November 14, 2022

GASTRO OBSCURA  Sauerkraut in Chocolate Cake  No, don’t give us that look. It’s better than it sounds. The “Don't Ask Cake” is a bit of culinary trickery, and is steeped in a bit of food lore history. Was it invented by an enterprising lunch-lady in Chicago? Was it a result of World War II rationing? Regardless of its roots, “Don’t Ask Cake” has all the hallmarks of one of those great ideas that was born out of necessity. No matter how you slice it—it’s delicious.  READ MORE → NATURAL WONDERS Icy Works of Art In summer, tiny Lake Šobec, not much larger than an Olympic swimming pool, is a playground. It’s the main attraction at a popular camping site just outside Bled in mountainous northern Slovenia. When winter descends on the Alpine landscape, the small lake becomes a canvas, featuring lake stars, ice rings, and other natural phenomena. And it requires very specific conditions—water, of course, wind, and a good dose of luck. READ MORE → PENSACOLA, FLORIDA Wreck of the USS Massachusetts The oldest existing American battleship, the USS Massachusetts was one of three ships of its kind commissioned by Congress in 1890. Suffering from extremely poor design, it was twice retired and rebooted before being stuck out on Pensacola Bay for target practice. Once it sank, the state of Florida fought to save it, and it is now an underwater archaeological site popular with divers and fishers alike. READ MORE → SPONSORED BY DISCOVER ATLANTA The Wren’s Nest This 19th-century Queen Anne-style home is both Atlanta’s oldest house museum, but also a cultural center and event space called the Wren’s Nest. The museum aims to preserve the tradition of African American folklore and celebrate oral literature in all its contemporary forms, allowing storytellers to perform live stories that emphasize their little-known historical origins. LEARN MORE → BURNING QUESTIONS How Do You Date a Giant? With snails and lasers, apparently. In March 2020, archaeologists traveled to a hilltop in Dorset, England, to slice into a giant and take bits of him back to their labs in bags and metal tubes. No actual behemoth was harmed in the process, because the Cerne Abbas Giant is a geoglyph—a large artwork emblazoned into the landscape whose actual origin has been clothed in mystery. Now, scientists established that the giant was born between A.D. 700 and A.D. 1100 in the late Saxon or early medieval period. READ MORE → HIBBING, MINNESOTA Bob Dylan's Childhood Home Robert Allen Zimmerman was born in Duluth, Minnesota, but spent his formative years 70 miles away in the small mining town of Hibbing. He eventually relocated to New York City, where he entered the folk scene as Bob Dylan and earned the moniker “spokesperson of a generation.” This is his childhood home—purchased by a superfan with big plans of restoring it. READ MORE → ATLAS OBSCURA COURSES Learn How to Read a Landscape In this course with Annie Novak, learn to decode the natural spaces around you—whether you’re looking out your car window while stuck in traffic or hiking along a new trail. We’ll use the fundamentals of soil, plant, and animal ecologies to explore new and familiar landscapes, honing observation skills along the way. ENROLL TODAY → TURNING BLUE Befuddling Blue Buried Bodies In 1861, a railway engineer by the name of John White passed away, was buried in a cast iron coffin, and began a slow transformation from White to blue. The explanation for this spooky color change, which has occurred on numerous occasions all over the world, lies in the composition of the human body. Just mix together a dead person, some iron, and lots of water. READ MORE → SEATTLE, WASHINGTON Union Station Everyone visiting Seattle by rail arrives at and departs from King Street Station. But this was not always true. There were once two active railway stations, placed only a block apart. Strangely, the forgotten one is the more splendid of the two. READ MORE → GASTRO OBSCURA TRIPS Culinary Naples Naples is a city of vivid beauty, intense street life, and world-famous cuisine, home to both the world’s original pizza and the oldest opera house. On our culinary adventure in and around this fascinating metropolis, we’ll be exploring various layers of cuisine and culture, using the city’s famous cooking as a window into daily life. Join us as we meet the artisans who keep the city fed, sample specialty products such as buffalo mozzarella, and visit vineyards and farms with the volcanic soil of Vesuvius beneath our feet. BOOK NOW →