Culture

Times Square Celebrates Love This February

Times Square ©Bernt Rostad Times Square is embracing Valentine’s Day with a month-long celebration dubbed “Free Love in Times Square.” This month couples can renew their vows in the square. Also, couples can they can declare their love at the Crossroads of the World, and the declaration will be projected on a flashing digital billboard [...]

Spanish Museum Reveals Mona Lisa Copy

Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci ©Oh Paris Spain’s Prado Museum has a copy of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa that was most likely painted alongside the master in the same studio. The Mona Lisa immitation has been part of the Prado collection for years and has been displayed occasionally to the public but it [...]

Japanese Honor Old Sewing Needles in Festival

Sewing machine © alecs apple Many ceremonies are held around the world to commemorate loved ones, aging flags–but only one is dedicated to old sewing needles. Every year on February 8th, Japanese tailors lay their used needles to rest in “hari-kuyo”, a festival held in Buddhist temples. The old needles are stuck into pieces of [...]

Rowdy Kiwi Expats Spark Complaints to High Commission

NZ flag ©michaeljohnbutton The behavior of participants in the 13th annual Waitangi Day pub crawl in London, England has sparked a complaint to the New Zealand High Commission. Waitangi Day is a New Zealand public holiday held each year on the 6th of Febuary to commemorate the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, New Zealand’s [...]

Big Ben is Leaning and the UK Parliament is Sinking

Big Ben ©apdk Rumors about the architectural stability of the famous UK parliament building and it’s iconic tower have been making the rounds this week. The 96-meter tall clock tower, which houses the bell nicknamed Big Ben, leans about 46 cm to the left of its peak. In response to concerns, a spokesman for the [...]

To Make Ends Meet, Greece Renting Out Ancient Mouments

The Temple of Olympian Zeus, Athens ©christine zenino In an attempt to save its ancient heritage, Greece is putting plans in motion to allow for the rental of its most iconic archaeological treasures to advertising firms and other business. Previously, requests to use the Acropolis–Greece’s most popular site–for advertising have been refused, and very few [...]

English Heritage Worried Name is “Too Stuffy”

Richmond Castle ©jamiejohndavies After the government slashed it’s funding by a third, English Heritage is looking for creative ways to attract members and visitors to its 400 historic buildings and monuments. The organization hired market researchers to determine whether it was detouring visitors because its name was too ‘stuffy’ and middle class and if more [...]

Company Offering Tours of London’s Most Hated Highway

M25 Junction 8 to 11 ©Highways Agency Is the M25 London’s version of Route 66? A bus company in the UK would like you to think that. Brighton and Hove Bus and Coach Company is offering coach tours of the 117-mile orbital highway for visitors to the UK. The M25–mocked as ‘Britain’s biggest car park’ [...]

Village Builds Snow Church in Bavaria

Snow Church ©AFP/Getty Images Kids now-a-days… occupying Wall Street, toppling Middle Eastern governments. Back in the good-old-bavarian-days people in the village of Mitterfirmiansreut took a stand by building a church out of snow. That’s right, they constructed a church made entirely of snow to protest the fact that there was not a traditional church in [...]

New, Classier Wendy’s Coming to Japan

Wendy’s Japan ©liddybits Would you like fries with that foie gras burger? After leaving the Japanese market two years ago, American fast food chain Wendy’s is looking to make a strong comeback in Japan. To stand out from competitor McDonalds, and local chains Lotteria and Mos Burger, Wendy’s is counting on a new premium menu [...]

Plans to Modernize Rome’s Cobblestone Streets

cobbles and fountain, piazza navona ©antmoose The eternal city might not be so eternal after all, or at least it’s cobblestones are not. Rome is ringing in the new year with plans to resurface a large majority of cobblestoned ancient Roman roads. The cobbled streets, known as sampietrini or ‘St Peter’s little stones,’ have been [...]

Cooking With Grandma, a New Culinary Trend

Marketing in Motion ©D’Arcy Norman Well-heeled travelers in search of gourmet food are steering away from traditional 4-star luxury restaurants and instead seeking out more authentic culinary “experiences.” These new “experiences” are being offered by a variety of locals from Italian aristocrats to ordinary grandmothers in Mauritius, who are opening up their homes to amateur [...]

End of the World Brings Tourism Boom to Mexico

Tulum ©GollyGforce According to some interpretations of the ancient Maya calendar, December 21, 2012 marks the end of the world and the Mayan regions of Southern Mexico are making preparations for the party of the millennium–just in case they are right. Thanks to vacationers excited to experience the “end of the world” where it was [...]

100 Year Old Letter Never Makes It To The North Pole

Old Letter ©skyandsea876 One hundred years ago a hopeful Irish child wrote a letter to Santa Claus with a list of Christmas wishes, unfortunately, the letter never left the house. “I want a baby doll and a waterproof with a hood and a pair of gloves and a toffee apple and a gold penny and [...]

Coffee Chains Spike Drinks to Spike Sales in China

Starbucks ©dunhilaryu Starbucks is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of coffee giants taking over China (and the world for that matter…) The company has been very vocal about its plans to triple its current number of stores in China to 1,500 by 2015. But another company, Pacific Coffee is challenging [...]

Spanish Town Wants to Stay Smurf Blue

Smurf Town ©manuelfloresv It all started out as a publicity stunt. In June, Sony Pictures painted the traditional pueblo blanco, Juzcar, smurf blue. What happened afterwards changed the face of the town forever. The blue town was part of Sony’s launch campaign for The Smurfs 3D film, but it became so much more to the [...]

Beggars Banned From Paris’s Tourist Hotspots

Paris in Wintertime ©laverrue With the French economy in deep recession, the poor and homeless are crowding Paris’s doorways and metro entrances. In reaction to the rise of beggars outside Paris’s great landmarks, France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy has launched a war against the homeless in the city, setting himself against Paris’s very popular mayor. The [...]

DaVinci Code Finally Cracked?

Mona Lisa ©Oh Paris A 37 year-old oil painter and graphic designer claims to have finally cracked the mystery of Leonardo DaVinci’s elusive Mona Lisa. According to decoder, Ron Piccirillo, the coy Mona is disguising a menagerie of animal allegories. Piccirillo, discovered four lion heads, an ape and a buffalo hovering in the air after [...]

5 Surprising Foreign Laws

Forbidden ©ehnmark The recent arrests of a pre-teen in Bali, for possession of a small amount of marijuana, and an American blogger in Thailand for defaming the King, have brought extra attention to the fact that many foreigners are ignorant of the (sometimes bizarre) laws of the countries they are visiting. Luckily for most travelers [...]

Marilyn’s Skirt Blows Up Controversy in the Windy City

Marilyn Monroe Statue ©Phil Roeder An eight meter tall sculpture of Marilyn Monroe on Michigan Avenue, in Chicago is blowing up a little controversy. The statue, titled Forever Marilyn, shows the icon in her infamous skirt-billowing-over-a-subway-grate stance. Chicagoans have been split in their sentiments towards the statue. Detractors say it’s tacky and sexist. Supporters say [...]

Economic Crisis Endangers Greek Monuments

The Acropolis ©http2007 During these troubled economic times, Greece is becoming more and more reliant on tourism dollars to keep its economy up and running. Historically, tourism in the country has accounted for a whopping 18 percent of its total GDP. But because Greece is a part of the euro zone, it cannot devalue its [...]

Dancing Flashmob Takes Over Indian Train Station

Chhatrapati Shivaji (Victoria) Terminus ©BabyDinosaur If you thought Indian public transport was already incredibly crowded and overstimulating, add a flashmob of 200 dancers into the mix and even the most seasoned commuter will have problems catching their train. Last month, dancers came together for a flashmob event at Chhatrapati Shivaji (Victoria) Terminus–Indian’s busiest train station. [...]

Rio’s New Museum of Tomorrow

Rio de Janeiro Waterfront © JorgeBRAZIL The waterfront of Rio de Janeiro will soon have a green new addition. The Museu do Amanhã (Museum of Tomorrow), designed by Santiago Calatrava is part of a 5 billion Brazilian real “Marvelous Port” project that will revitalize Rio’s waterfront district. In addition to the Museum of Tomorrow, Recently [...]

Traditional Holiday Beverages From Around the World

Starbucks Holiday Cups ©Glenn Waters In the USA we have eggnog and hot chocolate (and the ubiquitous Starbuck “red” cups), but around the world the beverages that inevitably get spiked for the holiday season are incredibly varied. Over on Gadling, they have compiled a list of international Christmasey beverages. In Europe—north, south, east and west,–they [...]

Eiffel Tower Won’t Go “Green”

Eiffel Tower ©Omarukai French authorities have denied reports that the tower will be transformed into the world’s largest tree. The denial comes on the tails of a story published by France’s Le Figaro newspaper reporting that the iconic Eiffel tower was considering a 72 million euro ($A96.09 million) project that would see 600,000 plants hung [...]

Paris’s Hidden Museums

The Wine Museum ©Nico Paix The Louvre. Musee d’Orsay. The Pompidou Center. Paris certainly packs a punch when it come to world-class museums, but if you are a traveler looking to explore a museum off a beaten path Paris certainly doesn’t disappoint. in an article for Gadling David Farley writes about the hidden museums of [...]

The World’s Tackiest Souvenirs

Wooden Shoes ©caracolquiscol We all like to come back from vacation with something to remind us of the wonderful time we’ve had, a nice tan, beautiful photos, maybe even a novelty tee shirt or snow globe. But anyone who has been inside a souvenir shop knows that no matter where you are in the world, [...]

11 Extreme Thanksgiving Turkey Variations

Turkey ©thebittenword.com Most Americans are just now waking up out of their tryptophan-induced post-thanksgiving slumbers, but for the extreme thanksgiving aficionados, Black Friday is day one in the countdown to next year’s epic turkey creation. For a little inspiration, HuffPost has compiled 11 crazy, weird and downright bizarre riffs on the classic turkey roast. Included [...]

Queen to Rent Out Palace During London Olympics

St. James Palace ©siegertmarc Her royal highness is renting out rooms in St. James Palace for corporate and charity events to make a little extra cash during the during the London Olympics. Historian David Starkey states that the opening the palace was perhaps inevitable, “We are in an age where everything is up for sale [...]

Hotel Offers Guests a “Flash Mob” Package

Flash Mob ©Valerio Pirrera What began as a way to enliven a company meeting at the Marco Island Marriott Beach Resort outside Naples, Florida has become a one-of-a-kind hotel amenity. Guests at this Florida Marriott can now take advantage of the resort’s new Mobbed at Marco Island group package, in which guests can participate in [...]

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