Balestrino, Italy, has got to be the most picturesque ghost town I’ve ever seen. Read all about that and 7 other ghost towns in Europe over at Bootsnall:

Balestrino is a very curious case of ghost town particularly because it’s hard to find information about the city. Records date back to the 11th century when the city was owned by the Benedictine abbey of San Pietro dei Monti. In late 19th century the area was struck by a series of earthquakes, although it’s not sure how they affected the city. Records show repairs being done in the city at about the same time. Finally, in 1953 the town was abandoned. About 400 inhabitants left moved to a safer area (to the west) where the city still exists.

Link – via Jetsetta

I’m glad that someone has done this, though I wish they had used names rather than flags; I would never be able to identify three of the entities on the outer part of the orange circle as Andorra, San Marino and Monaco.  Fortunately some of the names and additional explanation is available at the Strange Maps blog at Big Think.*

This diagram is a particularly instructive map, too: it neatly visualises the gaps and overlaps between all kinds of supranational institutions in Europe – differences which for the most part are too subtle for any but the most attentive observer. All will be aware of the ‘Europe’ that is a less than homogenous conglomerate of nation states, with an unwieldy Brussels bureaucracy at its centre. This European Union, which consists of 27 member states, is merely the most visible of several European unions, all committed to different versions of the same goal: European integration.

The diagram also includes one statelet whose euros are much sought after by collectors.

Previously on Neatorama:  The Great British Venn Diagram.

Link.

*Addendum:  A hat tip to Feodor for noting that Strange Maps got the diagram from Wikipedia’s “Supranational European Bodies,” where the flags are clickable to the corresponding country entries. (It is also described there as a Euler diagram, not a Venn diagram).

You can plan a vacation in Europe, or you can dream about one. Either way, you’ll enjoy reading about some lovely relaxing places to have a siesta in France, Italy, Germany, and Spain. Pictured is the town of Manarola, Italy, “not recommended for those who tend to roll around a lot in their sleep”. Link -Thanks, Marilyn Terrell!

(Image credit: Paul Hogie/My Shot)

To specify further: technically the boy’s not carrying a cow bell but a trychel (Treichel in German, Treichle in Swiss German). Wikipedia puts the difference thus: “As opposed to regular cast metal bells, trychlen are made of hammered sheet metal. This results in a less clean, clanking sound, but at the same time results in a bell that is less heavy and thus easier to carry”.

What are little kids doing wearing masks and carrying cow bells on New Years Eve? Find out at TYWKIWDBI. Link

(Image credit: Hans Peter Klauser)

Home to close to 30,000 pieces of historical weaponry, the Zeughaus Museum in Graz Austria represents the area’s rich military heritage. The museum’s collection includes guns, swords, and armor, including this complete set of armor for a horse.

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From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by lannaxe96.

This video shows how air traffic slowed to a halt over Europe as the volcanic ash wafted over from Iceland a couple of weeks ago.

(vimeo link)

And this video shows how traffic returned to normal after the clouds dissipated to a safe degree. -via Jason Kottke

Fannie Drummond spent six weeks traveling through Europe in 1920. Her great-great-granddaughter found her diary of the trip, and is posting each entry on a blog exactly 90 years to the day after they were first recorded.

Some of our fellow passengers are disgruntled ex-saloon keepers and their families going back to the old country where they can pursue their business unmolested. Others are Belgians and others in sympathy with them. We enter into no arguments but look pleasant and smile, and gradually the ice is melting and they begin to think that we are pleasant people after all.

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From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Stargazer7777.

I should mention that Ivar the Boneless got his sweet nickname because he had a degenerative disease that left him unable to stand, and not because he needed to talk to his doctor about Cialis or anything like that. However, as a badass medieval sea-raiding shitwrecker, Ivar wasn’t going to let a little thing like “not being able to use his legs” stop him from raining death on his enemies at every turn.

In this manner, Ivar killed two kings and captured a large part of the British Isles. Link

Link.  The English version of this map was created by Postmann Michael in 2007; it has subsequently undergone several revisions, and there are continuing doubts regarding the accuracy of some of the language borders.

We don’t know why abandoned places are so creepy, but they are. Here are 20 abandoned places in Europe that are a little too creepy for us to handle.

This was once the largest hemp and rope factory in Europe, dating back to 1840. A state-of-the-art water system facilitated steam- and water-powered machines through a labyrinth of tunnels that carried water throughout the complex. It was closed just over a decade ago…

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From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by yugosakimi.

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From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by whitespace.

The winter of 1709 was the coldest in 500 years.  All across Europe, from Scandinavia to northern Italy, and to the western coast of France, livestock died in their barns, fish froze in the rivers, millions of birds died, wild animals froze in the forests, the soil froze to the depth of 3 feet or more.

Trees exploded, chicken’s combs froze and fell off, the Baltic Sea remained frozen solid until April, the lagoon in Venice froze (see image).

Wine froze in barrels, bread froze so hard it took an axe to cut it, public fires were lit to warm the poor, the winter wheat crop was destroyed, olive and fruit trees were killed, and by spring, more than a million people in Europe died of cold or starvation. 

Climatologists are studying this time period to try to figure out just why that particular winter was so severe.  They know the Little Ice Age was at its peak and the sun’s output was at its lowest in millenia. During 1707 and 1708, dust from spectacular volcanic explosions at Mount Fuji, Santorini and Vesuvius probably depressed temperatures in both summer and winter.  But all those factors still don’t completely explain the winter Europe froze.

Link – via darkroastedblend

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Marilyn Terrell.