PLACES

New York on a budget: the best cheap hotels and restaurants. Hotel Deauville 7/10 103 E 29th St (683 0990; hoteldeauville.com) A charming, comfortable, 54-room family-owned hotel in 1900s Brownstone just off swanky Park Avenue.

The original hand-operated lift will take you back in time, as will the faded Seventies decor, but veteran staff treat you like family and may tell of famous past guests such as Sid Vicious. Despite being slightly chintzy, with floral-patterned bedspreads and curtains, bedrooms are clean and comfortable, and come with air-con and cable television.

Price from £82 Read the full review. Is This Hidden Architectural Gem Another &Blade Runner& Building? Each day, thousands of people walk by 5 Beekman, a pretty yet unassuming building in Lower Manhattan, never guessing what could be found within.

Scouting New York, a blog written by a location scout that's a must-read for local history freaks, got invited inside for an incredible peek at an architectural gem that's hidden in plain sight. Gothic Architecture Pictures. The Town With No Roads. 15 Awesome And Inspiring Offices. 10 Best Places to Live for Escaping World Conflict. S 2011 Top 10 Dirtiest Hotels. Spectacular Architecture in Spain [17 HDR Photos] Plaza Zorrilla, Valladolid (Spain)Spectacular architecture HDR photo: marcp_dmoz Some photographers like Marc love to take photos and then process them to generate HDR (high dynamic range) images.

He’s from Spain and has an amazing eye and talent for capturing architecture. Here are 17 gorgeous examples that Marc took in the last year to help us take a virtual tour of Spain and admire the architectural beauty that can be found there. [17 Pictures] Hint: Use “J” and “K” keys to navigate from picture to picture. Church of San Manuel and San Benito in Madrid (Spain)Spectacular architecture photo: marcp_dmoz. 12 bizarre real-life places that are stranger than science fiction. Science fiction is home to some fantastic societies, from Cloud City to Bartertown.

50 of the Most Important Landmarks of the World (Part 1) - StumbleUpon. 22 Incredible Photos of Faraway Places - My Modern Metropolis - StumbleUpon. Thailand Chances are you already know Steve McCurry as the man who took one of the most iconic photos of our time.

It was of a 12-year-old Afghan refugee girl who's piercing green eyes told us her harrowing story. The image itself was named "the most recognized photograph" in the history of the National Geographic magazine and her face became famous as the cover photograph on their June 1985 issue. Beyond just that one photo, McCurry has shot over a million images spanning 35 years. Extreme Skier Jumps Off Cliff, Films Avalanche. Posted Apr 22nd 2011 12:30 PMUpdated Apr 22nd 2011 03:37 PM. Skellig Michael – Mysterious Monastery in the Atlantic. Nine miles off the coast of County Kerry in the west of Ireland there are two small rocky islands peeking out of the Atlantic Ocean.

Channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/videos/satellite/satelliteEmbedPlayer.swf?videoRef=08740_00. 10 Cool & Unusual Hostels Around the World. Editor's note: This article comes to us courtesy of Victoria Philpott - a travel writer for HostelBookers, the budget accommodation specialist.

She lives and works in London. If a bunk bed, locker and four walls in a normal building just don’t cut it for you as enough of a travel experience, check out the top 10 coolest and strangest hostels. In the world of competitive novelty accommodation childhood caveman, tree house and train driver fantasies can become realities, and if you’re lucky, you might even get to see a ghost. #1: Jumbo Stay, Stockholm, Sweden. Fairytale-destinations from opentravel.com - StumbleUpon. Is it a dream or is it for real?

These places will make you wonder whether you step into the land of magic and fantasy or still firmly stand on the ground. With unearthly nature, unreal landscapes or fairy tale architecture, these destinations will take you far away from your humdrum reality. Picturesque Colmar in France, considered the most beautiful city in Europe, looks like it came straight out of a fairy tale. Travel Norway. The Architectural Way. &. Beautiful Places to Visit - StumbleUpon. The stunning Plitvice Lakes National Park lies in the Lika region of Croatia.

R Todd King: China Photos 2003 - Northeast Winter - StumbleUpon. The temperature in Harbin reaches forty below zero, both Fahrenheit and Celsius, and stays below freezing nearly half the year.

This Chinese city is actually further north than notoriously cold Vladivostok, Russia, just 300 miles away. So what does one do here every winter? Hold an outdoor festival, of course! Rather than suffer the cold, the residents of Harbin celebrate it, with an annual festival of snow and ice sculptures and competitions. The festival officially runs from January 5 through February 15, but often opens a week early and runs into March, since it’s usually still cold enough.

Snow and ice sculpture in Harbin dates back to Manchu times, but the first organized show was held in 1963, and the annual festival itself only started in 1985.