All the underwater part of a giant pavilion, called “the masses”, was built on the coast in the pit with a capacity 530 thousand cubic meters, dug with the help of dredgers, (and sometimes by hand).

At the bottom of the pit was built a huge concrete “box” height of 14 meters, after which the artificial ligament, separating the basin from the sea, was destroyed, and surfaced “box” was towed to the construction site of the station in February 1935. There “box” filled with water and put on the prepared area of the quarry stone. Further construction of the station were built in the usual way to transport people and materials from ships.

The observation deck AlpspiX – the attraction is not for the faint of heart: two small platform overhanging the alpine “hell valley”, from the abyss separates just grill.

Driskill Hotel Austin, Texas

img source

Built by cattle baron Col. Jesse L. Driskill. Today the Driskill remains one of the premier hotels in Texas, featuring lavish bridal suites, two restaurants, and a grand ballroom. It is also well-known for being one of the most haunted hotels in the United States, featuring a variety of alleged supernatural activity throughout the building including the spirit of Colonel Driskill, a Texas cattle baron and Confederate officer, is wandering the lavish Driskill Hotel in Austin, Texas.  In 1877, the daughter of a Texas senator took a fatal tumble down the grand staircase and legend has it that she can be heard bouncing a ball in the lobby and along the mezzanine.

img source

Hotel Del Coronado, California

img source

Famous “resident” of the hotel is the purported ghost of Kate Morgan. On November 24, 1892, she checked into room 304 (then 3318, now 3327), to meet with her husband who was a doctor and he was going to give her medicine for her stomach cancer, but he never arrived. She was found dead on the steps leading to the beach three days later. The case was declared a suicide. She had shot herself. Ever since then, some guests that have checked into room 3327 have reported flickering lights and floating objects. Room 304 is now known as Room 3327, but Kate’s spirit is said to roam the entire hotel.

img source

Stanley Hotel, Colorado

img source

Many believe the Stanley Hotel is haunted, having reported a number of cases of ghostly activity, primarily in the ballroom. Kitchen staff have reported to have heard a party going on in the ballroom, only to find it empty. People in the lobby have allegedly heard someone playing the ballroom’s piano; employees investigating the music supposedly find nobody sitting at the piano. Employees believe that particular ghost is of Freelan O. Stanley’s wife, who used to be a piano player. In one guest room, people claim to have seen a man standing over the bed before running into the cupboard. This same apparition is allegedly responsible for stealing guests’ jewellery, watches, and luggage. Others reported to have seen ghosts in their rooms in the middle of the night, simply standing in their room before disappearing. Stephen King got the idea for The Shining after staying in the almost empty hotel on the night before it closed for an extended period.

img source

Le Pavillon Hotel, New Orleans, Louisiana

At least four ghosts have been identified enjoying the hospitality of Le Pavilion Hotel. A teenage girl named Ava, Eva and the Crying Lost Ghost Girl, haunts the main entrance and lobby. The girl was reportedly set to board a ship when she was struck by a carriage and killed. She has fair skin, brown hair and eyes, carries a clutch purse and wears a long black skirt, shawl and hat that were the fashionable in the mid 1840s. She paces in the lobby and, sometimes, bumps into people, apologizes and says she’s lost before she abruptly vanishes. Sometimes, Adda has walked up to people on the sidewalk and asked them if they knew the way to the terminal.

img source

An aristocratic couple has also been seen strolling the grounds. They appear to be from the 1920s. The man is said to have died suddenly, after they went for a walk. She died years later. When seen alone, she crying. When they are seen together, the duo appears to be happy as they walk in the halls and on the grounds, holding hands. The couple strolls through doors and vanishes into elevators. Many people believe her room was on the third floor because, at times, it’s filled with the fragrance of her perfume. His fourth floor room smells of cigars smoke.

img source

A young man, also appearing to be from the 1920s, has been reported playing pranks on the hotel cleaning staff. He’s been seen running through the hotel as if someone was chasing him. He’s been seen walking on the pavement, then vanishing into a wall. Witnesses have seen his reflection in mirrors and his face peering into rooms windows from the third floor to higher ones.

The Sagamore, Bolton Landing, New York

img source

The main feature of The Sagamore is the historic hotel, which overlooks the lake. The Sagamore in Bolton Landing, New York, is said to harbor the ghost of a boy from the 1950s. The boy would collect lost golf balls and sell them to the pro shop for extra cash. Running after a ball one day, he was fatally struck by a car. Apparently, guests still see the boy on the golf course sometimes.

img source

]]> http://www.travelvista.net/beautiful-hotel-sleep-open-eyes/feed/ 0 http://www.travelvista.net/5-reasons-black-sand-beaches-rock/ http://www.travelvista.net/5-reasons-black-sand-beaches-rock/#comments Sat, 12 Jun 2010 13:47:35 +0000 http://www.travelvista.net/?p=880 Although black sand beaches are generally less known than their white sand beach counterparts, if you are looking to change things up a bit from the typical tropical vacation, they can be a wonderful alternative.  Black sand beaches are volcanic in origin and are formed very differently from their white sand counterparts which are coral in origin. Therefore the grain size and color of the sand vary, even on the same stretch of beach.

img source

Black sand beaches are becoming more and more popular, particularly among travelers who are looking for an experience off the beaten path and ecotourism enthusiasts (ecotourists). Here are some reasons why black sand beaches totally rock:

1. Black sand beaches are usually more secluded because everyone else is on the white sand beaches. Therefore, you are likely to have your own private oasis on a black sand beach.

2. Countries where black sand beaches are found are usually great for hiking and ecotourism activities, because of their rugged terrain and volcanic nature.

3. When you choose a black sand beach, you are likely to experience something that is unique and that most of your friends have not experienced.

4. The grains of sand are usually a bit bigger so provide great exfoliation for your feet!

5. Beach treasures are more easily visible against the black backdrop of the dark sand.

Honokalani Black Sand Beach, part of Wainapanapa State Park

img source

Black sand beach near Hana on Maui

img source

Black sand beach - Kalapana

img source

Black Sand Beach From Kahului

img source

Black sand beaches can be found in more places and closer to home than you may think. These include Polynesia, Indonesia, Hawaii, Iceland, and the Caribbean islands of St Lucia, Grenada, St. Vincent, Dominica and some parts of Puerto Rico.

Hong Kong

Dubai

New York

Shanghai

Photo: Marcus Koppen

With a passenger capacity of 2,620, QM2’s sheer size allows the creation of a variety of passenger spaces. This in turn allows for a world of diversity.

Athletes will find one of the best-equipped playing fields anywhere. Sybarites can enjoy the rejuvenating treatments of the world-renowned Canyon Ranch SpaClub. If you’re into health and fitness, there’s a state-of-the-art gym including a separate weight room.

Or how about a visit to the planetarium? A wine tasting seminar? Or a walk down history lane at the Maritime Quest Exhibit? Queen Mary 2’s is a veritable City at Sea , with everything from virtual reality golf, a basketball court to a book shop even a kennel so you can bring your best friend along.

When the stars come out, she shines even brighter. Beaded gowns. Black ties and tails. Champagne and caviar. QM2 plays host to the most elegant soirees of the season – in any season.

Dancers sweep across the largest ballroom at sea. Hors d’oeuvres are served in Sir Samuel’s wine bar, jazz in the Commodore Club, West End-caliber shows in the Royal Court Theatre.

Spin over to the casino with its tuxedoed croupiers. Head down to the Queen Mary 2 disco, or retire to the Chart Room where a cabaret singer croons Some Enchanted Evening àwhich, you’ll discover, occurs nightly aboard QM2.

In the finest tradition of luxury cruising, the Queen Mary II is the ultimate choice for your cruise vacation.

(Photo: Jens Ressing / DPA)

Jaisalmer is a town, which covers a major part of the desert region of Rajasthan. It is famous all over India as The Golden City. Situated in the heart of the Thar Desert it carries abounds in its heart ancient palaces, temples and quaint settlements. It is known as The Golden City because while the sun sets the sandstone buildings emit a lustrous glow, which is of golden color.

As it is remotely situated so it is still untouched by outside influences. Jaisalmer, India is situated in an elevation of about 229 meters above sea level. It is an indeterminable sea of sand hills of every shape and sizes. Even the sand hills are extremely attractive as some of them have also the height of 150 feet. The climate over here is dry and healthy. But the biggest problem is that water is extremely scarce here as there are no perennial streams.

Mandalay

The city of Mandalay takes its name from Mandalay hill, which rises 236 metres from the flat, dry central Myanmar plain and is situated on the banks of the 2000km long Ayeyarwady River, the life artery of Myanmar. Mandalay, or ‘the Golden City’, was the last capital of Myanmar before the British occupation, king Mindon founded the city in 1857; upon completion of what was now the new Royal capital of Upper Myanmar, the king moved his entire government and 150,000 people from nearby Amarapura.

It was common in Burmese history to move capitals upon the ascension of a king. King Mindon was determined to ensure that his new city became the capital of the Buddhist world and the Fifth Buddhist Synod was held in Mandalay in 1879. Therefore, plenty of pagodas and a huge royal palace, which has in the meantime been destroyed, are Mandalay’s main attractions.

Jerusalem

The Golden City (Yerushalayim shel Zahav, in Hebrew). The Holy City, capital of the modern State of Israel and a holy place for the three most practiced monotheist religions of the World.

Jerusalem is the holiest city of Judaism, the site of Mount Moriah, where the Holy Temple (Beit Ha’mikdash, in Hebrew) of Solomon once stood. The second holiest city (after Vatican City) for the Roman Catholic Christians, and among the holiest places for other Christian streams, where Jesus of Nazareth spent the last days of his mission on this earth. The third holiest city (after Mecca and Medina) for Islam, where the prophet Mohammed ascended to heaven.

Florida is the capital for all theme parks, it was 40 years ago that Walt Disney opened his first park, this being the first of many more to come. Universal studios, which is a working studio, also has another park called Islands of Adventure. This offers a number of big thrill rides.

Metro Orlando now is home to two million people. There are things to do for the whole family, not only the kids. Plan to spend a week or two in the central Florida area, if your budget allows.

link

Head first to the Magic Kingdom and visit Main street USA. There you will see some of your favorites like Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy. Other destinations in the kingdom include Fantasyland, Tomorrowland, Adventureland, Frontierland, and Liberty Square. Be sure also to go in Cinderella’s castle and Mickey’s Toontown Fair.

link

What’s that big ball, not far in the distance. Well it’s Epcot. It’s Disney’s park for technical innovation and international culture. The big ball is actually Spaceship Earth. There is actuall a time machine ride inside. Epcot is a great place to sample foods form around the world. there are also many fun rides and fireworks nightly.

link

Animal Kingdom brings an African experience to Florida and gives children the chance to see animals from other parts of the world. It is worth going to Animal Kingdom as early as possible so you can have a leisurely stroll around to stop and admire all the different species of animals.

link

Disney has two themed water parks, Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon. Blizzard Beach is dominated by Mount Gushmore, a man-made mountain where water rushes down the sides of the mountain. Typhoon Lagoon has the world’s largest outdoor man-made wave pool. It also has a 50 foot geyser that erupts every half hour. Both parks are fun for the family and a great way to spend a hot Florida day.

link

Be sure to venture out one day to Sea World orlando, home of Shamu the Whale. He puts on one amazing show. See the dolphins, seals, sharks, manatees, turtles, penguins, sea lions,and other sea creatures while you are there. Don’t forget the rides, especially their roller coasters. They are some of the South’s best.

link

Many choices await the traveler to Orlando and Disney. It mostly depends on convenience and money. You can stay at Disney World and take the monorail everywhere or stay in Orlando in any hotel chain you want. Be sure to look for your place early and if you can go when school is in session, crowds and prices will be a little less.

By: Mike Mulkern

The pictures also include a few islands from the Bahamas that you would love as well. Islands literally disconnect you from the rest of the world and you can always have your own transport facilities to allow you to go where you want to. Celebrity islands are sought after a lot as people love to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city once in a while.

Mel Gibson – Mago Island, Fiji.

Sir Richard Branson – Necker and Moskito Islands, Caribbean Sea; Makepeace Island, Noosa River; Island of England, Dubai

Johnny Depp – Little Halls Pond Cay, Bahamas

David Copperfield – Musha Cay, Bahamas

Aristotle Onassis – Skorpios Island, Greece

Leonardo DiCaprio – Blackadore Cay, Belize

Shakira – Bonds Cay, Bahamas

Nicolas Cage – Leaf Cay, Bahamas

Eddie Murphy – Rooster Cay, Bahamas

Celine Dion – Île Gagnon, Quebec

Images credit :  privateislandsmag.com

Several volcanic eruptions have so far been marked as deadly as far as their destructive power is concerned. Deadliness of a volcano is always not measured considering only the direct erupt-impact; post-eruption impact on the adjoining environment also contributes greatly in deciding deadliness of a volcanic eruption. It’s not feasible to portrait all the deadly volcanoes here; however, devastating descriptions for only 5 deadliest volcanoes are given below.

1. The Tambora volcano. The volcano is located in Sumbawa, Indonesia with a summit elevation of 2850 m. It is a stratovolcano.

More than 92 000 people had been killed as a direct impact of the historic Tambora eruption occurred in 1815. Pyroclastic flows had taken ten thousand lives immediately. Another around 117,000 deaths were reported in the post-eruption period owing to starvation and diseases. Around 100 cubic km of magma was released during the deadly eruption and a tsunami with a wave height of 10 m was reported. The year 1816 is known as the year without a summer as the Tambora aerosols had affected the global climate severely by blocking out sunlight and thereby reducing the global temperature considerably.

The Tambora eruption of 1815 is considered as the deadliest volcanic explosions known. After starting on April 5, 1815, the eruption reached its peak on April 10, 1815. Severe darkness was observed for 2 days around the volcano covering about 600 km.

Source: todayshistorylesson

2. The Krakatau volcano. The volcano is located in Sunda Strait, Indonesia with a summit elevation of 813 m.

It was August of 1883, when a series of deadly explosions was heard from the Krakatau volcano. The devastating explosions were so intensive that they were experienced even from a distance of nearly 2,000 km! More than 4,600 people were died immediately facing the extremely hot pyroclastic flow. Additionally, about 32,000 people lost their lives hit by a tsunami resulted out of the lethal Krakatau eruptions.

On August 26, 1883, the deadly volcanic eruption had created an ash column of a height of 36 km. Main island consisting of about 165 villages were completely destroyed during the devastating 1883 Krakatau volcanic eruption.

Source: swisseduc

3. The Mount Pelee eruption. Mount Pelée can be seen located in the Lesser Antilles island arc of the Caribbean. It is a stratovolcano with an elevation of 4583 feet and is famous for the massive destruction it caused in the first week of May, 1902.

The 1902 Mount Pelee volcanic eruption is marked as the worst volcanic catastrophe of the last century. Lethal pyroclastic flows of the in-famous eruption took the lives of more than 30,100 people severely destroying the Saint-Pierre, Martinique.

While giving description of the devastating tragedy, Compère-Léandre, a lucky survivor, said “I felt a terrible wind blowing, the earth began to tremble, and the sky suddenly became dark. I turned to go into the house, with great difficultuy climbed the three or four steps that separated me from my room, and felt my arms and legs burning, also my body. I dropped upon a table. At this moment four others sought refuge in my room, crying and writhing with pain, although their garments showed no sign of having been touched by flame. At the end of 10 minutes one of these, the young Delavaud girl, aged about 10 years, fell dead; the others left. I got up and went to another room, where I found the father Delavaud, still clothed and lying on the bed, dead. He was purple and inflated, but the clothing was intact. Crazed and almost overcome, I threw myself on a bed, inert and awaiting death. My senses returned to me in perhaps an hour, when I beheld the roof burning. With sufficient strength left, my legs bleeding and covered with burns, I ran to Fonds-Sait-Denis, six kilometers from Saint-Pierre.”

Area affected by the Mount Pelee eruption
Image source: tulane

4. The Nevado del Ruiz volcanic eruption. The Nevado del Ruiz, alias El Mesa de Herveo, is a stratovolcano that has an elevation of 17,388 ft and is located in the Tolima Department of Colombia.

On the ill-fated night of November 13, 1985, the Nevado del Ruiz volcano eruption had caused about 23,000 people to lost their lives. During the eruption, devastating pyroclastic flows carrying boiling mudflows had completely inundated Armero, thereby causing massive destruction to the sleeping Columbian town. Chinchina is the other town that was largely gutted by the eruption.

The Nevado del Ruiz had generated a massive 35 million tonnes of erupted material during the historic 1985 eruption. In Volcanic Explosivity Index, the eruption has been marked against a value of 3.

Source: biocrawler

5. The Unzen volcanic eruption. The Unzen stratovolcano is sited on the Kyushu island, Japan. It had erupted in 1792 killing about 9,500 people by its hot pyroclastic flows. The eruption had triggered a devastating tsunami that caused another 5,500 people to die taking the total toll to nearly 15,000.

Source: gi.alaska