Saturday morning links

1. Ever heard of Val Gardena? Me neither. Val Gardena is a valley in the Dolomites of the Tyrol region in Italy. This scene is fairly iconic I think, it’s one that I’ve seen a handful of times, the sheer of that mountain that just drops off is quite the scene. There’s a heavy German influence despite the valley being in Italy.

Photo by Warre Vyncke on Unsplash

There’s a great Rick Steves episode on that region.

2. From GQ’s David Alm on a group of elite Ethiopian runners who can’t go home, largely because of the conflict (really ethnic cleansing as the article states) of the Tigray Region. I have read a ton about this, largely because my son is from Ethiopia, but to say that I understand this would not be true. Maybe that’s the thing, you’re not supposed to understand the “why” of an ethnic cleansing. While they are here, they live together and make the best of a situation as they seek asylum.

In addition to supporting his roommates, Fikadu sends money each month to his wife and five brothers back in Ethiopia. With whatever he has left, he treats himself: He likes designer clothes and wears a new Apple watch. An energetic 28-year-old with a steadfast gaze and the charisma of an actor, Fikadu is committed to living with his roommates, despite his healthy income. “In Ethiopia,” he says, “we have a saying: ‘A house is not yours. A house is God’s house.’ You can live in it, but when you die the house will stay there. The house is not going to die with you. So in my culture we say a house is God’s house. Everybody can come and you can live together.”

3. Outside Online’s David Kushner on a young diver who finds a prosthetic leg at the bottom of the ocean in the Gulf of Mexico and the boy’s journey to find the owner.

4. Longread’s Paul Brown on how four Americans robbed the Bank of england in Victorian London.

On April 18, 1872, Austin Bidwell walked into Green & Son tailors on London’s renowned Savile Row and ordered eight bespoke suits, two topcoats, and a luxurious dressing gown. Bidwell was 26 years old, 6ft tall, and handsomely groomed with a waxed mustache and bushy side-whiskers. If the accent didn’t give it away, his eye-catching western hat marked him out as an American — a rich American. London tradesmen called Americans with bulges of money in their pockets “Silver Kings,” and they were most welcome in upmarket establishments like Green & Son, which charged as much for the strength of their reputations as for the quality of their goods.

5. I am here for this. Capture Atlas with the best Milky Way photographs of the year. One of my favorite things to look at, especially because I follow NASA on Insta, is the Milky Way and stars and galaxies and find the prospect of “that” entirely amazing.

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