Today it often hard to imagine how badly some European cities were destroyed during World War II. Most cities and towns were quickly rebuilt after the war but there is one village that has been preserved as a memorial to the victims that once lived in the small village.
On the 10th of June 1944 the French village of Oradour-sur-Glane was destroyed by the Nazi Waffen-SS division. A total of 642 people were massacred as the Nazis burnt the village and shot anyone who dared escape the flames. Following the war, then French President, Charles de Gaulle decided the original village would be left untouched, and that’s how the village stands today. Read the rest of this entry »
A bit of a follow up on the Prora Resort story we did back in 2008, to recap the Prora resort was built by the Nazi’s under Hitlers Kraft durch Freude (strength through joy) program to provide a cheap holiday to 20,000 workers at a time. To try and convince the public that all his plans were great, Hitler liked to use a fair bit of propaganda and grand projects to win support from his people. At almost 5klm long the Prora complex was the largest hotel in the world at the time it was constructed and further plans were on the drawing board for stadiums to seat 20,000 people, pools and a wharf for his cruise ships. Construction halted around 1940 and no one has ever got to take their holiday at the complex and it has been mostly been derelict in recent years apart from a small visitors centre. Recently it has been reported a section of the complex will be renovated into a youth hostel so for the fist time in over 60 years you will be able to stay at the Prora resort. While we are interested in the history of the building we think it might be a bit too creepy to spend the night at nasty old Hitlers holiday home. What’s your thoughts? hit up our comment form below, and check out the interesting video above. Read the rest of this entry »
A popular tourist spot 1 hour north of Melbourne Hanging Rock is located off the Calder Highway and is well know for the 1975 Peter Weir film “Picnic at Hanging Rock†that was one of the first Australian films to receive international acclaim. The film itself was based upon the 1967 Joan Lindsay novel of the same name that tells the story of three girls and a teacher who mysteriously disappear during a St Valentines day picnic at the rock in 1900. The way Lindsay wrote the book many people still believe the events of the picnic are true but in fact the whole story was fictional. The story created a unique tourist draw card to the area with plenty of people wanting to experience the mystery of the rock. Several annual events are held at the rock each year with the races being on New Years Day, Australia Day and Labour Day. February being the month St Valentine’s day falls in also brings a lot of special events to the rock like the “Picnic at Hanging Rock†film night, The Harvest Picnic and a classic car show. During the summer months guided night walks are also conducted around the rock. The video above is the trailer for the film “Picnic at Hanging Rock”. Read the rest of this entry »
Mexico is planning the world’s largest underwater museum with the first four concrete sculptures of 400 to be submerged in November in the Mexican Caribbean near Cancun. The sculptures will help protect the areas reef as well as attract sea life, eventually turning the sculptures into living sculptures as algae etc starts growing on them. The main idea behind the project is to attract tourists to the artificial reef instead of the coral reefs where they have previously damaged them. The sculptures are to be placed just below clear shallow waters to give easy access to divers, snorkelers and those in glass-bottomed boats. The sculptures are the work of Jason deCaires Taylor who previously did a similar project in Grenada West Indies (see video above). check out his website below for some more fantastic images from the projects. Read the rest of this entry »
Safari Parks are always a bit of a hoot, some of our favorites animals at many safari parks are the baboons who can be clever little devils as seen in the video above put out by the Knowsley Safari Park in the UK. Apparently the baboons have figured out how to open luggage boxes you find on top of cars to get to all the treats inside. The park is asking people who have the boxes to avoid the baboon section and staged the video above to show us all how the baboons get into the boxes. If the little rascals ever get to see any of the Planet of the Apes movies we could all be in trouble.
Walt Disney World in Orlando Florida has just opened its newly updated Hall of Presidents staring all 43 US presidents and taking centre stage for the first time a Barack Obama animatronic robot. The attraction has been a hit since opening in 1971 and the new updates make this show one of the most technically advanced productions ever seen at Disneyworld. The voice of President Obama is actually him, he recorded a special message for his robot a few months back. George Washington and Abraham Lincoln also speak in the show and all the other presidents look on and move to the speeches with some amazing facial expressions and limb movements. The show has been retitled for the look and is now known as A celebration of Liberty’s leaders” and focuses on the strong bonds between the people and the president. Patriotically opening on the 4th of July this attraction is sure to be one of the more popular at the Disneyworld resort.
Burning Man is only a few months away and a new doco about the massive festival is just about out too. Called Dust and Illusions, the documentary traces the history of the festival that has grown from 20 people in 1986 on a San Francisco Beach to almost 50,000 people in the Black Rock Desert last year. If you can’t get to the festival make sure you check out the doco (the film’s trailer is above). Read the rest of this entry »
If you have ever been to New York you probably would have been to the section of Broadway known as Times Square. Times Square is one of the busiest intersection of New York if not for the several streets that cross over each over but also for the huge amount of tourist’s and New Yorkers that can be found wandering around the area each day. From now until the end of the year getting around the area on foot has become a fair bit easier as traffic has been diverted away from Broadway from between 42nd and 47th streets. The road closure is a trail with the aim of seeing if traffic improves across the whole midtown area. The video above was done by the New York Times, getting the opinion of people in the middle of the street. Read the rest of this entry »
