Chairman Mao was the founder of the People’s Republic of China and he is one of the essential characters in the modern history of this huge country. The Chairman died in 1976 and a huge mausoleum was built at the south end of Beijing’s Tiananmen Square as a place where over 10 million people have paid their respect to Mao’s body in his crystal coffin, dressed in his usual grey suit draped in the red Communist Party flag. The memorial hall is a striking building measuring 260 metres by 220 metres with marble and yellow granite. Mao wouldn’t have been too happy being put on display like this, he actually wanted to be cremated, but the Communist Party of China had other ideas and embalmed him. As you would expect at such an important place, security is very high and there is restrictions on bags, cameras and other items. You must wear respectful clothing and keep walking through the complex, which takes only about 5 -10 minutes, you can wait for several hours to get into the building. One strange thing you will notice with your visit, like all attractions, its ends at the gift shop- where else! Read the rest of this entry »
The Distillery District in Toronto is the hippest and most happening place in the city. Jam packed with boutique shopping, galleries, artist studios, some of the city’s best dining and plenty of entertainment this place is really going off. The pedestrian only village is a huge collection of preserved Victorian era industrial buildings including the Gooderham & Worts Distillery which was founded way back in 1832 by James Worts and William Gooderham. The distillery ceased producing alcohol in 1990 development of the 15 acre area began in 2003. When visiting make sure you go on an empty stomach, there are some amazing dining experiences to try including Pure Spirits Oyster and the best pastries you have ever tried from Grand Piano Pastries, they are mouth watering. Read the rest of this entry »
The classic BBC program Dr Who has made a bit of a comeback and is attracting a huge cult following, with huge names like Kylie Minogue appearing on the new series. Cardiff in Wales is getting in on the act, Cardiff is actually one of the main filming locations for the Touchwood series. They are home to the Doctor Who Exhibition which is a multimedia extravaganza at the Red Dragon Centre at Atlantic Wharf on the lovely Cardiff Bay. The exhibition is very popular and celebrates the 40 year linage of the series, with video, photography, costumes sets and of course those scary robot daleks. You don’t need to be a Dr Who fan to enjoy this attraction, there are some great displays for anyone interested in film and television with exhibits on scripts, writing, acting, and design and its all a bit of fun. Read the rest of this entry »
The Airbus A380 has not be in the air very long now, in fact it was launched in October 2007 to launch customer Singapore Airlines. To date 3 planes have been delivered meaning Airbus have plenty of work ahead of them as they have around 190 orders for the supersized plane dating back to 2001. We found the above video of the interior layout on youtube and thought we share it, economy looks very much like an economy part of a plane but check out the private suites of first class, do you want have a go in the the A380 let us know your thoughts below.
A museum dedicated to noodles may seam a bit odd but it fits right in in Yokohama Japan. When Ramen was introduced to Japan from China the Japanese embraced the food and even developed the instant ramen dish that is popular all over the world whenever you feel like noodles in 2 minutes. You may wonder how you could fill one floor of a museum dedicated to a fairly ordinary food product but the Ramen Museum fills 3 floors with a recreation of Tokyo in 1958 (the year instant ramen was created), a gift shop and of course places to try out you favorite ramen. there even is a small factory exhibit where you can create your own take away ramen. The Shin-Yokohama Raumen Museum and Aumusement Park as its one of those classic quirky Japanese attractions that is worth a visit, its located about 3 mins walk from JR Shin Yokohama station. Read the rest of this entry »
Minimundus is a fantastic miniature park in Carinthia, Austria and has over 150 miniature architectural models from all around the world at an amazing 1:25 scale. The park has been open for fifty years and has seen over 15 million people through its gates, raising money for the children’s organisation Rettet das Kind or Save a child who own the park. The park has become so popular another park located at Meckenbeuren on the lovely Lake Constance in Germany has opened giving visitors two choices. Some of the amazing buildings include the Sydney Opera House, Eiffel tower, the White House, Taj Mahal and the Suleiman Mosque. They even have model trains and a scale space shuttle. A treat for young and old. Read the rest of this entry »
Las Vegas is known for excesses and things larger than life, well this fantastic free attraction is no exception. M&M World on the famous Las Vegas Boulevard offers four floors of chocolate mayhem with all the cute brightly colored characters from one of the world’s most popular chocolate snacks. M&M World is a great escape from the casino’s and buffets (and probably better on your waist line) and the kids will love it. The first floor is basically the gift shop with heaps of M&M merchandised goods to buy. Second floor guess what more things to buy, and the third floor has all the collector stuff. There’s even a M&M guitar or some European M&M crystal to purchase. On the top level there’s guess what, another shop where you can buy M&M house hold furniture and a really cool replica of the Kyle Busch race car. For some added choclatey fun make sure you catch the great 3D &M film- it’s full of colour and plenty of funny M&M guys it’s interestingly titled “I lost my M in vegas”. The M&M World is easy to find, it’s right next door to the massive MGM Grand Hotel Casino at the corner of Tropicana Avenue. Just as an added treat a new M&M world has just opened in Orlando, so if your off to Disneyworld drop in . Read the rest of this entry »
Vinales is about 150 kilometres to the west of the Cuban capital Havana and is one of the most beautiful regions of Cuba. Set amongst huge mountain and lush forests the fertile red ground is used for farming including the famous tobbaco plantations. The quaint townships consists mainly of one story wooden houses with porches and colourfully painted,which give the impression of a relaxed an tranquil place to enjoy after a hard days work on the land. Read the rest of this entry »
The Library Hotel in New York is kind of a theme hotel based on the dewey decimal system where each of its 10 floors is catergorsied into one of the standard library catergories with each room devoted to a particular subject. An example is that the room one on the seventh floor would have an “architecture” theme while the second room would have a “paintings” theme as the seventh floor is part of “the arts” catergory. The book Lemony Snicket’s The Penultimate Peril had a hotel in it called the Hotel Denouement that was modeled after the Library Hotel. Interestingly the owners of the Dewey Decimal System trademark once sued the Library Hotel for trademark infringement, now the Library Hotel is allowed to use the system in its hotel and marketing in exchange for making a donation to a nonprofit organization promoting reading and literacy among children. Read the rest of this entry »
You might remember we did a story on Dolly Parton’s Dollywood themepark at Pigeon Forge a few days ago, well we found another great attraction at Pigeon Forge- The world’s largest private collection of Elvis memorabilia. Founder Mike Moon has been collecting Elvis stuff since the king himself gave him a belt. The museum is jam packed full of great Elvis memories, theres cars, clothing, jewellery even Elvis’s guns and a orange toilet seat cover which Elvis once owned. The guy has everything, he even has his swim trunks and a set of Elvis’ bibles and encyclopedias and even some bottles of his aftershave and cologne plus his final set of sunglasses and even his last tube of toothpaste. There’s hours of kitsch fun here and guess what the exhibition has a great gift shop where you can buy your very own Elvis memorabilia. The Elvis Museum is at 2638 Parkway, Pigeon Forge in Tennessee.
