Chả rươi: Vietnam’s popular worm omelette
Chả rươi, or simply “sand worm omelet”, is a seasonal Vietnamese dish made with (unsightly) sea worms that some say give the dish a caviar-like taste. Every year, in late […]
Gummatapura: the Indian village that ends Diwali with massive cow dung battle
The small Indian village of Gummatapura is famous all over the world for its unique way of ending the annual Diwali celebrations: a massive cow dung battle called “Gorehabba”. If […]
23# The curious story of the Swedish Yule goat
In Sweden there is a town that every year celebrates the start of the Christmas season by putting up a giant straw statue of a goat. Then folks wait (and […]
18# Animals in the story of Christmas
Animals play a prominent role a Christmas, regardless of whether or not religious beliefs are behind it. The story of Rudolph, the red nosed reinder, is probably the most popular […]
Viareggio: a statue for Ettore, the cat friend of fishermen
Ettore was abandoned in a cardboard box along the pier in Viareggio, Italy. It was 1997, and from that moment on this special cat has no longer had a home […]
8# The legend of Christmas Robin
The little red-breasted, cheerful robins, often called also the Christmas robins, indicate the season of sun and spring. This rather ordinary bird holds such tremendous importance to Christmas that probably […]
How to seduce a turkey: a bizarre sex experiments of the 1960s
Two men lurking over the pen. Meanwhile a large, male turkey walked in a circle, readying his mating dance, waiting for the right moment. The moment arrived and, clueless and […]
Ken’s roasted sweet potato stand in Sapporo, Japan
In warm weather, the beautiful rolling hills of Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido burst with flowers while, in cold weather, they literally glisten with snow. In any case, a loyal […]
Stamford bull run: a custom demised after 700 years of cruelty
If you are lucky enough to own a castle you want to enjoy the fine views on your lands from your windows. And that, according to legend, is just what […]
Phet and Ploy: the most expensive cat wedding in the world!
On this day, October 5, 1996, a beautiful bride wore a pink satin dress and arrived by helicopter. And the groom, dressed in a pink tuxedo with precious lacy cuffs, […]
Torre Argentina – the Roman Cat Sanctuary
As you probably know cats in Rome are very popular and they have always found shelter amongst the ancient city ruins. They are also protagonists of numerous postcards depicting them […]
The unsolved mystery of Ding Wuling, China’s mosquito-free village
Surrounded by lush vegetation and dotted with ponds and pools of water, the Chinese village of Ding Wuling should be a paradise for mosquitoes, especially during the summertime. However, the […]
Singapore: couple divorce after wife becomes obsessed with pet cats
Singaporean media recently reported the bizarre divorce case of a couple whose separation was largely caused by the wife’s obsession with cats, which eventually drove her husband out of their […]
Do cicadas know mathematics?
You know what 2020 is missing? An invasion of trillions of screaming cicadas after 17 years underground! Yes, seriously. 2020 is the year of “Brood IX”, a horde of more […]
Over 1.8 million people join Facebook group where everyone pretends they are ants
Strange but true, “A group where we all pretend to be ants in an ant colony” seems to be one of the most popular (and unusual) Facebook groups ever created. […]
Mrs. Chippy Monument at Karori Cemetery | Wellington | New Zealand |
Early polar exploration was a lonely adventure, where sailors would be stuck on their ships for months, subsisting on barely edible rations among some of the world’s most inhospitable climates. […]
Easter Lamb: in Sicily, Italy, it is sweet, caloric and made of almond paste!
Eggs, rabbits…we already know what these symbols mean. Also the lamb is one of the most prominent symbols of Easter. In Christianity, it symbolizes purity and sacrifice, two qualities associated […]
Why do we have Easter bunny and Easter eggs?
All the fun things about Easter have pagan roots, and It is not a coincidence if the most widely-practiced customs on Easter Sunday are associated to the rabbit (“Easter bunny”) […]
Why in Havana a nude woman with a fork mount a rooster?
We are in Havana, Cuba, and there’s a mysterious brass statue in Plaza Vieja: A woman sits atop her big, feathery mount, her voluptuous form completely naked except for the […]
Ponyhenge: a Lincoln field, a herd of hobby horses, and an unsolved mystery!
On a small patch of deserted farmland in the town of Lincoln, in the US state of Massachusetts, broken-down rocking horses, plastic ponies and other assorted horse toys are scattered […]
Gereja Ayam: the curious “chicken church” in the middle of the Indonesian forest
We are in the thick forest of Magelang, Indonesia. If you be trekking here, try not to be too alarmed if you stumble upon a massive building shaped like a […]
Mie Lethek Garuda – a traditional food from Indonesia
We are in the small village of Srandakan, in Indonesia’s Yogyakarta Sultanate, which is the last remaining Indonesian region to be ruled by a Sultanate. What is the reason for […]
29/30/31 January: the Merla days (hen blackbird), according to tradition are the coldest days of the year ~
It was a very, very cold Winter. That year the month of January put every effort to live up to his reputation as a freezing, windy month. The snow was […]
The true story of Trim, the adventurous cat belonging to navigator Matthew Flinders
Outside Sydney’s Mitchell Library stands a statue of Matthew Flinders, the celebrated English navigator and cartographer who helped map Australia, declared it a continent, and was influential in giving it […]
A visit at the Cimetière des Chiens, the world’s oldest Pet Cemetery
The Cimetière des Chiens et Autres Animaux Domestiques, translated as the Cemetery of the Dogs and other Domestic Animals, in Asnières-sur-Seine, just outside of Paris, is the oldest pet cemetery […]
Greyfriars Bobby: the most loyal of little dogs, or a Victorian era publicity stunt?
An adorable scruffy dog looks out over Edinburgh, atop a granite fountain built in his honor. Popular stories said that this little skye terrier known as Greyfriars Bobby kept vigil […]
The Moffat Ram~
In Moffat, Scotland, you can see a large bronze statue of a ram proudly surveys the town’s central marketplace from his privileged vantage point atop a sandstone fountain. It seems […]
The sad story of Mieszko the Stone Bear in Warsaw – Poland
When walking past Warsaw’s Old Town and the Church of Our Lady of Grace, there is a small statue that does seem a bit out of place. It’s a bear, […]
”The big fish” of Northern Ireland
We are in Northern Ireland, along the banks of the River Lagan in Donegall Quay, Belfast. “The Big Fish,” also known as “The Salmon of Knowledge” (Irish: bradán feasa), is […]