I have a Spanish friend who balks when he sees me liberally applying vinegar to my chips. Apparently, in Spain NO ONE puts vinegar on their chips – it’s weird. They do, however, put it on their strawberries. And that’s not weird. This got me thinking about...
In the 21st century, we’re surrounded by giant images – you can’t walk down the street without a 30-foot Jonathan Ross trying to sell you a TV subscription. In the past, however, people weren’t so lucky and had to create their own pictures from their...
At one time or another, every country in the world will hold a parade. Often these parades will be used to celebrate a successful national sporting team. Sometimes, a country will arrange a parade to mark a royal wedding. In a small number of countries, a parade might...
Caves are often thought of as little more than empty holes in the ground, but this is only half right; they’re holes with things in them. Far from being just a hollow space, caves are full of curiosities – unusual rock formations, prehistoric artwork and, frequently,...
Everyone loves a theme park. Except me, of course. Maybe I’m a bit of a grump, but if I’m going to spend £40 on something that makes me nauseated, I’d rather queue up at the sweet shop than Alton Towers. My own experiences aside, amusement parks have been...
Last year, we wrote about five of the world’s smelliest places. Well, our planet has become no less pungent since then, so here are five more whiffy wonders. It’s said that, because there’s so much of it around, Eskimos have fifty words for snow. Presumably it’s for a...
Bridges connects things. It’s the most important thing about them. Literal bridges connect one piece of land to another. Metaphorical bridges connect one person (or thought, or idea, or thing) to another. If a bridge doesn’t link something (or someone) to...
On a planet that’s 70% water, it’s perhaps no surprise that there are some interesting objects under the sea. Here we take a look at just 403 of them. Some of these things occurred naturally; some were put there deliberately. One of them may have been made...
When I first saw the Italian town of Alberobello, I was convinced I was actually looking at the setting for a children’s TV programme. I imagined it to be inhabited by little white, fluffy things with adorably cute but artistically very simple faces (much like...
The Caspian Sea is often classed as the world’s largest lake, even though it’s called a sea and is technically a small ocean. There’s no exact definition of where the lines between sea, lake and pond may be, but people generally have an intuitive idea of which is...
