Tao Tao Holmes

Nov 27, 2024 | atlasobscura.com | Tao Tao Holmes

Germany is brimming with Wunderlands. For gearheads, there is Auto-Wunderland. For train enthusiasts, we have Miniaturzug-Wunderland. And of course, for cuckoo clock collectors, there’s Kuckucksuhr-Wunderland. However, our favorite kind of Wunderland is a Winterwunderland. And lucky for us—and you—we happen to know just the place (or 21 places) to find that unique spirit of enchantment that only winter in Germany can bring. Each year, Germany welcomes the cold season with culinary specialities.

May 31, 2024 | atlasobscura.com | Eden Gordon |Jim Kempton |Anna Kusmer |Tao Tao Holmes

Hope you brought your boards for this deep dive into the world of surfing. In the Atlas Obscura archives, we found the Hawaiian princess who saved the sport from extinction, the man who made California’s beaches a more inclusive place, and an intrepid community that turned surfing the Great Lakes in winter into an actual thing. Icy wind rolls off the shores of Lake Ontario, blowing past rows of pines and naked birches and reeling through the deserted streets of Rochester, New York.