Best of CH 2017: Instagram

Extraordinary finds from world travels and our home city of New York

Just about every Cool Hunting team member can attest to the fact that it’s easier to write a feature length story than an Instagram caption. With the beauty we cross in a year, images really do speak a thousand—or more—words. We do our best, though, to provide additional insight. As a collaborative editorial effort, cataloging our adventures both at home in NYC and abroad, the …

Big Ben Will Ring Again, For The Holidays

At the Palace of Westminster, Big Ben has been silent since August while under a much-needed four-year renovation costing roughly $60 million. It’s the first time the clocktower hasn’t rung in 157 years and done to protect the ears of those making repairs. The chiming won’t resume properly until 2021, but for the handful of days between Christmas and New Year, it will ring on …

Painting the Vatican’s Cortile del Belvedere in Milk

Mixed with both slaked lime and natural pigments (in fact, the original cream color used in the 1500s), milk from the Pope’s cows—raised at the papal summer residence, Castel Gandolfo—is being used to paint the Vatican’s Belvedere Castle. This is a centuries-old technique that also happens to align with Pope Francis’ emphasis on environmental protection. To learn more about the process and even the Vatican’s …