Luna Park is one of Melbourne Australia’s most loved and recognizable icons. This old world amusement park has been operating since 1912 and has entertained young and old ever since. The parks opening features a rather scary Mr Moon and the boundary is made up of the rickety wooden rollercoaster- the Scenic Railway which holds the claim of the oldest continually operated rollercoaster in the world. The park also boasts a historic carousel dating back to 1913 which has recently been restored to its former glory. There’s all the other fun of the fair including Ferris wheel, a pirate ship, dodgems and arcade style games. Luna Park is located in the bay side suburb of St Kilda and there is a sister park on Sydney Harbor overlooking the Sydney Harbor Bridge and Opera House. Read the rest of this entry »
Universal Studios in Orlando Florida have just announced a 1.2 million dollar plan to build a Harry Potter theme park at their complex in Orlando. They plan to faithfully recreate Hogwarts Castle, the Forbidden Forest and many of the streetscapes from the amazing book series and films by J.K. Rowling. Opening in late 2009 the park is just another reason to start planning your holiday to the holiday capital of the world, with the huge Disney World complex, Seaworld and Cape Canaveral close by you will never want to leave.
The Sinsheim Auto & Technik Museum is the home to the F-BVFB Air France Concorde which proudly sits upon their museum roof and is open to the public. This Concorde made its maiden flight in March of 1976 and had its final flight in June of 2003. Over this time it had made 5473 landings and flown 14771 hours. The last flight was from Paris’s CDG airport to Karlsruhe-Baden Baden where it was disassembled and put on a barge for a trip up the Rhine and then trucked the rest of the journey to the Sinsheim museum. The museum also has Russia’s version of the Concorde the Tupolev TU-144 this sits beside the Air France Concorde. Sinsheim is about an hour’s drive south of Frankfurt and a little longer from Stuttgart and Munich, it opens 265 days a year.
Spam has been notorious over the years for being the mystery meat in a can, no its not made of cute little kittens it is in fact made of a mixture of ham and pork with some spices to add a bit of flavour. In Hawaii they love it, they are the worlds largest consumer of this tasty product and now giant fast food giants Mc Donald’s and Burger King have got in on the act and are selling it on their breakfast menus. Mc Donald’s have 78 outlets in Hawaii and are trying their special eggs, rice and spam meal until the end of July. After then they may ad it to their regular menu if it becomes a popular as they expect. Hawaii’s 7 Eleven chain have also got on in the act, and hope to attract some of the huge Japanese tourist numbers to their stores with a Spam musubi wrapped in rice and seaweed… how yummy!
You might have seen this giant donut in a few of the Simpson’s episodes but I’m here to tell you it is real. The donut can be found in Inglewood California a suburb of Los Angeles on Manchester Blvd. Unfortunately it isn’t made of dough but the donuts Randy’s sell are huge. Randy’s isn’t the only giant donut in the US there are quite a few others including Kiddles. It can be found at Normandie Ave Los Angeles. Kiddles sell a Texas sized glazed donut which is over 12 inches wide and full of artery hardening stuff. LA is also home to the Donut hole, this one is like a tunnel you drive in it can be found on East Amar Rd, La Puente. So if you are feeling hungry while driving around Los Angeles- you now know where to go.
The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games are just over a year away with the opening ceremony being held on the 8th of August next year. We have found this amazing animated display of the funny little characters they have for mascots. The characters somehow represent a fish, a panda, a Tibetan antelope and a swallow- and the one on fire is meant to be an Olympic flame. We are going to see a lot more of these special little guys over the next few months and my guess is every child will want all five. Read the rest of this entry »
One of the highlights of visiting Sydney is the historic rocks precinct which lies just under the Sydney Harbor Bridge, and if your there on a weekend you are in for a further treat. The Rock’s Market operates both Saturday and Sunday and features an amazing assortment of arts, crafts and other had made items. It is a great place to pick up something truly Australian including Aboriginal Art, beautiful Australian timber products and exquisite jewelry using local stones and minerals. There’s plenty of street entertainment and don’t forget to visit some of the many galleries, restaurants and historic pubs in the Rocks while you are there. Read the rest of this entry »
Olympia Looping is the worlds largest portable steel rollercoaster and is one of the more notable rides found at Oktoberfest in Munich each year. The huge ride features 5 loops- the Olympic rings which give huge g force to the rider. The structure is monstrous it weighs over 875 tonnes and takes up a space 85 metres by 36. The highest point is about 32 metres off the ground and it has a 26m drop. Speeds are in excess of 83 km per hour. Usually people queue for hours to ride the 1.45 minute ride, but the exhilaration is well worth the wait. Read the rest of this entry »
Skoda now owned by the VW Audi group is the Czech Republic’s own car and very popular throughout Europe. They have a factory about an hours drive from Prague in a town called Mlada and a great museum which is open to the pubic. Here you can see some fascinating Skoda vehicles and get an insight into their products and history. They have a very good display on their rallying and racing vehicles and plenty of historic cars all beautifully restored. Next door to the museum their is a Skoda new car showroom where you can see some of the exciting new models the company sells today. Read the rest of this entry »
When travelling up Shinsaibashi-suji shopping mall in Osaka which is an undercover shopping strip which runs over 1.8 km we came across this great little pub. It served crispy cold Carlsberg beer on tap and nothing else, they only had 8 glasses. The pub was no more than 2 metres long by about 1.5 metres deep had a bar and 2 bar stools. You rubbed shoulders with the other person if there was more than 2 people in the bar. Anyway the service was friendly and the beer sure was refreshing. Read the rest of this entry »
