Hot spot: In a town in the Outback of South Australia, people choose to live underground. The town of Coober Pedy, known for the mining of opal, is a very hot place to be. Many of the town’s inhabitants find living underground to be a cooler alternative to the blazing sun on the surface, so they use old mines or dig new spots for underground houses. People can shop, visit a library, or stay at a hotel - all underground. The treeless environment of the area has attracted moviemakers of such films as Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome and Red Planet, which were filmed there.

Tall forest: In downtown Milan, Italy, two apartment buildings tower over the neighbourhood. Called Bosco Verticale, they are a rare site. One stands 80 metres (262 ft.) high and the other stands 112 metres (368 ft.) high. Both are completely covered in vegetation, including 800 trees, 15,000 perennials, and 5,000 shrubs. This vertical forest was designed with a purpose: to regulate temperature and humidity in the buildings, while attracting birds and butterflies. Residents feel like they live in a rural area, instead of in the middle of a big city. The vegetation is carefully pruned each year, and watering is done automatically.

Inside and out: A home in Novaya Razvodnaya, near Irkutsk, Russia, looks quite decidedly modern on the outside. But this house’s exterior camouflages a surprising interior. On the outside, the five-bedroom home, with its two-car garage, swimming pool, and plate glass windows, appears to be a 21st-century structure. On the inside, however, visitors are greeted with décor that seems to belong in a Baroque castle: flowered carpets, chandeliers, gilded ceilings, ornate furniture, and wrought-iron railings. Any fan of the Baroque era will like this place.

Eyeful of art: Tal Peleg, an Israeli artist known as Scarlet Moon, loves to make eyes into works of art. She always enjoyed painting and drawing, and she studied makeup artistry and visual communications. With this education, she decided to use her talents to create mini art pieces in the space around her eyes. She succeeded and has completed many intricate works. Using makeup and tiny brushes, she’ll turn her eyebrow into a cat’s tail, showing the cat playing with a ball of yarn. Blue eye shadow might become a lake where ducks swim, or her eyelid might become the base of a princess’s gown.

Paint the town: On the Greek island of Chios, located in the Aegean Sea east of Athens, is the town of Pyrgi. This lively place has fewer than 1,200 inhabitants. What makes it special is that its buildings are painted with geometric designs and patterns, and they are all unique. A walk through the town’s streets leaves visitors in awe at the grey and white checkerboard murals, blue and gold circles, and geometric flowers flowing out of vases. All are painted with bold strokes and are found on walls, archways, and doors. The nickname for Pyrgi is “painted village.”

Puzzle solved: An English comedy writer decided to use extra time available during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 to take on a unique challenge: solve a literary puzzle by putting in order the pages of a novel called Cain’s Jawbone. John Finnemore accomplished the task, and he is only the third person to do it since the puzzle was created in 1934. The puzzle has 100 cards, each one of which is one page of the murder-mystery novel. The pages must be arranged in the correct order. To solve the puzzle, Finnemore had to research such obscure topics as 1930s licensing laws in London and the history of prisons.

Loud music: It’s lucky that Dee Gallant, who lives on Vancouver Island on the west coast of Canada, is a fan of the music of Metallica, the hard rock band. That’s because she used it to scare off a cougar who was stalking her and her dog, Murphy, when they were out for their daily walk. The feline slowly approached Gallant and the dog. Disconcerted, Gallant tried to act big by waving her arms and yelling, but that didn’t deter the wild animal. So she pulled out her cell phone and blasted Metallica’s “Don’t Tread on Me,” a guitar-screeching, drum-battering song. The cat backed away and took off.

Yummy treat: The people of Spain and Latin America know about good street food. Those are places where delicious treats, known as churros, are sold by street vendors far and wide. No one will lose weight eating these long, crispy chunks of dough. They are made from yeast dough, covered with sugar, and deep fried. They can be eaten with coffee for breakfast, or some people like them for dessert. Churros from Seville, Spain, are known for their delicate lightness, while they might be made with dulce de leche in Mexico. In Uruguay, they are often filled with cheese.

Lovely lynx: Anastasia Poznyak of St. Petersburg, Russia, loves cats, but she didn’t expect to become the owner of two lynx. Her house is home to several other animals, who are all dogs. When she decided that it was finally time to get a cat, she took an unusual route. She approached a lynx fur farm and asked about adopting a lynx kitten. That’s how she became the proud owner of Geralt when he was only a few weeks old. The dogs and the playful Geralt got along well. With this success, Poznyak adopted a second lynx kitten, whom she named Bulochka. The pair quickly became friends, and the dogs love her, too

Butter fingers: The New York State Fair in Syracuse, New York (U.S.), couldn’t take place in 2020 due to the pandemic, but the annual butter sculpture was still made and revealed on social media. Using the theme “Nourishing Our Future,” the creation portrayed two scenes: a home-schooled child receiving milk from a dairy farmer, and a child at school receiving a meal tray from a dietician. The artists, Jim Victor and Marie Pelton, used 800 pounds (363 kg) of butter and took 10 days to make their creation. The pair has been making the annual butter sculptures since 2003.

Matching scars: The father of a young boy in England didn’t want his son to feel different just because he had a scar on his chest. Joey, son of Martin Watts, had to undergo an operation to correct a heart problem he’d had since birth. The successful operation took place at Leeds Children’s Hospital and left him with a long scar on his chest. That’s where his father stepped in and asked a tattoo artist to work his magic on his own chest. The result? Father and son have matching scars, and both are proud of their accomplishments!

Honey lovers: Cooper, a toddler from a farm near Nashville, Tennessee (U.S.), probably knows more about bees than do many adults. That’s because his grandmother, Susanne Cooper, is a beekeeper who decided to share her passion with her little grandson. The little boy helped his grandmother build a hive, full of his very own bees to tend. Cooper has learned not to be afraid of the bees, and he wears a bee suit for protection. The best part for both grandmother and son, of course, is eating the honey that their hives produce.

Cat cuisine: Who says cats won’t eat candy? One feline proved that not only would it eat candy, but that it could survive on the sweet stuff. The cat in question boarded a ship, belonging to the Ukrainian company Star Shine Shipping, which was headed for Israel. The kitty was in for a three-week sea voyage inside a shipping container. When the ship docked and workers opened the door, they were surprised to see the furry little mammal looking quite healthy. Upon further investigation, the workers discovered chewed boxes of candy. Apparently, the cat was able to stay hydrated by licking condensation on the metal enclosure.

Dairy delight: A tourist attraction in Dresden, Germany, might take a visitor’s breath away. Dresdner Molkerei Gebrüder Pfund is a dairy shop where people can buy cheese, yogurt, and other products made from milk. Its walls and ceilings are decorated with beautiful, hand-painted ceramic tiles created by local artists. The shop started in the late 1800s when a farmer named Paul Pfund opened up a dairy where cows were milked, and the milk was processed into various products for sale. Today, the dairy has ceased operating, but the shop is still open for patrons interested in buying dairy products.

Hiking through tunnels: In the mountains of western Canada, near Hope, British Columbia, is a series of tunnels once used by the railroad. Kettle Valley Railroad was built in the early 1900s by the Canadian Pacific Railway. Rock was blasted out to make five tunnels. While the tunnels are no longer used for trains, hikers and bicyclists love to use the decommissioned tunnel system to enjoy the natural mountain environment. The tunnels have appeared in a couple of famous American movies: Rambo: First Blood and Far from Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog.

Duck dynasty: Who needs pesticides in Thailand? Not the rice farmers in Nakhon Pathom province, west of Bangkok. That’s because each year flocks of ducks are brought in to eat weeds and pests, such as snails. The ducks come from duck farms, and the farmers appreciate the free food their ducks eat from the rice paddies. Rice farmers benefit because they can cut back on the use of chemicals, and their fields get fertilized. The ducks move around the rice fields for a few months and then return to their farms to lay their eggs. Using ducks for this purpose is known as “ped lai thoong.”

Building blocks: A 20-something-year-old woman from Pietermaritzburg near Durban, South Africa, unwittingly provided encouragement for other women to take on jobs usually done by men. Zama Philisiwe Zungu decided to build an addition to her home, and did it herself, from mixing the cement to stacking the bricks. Photos of her progress attracted attention on social media, bringing Zungu a lot of praise. As a civil engineer by training, she loves constructing things, a skill she learned from her father. She wants to empower more women in the construction industry and may start her own construction company.

Replicating art: A woman from Saint Petersburg, Russia, took an art challenge seriously. Liza Yukhnyova heard about the #gettychallenge, in which people recreate a work of art using household items, and then take a photo of the result. Bored during the COVID-19 pandemic, Yukhnyova decided to create one piece of art each day for as many days as she could. So she picked famous paintings, and using makeup and items from around the house, she turned herself into women from cultures around the world. Yukhnyova has a degree in art history, so she has a wide base of knowledge about art.

Wall crawler: If Spider-Man had a son, it might just be Yasharth Singh Gaur of Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India. Gaur has his own parents, but the young boy can scale walls in much the same manner as the comic book hero. The young fellow, facing outward and using only his hands and feet, taught himself to creep a 10-foot high wall. He settles into a corner and then up he goes. His parents are concerned that he may fall down, but they are also thrilled with this athletic skill. If the boy feels like he is going to fall, he makes a controlled jump to the ground without hurting himself.

Perfect office pet: Some stores may have pet cats, mechanic shops have pet dogs, and hairdressing salons have pet birds, but a pet alpaca is unusual. That is the case with a video production company in the city of Wuxi near Shanghai, China. A llama-alpaca mix named Tuo Baiwan regularly visits the office, providing a dose of relaxation to employees. Tuo Baiwan is the perfect mammal to do this, as he enjoys being petted and getting treats from the staff. He also loves for employees to take breaks and lead him out to the grassy grounds so he can roll around.

Cool car: To say that Nguyen Dac Chung is a Batman fan would be an understatement. In fact, the architecture student from Hanoi, Vietnam, is so enamoured with the character that he decided to build his own Batmobile. The replica has an engine and suspension system, and it can be driven around, with a maximum speed of 100 kilometres (62 mi.) per hour. The driver can take one passenger, but the car’s creator says he wants to make some improvements to the interior. Just like the Batmobile in the movies, this version has doors that lift up to open. It took him 10 months to create the vehicle.

Waterlogged: Two adventurous boaters, thought to be lost at sea, were found safe and unharmed after several days in a wooden boat off the coast of South Australia. The boat belongs to Tony Higgins, who bought it to restore it. His passenger was Derek Robinson. The two men putted out from Coffin Bay, but ran into trouble when a propeller broke, slowing them down. They didn’t realize they were considered “missing” and that a friend had called authorities when they didn’t show up at their destination on time. A huge search ensued, but thankfully, all ended well.

Ham for dinner: Those who love a good ham dinner may not want to spend as much on a meal as a ham lover from Japan did. The piece of ham came from Spain’s Huelva region. The buyer, who paid €12,000, demanded that the meat come from an Iberian pig that was over two years old. The pig had to spend 100 days grazing in the mountains, and it had to put on at least 100 kilos (220 pounds) from eating nothing but acorns and herbs. Then the meat had to be cured for five years, which is twice the usual time. Here’s hoping the cut tasted good!