The beautiful Chrysler Building on the corner of 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue in Manhattan New York is one of the finest examples of art deco architecture. Designed by William Van Alen and built in 1930 the building was the tallest building in New York until the Empire State Building stole its crown a year later. The building’s beautiful metal upper cap were designed inspired by the Chrysler vehicle of the day, while hood emblems and radiator cap designs inspired gargoyles and other designs on the structure. Today the Chrysler building still holds the crown for the worlds tallest masonry building, and should probably also hold if for the most beautiful skyscraper, shining gracefully into the New York Skyline.
Right in the centre of Walt Disney World in Orlando Florida there are snow capped peaks (well plastic snow) and an adventure water park like no other. Blizzard Beach is one of Disney’s water parks and it is a great place to get away from the big theme parks for a day and enjoy some sun, surf and snow. The park is set up like a ski resort complete with huge ski-jump which is actually a breathtaking waterslide and there are chair lifts, toboggan rides and the 90 ft Mount Gushmore slope. There’s a surf beach and even some freezing ice caves to explore on the Cross Country Creek which circles the park. There’s plenty of places for food and of course those Disney souvenirs and even a Polar Pub for the grown ups to enjoy a few quiet beers while the kids are playing. When planning your Disney adventure to Orlando factor in an extra day to enjoy Blizzard Beach.
The Sony Centre in Potsdamer Platz, Berlin is a new entertainment complex and a very popular meeting point, the young and the beautiful meet under the huge tent like atrium for a bite to eat or a drink. The expansive plaza is surrounded by cafes, restaurants and some good bars including an Australian bar. The centre has some very flash designer shopping, with many of the world’s hottest brands and has a 40 theatre cinema including an Imax. There is exhibition space and the centre is used for a lot of promotion work used by TV and radio for special events. A lot of music and film superstars have appeared to the pubic in the complex drawing thousands of people, sometimes it can get frantic. As with the centre’s name you would expect a huge Sony showcase, and yes Sony a a huge display centre where you can test drive their latest technologies like cameras, phones, stereos and computers. For those travellers looking for free wireless internet- the Sony Centre is the place to go, you can read some emails while sipping great coffee and watching Berlin’s beautiful set. Read the rest of this entry »
Back in the 60’s and 70’s a popular men’s magazine called Australasian Post featured regular catoons by artist Ken Maynard, they were all based around a few Aussie friends and the happenings at the Ettamongah Pub. Some bright spark in the 1980’s decided to build a Ettamongah Pub and with great detail, right down to the busted up truck on the roof. Today the Ettamongah Pub about 10 minutes drive from the Victorian- New South Wales border town of Albury in Australia is home to the amazing pub. It has been so successful with bus loads of tourists and families other Ettamongah Pubs have sprouted up throughout Australia, with Western Australia and Queensland a few of the states which have now got their own Ettamongah Pub. The pub is more than a pub, it has a great restaurant, souvenir shop and even a lolly shop for the young folk. So if you are near Albury call in for an ice cold beer and say G’day to the locals.
There plenty of tacky kitsch things to do in Hollywood and one of the most popular and free is stroll down Hollywood Blvd and check out the Walk of Fame, you will never know who’s name you will come across. The walk dates back to 1960 and is home to the who’s who of the entertainment industry. There’s over 2000 names on the stars many famous ones and quiet a few well not quiet as famous as they would like. The personality actually pays $15,000+ to have their name immortalized on the pavement but not just anyone can put their name on a star, there is a nomination and selection process plus a heap of other conditions. The Walk was originally thought up by an artist Oliver Weismuller who was hired by the City to help give the sleazy and run down Hollywood a bit of a facelift.
The Ulster Hall is one of Belfast City Councils oldest buildings and dates back to 1862 and features one of the most amazing and oldest classical English organs in the world. But that’s not what today’s story is about, the title of our story might be a give away. It is the opening line of one of the rock world’s most famous and most loved songs- Led Zeppelin’s ‘Stairway to Heaven’. Well the Ulster Hall is the venue Led Zeppelin first performed this amazing song. Back on the 5th of March 1971. Plant, Page, Jones and Bonham belted out the classing song which although is believed to be the most requested song on radio, never actually was released as a single. The Ulster Hall is currently going through some very extensive restorations and will be open later in the year showing all of it’s former glory, and maybe in time for the rumored reunion tour by the band.
While you could describe Hitler as not one of the nicest people about, in fact he was one of the worst, but while in power he did start huge and lavish projects to try and win over the support of the German people. His Kraft durch Freude (strength through joy) program gave the German worker holidays on cruise ships and other leisure activities to keep the people happy and in turn working hard.
One such project was the Prora Spa complex on the island Rugen in north eastern Germany. The massive building was built between 1936 and 1939. Hitler planed that the huge resort would have space for 20,000 beds, theatres and all sorts of leisure activities. With the onset of the war the building was never completed and apart for part of it been used by the East Germans for a time the huge building sits mostly derelict along the shore of Rugen. Today the Prora complex has a formal heritage listing as a particularly striking example of Third Reich architecture. A visitors center is at the site with an exhibition about the sites history.
The Green Monster was the name given to the elevated central artery freeway that snaked its way through central Boston dividing the CBD from its waterfront, not only was it ugly it also had terrible congestion, but now all that has changed as Boston’s Big Dig project was officially finished late last month. The Big Dig took 10 years to complete and put the ugly freeway underground replacing much of it above ground with tree lined avenues and parks. In all over 300 acres of landscaped and restored open space was reclaimed with over 45 parks and major public plazas being developed. Even all the dirt that was removed was put to good use and was used to cap a former garbage dump known as Spectacle Island. The Big Dig was the largest road engineering project in US history and has turned Boston’s Green Monster into a greener city.
San Diego is known for its amazing Zoo and Sea World but an attraction just as popular is Lego Land California. This 128 acre park targets children from 2 to 12 and its a fantastic hands on day out where they can have great fun and be creative with the world’s most popular toy- Lego. The park has 8 theme lands and more than 40 interactive attractions and all the park looks as if it has been made out of Lego. DinoLand is one of the most popular of the lands with kids just loving the Costersaurus roller coaster and animated Lego dinosaurs. Other lands include the Pirate Shores, Castle Hill and Miniature Land which features a miniature USA with incredible 1:20 scale reproductions of cities and famous landmarks in the country. The park has plenty of fun rides including boat rides, mini fire truck rides and some fun rollercoasters and robotic rides and some fun shows, and then there’s the gift shop- guess what they sell?
We think shipping containers are pretty cool, after they spend their lives moving products around the world they can be recycled into other products either by being squished up into a new metal item or being used as is for the very popular shipping container storage shed. Well here is another use for the humble shipping container, a hotel. Traveloge in London is constructing a hotel made out of shipping containers, the containers are fitted out in China and then lifted in to position to form a multi story hotel in Uxbridge, West London. It may be ugly but its recycled and construction has been fast and cheap, its also possible to move the hotel when the need arises making the concept a good idea for short term events also. Check out the video above and let us know if you would stay in a shipping container hotel. Read the rest of this entry »
