10 Unusual Playgrounds From Around the World. Playgrounds have come a long way since the early days of hot, steel slides and open-backed infant swings. Safety is a big issue on today's playgrounds, but so is imagination and ingenuity. Take a look at some of the many unusually cool designs popping up around the world. And if you have a favorite we left off the list (which could easily have been twice as long), be sure to tell us about it in the comments. 1.
In Japanese, Nishi-Rokugo means Tire Park. 2. A banana slide, strawberry spinners, a pair of cherry swings, an orange see-saw and a watermelon jungle gym are all part of this unusual, small park in the south of Stockholm. 3. Not just the name is unusual at Clemyjontri Park in Fairfax County, Virginia. 4. It may be the only playground in the world created specifically for seniors. 5. 6. The Children's Playground in the Takino Hillside Park in Japan borrows ideas and images from nature. 7. 8. 9. 10. The Soho Hotel, London | The Gold List 2012 | Award-winning hotels, Photo 21 of 108. The Soho Hotel: Best for rooms Imaginatively converted from a multi-storey car park, the Firmdale Hotel group's Soho property is one of London's most fashionable hotels. Fernando Botero's 10ft bronze cat sculpture dominates the lobby, and the adjacent Refuel bar and restaurant is always busy. The 91 rooms, suites and apartments - each an individual celebration of colour and pattern - are gorgeously decorated by co-owner Kit Kemp in her characteristic eclectic-English style.
Six apartments have private entrances, kitchens and sitting rooms. There are two glamorous screening rooms in the basement, a gym, and two beauty-treatment rooms. X-factor The rooftop terrace suite might be the hotel's most desirable, but those in the know go for the fifth-floor rooms and suites, all of which have private terraces. 'Every room at the Soho hotel is a gorgeous example of Kit Kemp's winning aesthetic vision and attention to detail,' says Gold List contributor Emily Mathieson. Luxury Holidays, Hotels & Accommodation | Condé Nast Traveller. The Opposite House, Beijing | The Gold List 2012 | Award-winning hotels , Photo 59 of 108. The Opposite House: Best for food Designed by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, this 99-room, steel-and-glass boutique hotel opened in Beijing's fashionable Sanlitun district in 2008. Its Rubik's Cube-like green-and-yellow glass exterior gives way to a striking, six-floor atrium hung with curtains of steel mesh.
Original sculptures and art installations are prominently displayed in the public areas. Other features include a gym, two spa-treatment rooms and a 22-metre stainless-steel pool illuminated by delicate fibre-optics. X-factor Whether they're preparing Mediterranean flavours at Sureño or innovative North Asian cuisine at Bei, the expert chefs at The Opposite House are up there with the very best in China. The Village, Building 1, No 11 Sanlitun Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing, China (00 8610 6417 6688; www.theoppositehouse.com). Continued >> S Best Hotels 2011. You’re lounging in an airy villa—with rain showers and a plunge pool fed by natural hot springs—in the Costa Rican rainforest. A personal host tends to your every need, whether arranging a wildlife-spotting hike or a private yoga lesson in the open-air studio. It’s just another unforgettable day at Nayara Springs, one of the top-rated hotels. For 19 years and counting, we’ve asked T+L readers to vote for their favorite hotels and resorts, evaluating them in categories like value, food, service, rooms, and location.
More than just a list of the best properties, the World’s Best Awards results also highlight bigger travel trends—including where you, as a community, are going. A significant number of this year’s winners are close to home, with the share of U.S. properties growing by more than 19 percent over last year.
Three of the top 10 hotels overall are in the U.S. We dare you to read about the World’s Best Hotel winners and not immediately start planning your next getaway. Underwater Hotels – The World’s Most Spectacular. Top 10 Destinations on the US Travel Advisory List. Travel The US Travel Advisory List is not a likely source of travel inspiration for most people, but for the more audacious traveler it certainly can be.
At the time of writing, twenty-eight countries made the cut for a full-scale travel warning, and not just a travel alert. Travel warnings are deemed appropriate for countries that are seen as long-standing “no-go” zones, while travel alerts are generally only issued for a limited time. A travel alert may be issued to warn travelers of a disease outbreak or an approaching hurricane, but a travel warning may even mean that US diplomatic relations in that country have been shut down due to security risks. There are some of you out there, and you know who you are, who get more excited about the possibility of meeting a Taliban member or witnessing an historic coup, than spending a week at a five-star beachfront hotel.
Take a ride on the wild side in East Africa. Tourism has been Kenya’s number one source of foreign exchange since 1997. 22 Incredible Photos of Faraway Places - My Modern Metropolis. The List Blog - StumbleUpon. 10. Why are dogs committing suicide by jumpingoff the Overtoun Bridge? The Overtoun Bridge is an arch bridge located near Milton, Scotland, overthe Overtoun Burn. A burn is a term used to describe a type of streamwhich is smaller than a river. Milton is a village in West Dunbartonshire,which is just on the outskirts of Dumbarton. The long leap from the bridge onto the waterfalls of the Overtoun Estatealmost always results in immediate death. There have been a number of theories as to why dogs are choosing to endtheir lives by jumping off the bridge, ranging from the bridge being hauntedto the canines suffering from depression, or even picking up depressed orsuicidal feelings from the bridge.
It has been suggested that the height of the bridge’s granite walls significantlyimpairs the dogs’ sense of sight and hearing, so when they go to investigatethe smell, they are unaware of the massive fall that awaits them. 9. 8. 7. 6. 5. 4. In 1940, Willard F.M. 3. 2. 1. Moonlight Maze. The List Blog. Since the beginning of time, humanity has been faced with a collection of mysterious and strange events. Many separate examples of unexplained viruses, geological occurrences, crimes, and tragedies have shaped modern history. The field of scientific experimentation and criminology are based around new discoveries and uncovering the truth. As we move into 2011, the world has been plagued with some mysterious occurrences surrounding natural life and climate stability on Earth.
This article will be examining ten bizarre mysteries that have been impacting life. Some of the examples look at current events, while others document the past. Not everyone in the world is influenced by each example, with some regional specificity. 10. The Watergate scandal was a 1970s United States political event. The National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) was created in 1956 as the result of a series of mergers. Millions of records were on loan to the NPRC at the time of the fire. 9. 8. 7. 6. 5. 4. 3. 2.