January 26, 2023

FESTIVE CELEBRATIONS  5 Colorful Lunar New Year Stories  Happy Lunar New Year! This week marks the start of the Year of the Rabbit or the Year of the Cat—depending on one’s cultural traditions—and communities throughout Asia and around the world will celebrate the Lunar New Year, marked by the second new moon after the winter solstice. These stories are some of our favorites that go deep into the fireworks, feasts, and family time that make this part of the year so special.  READ MORE →   NATURAL DISASTERS Mud Volcano Eruption Rice farmers living in Sidoarjo Regency, Indonesia, awoke to a strange sight on May 29, 2006. The ground had ruptured overnight and was spewing out steam. In the following weeks, the eruption intensified, and boiling-hot mud started to spread over the fields. Weeks passed, and the spreading mud engulfed entire villages, forcing 60,000 people to relocate. Why would the Earth suddenly start vomiting forth huge quantities of mud like this? READ MORE →   GUYMON, OKLAHOMA U.S. Route 412 What’s the longest straight road in the United States? Arguments can be made for two separate sections of the same highway in the Oklahoma Panhandle. From Boise City to just west of Guymon, Highway 412 runs razor’s-edge straight for 47.7 miles. And when Highway 412 resumes its straight and narrow ways 24 miles to the east, it proceeds to run perfectly straight through the farmlands of western Oklahoma for another 65.5 miles. READ MORE →   SPONSORED BY VISIT ARIZONA A Desert’s Unique Biodiversity Surprisingly, the Sonoran Desert is something of an anomaly; it gets a surprising amount of rain each year, usually between 10 and 12 inches in its wettest areas. That rain contributes to its biodiversity—the Sonoran Desert is thought to be the most biologically diverse in North America, with over 2,000 species of plant and over 550 species of animal, making it the best place to experience the region’s abundance. LEARN MORE →   GASTRO OBSCURA Celebrate Burns With Haggis The biggest fans of haggis, as you might imagine, come from its homeland in Scotland. People around the world celebrate the dish every January 25, the birthday of 18th-century poet and haggis-lover Robert Burns. But the Burns Supper isn’t the only time you can slip haggis onto your menu. Here are some ways fans pay tribute to haggis, from unusual ice cream to haggis-hurling competitions. READ MORE →   COVINGTON, GEORGIA The Covington Film Garden The small city of Covington—30 miles east of Atlanta—has become a hotspot for filmmakers looking to capture the true charm of a homely, small-town America in their work. It boasts a number of screen credits to its name, from The Cannonball Run to My Cousin Vinny. With all these screen credits to its name, in the late 2010s, the town launched the Covington Film Garden at its visitor’s center, an eco-friendly art project that honors the town’s (and Newton County’s) contributions to film. 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 →   GASTRO OBSCURA Here Comes the Sun (And Coffee) With most of the country just under the Arctic Circle, Iceland does not experience true polar night, where the sun stays below the horizon and darkness lingers throughout the winter. However, some parts of Iceland do experience a version of this phenomenon, including Ísafjörður, a small town in the Westfjords of Iceland. There, from late November to late January, the rays of the sun fail to reach the town, leaving it in shadow. On January 25 each year, the sun finally arrives at Sólgata, or “Sun Street,” in Ísafjörður. To celebrate, families and friends gather for Sólarkaffi, “Sun coffee,” to welcome the return of the sun. READ MORE →   PRINGY, SWITZERLAND La Maison du Gruyère Thanks to its distinctive nutty flavor and ability to melt smoothly, Gruyère is one of Switzerland’s most popular cheeses. By law, in order to bear the name, this hard, cow’s milk cheese can only be produced in or around the town of Gruyères in the canton of Fribourg. While most factories prefer to make their cheese behind closed doors, La Maison du Gruyère opens up the process for visitors, allowing them to see the entire process of making the cheese from milk to maturation. READ MORE →   ATLAS OBSCURA COURSES Sewing a Sampler Quilt Learn to create a quilt from start to finish—tracing the history and variations of twelve quilt blocks, including the Nine Patch, Flying Geese, Pineapple, Shoo Fly, Churn Dash, and many others. Along the way, we’ll break down foundational quilt construction techniques such as fabric selection, layouts, basting, binding, and quilting. Whether you're new to quilting, want to refresh your creativity, or seeking a new project, this course will offer a hands-on introduction to the art of quilting for learners of all skill levels. ENROLL NOW →