There are cathedrals... and then there’s Durham Cathedral. Built nearly a thousand years ago atop a rocky bluff overlooking the River Wear, this towering Norman masterpiece doesn’t just dominate the landscape—it commands your imagination. With its massive stone pillars, soaring ribbed vaults, and stories echoing through every corridor, it’s no wonder UNESCO called it one of the greatest monuments of European architecture.

Every spring, as the night wraps Toyama Bay in a blanket of stars, another constellation appears just below the surface of the sea. Glowing blue, pulsing softly, the firefly squid—known in Japan as Hotaru Ika—emerges from the depths in a dazzling marine light show that defies logic and feels like magic.