowers. They dig backyard burrows—private, underground spaces where some spend up to 95 percent of their time. In the wild, tortoises use burrows to hibernate during both the cold winters and the hot summers. In captivity, tortoises tend to hibernate less, but in more unusual locations; keepers often find their missing tortoises under dressers or in closets.

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The tortoises are (relatively) high-maintenance in one respect: Unlike other desert creatures that can stay hydrated just by eating desert plants, they need to imbibe fresh water at least once every couple of years. A puddle on concrete, such as what you might find after a light rain, is typically enough to satisfy their thirst.

Desert tortoises help humans out, too. Companies proposing extractive projects in the desert often act as though no one lives there, ignoring not only wildlife, like the tortoise, but a number of Indigenous American groups with desert homelands. In the 1990s, a company proposed putting a nuclear waste dump in San Bernardino County’s Ward Valley, part of the territory of the Chemehuevi tribe and Mojave nation—and critical desert tortoise habitat. Images of radioactive, melting tortoises adorned posters protesting the project, and in the end, the tortoise’s threatened status helped stop it.

  • Range: Alluvial fans and sandy flats in California, Nevada, and Utah
  • Species: Desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii)
  • How to see them: In the wild, wait for an overcast day when rainfall seems imminent, or try springtime when the tortoises tend to be out chomping on plants. One well-known captive tortoise, Mojave Maxine, can be found at the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens in Palm Desert, California.
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THE WILD LIFE OF: A Tortoise Adoption Coordinator

Mary Dutro has been the adoption chairman for the High Desert chapter of the California Turtle and Tortoise Club for more than 20 years. During her tenure, she has placed more than a thousand tortoises in new homes.

How did you first become involved with the California Turtle and Tortoise Club?

When Charlene and Sherman walked into my backyard in 1960. They were two tortoises, a male and a female. They stayed in my backyard until they became an endangered species [in 1989]. Then Fish and Wildlife had us release them to help rebuild the wild population. So Charlene, Sherman, and their kids were released out where a high school has now been built.

In your role as adoption coordinator, how do you place tortoises in homes? What does someone need to do to keep a tortoise at their home?

You have to consider the habitat—if it will be good for them. You’ve got to make sure that they have sun, shade, and a shallow water dish. They need dirt they can dig in. Sometimes they use doghouses to supplement their burrows.

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Where do the tortoises that you get and rehome come from?

The majority come from households that can no longer care for them. Either a caregiver has died or they’re moving out of state, and they can’t take [the tortoises] out of state. Some of the tortoises have been in the same home for 40 or 50 years.

The other ones I’ve had turned in to me were living where [companies] were putting in solar fields. The ground under a solar field gets so hot that the tortoises can’t stay there. So the electric company, or whoever’s putting in the solar field, will rescue them and turn them in.

What are some of your other duties as adoption chair?

I did get a call from one gentleman who was trying to figure out why and how his tortoise died. We went through all the things as I’m trying to diagnose her on the telephone.

Finally, I thought to ask, “How old is she?” He said, “I don’t know exactly, but we’ve had her for over 140 years.” His grandfather found her out in the desert when she was the size of his hand.

So we figured that she was probably five or 10 years old when his grandfather found her—which, by the way, is against the law now; you can’t pick up a wild tortoise. We figured she died of old age.

What do you wish people knew about tortoises?

They are great pets. They don’t bark; they don’t bite! Desert tortoises don’t bother anybody. They do become associated with their families; they’ll recognize you when you come out. The tortoises will even knock on the patio door if you’re late putting food out for them.

They make nice pets as long as you treat them right and keep them safe. And they’ve been around here longer than the dinosaurs. They’re still here, and it would be nice if we didn’t wipe them out.

If you see a desert tortoise in the wild, don’t bother it! A tortoise might respond to being picked up by evacuating its bowels and losing precious water. If the tortoise seems to be in distress, note its location and contact the landowner or the local chapter of the California Turtle and Tortoise Club. For more information about adopting a desert tortoise, go to tortoise.org.

Wild Life: An Explorer’s Guide to the World’s Living Wonders celebrates hundreds of surprising animals, plants, fungi, microbes, and more, as well as the people around the world who have dedicated their lives to understanding them. Pre-order your copy today!

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Which States in America Have the Oldest and Youngest People?

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Maine has the highest median age of any state in the country: 45 years. That’s two years more than retiree magnet Florida and fully 13 years more than Utah, the state with the lowest median age (32 years).

Why the big gap? Economics and religion. In Maine, jobs are fewer and wages are lower, so young people tend to leave in search of opportunities elsewhere. Mormonism is Utah’s dominant religious tradition, which prizes community—and large families. That makes Utah an outlier within the U.S., but very close to the global median age of 31 years.

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What all states share, though, is that their median age is creeping upward. North Dakota used to be an exception. Its median age dropped from 37 in 2010 to 35.2 in 2018, making it the only state that got younger over that period. But even the continued influx of a relatively younger workforce, attracted by the state’s thriving energy industry, hasn’t been able to maintain the trend: By 2022, the median age had crept up again to 36 years.

(“Median,” by the way, refers to the middle of a range of values, while “average” is the sum of all values divided by their number. The median is seen as a more robust measure of distribution because the average is often skewed by outliers with extreme values.)

The Atlas Obscura Crossword: Beyond the Moai

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Atlas Obscura's weekly crossword comes to us from creator Stella Zawistowski, a puzzlemaker who is also one of the fastest crossword solvers in America, with multiple top-10 finishes at the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament and a personal record for solving the New York Times Sunday crossword of 4 minutes, 31 seconds. She is the author of Tough as Nails Crosswords.

You can solve the puzzle below, or download it in .pdf or .puz. Note that the links in the clues will take you to Atlas Obscura pages that may contain the answer. Happy solving!

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Podcast: Vent Haven Museum

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Listen and subscribe on Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all major podcast apps.


In this episode of The Atlas Obscura Podcast, we visit the Vent Haven Museum, which is a dream destination or a nightmare—depending on how you feel about ventriloquist dummies. Inside, you'll find more than 500 of them. Enjoy!

Our podcast is an audio guide to the world’s wondrous, awe-inspiring, strange places. In under 15 minutes, we’ll take you to an incredible site, and along the way you’ll meet some fascinating people and hear their stories. Join us daily, Monday through Thursday, to explore a new wonder with cofounder Dylan Thuras and a neighborhood of Atlas Obscura reporters.

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How to View an Eclipse Safely

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This story was originally published on The Conversation. It appears here under a Creative Commons license.

A total solar eclipse will occur across a wide ribbon of North America on April 8. Millions of people along the path of totality in Mexico, the United States, and Canada will witness this spectacular event, while millions more will experience a partial eclipse.

It is imperative to take steps to protect your eyes from solar retinopathy, permanent eye damage caused by looking at directly at the Sun. Any direct viewing should only be done with the correct use of approved solar eclipse glasses that meet an international safety standard known as ISO 12312-2.

Also known as sun blindness, solar retinopathy has been recognized since ancient Greece. It affected astronomers including Sir Isaac Newton, who once used a mirror to look at the Sun and saw “afterimages for months.”

In Turkey in 1976, 58 patients sought treatment for eye damage after an eclipse. While some experienced initial improvements, the damage in others was unchanged 15 years later. In 1999, 45 people presented to the Eye Casualty of Leicester Royal Infirmary after an eclipse seen there. Retinopathy was confirmed in 40 of them. Seven months later, four people could still see “the ghosts of the damage” in their visual field.

And after the solar eclipse of August 2017, 27 patients in Utah presented with concerns about vision. For those people affected by solar retinopathy, the results can be devastating and lifelong.

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Solar retinopathy is damage to the back of the eye (the fovea centralis in the retina) from exposure to intense light. It is typically caused by sungazing or eclipse viewing but can also result from welding without a shield, looking at laser pointers, and from some surgical and photographic lighting.

A process called “phototoxicity” happens when the energy in the light forms damaging free radicals and reacts with oxygen within the retina. This disrupts the retinal pigment epithelium (a layer of supportive cells beneath the retina) as well as the choriocapillaris (blood vessels) beneath.

Fragmentation of the photoreceptors, nerve cells within the retina that detect light and color, follows and can result in permanent loss of central vision.

Some wavelengths of light that cause solar retinopathy—such as ultraviolet-A radiation and near-infrared wavelengths—are not visible to humans, yet cause solar retinopathy in as little as a few seconds. This exposure doesn’t necessarily hurt at the time.

So eclipse gazing—even with little or no visible light and viewed briefly without pain—can lead to loss of vision. There is no proven treatment for solar retinopathy. Steroid medications have been tried without evidence of success, and may make things worse in some patients. Antioxidant medications are used in some eye diseases, but there are no studies showing a benefit in solar retinopathy. Vision may improve over time without treatment but many patients are left with residual deficits. The mainstay of management is therefore prevention.

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Only approved glasses will absorb the appropriate wavelengths of visible, ultraviolet, and infrared light. They must:

  1. be purchased from reputable vendors to ensure they are not counterfeits
  2. display the correct safety certification (ISO 12312-2)
  3. not be scratched, cracked, or show any other signs of damage
  4. fit your face properly so no gaps let light in (check they fit over your usual glasses if you need these to see normally)
  5. be checked by looking at a lamp or light bulb; only light from the Sun should be visible through genuine eclipse glasses. This check doesn’t risk eye damage provided the previous steps have been followed.

Regular sunglasses, polaroid filters, welding shields, X-ray film, neutral density filters, red glass filters, mobile phones, and homemade sun filters are not safe for viewing the Sun or an eclipse.

Symptoms of solar retinopathy to watch out for include blurred vision in one or both eyes within one or two days of exposure. People may also experience blind spots, altered color vision, visual distortion (straight lines appearing kinked or wavy), micropsia (objects appearing smaller than normal), light sensitivity, and headache. There may be no symptoms at all in the first day.

If you have symptoms, abstain from further eclipse viewing. Use dark sunglasses and painkillers (such as acetaminophen) for light sensitivity and headaches. Arrange an urgent appointment with an ophthalmologist or optometrist, or go to an urgent care clinic.

A total solar eclipse may potentially be viewed without eye protection, but only during the brief period while the Moon completely covers the Sun (the period of totality)—and this still has risks. Eclipse glasses should only be removed after totality has commenced, when the Moon has completely covered the Sun and it suddenly becomes dark. Just prior to the Sun reappearing, eclipse glasses must be replaced, to keep observing the remaining partial eclipse.

A solar eclipse is a rare occurrence. People will naturally be curious to observe it. Following the right advice will mean they can do it safely.

Hessom Razavi is an ophthalmologist, and an associate professor at The University of Western Australia.

Go Beyond the Beef at Korean Barbecue

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THIS ARTICLE IS ADAPTED FROM THE MARCH 23, 2024, EDITION OF GASTRO OBSCURA’S FAVORITE THINGS NEWSLETTER. YOU CAN SIGN UP HERE.

I grew up in Flushing, the home to Queens’ Koreatown. Or as we call it, the real Koreatown. It’s where 60 percent of Korean New Yorkers actually live, as compared to the over-the-top, Times Square-like entertainment center that’s become Manhattan’s K-Town.

After the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 removed national-origin quotas that favored European countries, the population of Korean Americans rose from 11,000 in 1960 to 290,000 in 1980, as they found their new homes in metropolitan areas of California, New Jersey, and New York.

That statistic includes my parents: my dad, a now-retired jewelry store owner in Harlem, and my nurse mom who worked throughout the worst years of the Covid-19 pandemic. Somehow, my mom still found the time to grill the most delectable meat, serving it with lettuce grown in her garden.

Nothing engages all the senses like Korean barbecue. And I’ve been privy to all of its forms both at home and at restaurants since childhood.

In recent years, Korean grill houses have become mainstream. Bulgogi and galbi are now part of the American foodie’s vernacular, but there’s so much more to Korean barbecue than beef and pork. There are live clams, frothing with liquor on grill slats. There are buoyant and buttery chunks of eel crackling over red charcoal embers.

Some of these proteins are eaten for special occasions, and often they come seasoned and prepared in a certain way. They all are grilled right at the diner’s table with a line-up of banchan that make for a magnitude of flavors—savory, smoky, sour, spicy—and textures, from the crunch of the lettuce wrap to the teeth-sinking tenderness of the meat.

Here’s a look at four special kinds of Korean barbecue, along with a list of restaurants in the States that specialize in them.

Duck Barbecue or Ori Gui (오리 구이)

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In Korea, as in the U.S., duck is considered a premium meat for a special occasion. Since the philosophy of food as medicine is imprinted into our culture, health concerns draw Koreans to duck’s nutritiousness: collagen for beauty benefits and unsaturated fats (which don’t clog blood vessels in the way other animal proteins do).

At grill houses specializing in duck, the meat comes out sliced into thin, marbled rounds or chopped into chunks, either lightly salted or marinated. These are often cooked on a tilted grill pan that allows for excess grease to drip out.

Once the duck is cooked, get to making wraps. Dip the sizzling duck into a blend of Korean mustard and soy sauce. Add that to any of the wrapping leaves (usually lettuce and/or kkaenip, perilla leaves) along with a dollop of rice. Top it off with the grilled kimchi and seasoned chives that are usually served with duck.

Leave room for leftover magic. The servers scoop rice onto the grill pan and mix it together with the remaining duck and kimchi for bokkeumbap, carefully scorching the bottom for an extra charred, umami flavor.

Where to find it
In New York City: Daori BBQ, Kumsung BBQ, Han Joo. In Atlanta: Tofu Village Korean BBQ. In Los Angeles: Sun Ha Jang.

Eel Barbecue or Jangeoh Gui (장어구이)

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Barbecued eel—one of my favorite grilled meats—is a rich, buttery treat that chars and curls as its skin contracts over hot charcoal.

Unfortunately, a number of factors limit its availability in the U.S. Compared to beef or pork barbecue, the demand for eel is not as high. Even among Koreans, it’s extolled as a special-occasion health food, whose oily, protein-heavy content lends itself to replenishing gi (기) or life energy.

In Korea, eel’s popularity peaks during the low-energy, dragging days of summer. The dish also requires eels to be stored alive in fish tanks, and a chef on staff needs to be experienced with handling live eels.

Here’s how to enjoy barbecued eel: Dip the crackling-hot eel into a sauce of sesame oil mixed with salt along with black pepper and/or spicy red ssamjang; drop that into a leaf of lettuce, add a spoonful of rice if you like, and top it with the customary pickled ginger. Then, plop the whole thing in your mouth for kaleidoscopic flavors and textures in every bite.

Where to find it
In New York City: Yuk Jun Gui. In Palisades Park, NJ: Jang-eo Jip. In Los Angeles, CA: Soot Bull Jeep.

Chicken Barbecue or Dakgalbi (닭갈비)

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The word dakgalbi, which translates to chicken ribs, is a misnomer that hints to its storied past.

Long ago, it was a more affordable substitute for pork ribs, and it uses the same spicy seasoning as jeyook gui (spicy grilled pork). Lore also has it that a restaurant chef in Chuncheon in the Gangwon Province remixed the popular jeyook gui with chicken when he ran out of pork one day in the 1960s. To this day, Myeongdong Street in Chuncheon is so packed with dakgalbi restaurants—and patrons—that it’s nicknamed Dakgalbi Alley.

Thanks to Korean immigrants, you can have this tradition stateside, too. On top of the large round grill pan embedded into the table, the server lays out a glistening red mass of boneless chicken chunks in a gochujang-based sauce that typically includes chopped cabbage, chewy tteok (rice cakes) and wedges of goguma (Korean sweet potato). If you have to order these separately, don’t forego the tteok. They add a wonderfully bouncy texture and balance out the spicy seasoning.

Depending on the restaurant, the sides include lettuce and/or perilla leaf wraps and dongchimi, a refreshingly cold pickled radish broth that’s the perfect counterpoint to the hot and savory dakgalbi. Similar to the duck barbecue, leave room for bokkeumbap with add-ons like bean sprouts and extra gochujang-based seasoning.

Where to find it
In New York City: Doraon 1.5 Dakgalbi. In Houston: Lucky Palace Korean BBQ. In Palisades Park, NJ: Hong Chun Cheon Cheese Dak Galbi, Dumok BBQ.

Clam Barbecue or Jogae Gui (조개구이)

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Since clams are a lighter meat, they’re typically eaten as a drinking food—for when you’re buzzed and have a hankering for a snack to prolong the boozy session. In Korea, clam barbecue became a happy hour fad among office workers about 10 years ago, although coastal towns like Busan and Incheon have always specialized in it.

Whole live clams are placed on grill slats in the middle of the table, where they slowly open up. When the liquor starts bubbling, the gloved servers pick up each clam, shuck them open with tongs and place them on the outer edges of the grill to cool down. Traditional accouterments include cho (vinegar) gochujang sauce for dipping.

While the clams are the main draw for me, I love ordering other shellfish, too: scallops topped with melty mozzarella cheese and cho gochujang, mussels, shrimp, crab, and a small pot of mollusks and squid strips simmered on top of the grill pan.

Where to find it
In New York City: Goo Gong Tan. In Fort Lee, NJ: Obaltan. In Los Angeles: Burnin’ Shell, Jae Bu Do.

Podcast: Ganvie Lake Village

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Listen and subscribe on Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all major podcast apps.


In this episode of The Atlas Obscura Podcast, producer Baudelaire Ceus talks with our host Dylan Thuras about his trip to Ganvie Lake Village in Benin, a place referred to as “the Venice of Africa.”

Our podcast is an audio guide to the world’s wondrous, awe-inspiring, strange places. In under 15 minutes, we’ll take you to an incredible site, and along the way you’ll meet some fascinating people and hear their stories. Join us daily, Monday through Thursday, to explore a new wonder with cofounder Dylan Thuras and a neighborhood of Atlas Obscura reporters.

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Via Port’Alba in Naples, Italy

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The pizza here is as old-school as they come.

The Port’Alba is a historic gate built in 1625 connecting the lively areas of Piazza Bellini and Piazza Dante, and the passageway running through it—simply named Via Port’Alba—is just as fascinating, perhaps even more.

Much of the alley is lined with old-fashioned secondhand bookshops, some housed in 18th-century buildings, and book-filled carts and boxes waiting to be browsed outside them. Everything you can expect from Italian booksellers is here, from Roman texts to translated literary classics to giallo thrillers to comic books such as Topolino (Mickey Mouse), Dylan Dog, and Diabolik.

It’s not only a bibliophile’s heaven, though, but also a street-food gourmet’s. The alley is home to the oldest pizzeria in the world: Antica Pizzeria Port’Alba, which opened in 1738 and re-established itself as a pizzeria in 1830.

In addition to the books and the pizzas, Via Port’Alba is also home to a local legend concerning a witch. The story has it that once upon a time, a beautiful red-haired girl named Maria lived near the gateway. She married the love of her life, Michele, but was soon struck by a tragedy.

One night, as Maria and Michele were walking home, they were hit by a terrible thunderstorm. Suddenly, Michele became unable to move, as if some mysterious force had put a curse on him. Even with the help of her neighbors, Maria could not save her beloved husband and eventually had to give up hope.

Maddened with grief, Maria gradually turned into a lean, toothless hag who practiced dark magic. The townsfolk would cross themselves when they saw her, calling her a witch. As the Spanish Inquisition gained power, the witch was arrested and left to die of hunger in a cage hung from the Port’Alba.

In her dying breath, Maria shrieked a curse upon the town—"You will pay for this!"—and her corpse remained in the cage for days, slowly turning into stone. The authorities removed the cage, but the hook that had held it remained, reminding people of the witch’s curse. Even today, some locals believe that the passage is haunted by the spirit of the forlorn witch.


Bison of Bornholm in Aakirkeby, Denmark

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Bison on Bornholm

In the heart of Bornholm within the vast expanse of Almindingen Forest, you'll encounter a unique sight not found anywhere else in Denmark—a bison sign. In 2012, a small herd of European bison (six cows and one bull) were introduced into the forest as part of a nature experiment aimed at restoring the once-stable bison population in Europe.

When they arrived, it was the first time these massive mammals had lived in Denmark in more than 2,000 years. The bison do not roam freely in the forest, but rather within a 200-hectare paddock. Presently, 10 bison freely roam the piece of land. Though spotting them is a rare occurrence, it's possible if you're lucky.

Accessible by car, the bison forest in Almindingen provides parking within the forest itself. The park is crisscrossed with various pathways, offering opportunities to explore the rich surroundings.

Mick Jagger's Urinal in San Diego, California

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Feel free to take photos, but don't make a mess.

Established in 1885, Tivoli Bar and Grill is the Gaslamp District's oldest and possibly most colorful bar. During its years of operation, the San Diego institution has featured both an upstair brothel and a basement speakeasy. The joint was originally assembled in Boston, then schlepped around the tip of Cape Horn to the opposite coast via ship. Traces of its storied history can be glimpsed throughout the premises, but to find the most curious of the bunch, you'll have to pay a visit to the gender-neutral restroom. 

A golden plaque declares proudly, "Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones used this urinal at the time of their concert at Petco Park 11/11/2005." Said enshrined urinal is ringed in a set of Kali-esque red lips and often has a second sign asking guests to please respect the frontman's urinal.

 

 

Fontaine du Soleil (The Sun Fountain) in Nice, France

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Fontaine du Soleil

In 1956, the French sculptor Alfred Janniot created a statue of the Greek god Apollo. The 23-foot-tall stone figure was surrounded by five bronze statues representing Earth, Mars, Venus, Mercury, and Saturn. 

The unveiling of the unique center sculpture caused an outcry among locals. Firstly, Apollo had four statues of horses on his head. The makeshift crown was an ode to his mythological task of carrying the sun across the sky each day via chariot. This headpiece earned the statue the nickname "the four horsepower statue," in reference to a nickname for the Renault 4CV, a popular car at the time of unveiling.

It also didn't help that the Apollo sculpture was created completely naked, and according to some disgruntled spectators, too well endowed. Despite Janniot taking a chisel to his controversial creation, the statue was still deemed obscene. It was removed in the 1970s, and relegated to a new location behind the Charles Erhmann Stadium.

On July 20, 2011, Apollo found his new place in the center of a large pool, surrounded by his five bronze figures as part of the Fontaine du Soleil at the edge of Place Masséna, where he remains today. 

Why Doomsayers Think the Eclipse Will Bring Disaster to Illinois

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The end of the world will occur in Carbondale, Illinois. That is one of the latest conspiracy theories that’s been floating around the internet over the past year. Seven years ago, this small town experienced a total solar eclipse, the path of which spanned the United States diagonally from South Carolina to Oregon. This year on April 8, the U.S. is once again seeing a band of 100 percent totality, but this time stretching from Texas to Maine. If the paths from both the 2017 and 2024 total solar eclipses were laid on top of each other, the two trajectories would form an X over the country. Carbondale sits right at the center of that X, one of the very few lucky places to see a total eclipse twice in seven years.

“If you lived forever, and you never moved from where you are today, on average, you would have to wait 400 years for a total eclipse to come across where you are,” says Frank Close, Professor of Physics at Oxford University and a Fellow of Exeter College. The likelihood that you could experience two total solar eclipses in one place in the space of seven years is miniscule. The chances are so low, that some believe something special is going on in Carbondale. In particular, conspiracy theorists believe that a seismic event will be triggered when the eclipse arrives in this part of the state, known as Little Egypt, killing hundreds of thousands of people.

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Conspiracy theories about eclipses are not new. They also sprung up about the 2017 eclipse, when a prominent Christian eschatologist named David Meade stated that the eclipse was a signal that Nibiru, a small (and non-existent) planet, would crash into the Earth. This year’s batch of theories have been fueled by the film Leave the World Behind. In it, a lunar eclipse looms on the screen, which follows a scene showing a newscast map of a cyberattack across the continental United States. Despite the fact that it shows a lunar—not solar—eclipse, some believe that it’s not just a movie, but rather a warning leading to one conclusion: The 2024 total solar eclipse passing across the United States portends an apocalypse, a mass human sacrifice event.

Conspiracies often arise as an “answer to the disenchantment of the world,” according to Michael Butter, Professor of American Literary and Cultural History at the University of Tübingen. Such theories “perform certain functions for people. They give them back a certain amount of control, because on a higher level, they can at least claim to understand what is happening and what they think is harming them. It also helps them to deal with a feeling of powerlessness.” Butter also proposes that, without widely held beliefs in a god, many people search for higher powers that are in control, for better or for worse.

Apocalyptic beliefs about eclipses are also an ancient phenomenon. One of the most dramatic comes from Norse mythology, with the story of the relentless pursuit of the sun and moon by two wolves called Sköll and Hati. As the story goes, if Sköll catches the sun goddess Sól, who is perpetually fleeing in her chariot, he eats her; this portends the beginning of Ragnarök, the end of the world. During solar eclipses, people would make loud sounds to try to scare Sköll away from eating Sól, hoping to frighten him into dropping her from his jaws.

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Mayan groups, including the Yucatec, Lacandón, and Ch’orti’, also believed that solar eclipses signaled the end of the world, and that either spirits of the dead or jaguars would emerge and devour everyone on earth. People reacted with chanting, human sacrifices, war cries, and the killing of any captives, in the hope that the catastrophe could be prevented. Even more recently, an eclipse in 1878 prompted fears of Armageddon in the United States, with many people believing it was the second coming of Jesus and therefore Judgment Day. One man went home, killed his family with an ax, and killed himself for fear of what would happen.

Kate Russo, psychologist and eclipse-chaser, explains that the difference between historical beliefs about eclipses and modern-day conspiracy theories is that myths from ancient cultures came from directly witnessing a solar eclipse and the collective storytelling that emerged from that awe-filled experience. When these stories developed, the scientific information we have today was simply not available, and people needed a way to make sense of what had happened. The creation of conspiracy theories both locally and globally today do not necessarily come from having witnessed an eclipse at all, and may instead relate to a distrust of the state, the elite, or a general feeling of lack of power.

There’s a lot that can be explained surrounding today’s conspiracies about Carbondale. The crossroads position of the town in two eclipse pathways is not unheard of. Total solar eclipses occur every two to four years, and each time, the path of totality hits a different part of the Earth. Those paths occasionally crisscross and form an X-shaped pattern across the globe.

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Because the Earth’s axis is on a tilt, and the Moon’s orbit is also on a slight tilt, total solar eclipses only happen when the Moon’s position is precisely aligned with the Sun. The shadow of that eclipse then tracks across the Earth and hits different countries and oceans at varying latitudes and angles each time, depending on the tilt of both bodies and the spin of Earth when the alignment takes place.

The X patterns essentially happen because of repetition over the years, where each eclipse traces a different path due to slight adjustments between the positions of the Moon, Earth, and Sun. Solar eclipses follow a pattern that repeats every 18 years (which is the time it takes for the three bodies to return to approximately the same relative geometry); this is called a Saros cycle. Each eclipse in one Saros cycle occurs slightly more West and South than the previous year, because the Earth is at a slightly different tilt and spin each time. But there are different Saros cycles, since there’s more than one position in which the Moon, Earth, and Sun can align to make an eclipse happen. That means all the slightly different-angled Saros cycles are bound to criss-cross over previous eclipse pathways sooner or later.

Many of these crossovers happen over water, uninhabited areas, or in many cases, simply not in the United States. Turkey experienced an eclipse in the same place in 1999 and 2006, and the next X will occur over the Pacific ocean. It is only when they make their way into the mass media and popular consciousness that conspiracy theories have the material to take root.

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The association between eclipses and earthquakes is also not new. The Greek historian Thucydides was the first to suggest in the fourth century BC that tremors could be triggered by the astronomical event. Today, the proposed connection has even been studied by seismologists. One study from 2016 found that large earthquakes do have a slightly higher likelihood of occurring during the full moon or new moon—times at which tidal pull is at its greatest. However, the effect is tiny and says nothing about an eclipse specifically. Other studies find no relationship between the celestial phenomenon and natural disasters. “Earthquakes happen a lot, and many other disasters,” says Close. “If you lumped all disasters and things together, one or two are bound to overlap with an eclipse.” He also points out, “if eclipses happen without disasters, is that significant, or would [conspiracy theorists] just ignore it?”

Bob Baer, a physicist at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, has heard quite a few doomsday predictions surrounding his home, but he focuses on promoting the science of the event. What he can say for sure is happening in Carbondale this year includes a number of informative talks and celebrations. Baer is part of the public astronomy observation program, which trains interested people in the science of astronomy. In particular, this year he is working with the Dynamic Eclipse Broadcast Initiative, a citizen-science project aiming to take numerous photographs of the eclipse. Citizen scientist volunteers are prepared with telescopes along the path of totality, ready to collect imagery that can be captured at no other time.

The moment during the eclipse is so special, Baer explains, because normally when “the light from the sun is hitting all these dust particles in the atmosphere, and light scatters all over the place,” the sun’s corona cannot be seen. During a total eclipse, the sun’s light is blocked, and the corona is visible. By studying the corona through these pictures, astronomers can learn about the sun’s magnetic field, solar flares, and coronal mass ejections, some of which can cause problems with telecommunication systems here on Earth.

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In 2017, Baer saw a lot of hype and even anxiety arise about the total solar eclipse, but not because of fears of the apocalypse. With so many people descending upon such a small town, Baer says that people were “panicked about the planning and how the infrastructure was going to hold up.” The US Government Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency released a document noting that, in 2017, “several small communities were overwhelmed in the transportation, communications, and emergency services sector” due to the large eclipse-watching crowds, so it suggested management approaches for 2024. As a result, this year some states have called in the National Guard in to support them, a request that has thrown fuel on the fire of conspiracy. Despite necessary precautions and crowd-management, Baer explains that experiencing the eclipse in Carbondale tends to be more of a “positive, very unifying event,” with broadcasts in the stadium, an airforce flyover, and performances on the field planned for this year.

Whether viewers of the eclipse have photographs, coronas, or doom on their minds, there’s one thing Close recommends paying particular attention to if witnessing the eclipse this year. He says there’s a special moment in the final three minutes of totality that people can look for if they are prepared. “At the moment the sun reappears, look away and look to the east, because the shadow of the moon will be heading off at a thousand miles an hour,” he explains. “The contrast between light and dark is very good, and as daylight returns, you can see the shadow of the moon—gone. It’s as if the riders of the apocalypse have been through the city, and you see that they've left you behind. You’ve survived.”

'Primeval Atom' in Leuven, Belgium

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The furthest point in the visible universe is a mind-boggling 13.8 billion light years away. That vast distance can be a bit hard to grasp, which is why a collective of artists and scientists from Belgium's oldest university, KU Leuven, and the city came together to make scaling the universe a literal walk in the park.

The primeval atom is a scale model of the universe where each meter equals 10 million light years. It is built from the perspective of the Earth, so as you walk away, you are going light years back in time. On your way, you will come across 80 galaxies in the form of small metal disks, which are placed at their actual scaled distance. At the end of the tour, you will come across the cosmic microwave background, the source of the first light ever emitted during the earliest age of the universe. 

The entire setup is dedicated to Georges Lemaître, the Leuven astronomer who co-discovered, along with Edwin Hubble, that the universe was not static, but constantly expanding. 

Big Rusty in Hainesport, New Jersey

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Big Rusty's sign

Big Rusty is a metal, cement, and wooden troll created by Danish artist Thomas Dambo. The figure's body is made out of found materials from an old abandoned structure that still stands by his side today.

Dambo has built over 120 trolls across 17 countries. While most of Dambo's trolls are made from wood, Big Rusty is largely crafted from metal. 

The hulking figure lurks at the end of a road. He's seated, but still tall enough to tower over the original building, with his hand resting casually on the structure's roof. Adjacent signs ask visitors not feed the troll, who already has gnawed wires dangling from his toothy grin.

The surrounding building and grounds are full of colorful graffiti, but beware of fallen walls and broken glass left in the troll's wake. 

Capa Ghost Town in Capa, South Dakota

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Train Station with outhouses

Located in central South Dakota, the small town of Capa has been almost entirely abandoned. It was originally laid out in 1904, and after the railroad was extended into the area a small but bustling community built up here. At its peak, Capa had about 300 residents.

The name Capa is derived from a Lakota word meaning "beaver." The small town was bustling for several decades. Homes and churches and businesses were built, and water from an artesian well was pumped into a public bathhouse. But the Great Depression hit Capa hard, and over time the population dwindled. The town's post office was shut down in 1976.

At last count, there was only a single resident left in Capa.


Fox & Son Fair Foods in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

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Fried cheese curds are pure crunch and nostalgia.

The Reading Terminal Market, a 78,000-square-foot indoor market in central Philly, is home to Fox & Son Fair Foods, a vendor selling nostalgic carnival snacks with modern twists.

Amusement park vibes span a menu of savory and sweet favorites: corn dogs, cheese curds, loaded fries, and funnel cakes. Fresh, by-hand touches, though, take Fox & Son’s treats from midway to next level. Corn dogs are dipped in homemade buttermilk corn batter (or dairy- and egg-free batter) and available in mozzarella, beef, beef/pork, spicy pork or vegan (plant-based) versions. Fancy upgrades include a Korean-style version (panko crust drizzled in ketchup, mustard and sugar) or sweet potato batter. 

Cheddar cheese curds (fried or fresh) and hand-cut French fries get a gourmet boost: tossed in ranch, truffle and habanero seasonings, topped with chili cheese or curds and gravy to create Canadian poutine. Side sauces are also house-made: ranch, queso and honey mustard, to name a few.

From here, stroll around the Reading Terminal Market, funnel cake and fresh-squeezed lemonade in hand. The 1893-opened beauty, comprising eight iron-and-glass market houses in Victorian design, boasts a fascinating backstory. Under the Reading Railroad Company’s train shed, the covered market (one of only a few back then) was trendy and popular in its prime. Its state-of-the-art innovations included refrigerated storage for keeping seasonal produce year-round, refrigerated trucks, and a free delivery service allowing housewives in nearby suburban towns to order groceries to their nearest train station.

The market’s midyears weren’t profitable at all, though. The Great Depression and Reading Railroad Company’s 1976 bankruptcy both took their toll on a once bustling merchant hub.

Finally, the Reading Terminal Market is restored to its former glory. Since the 1990s, efforts to revitalize and preserve the building as a historic landmark and community hotspot have brought in a new generation of hungry crowds. Today, Reading is home to around a hundred food vendors like Fox & Son and visited by over 6 million people annually.

Rockheim in Trondheim, Norway

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Rockheim

Dedicated to popular Norwegian Music since the 1950s, this museum was opened in 2010 and boasts an incredible collection of music, archives, and even instruments. The exhibition area is organized into rooms corresponding to different decades of Norwegian music.

Not only can the visitor listen to the music, but every panel of every room gives extra information, context, and sometimes archives about the band they would be listening to. The amount of detail and effort put into it is truly staggering.

As part of the main exhibition, the hall called "Instruments of Rock" consists of many musical instruments, recorders, amplifiers, plectrums and much more given by famous Norwegian bands.

The museum includes a few smaller exhibitions discussing reality TV's effect on popular music, and the revolution due to the arrival of the internet. There is also a Norwegian Hall of Fame inside, updated periodically.

Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home in Jackson, Mississippi

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The Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument.

On a quiet residential block in northwest Jackson, Mississippi, there sits a modest middle class ranch home, indistinguishable from its neighbors in the Elraine subdivision except for its vivid aquamarine exterior. Yet this unassuming home was once owned by Myrlie and Medgar Evers, and as such, it was both central to the cause of Black civil rights and also an active battleground. It was here at home where Medgar Evers was killed in 1963, becoming the first martyr of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement.

Medgar Evers was an Army veteran and college graduate. A well-rounded scholar, athlete, and debater attending the college now known as Alcorn State University, he met and would eventually marry Myrlie Beasley and move to Mound Bayou, a longstanding independent Black community. 

Medgar was sickened by the continued segregation of his home state of Mississippi, particularly those afflicting the poor Black sharecroppers he met while working. He quickly rose through the ranks of civil rights organizations, becoming the first field secretary of the Mississippi chapter of the NAACP in 1954. Two years later, the Evers family moved to the house in Jackson. By this time, Evers was already seen as one of the rising stars of the Civil Rights cause, both within Mississippi and increasingly, throughout the country.

His high profile made him a target, and the family’s safety was a concern. Myrlie was also an activist, acting as his secretary, and together, they would plan boycotts and protests from their family home. The home was chosen for its safety, being somewhat set back from the street with good cover, but it became a target for Klansmen and other racist revanchists. In late May 1963, a Molotov cocktail was thrown at the house, landing on the carport, but the worst violence was still to come.

While returning home late on June 12, 1963, Medgar Evers was shot by a sniper’s bullet in his carport. He was found bleeding on his doorstep by his wife and children, and would pass away that evening. His death sparked nationwide mourning and protest, scenes that would be repeated throughout the tumultuous 1960s. Although the FBI identified a suspect relatively quickly, the case was deadlocked twice, and the search for justice went cold.

Myrlie, who had lived in Medgar’s shadow as an activist, grew in prominence after she was widowed. She moved from Jackson to California in 1964, and would continue to seek justice for Medgar, eventually leading to a new trial and conviction of the perpetrator in 1994. By this time, she was also chair of the Board of Directors of the NAACP, and the founder of the Medgar and Myrlie Evers Institute.

Although Myrlie left the home after her husband's assassination, she maintained ownership of the property until 1993. She donated the site to Tougaloo College for its preservation, and in turn, it was donated to the National Park Service. It was named a National Monument in 2020, and opened to the public on a limited basis in 2023. At the ceremony, held 60 years after Medgar Evers’ assassination, Medgar and Myrlie’s daughter Reena said “Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home will stand as a testimony to the love, strength and resilience of our family and Medgar and Myrlie Evers, who worked to ensure all Black people in Mississippi and beyond had a place to call home.”

Dama Ibérica in Valencia, Spain

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Dama Ibérica

The “Dama Ibérica,” a monumental sculpture in the heart of Valencia was created by the sculptor Manolo Valdés with the help of the architect Rafa Rivera and the “Fallas" artist Manolo Martín. This impressive work depicts a large, majestic female figure inspired by ancient Iberian women's heads (“La Dama de Elche”) and thus recalls the history and culture of the region.

From an artistic point of view, "Iberian Lady" is a manifestation of Valdés' technical skill and creative vision. His focus on reinterpreting historical elements in a contemporary context gives the work depth and meaning. The combination of abstract forms and realistic details creates a sense of monumentality and presence that captivates the viewer.

The relevance of this sculpture lies in its ability to merge past and present and serve as a tangible reminder of Spain's rich cultural heritage. Furthermore, its prominent location in a roundabout in the center of Valencia makes it a focal point in the cityscape, attracting residents and visitors alike.

Quinault Giant Sitka Spruce in Quinault, Washington

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Quinault Giant Sitka Spruce

Known to some as the Valley of the Giants, Washington's Quinault Valley is home to some of the tallest trees in the world. The trees in the Quinault Rainforest are well watered with an average rainfall of 12 feet a year.

Though the redwoods of Northern California have a slight edge when it comes to height, the temperate rainforest is filled with towering evergreens, including six champion trees, recognized by the American Forests Association as the largest of their species. One of those champions is the Quinault Giant Sitka Spruce, which stands 191 feet tall and measures more than 55 feet in circumference. Estimates have put the age of this tree at roughly 1,000 years old. 





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