August 04, 2022

SAY WHAT?  The British Library’s Vulgar Dictionary  A “dictionary of the vulgar tongue” may sound like some kind of prank gift, something you pick up as a means of upping the ante on your name-calling or adding some spice to your conversations for all occasions. But you won’t find this dictionary at a gift shop. It’s tucked away at the British Library in London, shelved and looking prim and proper in its original 1785 binding. It turns out you can learn a lot from slang—yes, even the occasional swear word.  READ MORE → ROAD TRIP IDEAS Culinary Tour: Gas Station Edition We know what you’re thinking. “Gas stations, culinary destinations?” But if you know where to look, there are hidden gems all over the place. Some of these restaurants, like Route 66’s Pops, with its gargantuan, LED-illuminated statue of a soda bottle, call out loudly to travelers. Others, like the French bistro Caffé REL, hide behind a nondescript fueling station. And on a culinary tour of the nation’s fuel pumps, you’ll encounter plenty of former gas stations whose food has replaced their gas entirely. READ MORE → KRAKOW, POLAND Church of St. Francis of Assisi This church, among the first tall brick-and-sandstone built in Krakow, was originally consecrated in the 13th century. Hundreds of years later, St. Francis’ Basilica found itself in the center of a very different city. Krakow became the center of the “Young Poland” art movement between 1890 and 1918, a modernist style that became known for its bombastic art nouveau style. The founder of the movement, Stanisław Wyspiański, won a contest to repaint the church and turned it into what is still the most original church design in Poland today. READ MORE → GASTRO OBSCURA COURSES Chirp Thrills: Cooking Crickets The buzz around eating insects is getting louder, with the mighty cricket leading the way as the posterbug of the movement. In this course led by Chef Joseph Yoon of Brooklyn Bugs, learn the fundamentals of cooking with the mighty cricket and discover how to incorporate both cricket powder and whole crickets into your everyday cooking. ENROLL TODAY → GASTRO OBSCURA The Great Seed Detective Tucked away behind a modest-sized home in Wales is a living repository of human history. Here, on a 3.5-acre garden, Adam Alexander grows around 100 varieties of fruits and vegetables at any given time. While the ground contains the progeny of seeds from all over the world, inside his home are jars containing more than 500 different types of heirloom seeds. At least 20 varieties are ones that might have gone extinct without Alexander’s intervention. READ MORE → TUCSON, ARIZONA Agua Caliente Park This park is a unique combination of history, wildlife, and geology. Sitting on the site of what was at different times a Native American village, cattle ranch, orchard, and health spa, this former hot spring transports visitors into an oasis featuring three restored historic buildings, ample birding opportunities, and an abundance of wildlife. READ MORE → ATLAS OBSCURA TRIPS Trace the Life of Frida Kahlo Traverse Mexico through the lens of Frida Kahlo. Frida’s garments offer a kind of sartorial map of her life. On this journey, you’ll travel to the regions that influenced her dress, from the bustling streets of Mexico City to the tropical Isthmus, all the way to the markets of Oaxaca City. BOOK TODAY → A DEVILISH MYSTERY Norway’s Demon Wall The demons are tiny, and legion; scowling, tongue-flicking devils cover the demonveggen, or demon wall in southern Norway. But how the wall came to be is as strange and disturbing as the mural itself. It’s a tale of scandal, fraud, and possible madness that involves one of Norway’s leading 20th-century conservators, who instead of reviving a 17th-century painting, spent two years creating a monstrous mural. Scant and contradictory clues only deepen the mystery of what might have possessed him to create the hellish image. READ MORE → VERONA, ITALY Juliet's Balcony Even though Juliet Capulet is a fictional character created by Shakespeare, millions worship her as a love goddess. Every year tourists from around the globe flock to Verona just to see the balcony where she was wooed by her Romeo. In reality the building dates from the 12th- century, and the balcony belongs to the aptly named La Casa di Giulietta, or House of Juliet, the former home of the Cappello family and the inspiration for the Capulets. READ MORE → SPONSORED BY THE MAINE OFFICE OF TOURISM Langlais Sculpture Preserve A whimsical, humorous, and sprawling cast of wooden figures lines the trail that snakes across the 90-acre Langlais Sculpture Preserve, a nature and outdoor art trail paying homage to both Maine’s dynamic landscape and the final works of artist Bernard Langlais. Though Langlais was originally a painter, his rustic, woodsy work earned him fame: He was featured in Art in America’s 1962 “New Talent U.S.A.” survey beside Al Held, Claes Oldenburg, and Andy Warhol. LEARN MORE →