$99 Family Vacation

Tagged: history&culture

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Destinations / Pending

Tlachtemalácatl (Mesoamerican Ballgame Stone Ring) in Mexico City, Mexico

Coyoacán was once a town completely separate from Mexico City. As such, it needed its own central square, what is now the Plaza Hidalgo. When this plaza was being built, a large stone ring with a figure carved on it was unearthed. This was a tlachtemalácatl, the name in Náhuatl (the language of the Aztec/Mexica people) for the “goals” of the Mesoamerican Ballgame. Known as tlachtli, variants of this game were played by the Indigenous peoples of most of Mexico and Central America, almost always with ritualistic and symbolic purposes. This particular malacatl of the tlachtli game was so well-carved that it was kept after being found, and eventually placed in a prominent position in the Jesús Reyes Heroles House of Culture, in what is now the Mexico City borough of Coyoacán. This cultural center was once an actual house, and its late 18th-century architecture shows it. It also…

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Destinations / Pending

‘The Fat Policeman’ in Budapest, Hungary

St. Stephen’s Basilica is one of the most popular attractions in the Hungarian capital, and Uncle Karl has kept a watchful eye on it since 1987. Standing in the market square, the “Fat Policeman” statue was created by Finnish sculptor Kaarlo Mikkonen (1920-2001) and has since become a beloved icon of the city. Nicknamed Uncle Karl, the affable bronze copper is clad in a circa-mid-20th-century uniform, complete with a dated helmet and a dapper mustachio. Uncle Karl is notable for his belly, which has a gloriously golden patina—a clear sign that it has been rubbed by many. Local superstition has it that rubbing his belly grants you good luck and immunity against weight gain so that one can enjoy as much Hungarian food as they like. …

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Destinations / Pending

Queen Victoria Bridge in Madrid, Spain

King Alfonso XIII and Queen Victoria Eugenia presided over the inauguration of the Queen Victoria Bridge on June 13, 1909. The bridge was named in honor of the king’s wife. It connects Bombilla Park, the two hermitages of San Antonio de la Florida, with the Colonia de San Antonio de La Florida and the Colonia del Manzanares. Based on a design by architect Julio Martnez-Zapata Rodriguez, it was built by engineer José Eugenio Ribera Dutaste. The bridge includes two, parallel elliptical reinforced concrete arches that are decorated in modernist style. It also has two lanes for cars. Additionally, Queen Victoria Bridge is one of Spain’s earliest concrete bridges. Four vases and eight cast-iron lampposts decorated by Francisco Iglesias with bears serve as its adornment. During the Second Spanish Republic, the bridge changed its name to Puente de Galicia. After the Spanish Civil War, it recovered its original name. On…

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Destinations / Pending

The Moore-Lindsay Historical House Museum in Norman, Oklahoma

In 1899 when the Moore-Lindsay Historical House was constructed it cost approximately $5,000, ten times what the average home in the area cost to build. William Moore and his wife Agnes were an important part of society in Norman. The house was later sold to Agnes’ niece and her husband, Harry, and Daisy Lindsay. The remnants of Daisy Lindsay’s locally famous rose garden can still be seen on the property next door. In the 1960s, the family sold the house and it was divided into apartments. They didn’t last long, however, before the building was condemned. The city of Norman saved the house and opened it as a museum in the 1970s.  The museum is now furnished as an example of the typical Oklahoma Victorian house. The house contains artifacts from around Cleveland County, including a woman’s side-saddle ridden by Martha Giles in the Land Run of 1889.         The…