World Most Beautiful Village - Part 1

Childrens hotel in Brussels icon

 

 

Childrens hotel in Brussels icon

The Atomium is an icon of Brussels built for 1958 World Fair Exposition, at a time when the belief in progress, science and modernity was immensely strong. The structure symbolises an iron crystal, magnified 165 billion times.

Spanish artist Alicia Framis was commissioned in 2005 to create an educational project based on the building’s characteristics and features as well as its history and its symbolic value. The kids sphere captures the optimism of a future enabled by technology and science, in a way that reflects the insights of the world in the 21st century.
One ball of The Atomium has been divided in separate functions: mini spheres (water molecules) suspended from the ceiling to sleep in, the floor for workshops/playground, a ‘petit club sandwich’ and washing facilitoes. Children spend a night at The Atomium marveling at the panoramic view of Brussels from its spheres; and make the most of their visit by discovering other symbolic parts of Brussels from a unique vantage point.  The desire to highlight the educational aspect of The Atomium is based on the idea that towns and cities play a major role in society today.
The Atomium is made available for pre-booked groups of primary school children aged between 6 and 12.

Top 10 Unique Places You Must Visit

1. The Door To Hell

 

This is located in Turkmenistan and is basically a crater which starting burning 35 years ago and has not stopped till date. It is 70 meters wide and was discovered in 1971. When it was found, scientists did not calculate the among of gas it held very accurately which is why it still continues to go up in flames. You may not be able to visit this but you can see it from a distance.

2. Mounth Roraima

 

This is a tabletop mountain in Venezuela, Guyana and Brazil. One can go till the top with the help of a natural ramp that was formed years ago. If you do not wish to take the staircase, you should go back and take some rock climbing lessons for a few years before returning.

3. Meteor Crater

 

This crater is located in the United States and was created over 50000 years ago. It was a huge grassland at the time and was covered with camels and wooly mammoths. Fortunately, no humans were present which is why it continues to be as unique and beautiful as it is.

4. The Great Dune of Pyla

 

The Great Dune of Pyla is massive- it is about 100 meters in terms of height, 500 meters wide and about 3 kilometer in terms of length. It is steep and has turned into a forest over the years. The Great Dune of Pyla is very famous among those who like to indulge in adventure sports especially paragliding.

5. Socotra

 

This is considered to be the weirdest and most unusual looking place on the planet. It is isolated because of which the vegetation found here is unlike anything you will ever see. One such tree is the Dragon’s Blood Tree which produces sap that is red in color. It is unnatural looking and so are the spiders and birds that reside here. If you decide to visit this place, be sure to take several photographs!

6. 83-42

 

This place is in Greenland and while it may not be beautiful, it is definitely unique. It is located at the northernmost point of the Earth and is quite tiny. It was discovered in 1998 and people found that lichens were growing in and around it. Not too many people have visited this place but you definitely should.

7. Rotorua

 

Rotorua is in New Zealand- a city which is well known for its sheer volume of geysers. Rotorua is known for its weird smell which resembles that of rotten eggs. If you decide to go to New Zealand, strap on some face masks and step into this city! The thermal wonderlands are breathtaking and once you get used to the smell, you will not be sorry that you visited!

8. Don Juan Pond

 

This pond is in Antarctica and is said to be the saltiest in the world. It is quite small and not too deep. According to studies, the water you will find in this lake will be about 18 times saltier than regular sea water.

9. Iceberg B-15

 

This is in Antarctica too and is said to be the largest iceberg in the world. It is larger than Jamaica and was formed in the year 2000.

10. Guaira Falls

 

These falls are massive and are said to be the largest in the world. About 1,700,00 cub feet of water cascades every single second- which makes for a beautiful and unique sight.

Spherical Tree House

The “Spherical Tree House” accommodations of Free Spirit Spheres are not exactly spacious. But they do make efficient use of the room that’s available, much like the sail boats that inspired their design. In fact, when a wind blows the pods sway much like a boat does.

 

There are three sphere-pods to choose from. All About Melody is the newest; it is the most secluded and the most accessible, reachable by a flat and (mostly) steady foot bridge. The Eve sphere is the coziest (by which we mean smallest); it only has room for one average sized adult or two small ones. Our favorite sphere is the Eryn (photo to the right) largely because it hangs highest above the ground (4.5 meters / 15 feet) and has a huge round window next to the bed.

The Free Spirit Spheres might be the world’s only resort that has a sauna and has its accommodations wired with a high tech stereo but doesn’t offer a bathroom with plumbing. Guests use an outhouse for their facilities, so bring a flashlight. And bring your iPod, hook it up to your sphere’s speaker system, and experience a whole new type of surround sound.

5 Cool Buildings Made of Shipping Containers

1+Keetwonen

Amsterdam
Keetwonen is the largest complex in the world constructed of shipping containers. Its 1,000 units were initially built in 2005 to provide five year’s worth of temporary student housing. The life expectancy of this complex of buildings has already been pushed back to 2016 and it wouldn’t surprise us to see Keetwonen as a mainstay of Amsterdam housing long after that. The container units meet all of Amsterdam’s housing regulations and are extremely popular among students—each unit has surprisingly soundproof walls as well as its own bathroom, kitchen and balcony. Keetwonen also “contains” cafes, shops, art studios and even mini-gyms.

 

 

 

 

 

2+ Weekend House

Trebnje, Slovenia
The Slovenian architectural firm of Jure Kotnik Arhitekt specializes in shipping container construction. Their 2+ Weekend House design uses containers specifically built for housing. This isn’t as environmentally friendly as using surplus shipping containers. But the Jure Kotnik containers have all the electrical wiring and plumbing connections built in, making it possible to construct a 2+ Weekend House extremely quickly. We like the house’s efficient floor plan (see below). But what’s up with the pink polka dots?

 

3+Container City 

London

Container City, by the Trinity Buoy Wharf on the Thames, might be the most famous example of shipping container architecture. We think it’s also one of the coolest. Or, technically, two of the coolest. Container City I has two levels of red containers stacked flush together. Connected to that by a skywalk is Container City II where multi-colored containers, five high in some spots, criss-cross at interesting angles. Container City are especially popular with artists who can rent a container home for as little as £250 a month (though the containers in the prime locations and with the best windows go for as much as £1,500). To visit Container City yourself take the tube to Tower Hill Station then the Docklands Light Rail to the East India Station.

4+Port-A-Bach

New Zealand
To the extent there are activists who promote building houses out of shipping containers their goal is for such housing to be truly accessible to the masses and not merely the subject of blogs like Spot Cool Stuff. To that end there are several companies marketing cool, affordable container homes. One of the best is New Zealand’s Port-A-Bach. (Bach is a kiwi word for a small holiday home). Their holiday home product is designed to be self contained (pun?) with walls that fold up. The idea is the these container homes can be transported anywhere with relative ease and be inhabited without any electricity or plumbing hookup. See their website for more details.
If you are in North America and would like to buy a one-container house check out Ecopods. Their product is similar to Port-A-Bach’s and can be bought for as little as C$26,650 (roughly US$21,500).

5+Freitag Shop

Zurich
The 26 meter (85 foot) high Freitag Shop is not only the world’s tallest building made of shipping containers, it is the tallest building in Zurich of any sort! The Freitag messenger bag company built this store from 17 used shipping containers to emphasize how their products, too, are made from recycled material. The first four floors of the building are for store display space. The other containers are used for storage and for the staircase that takes visitors to a viewing platform at the very top of the building.