If you’ve ever been to Rome, then you’ve probably been to the Trevi Fountain. It is, arguably, the most famous fountain in the world. And if you’ve ever been to the Trevi Fountain, then you’ve probably thrown change into it, over your left shoulder, and… Read More
All posts tagged “rome”
1/21st of a second home
I don’t know for exactly how long, but for a very long time people have been trying to solve this real estate problem: “I have a desire to own a home, or multiple homes, around the world. However, I don’t know how often I’d actually… Read More
How to create narrow European-style streets
If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you’ll know that I have a thing for narrow streets. Which is why when I travel I sometimes (okay, oftentimes) bring a laser distance measuring device with me. I like measuring things so that I have dimensions… Read More
From unfashionable, dirty, and full of prostitutes, to too many tourists
Cities are complicated. And we have spoken before about how it can sometimes feel like they never really reach homeostasis. In extreme cases, it might seem like they’re either decaying and losing people, or they’re too successful. I was reminded of this again this morning… Read More
Do the best cities have a lot of immigrants?
I tweeted this out last night while watching old reruns of Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown series. This was a great show. If I were to give everything up and become a YouTuber, this is the kind of travel and food channel I would want to… Read More
Largest cities in the world from 100 to 2015 CE
I just discovered this set of maps (via Brian Potter) looking at the largest cities in the world from 100 CE all the way through to today (well 2015 CE). Here are what the two bookends of this map series look like: It is an… Read More
Airbnb’s S-1 is now public
Airbnb’s IPO documents recently went public. Not surprisingly, their business as a travel company has been heavily impacted by COVID-19. Last year, the platform saw 326.9 million nights and experiences booked, with 251.1 million being booked in the first nine months of 2019. This year,… Read More
City guides in the pre-smartphone era
I came across this stack of old Wallpaper city guides while reorganizing a few things over the weekend (because that’s what happens on the weekends now). They are pretty beat up and color faded from travel. It looks like these guides are still being published… Read More
Kickstarter: Modern map art
It has been a while since I shared a Kickstarter campaign on the blog and this one caught my attention: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1505932940/map-art-prints/widget/card.html?v=2 If you can’t see the project embedded above, click here. The project is colorful abstract art maps of anywhere in the world. You can… Read More
Enemies of the High Line
Despite not being the first example of infrastructural adaptive reuse, the High Line in New York has certainly kickstarted an urban trend. Cities all around the world now want their own “version of the High Line.” Philly is working on a new “rail park.” I toured the… Read More