Skallskog is a secluded farm without running water or electricity that most Swedes have never heard of. Hidden deep in the Nordic wilderness, this humble collection of cattle barns and russet-red farmhouses may seem like a place of little importance. But this is where you’ll find the disappearing roots of an ancient Swedish singing tradition …
Continue reading ‘Kulning’: A hypnotic Swedish singing tradition (BBC Travel)
Vallentuna, Sweden (CNN) — Drive north of the Swedish capital for about half an hour and you'll reach the lakeside district of Vallentuna, a pleasant community with cobblestone churches, picnic areas and playgrounds. It's also a journey deep into Sweden's ancient Viking past. Scattered among Vallentuna's greenery are dozens of mystical runestones that form the gateway …
Continue reading Swedish runestones open gateway to ancient Viking civilization (CNN Travel)
(CNN) — Seen from a boat drifting along Copenhagen's wide canals, the neighborhood of Christiania is a verdant enclave walled off from the city by thick trees. Half a century after it was founded as a breakaway anarchist commune, it seems to have matured into an unlikely slice of paradise. But all is not well …
Poorer communities in the developing world bear the brunt of plastic pollution. Could a new digital payment system spark a clean-up revolution? It was once a shoreline buried by enough trash to render it invisible, warranting the unfortunate nickname “toilet bowl”. Now the Philippines' Manila Bay beach is unrecognisably clean compared with a few months …
Continue reading A simple online system that could end plastic pollution (BBC Future)
Though the Basque and Armenian languages share no superficial resemblances, they do share a baffling litany of words and grammatical elements. A few steps from the entrance to the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd, one of San Sebastian’s most visible landmarks with its sky-piercing gothic spire, lies a simple, two-faced earthen slab. In this corner …
Continue reading Europe’s baffling linguistic enigma (BBC Travel)
Justin Calderón 