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It is tradition for a young man to kiss a young lady’s hand at the Elmayer Hofburg ball. The waltz ends; enchantment lingers.

Austria

The Timeless Art of the Viennese Waltz

A reminder of past glory, the dance is birthright in Vienna

“The Danube River Project” explores the waterway using underwater equipment to show scenes—like this one of Budapest—partly above and partly below the surface.

Austria

How the Danube Became a Multinational Power Source

Spanning 1,770 miles from Germany’s Black Forest to the coast of Romania, the river takes its character from the people and places it passes

Goulash began as a humble soup-stew, cooked over an open fire by Hungarian herdsmen. The addition of refined varieties of paprika from ground red chilies made the dish an international staple.

Smithsonian Journeys Travel Quarterly: The Danube

The Humble Beginnings of Goulash

The hearty soup-stew known around the world began as the everything-goes-in meal of Hungarian herdsmen

An estimated 5.6 million people ride the New York City subway every weekday.

12 Secrets of the New York Subway

History runs deep in the legendary transit system

Robin Williams by Michael Dressler, 1979

Harken Back to the Glory Days When ‘Time’ Magazine Was King

A new show honors the once powerful cover shot and the artists who made celebs shine bright

The Swiss have a tradition for predicting spring: the Böögg.

Switzerland

In Switzerland, an Exploding Snowman Helps Predict Spring

Think Groundhog Day—but with fire

Untitled by Robert Irwin, 1963-65

To Truly Experience Robert Irwin, You Simply Must View His Artworks in Person

Part visionary, part magician, Irwin makes art that breaks all the rules

Wayne Shorter and McCoy Tyner at Shorter's April 29, 1964 session for "Night Dreamer" at the Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey

These Rarely Seen Images Show Jazz Greats Pouring Out Their Hearts

Frank Wolff’s gritty portraits, the hallmark of Blue Note Records, became a visual catalog of jazz in action

Cow by Bear. Eat cow... served by a bear.

Eat Dinner Cooked by a Bear

This furry chef serves international cuisine in San Diego—when he isn’t hibernating

Crisis, From the series Ashab Al-Lai/ Fault Mirage: A Thousand Lost years by Ahmed Mater, 2015

A Changing Mecca Is the Focus of the First U.S. Exhibition to Feature a Saudi Artist

The works of Ahmed Mater at the Sackler examine the stark collision of the sacred and profane

Rima Timbaryan collects dough for baking.

Armenia

Tastes of Memory: How to Bake an Authentic Armenian Lavash

Preserving Armenian culture, memory and identity in the kitchen

Feather identification expert Roxie Laybourne stands surrounded by colorful birds. This image took roughly eight hours to set up.

The Story Behind Those Jaw-Dropping Photos of the Collections at the Natural History Museum

The images capture only a fraction of the millions of creatures and objects that are stored away from the public eye

Waterfall Display

A Show of Over 6,000 Orchids Celebrates a Victorian-Era Obsession

Succumb to “Orchidelirium” at The New York Botanical Garden

Smithsonian Journeys Travel Quarterly: India

What to Read, Watch and Download Before Your Trip to India

Know before you go

Hoh Rainforest moss

National Parks

Is This the Quietest Square Inch in the U.S.?

An acoustic ecologist reveals his findings

Whitney Plantation, Big House

Inside America’s Auschwitz

A new museum offers a rebuke — and an antidote — to our sanitized history of slavery

Edelweiss.

Switzerland

Switzerland’s Most Beautiful Alpine Gardens

The best place to see Switzerland’s stunning flora is high up in the mountains

Jaya Jaitly has fought for the survival of traditional crafts such as the earthen pots, pans, planters, piggy banks and pradip, or oil lamps.

Smithsonian Journeys Travel Quarterly: India

Meet the Woman Fighting for the Survival of India’s Traditional Crafts Culture

Jaya Jaitly aims to protect India’s cultural heritage from the threat of globalized marketplaces

A Cheese-Lover’s Guide to the Midwest

America’s heartland is a cheesy paradise

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