Recently, a restaurant in Taiwan has been making headlines because of its interesting marketing gimmick; at the eatery known as the Modern Toilet Diner, its customers sit on toilet chairs, eat from toilet-shaped dishes, and use toilet paper in place of napkins. While its theme may be extreme, it’s not the only restaurant or bar […]
Many world capitals have distinctive and evocative nicknames; examples include Paris (The City of Lights), New York (The Big Apple), and Beijing (The Forbidden City). These nicknames may come about solely through a historical quirk, or may refer to something specific to that city. The same is true of smaller cities and towns, whose residents […]
In Western countries, April 1st has long been celebrated as April Fools’ Day, an opportunity to play tricks on others and to suspend seriousness for a short period of time. As it turns out, there are other holiday traditions that nearly coincide with the beginning of April; some have suggested that the start of spring […]
I first fell in love with automatons when I visited the famous Musée Mécanique in San Francisco. At that time it was housed in a dark, low-ceilinged hall right near the beach, but has since moved to the more tourist-oriented Fisherman’s Wharf. It’s a great place to visit; for a few quarters you can see […]
Over the past weekend, the winter storm that hit the East Coast had a big effect on air travel in that area. As with some previous storms this winter, airline passengers were stranded on planes for hours without leaving the ground, sometimes overnight. To help those poor souls stuck in similar situations in the future, […]
Next week, on March 19th, residents of Bali, Indonesia, will celebrate Nyepi, the beginning of their new year. Nyepi, sometimes called the day of silence, is a time when everyone remains indoors and refrains from their regular activities in order to reflect on the past year as well as the year ahead. Many other cultures […]
Starting this Sunday (March 11) at 2 A.M., most residents of the U.S. and Canada will set their clocks forward one hour in observance of the start of Daylight Saving Time. This is a change for 2007, since in previous years DST started the first Sunday in April. However, there are many regions in the […]
Today on Interesting Thing of the Day I wrote about the Chinook winds of the Western US and Canada. There are many other famous winds around the world; below are a few of the best-known ones. If I haven’t included your favorite, feel free to add it in the comments section. Bora: Adriatic, Greece, Russia, […]
I first became interested in the phenomenon of pubs with names that contain two nouns (e.g., Crown and Anchor) when I visited Oxford a few years ago. Some combinations seemed natural, like Fox and Hounds, while others left me scratching my head (Angel and Greyhound). There are various explanations for these puzzling names, including the […]
Just a few years ago, it was a novelty found only in Sweden: a hotel built entirely out of ice. Each spring it melted, and each winter it was rebuilt, bigger and better than before. The original Ice Hotel is still a hot (well, cold) property; each year thousands of people pay handsomely to sleep […]
On a vacation in Hong Kong in January, I kept noticing terrific signs that you’d never see in the U.S. I took pictures of a bunch of them, and here are some of my favorites. I’ve seen “Caution: Wet Floor” signs, but never one warning me about a garden hose. Speaking of watering… I thought […]
In Western Christian traditions, the period of Lent begins 40 days before Easter, starting with Ash Wednesday. The day before Ash Wednesday is known by a variety of names, and is frequently marked by celebrations, such as the famous Mardi Gras in New Orleans, the Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro, and the Carnevale of Venice. […]
Traditional British food typically gets a bad rap in other countries for being either too bland or too greasy, but as with any food, it might simply be an acquired taste. We all have a soft spot for comfort foods we’ve grown up with, and if nothing else, the Brits do comfort food extremely well. […]
Lowest (People per square kilometer) Mongolia (2) Namibia (2) Australia (3) Botswana (3) Iceland (3) Surinam (3) Libya (3) Mauritania (3) Canada (3) Guyana (4) Highest (People per square kilometer) Monaco (16,205) Singapore (6,386) Malta (1,261) Maldives (1,164) Bahrain (1,035) Bangladesh (1,002) Vatican City (920) Barbados (648) Nauru (621) Mauritius (603) Source: WorldAtlas.com
The Welsh town of Hay-on-Wye (or Y Gelli in Welsh) was the starting point for the international “book towns” movement, now made up of about 20 towns around the world. Boasting 41 bookstores for only 1500 inhabitants (that’s about one bookstore for every 37 residents), Hay-on-Wye also plays host to the annual Hay Festival, a […]
When I was a kid, I remember passing through the town of Vegreville, Alberta on a family trip and seeing the giant “Pysanka” that is the town’s claim to fame. I found this enormous replica of the highly decorated eggs that are a Ukrainian Easter tradition impressive not only for its size, but also for […]
King Ludwig II, ruler of Bavaria from 1864 until 1886, is one of Germany’s more colorful characters. His reign coincided with huge political changes in Germany, including the push for unification of the German territories led by Prussia. However, Ludwig preferred designing and building elaborate castles to political maneuvering, and had a special fondness for […]
Humans have been fascinated with creating tall structures for most of their history; from the Tower of Babel to the Pyramids of Egypt, these grand scale building projects are symbols of power and achievement. It is no different today, as builders around the world vie to construct the tallest structures possible. But towers are not […]
To the best of my recollection, I’ve never been lost in the woods (or elsewhere away from civilization)—or at least not sufficiently lost that I didn’t have a general sense of which direction I needed to go. But if I were, I’d have many options for getting my bearings. I recall learning, as a kid, […]
Taking as a starting point my short list in Museums of Interesting Things at Interesting Thing of the Day, I set out to discover other small museums that specialize in just one specific (and typically rather odd) subject matter. I thought I’d find a few more; it turns out there are dozens. Here’s a mere […]
