What Happened to the Secret Bunker beneath the Eiffel Tower?

You may or may not be aware that Gustave Eiffel used his iconic Eiffel Tower as a personal start-up lab for scientific innovation (hint: you probably heard it from us). But did you know that there’s also a “secret” military bunker still buried beneath, with an entrance near the south pillar? The bunker — which…

Once Upon a Time in a Real “Westworld” Hoax Town

The American West has had a reputation of being wild since the continent was first colonized, but the inhabitants of one Nevada town, Palisade, made sure they really embodied the sentiment. During the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad, Palisade (named for the valley that obstructed the railroad’s construction) was the site of an elaborate hoax during the…

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. DLXXI)

1. A historic spiritual sanctuary of miniature shrines on Kauai Originally the site of an ancient heiau, or Hawaiian temple, the 32-acre valley on Kauai’s southern shore later became host to iconography of another religion: 88 Buddhist shrines. Measuring no larger than a dollhouse, the series of sacred monuments were built by Japanese émigrés in 1904;…

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Autumn in New York Inspiration & Events Guide 2021

No one does Fall like the East Coast. The air grows perfectly crisp, and a tide of orange leaves sweeps the Catskills and Central Park alike in such cinematic fashion, you practically expect Meg Ryan to come sauntering around every corner with a jug of piping hot cider. Of course, this year is different in…

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The 41 Mile Abandoned Tunnel Hiding in New York

Bryant Park is one of Manhattan’s most popular public spaces. Basking in the shadow of the main branch of the New York Public Library, there you will find a bustling leafy oasis within touching distance of Times Square, filled with outdoor bars and cafes, a carousel, open air reading rooms and leisurely games of pétanque.…

When Montmartre was Harlem-on-the-Seine

After the Great War, a new kind of music began to waft through the winding streets of lower Montmartre. Unrestrained, audacious, with a potent syncopated rhythm unlike anything ever heard in Europe. It was the music of Black Americans who had started to move into the neighborhood. For a brief time, far away from Jim…

An Ode to the Patron Saint of French Art Nouveau

Paris is synonymous with the florid, tendril-like entrances that so eloquently frame one’s rabbit-hole descent into the belly of the Parisian metro, almost like a piece of theatre. The vibrant sage green cast-iron portals to the underground, often flanked by botanical stalks exhibiting the bulblike red lights overhead, are beacons that connect a modern metropolis…

The Geisha who Brought Kabuki to the West

At the height of japonisme, Sada Yacco appeared like a comet, touring America and Europe with the first kabuki theatre company ever seen in the West. She was the undisputed star of the 1900 Paris Exposition, drawing bigger crowds and garnering more rhapsodic praise than the divine Sarah Bernhardt herself. A trailblazer who defied tradition…

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. DLXX)

1. A House Fit for Winnie the Pooh in the Original Hundred Acre Wood The Bearbnb is situated in Ashdown Forest just south of London, made available to book on Airbnb as part of Disney’s 95th Anniversary celebrations of the loveable children’s character. 2. A Catalogue of Ready-to-Build “Classical French Mansions” by a Vietnamese Architectural Firm These 3D…

How to Bury an Entire Museum

When German forces took Athens in April 1941, they expected to find thousands of centuries-old artifacts in the National Archaeological Museum, Greece’s largest museum. Instead, the neo-classical building was totally empty, besides the archaeologists and guardians still on duty. Officers asked them where the relics were hidden and “they answered enigmatically that antiquities are where everybody…