Cadillacs are one of the motoring icons of America and in Amarillo Texas they are a tourist icon. Cadillac Ranch is a project by a San Francisco art collective called Ant Farm who have buried 10 Cadillacs halfway into the ground back in 1974. The Cadillacs are buried nose first and are some of the more classical models from 1949 to 1963 and look like a metal Stone Henge or something. Cadillac Ranch has been embedded into American culture, you might remember seeing them in the Pixar Disney classic Cars and even features in one of American rocker Bruce Springsteen’s 1980’s hits and plenty of other places in the US are jumping on the band wagon and making their own version. Read the rest of this entry »
Melbourne’s W class trams are a well known icon of Melbourne that date back to the early 1920s. A main part of Melbourne’s transport system until the 1990s Today the trams are a tourist drawcard operating free on the city circle line as well as at night converted to restaurant trams. Interestingly Melbourne is not the only place in the world where you will see the iconic trams operating as a tourist trolly, a few of the 748 Melbourne built trams were exported to the US in the 70s and 80s and today can be seen operating in San Francisco, Seattle, San Jose, New Orleans, Dallas and Portland. The youtube video above is of a Melbourne tram turning onto San Franscisco’s Embarcadero. There are also some W class trams operating in Auckland and Christchurch New Zealand. Read the rest of this entry »
Lamma Island is the third largest island in Hong Kong and home to approx 6000 people but unlike Hong Kong, Lamma Island is well known in the area for being peaceful and quiet. One of the most interesting things about Lamma Island is that there are no major streets on the island, instead it has a collection of foot paths and trails in amongst a very green town where low rise buildings are set amongst trees and shrubs. As there are no streets there are also no cars with everyone getting around the island on foot or by bike. The major town on the island is Yung Shue Wan with the smaller Sok Kwu Wan located on the other side of the island in picnic bay. Both towns are a popular spot for seafood restaurants and the whole island has a Mediterranean feel to it. Ferries run to both Sok Kwu Wan and Yung Shue Wan from central Hong Kong and can take any where between 30 to 45 min.
German airline Lufthansa this week opened the world’s most modern animal cargo facility at Frankfurt Airport. Located near Gat 26 the Frankfurt Animal Lounge now houses all the animals which the airline is transporting to and from the airport. This innovative move took 13 months to construct using the latest in European animal welfare rules and strict hygene and veterinary medicine requirements. The carrier transports thousands of animals every year including some 14000 cats and dogs, 1500 horses and tens of thousands of tropical fish. They also transport farm animals and many endangered and rare animals for zoos and wildlife parks. 25 vets and another 60 support staff are on hand to ensure all animals have a comfortable stay while being shipped to and form Frankfurt.
The beautiful Saint Basil’s Cathedral is located in the south east end of Moscow’s Red Square which is also home to the Kremlin. Under the onion domes lay 9 chapels and are beautifully painted in medieval style in bright swirling colours. Built between 1555 and 1561 and commissioned by Ivan IV better know as Ivan the Terrible to commemorate the capture of Khante of Kazan the cathedral is one of the most known and photographed buildings in Russia. St Basil is very lucky to be still standing with many wars and troubles harming much of the splendor of the Russian Capital, legend had it that Napoleon was so impressed with the structure he wanted to dismantle it and move it back to Paris, and then in the 1930’s some of Stalin’s team thought it would be good to knock it down to make more space for their military parades. Stalin came close a few years later but a culture buff called Baranovsky kicked up a bit of a stink by telling Starlin he would cut his own throat on the steps instead of tear it down. Stalin decided to keep in and chucked poor old Baranovsky in goal for five years. Read the rest of this entry »
There are two kinds of World Expos, the International Expo which is held every five years, this is the one which was held last in Nagoya in 2005, and will be held in Shanghai in 2010. Other famous ones are the 1964 New York Fair, 1889 Paris Exposition where the Eiffel Tower was unveiled and the 1988 Brisbane Expo. The other world expo is the International Expositions, this year we have one of those, they are on a smaller scale and open for 3 months instead of the normal 6 but still have some cutting edge innovations, designs and attract millions of people. Zaragoza in Spain is the host for what is to be themed Water and Sustainable Development. A huge 25 hectare site has been created to house this expo and over 40,000 people from all over the world have signed up to be volunteers at the event. Starting on the 15 of June on the banks of the Ebro river the event will be massive. About 100 countries and several large multinational companies are taking part. Highlights of the expo will include a massive 76 metere high water tower and a huge aquarium featuring the world’s great river systems with animals from the Nile, Mekong, Amazon, Murray Darling, Ebro and many of the worlds oceans. Already season tickets have sold out and day passes are selling like hot cakes. Read the rest of this entry »
Cocaine is currently one of the world’s worst and biggest problem drugs and much of it is coming from South America. And now some very game travelers to Sierra Nevada in Colombia are going on trips to see this evil drug being manufactured. For as little as $9 a guide takes them deep into the La Ciudad Perdida or Lost City on a trail to a cocaine lab. Here farmers show how the leaves are grown then mashed together with a deadly cocktail of petrol, acids and other nasty ingredients to make a paste which becomes the base of cocaine. Many of the farmers and manufactures remain poor with much of the profits of this drug going to drug lords and fund the country’s unrest where corrupt paramilitary soldiers, and guerrillas has claimed so many lives in recent decades with massacres and killings of many innocent people. Read the rest of this entry »
We are probably being a bit harsh by our title, but the Hotel Celica was not the place you would have wanted to spend the night a few years back when it was the notorious Ljubljana Prison. Today it is one of Slovenia’s hippest places to stay and has been turned into a artistically renovated 20 room or cell hostel for travelers. Opening in 2003 the Hotel Celica has one of the highest occupancy rates in the country and with prices starting around 20 Euro it is no wonder why. The hotel has won many special awards including the golden award or Sejalec from the Slovenian Tourist Board and in 2006 the popular Lonely Planet publication voted it the Hippest Hostel in the World. The Celica has all the things you need for a hostel stay including kitchen, TV rooms, laundry, tourist desk and internet to send your photos and stories back home. – If you have any good ones- we would love to see them.
On May 9 1950 Sam Walton opened a variety store in Bentonville Arkansas, 50 years later Sam became the richest man in the world and now his three sons are in the top 10 richest people in the world owning the huge Walmart variety stores. Exactly forty years after opening the Bentonville store the WalMart Visitors Centre was opened by then Governor of Arkansas former President Bill Clinton. The visitor centre attracts in the vicinity of 60,000 people a year and traces the amazing story of the Walton family and their stores. The centre has thousands of pieces of history from the retail giant’s history and quiet an insight into the Family including Mrs Walton’s wedding dress.
If you are a regular reader to Tripandom, you will probably know we love a Disney story, and we haven’t done one for a while so Today is Disneyland Day – Paris Style. The Disneyland Paris Space Mountain is an amazing indoor rollercoaster ride and is one of the parks premier attractions. Featuring a Jules Verne themed adventure based on his From the Earth to the Moon book the coaster consists of a 1.5 g uphill launch at just under 70 km per hour and a sidewinder and corkscrew. All set to a synchronized on board audio theme composed by Steven Bramson the five vehicles can take 25 people each on a 2 minute ride. The Coaster rises over 45 metres and travels 1000 in the breath taking adventure. The building itself is a masterpiece of Disney design, being over 61 metres in diameter and 43 metres high it dominates the Tommorowland section of the park. The ride has recently gone under a huge makeover and has been renamed Space Mountain Mission 2.
