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06-27-2024

The camp saving corals, seeing McDonald’s in a different light, and more.
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	June 27, 2024

Gastro Obscura Lists

17 Epic Sandwiches Around the World

According to lore, the sandwich was invented in 1742 when a compulsive gambler was on a 24-hour hot streak and refused to break for meals. Now this may be a tall tale, but there’s certainly no denying that today, the sandwich continues to dominate the “portable food” category. Get a glimpse at the many forms of the sandwich today.

Williams, Arizona

The Museum Dedicated to Coprolites

Have you ever had a close up and personal visit with dinosaur poop? (Surprise: some of it will look very familiar!) If you’re driving through Williams, Arizona along Highway 40, possibly on your way to the Grand Canyon, here’s your chance.

An Underwater Summer Camp For Saving Corals

Each July, Kramer Wimberley, founder of the nonprofit Collective Approach to Restoring Our Ecosystem (CARES), teaches a dozen or more youth about coral reef ecology in the Florida Keys. Their field trips include diving on underwater expeditions to survey reef health and outplant, or transplant, corals.

Sponsored by Explore Asheville

The Gastro Obscura Guide to Asheville Area Eats

This vibrant city has become a haven for food enthusiasts and beer aficionados. With a rich food history and an ever-evolving creative spirit, Asheville, North Carolina boasts a community of creatives, chefs, and farmers who work together to craft irreplicable dining experiences, all set against a stunning mountain backdrop. Here are 10 must-visit spots to experience the best of Asheville's food and drink scene.

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See the Golden Arches Across Six Continents

In 2018, James Beard Award–winning photojournalist Gary He set out to create what he calls “a visual social anthropology” of the world’s largest restaurant chain. McDonald’s is often accused of a sort of cultural imperialism, of promoting a standardized, generic aesthetic and style of food around the world. But as He found in his travels over six years, there’s a startling degree of variety within the fast-food chain’s ecosystem.

George Town, Malaysia

A Resplendent Burmese Temple Awaits

While most visitors head to Wat Chayamangkalaram to pay respects to the reclining Buddha, located near George Town’s historic downtown, fewer visitors head opposite to the temple hiding in plain sight. The Dhammikarama Burmese Buddhist temple is one of the few Burmese temples outside of Myanmar, and is the biggest of its kind in Malaysia.

Atlas Obscura Courses

How to Build Your Own Perfume Scent

In this 3-part seminar led by Saskia Wilson-Brown, the founder and director of The Institute for Art and Olfaction, you’ll dive into an expansive overview of perfumery. Get your noses ready to sniff out the basics of perfumery, explore aromatic materials, and create your first short perfume formulas!

Crop Circle Gardens

How do you save landscapes from succumbing to desertification? The initial answer was The Great Green Wall, first envisioned as a viridescent belt squiggling thousands of miles across the Sahel region, from Senegal to Djibouti. Politics, however, put cracks in the idea of the wall—but interest has shifted to more local gardens like this, known locally in northeast Senegal as a tolou keur.

An Electronics Store-Turned-Cafe

Founded in 1903 as an electronics store in Tokyo’s Asakusa neighborhood, Denkiya Hall transformed itself into a café after its skilled workers went away to fight in the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905). As it turned out, Denkiya Hall was more successful as a café with a quirky name than as a dime-a-dozen electronics store. Who knew?

Atlas Obscura Adventures

Get Wild In South Africa

It’s time to walk on the wild side. From the marine life of Cape Town and Gansbaai to the African Bush of the Greater Kruger area, this is a once in a lifetime wildlife adventure. Join us as we dive into the Marine Big 5 along the Cape, admire the beauty of the grassy savannahs of the Greater Kruger area, and marvel at lions, penguins, great white sharks, elephants and more.

Get Your Tickets Here →

The definitive guide to the world's hidden wonders.

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