May 24, 2022

LOOK REAL HARD AROUND YOU  6 Unexpected Treasures  Maybe you’ve heard of “Dennis”, the 2,000-year-old Roman bust that was recently sold for $34.99 in a Goodwill store in Texas? It’s quite the story, but finding hidden treasures in surprising places isn’t as rare as you might imagine. Here at Atlas Obscura, we love these kinds of stories. So in honor of the return of Dennis, we went digging through the archives to uncover some other stories of priceless artifacts discovered in unusual places. READ MORE → GASTRO OBSCURA Meat Hedgehogs Yep. Meat hedgehogs. Can’t have a German party without one. This little creature is made of what is basically pork tartare, a traditional German delicacy that’s typically smeared on bread rolls for breakfast or as a drinking snack. Around the mid-1900s, the two fused into a pungent pink monstrosity that, thanks to millennials like Schreiber—better known by her Instagram handle, “Mettfluencer”—is still thriving today. But this isn’t a new fad. The history of hedgehog-shaped foods goes as far back as the Middle Ages. READ MORE → ATLAS OBSCURA TRIPS Plan Your 2023 Adventure Today Travel has a way of expanding your world. Atlas Obscura Trips nurture your curiosity and broaden your sense of wonder. So, where will your curiosity take you in 2023? Maybe to Peru to walk across one of the last Incan rope bridges. Or to Egypt to descend into the tombs of pharaohs. There’s no time like the present to expand your world. Start planning your next adventure today! EXPLORE ALL 2023 TRIPS → HADIYAH, SAUDI ARABIA Hadiyah Railway Station The site marked on most maps as Hejaz Railway Trains refers specifically to the Hadiyah Railway Station, where trains along the Hejaz Railway used to stop. Trains continued operating along the Hejaz Railway until the demise of the Ottoman Empire in 1920; while interest in the railway reignited in the 1960s, the trains never became operational again. Hadiyal Railway Station remains deserted today, abandoned to the sands of time. READ MORE → A LIST FOR THAT SWEET TOOTH 10 Places for Chocolate Lovers Over the centuries, chocolate has earned a reputation as an aphrodisiac and an ingredient in witchcraft. Human beings recognized the importance of the cacao plant 5,300 years ago, and it’s played an important role in civilization ever since. Humanity has developed a number of more eccentric ways to celebrate it—from mammoth chocolate fountains and waterfalls to smaller-scale mugs of fermented cacao with ancho chiles, here are 10 places to visit to satisfy your sweet tooth. READ MORE → ATLAS OBSCURA COURSES | STARTS 5/25 Hidden Mythology: Decoding Everyday Symbols If you know where to look for them, symbols can be found everywhere from our coffee cups to classical art. Join mythologist Dr. John Bucher to learn to decode the hidden meanings and mythology behind the symbols that surround us. ENROLL TODAY → THE RESILIENCE OF LANGUAGE Scots Survival In Scotland, Scottish Gaelic has become the figurehead for minority languages. But there is another minority language in Scotland: Scots, a fascinating centuries-old Germanic language. You may not have heard of it, but the story of Scots is both a story of linguistic imperialism and an optimistic story of survival. Scots has faced every pressure a language can face, and yet it’s not only still here—it’s growing. READ MORE → NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA Lake Pontchartrain Causeway This is the world-record holder for the longest bridge stretching continuously over water. It’s so long, motorists lose sight of land for an eight-mile stretch, and when an airplane once ran out of gas over the lake, it was able to land safely on the bridge. Trust us. It’s long. READ MORE → ATLAS OBSCURA PUZZLES Logic, Symmetry, and Astronomy Gesaku’s Tentai Show debuted in 2001 as a logic puzzle based on filling a grid with symmetrical shapes—recalling origami, celestial bodies such as galaxies and stars, and traditional Japanese clan symbols. The puzzle was modestly received at first, but six months later Gesaku—the only name by which the prolific puzzle maker is known—came up with an idea that made Tentai Show one of Nikoli’s most beloved reader creations. Here, the reader must use solving logic to create a picture, making each one a kind of puzzle-based constellation. Try your hand at one today. READ MORE → SECRET CODES Treasonous Toasts, In Plain Sight This glass has a secret. It’s encoded in the images inscribed around the bowl: a blazing star, an oak leaf, a rose blossom, and two delicate buds sprouting from a thorny stem. They may seem like mere decoration, but to the right eyes, they were a message, and a dangerous one at that. The original owners of this glass must have been careful who they let see it. In England, circa 1745, toasting with it could constitute treason as taken together, the rose, oak leaf, and star tell a story of loyalty to a banished king, James II of England. READ MORE → TOZEUR, TUNISIA Leftover Star Wars Sets While much of George Lucas’s mythic “Star Wars” films were filmed in studio lots or in preexisting structures, a number of their exterior sets, especially for the desert planet Tatooine, were purpose built for the films and simply abandoned to the sands and the fans when filming was over. May the force be with them. READ MORE → SPONSORED BY THE TENNESSEE DEPARTMENT OF TOURIST DEVELOPMENT Ciderville Music Store There is no town called Ciderville, and this music store doesn’t actually sell cider (anymore). It’s a shop with a down-home venue, an array of bluegrass instruments for sale, and area musicians offering private lessons, but it’s the lawn—peppered with a baffling series of handmade folk-art installations—that make Ciderville an experience. LEARN MORE →