For me, one of the most fantastic aspects of travel and new cultural experience is that it stimulates a sense of wonder about the world. It’s like a treasure hunt for hidden histories — and mysteries. Everything from the smell of foreign spices in a Mexico City market to peeking through a rusting keyhole into a crumbling courtyard in Venice feels thrilling — and makes me want to learn more. Where does that corridor lead? Who once walked on those old stones? I found an armchair adventure source today that gave me that same sense of excitement that travel brings, even while working at home on a cold, rainy day in Oregon.

The podcast/blog is called 99% Invisible   — a site that explores “all the thought that goes into the things we don’t think about.” Through today’s mini-stories episode that included a piece about the botanical history of ancient Rome’s once verdant and vine-wrapped Colosseum, I found this great Twitter conversation by Paul Cooper mentioned in the podcast. Click on the image link to read the full thread. Enjoy!

Paul 🌹📚 Cooper on Twitter

When botanist Richard Deakin examined Rome’s Colosseum in the 1850s, he found 420 species of plant growing in the ruins: cypresses & ilex, pea plants & over 50 types of grass. But some flowers growing there mystified him. They were so rare they were found nowhere else in Europe.