Imagine a shopping mall as big as a small country, well the West Edmonton Mall in Canada is bigger than Vatican City- hows that. It’s huge with over 350,000 square metres of shopping and entertainment. The huge complex employs around 23,000 people and has anything up to 150,000 people shopping, dining or having fun there every day. Along with over 800 shops the centre has a monstrous entertainment zone which would rival any theme park with an icerink, waterpark with wave pool and huge waterslides. An aquarium which is home to sea lions, and a submarine ride which had more submarines than the Canadian Navy until recently. Roller coasters, golf, theatres, a casino and even a replica of Christopher Columbus’s ship the Santa Maria. There even a huge nightclub and restaurant district called Bourbon street which has comedy clubs, rib houses, bars and some great pizza. There’s a China town and even a flash new Europa Boulevard which sells the latest European fashion- and I must mention the flock of pink flamingos, the shooting range and the cinemas. The place is just amazing. You need at least 2 days if not an entire week to really absorb the place and you probably need just as long to find your car in the 20,000 car carpark. There are plans to make the place even bigger, they are not to happy about being knocked off as the biggest by a new centre in Dubai and another huge place being built in Beijing. Read the rest of this entry »
Above is a promo video for “The World” project in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is a collection of man made islands constructed 4 klm of Dubai’s coast mostly from sand dredged from the sea bed. Shaped rougthly like a map of the world the island’s went on sale for around 15 to 50 million US $ and there are some grand plans for a few resorts to spring up over the next few years. Currently there aint much here but Dubai is pooring heaps of coin into attracting tourist’s planing ahead for when they run out of oil, so keep an eye on The World for your next big resort holiday. Read the rest of this entry »
In the good old days Spam wast a bad email it was some kind of canned meat product which contains ham and pork and today it is as popular as ever. Since 1937 over 6 billion cans of the stuff has been sold and over 90 million cans of it were sold last year alone. A version of it became very popular during the war when food was scarce and being supplied in an air tight tin became a great food to send to the troops. So why not have a museum to celebrate this amazing food. The 16500 sq foot museum was actually a K Mart before being transformed into this wonderful gastronomical centre of fun. The museum is in the home town of Spam, Austin in Minnesota. And guess what there’s a great gift shop at the end of the tour where you can buy some great spam stuff, t-shirts, novelties and of course a few cans of delicious Spam. The best thing about the Spam museum is it’s free!
I’m sure if you did the stats on Tripandom you would find the good old USA has the highest number of weird and unusual stories, and we are going to ad another. Today our story is from Sante Fe in New Mexico. You have all heard of the ancient ruins in England called Stonehenge well Sante Fe has its own well sort of, instead of huge monoliths of stone they have old fridges. But what’s even stranger we did a bit of a search and found a few other places in the US have built their own as well. The Fridgehenge was created by Adam Jonas Horowits, who thought maybe 200 old fridges might brighten up a bit of old land fill land. Like Stonehenge there were no machinery used, and there is no mention whether there was any alien help Horowitz didn’t align the fridges to the stars but instead to Los Alamos National Laboratories Nuclear power plant. Over the years the ‘artwork’ has been covered with plenty of graffiti and is a great home for lizards and rattlesnakes. Read the rest of this entry »
We have done a lot of great amusement park stories like Disney, Seaworld and zoos and stuff so we thought it was about time we told you about a really crap one. This one’s called South of the Border and its on US interstate 95 in South Carolina. It’s called South of the Border not because its Mexican like Pedro it’s poncho and sombrero wearing mascot it’s because its just over the border from North Carolina. The attraction if we should call it that features a gas station and road house restaurant, a motel and a small amusement park and some shopping but we will come to that a bit later.
The whole complex is a bit kitsch and tongue in cheek, the owners really must know its bad, and having a bit of fun, everyone does, but they do a pretty good job promoting it for what it is- crap. It is well worth a look if traveling down Interstate 95, but don’t spend the day getting there, there are so many other things to do. And as for the shopping there, well they sell fireworks and adult items- as you would expect- not sure if you could buy guns and liquor there but I’d expect so. For the newly weds they have some lovely hotel rooms too, $99 gets you married, a night in an “heir-conditioned” honeymoon suite champagne and even breaky the next morning for both of you if you are still together, probably good if your trailer park isn’t romantic enough for the big night.
December 7 marks the 66th anniversary of the attack of the US fleet at Pearl Harbor Hawaii by the Japanese. Today Pearl Harbor has been turned into a moving memorial for those who fought and those who lost their lives in this dark period of the world’s history.
The USS Arizona memorial is one of the most visited war sites on the island. Here a simple floating pavilion sits above the final resting place of the vessel and many of the 1177 crew members that perished. A shore based museum also has some moving wartime stories and memorabilia and visitors can also choose to visit the USS Missouri battleship which was the scene of the 1945 surrender.
Taipei the capital of Taiwan is home to one of the worlds most spectacular and tallest buildings the Taipei 101. Standing 101 storeys and 509 metres high it was the first building in the world to reach over half a kilometer high. While the top floor is a private club there is a amazing observation platform at the 89th and 91st floors, the upper one is infact outdoors, both offer 360 degree views of the city below. Several restaurants including Diamond Tony’s and XEX a Japanese restaurant occupy some of the upper levels. Ground breaking for the tower started in 1998 and the tower opened to the public on the 31st of December 2004 just in time for what has become a tradition the huge New Years Eve fireworks and display. The tower infact turns into a huge NYE clock. At night the structure is especially beautiful lighting up the surrounding sky with a different colour of the rainbow for each day.
The Colosseum is probably the best known of Rome’s ancient buildings. It is a huge arena even in today’s standards and had seating for over 50,000 people and rising 160 feet above street level. The Colosseum has had many uses over its 2000 years including a scene for mock battles, gladiator battles, was flooded for naval skirmishes and was even the site where Christians were fed to lions. Sadly the arena has suffered serious damage due to stone robbers and earthquakes but the Colosseum remains an iconic symbol of Italy and is Rome’s most popular tourist attraction. Today the coliseum is still used for smaller performances and events, but only a few hundred spectators can be accommodated. Quiet a few superstars use the Colosseum as the backdrop to their Rome concerts, Paul McCartney and Elton John are two of the huge acts who have visited in recent years. Read the rest of this entry »
The Eiffel Tower is one of the world’s most beautiful structures and to think it was only built temporary and the city planned to pull it down before it became useful as a tower for antennas. Many visitors are thinking the queues are much to long to brave to visit the lookout but there is another way to experience this lovely piece of ironwork and opt for a more tranquil visit with a magnificent Parisian picnic on the beautiful lawns below the tower. Dusk is the most romantic time to visit when the 20,000 odd bulbs flash in shimmering display lighting up the Paris sky. For the visitor there are plenty of French Bakeries and food stores within 10 or so minutes walk where you can pick up some of the freshest bread, pastries, the worlds best cheese, pate and wine for you to have the picnic to remember. Read the rest of this entry »
The Sydney Harbor Bridge opened in 1932 and has become one of Australia’s most loved icons and is recognized all around the world and you can walk this massive steel structure for free. Sure you can drive across it for $3 or take the train or even climb the arch for a fee but if your budget is tight and you still want to see the magnificent harbor from a different perspective then put on your walking shoes and go for a stroll. The bridge is 1149 metres long making it still one of the worlds greatest bridges. For an even better view from the bridge and for under $10 take the two hundred stairs up the south pylon and see the view from 87 metres above the harbour. There are some fascinating displays and you never know who you might see along the way, even the Cookie Monster, Elmo and Bob the Builder have braved the stairs for a look at the Sydney skyline.
