Hotel with the longest bar in the world: Adam & Eve

Adam & Eve in Belek, Turkey. 96 meter long. The longest bar in the world. Blootooth is in your service for 24 hours and  it is reshaping the concept of entertainment with its amusing parties and DJ and shows.

images via Adam & Eve

Boasting a bright and futuristic décor, Adam & Eve offers rooms and self-contained villas along the Mediterranean seashore. It features free Wi-Fi, an extensive spa and an oversized outdoor pool. All accommodation features mirror-panelled walls and floor-to-ceiling windows. It has modern, white furnishings and a balcony with garden or sea views. Each unit has a wall-mounted widescreen TV and bathroom with Jacuzzi. A large food selection is guaranteed by 9 different restaurants, including Japanese cuisine and traditional Turkish dishes. It even features a blind restaurant to experience eating in the dark.  The Eden Spa offers a massage parlour, traditional hammam and a solarium. Guests can also work out at the well-equipped gym, or enjoy activities such as tennis, diving and windsurfing.

For drinks and partying, the Adam and Eve can also provide an abundance of locations to match your holiday mood on breaks in Belek. Sample a cocktail at the Sunset Bar, go dancing in the nightclub, or replenish your energies at the Tender bar.

Argos in Cappadocia, Turkey

Argos in Cappadocia is an ancient monastery renovated into a contemporary hotel with rooms and social spaces carefully restored to provide modern societal comforts within primeval walls. Set within the old Uçhisar village, the highest town in biblical Cappadocia. Outside spaces are gardens and terraces and vineyards.

If you go to Cappadocia, this boutique hotel is definitely is the one. Comprised of four mansions with differing styles and floorplans, the 34 rooms and suites of Argos in Cappadocia are crafted of stone and accented with antique touches.The spacious Splendid Suite includes an amazing in-room cave pool, a romantic place to relax. All rooms and suites include an in-room fireplace, iPod docking station, en-suite facilities and beautiful views of the valley.

Beneath the hotel lies a labyrinth of tunnels and underground passageways– what were once the hidden shelters of an underground city now houses meeting rooms and private wine cellars stocked. With local wines from the hotel’s own vineyards.

International and local fare is artfully prepared at the Seki Restaurant where guests may dine indoors or on the terrace, the chimneys in the distance. For light bites or coffee and tea, Tiraz cafe, famous for sandwiches with a signature sauce.

Relax outdoors and watch these birds dart in and out of the gardens and vineyards. Or book one of the balloon tours, which last 1 hour and 15 minutes or 1 hour and 30 minutes watching the sunrise, the fairy chimneys and the matchless beauty of a Cappadocian landscape from 1000 feet.

All pictures from Argos in Cappadocia website.

12 Most Amazing Shopping Malls

Original post on http://www.oddee.com

1. Mall of America (Minnesota, USA)

This massive mall has a theme park and a wedding chapel, where more than 5,000 couples have been married since its opening. Mall of America opened in 1992 and is the third largest mall in North America.

The mall has a gross area of 4,200,000 sq ft available as retail space. That’s enough to fit seven Yankee stadiums inside of it! Mall of America is the most visited shopping mall in the world with more than 40 million visitors annually (or roughly eight times the population of the state of Minnesota). Spending 10 minutes in every store would take a shopper more than 86 hours to complete their visit to Mall of America. The mall includes a cinema, Nickelodeon Universe theme park, aquarium, adventure golf, flight simulators, and a comedy house. (Link 1 | Link 2 | Link 3)

2. Mall of the Emirates (Dubai)

Mall of the Emirates is an entertainment and shopping resort. Strategically located in Dubai, this 223,000 square meter centre offers a full range of shopping, leisure, and entertainment.

This shopping center is home to over 450 retailers and also features a complete range of entertainment options including Ski Dubai, the first indoor ski destination in the Middle East, a two-level Magic Planet, the largest indoor family entertainment centre in the country, a 14-screen Cinestar Cinemas and the Dubai Community Arts and Theatre with a 500 seat-theatre and art gallery.

This mixed use development will incorporate two hotels, including a 5-star Kempinski, which will offer over 900 rooms combined, a host of licensed restaurants, tennis court, swimming pools and spas. (Link)

3. The Grand Canal Shoppes (Las Vegas, USA)

The Grand Canal Shoppes is an 500,000 sq ft (46,000 m2) upscale shopping mall adjacent to The Venetian Hotel & Casino and The Palazzo in Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada.

The mall was opened along with the Venetian Hotel in 1999. It has indoor canals, where gondolas will take you around the mall. The mall is anchored by a flagship, high-fashion Barneys New York store and contains many designer and upscale boutiques. Live performances can be found throughout the mall.

As of 2008, the mall was seeing 20 million visitors a year, among the highest in the country. (Link 1 | Link 2)

4. Tokyo Midtown Mall (Tokyo, Japan)

Tokyo Midtown opened its doors in 2007 and is a mixed-use development in Roppongi. The main tower has important companies as its tenants, such as Yahoo, Fuji Xerox, a clinic by John Hopkins Hospital and the Ritz Carlton Hotel. The shopping and dining areas are home to numerous world-famous brands and chefs. The complex is also home to Design Sight 21_21, which is a design gallery and workshop conceived by fashion designer Issay Miyake and world-famous architect Tadao Ando. (Link 1 | Link 2 | Link 3)

5. Wafi Mall (Dubai)

Wafi City Mall has over 350 stores offering the world’s most original, valued and significant brands, many of which are limited to Wafi.

Whether it’s art, fashion, food, entertainment or lifestyle, you’ll find its most sophisticated appearance at Wafi. In 2008, Wafi received awards for Best Shopping Mall, Best Restaurant, Best New Hotel, Best Spa and Best Independent Boutique. With a famous souk, world-class shopping and the finest dining in Dubai, there’s only one Wafi. (Link)

6. West Edmonton Mall (Alberta, Canada)

The 5th largest mall in the world and the largest in North America features the largest indoor water park, which has the biggest wave pool in the world.

Built in 1981, the mall has over 800 stores and services and parking for more than 20,000 vehicles. The mall also includes theme areas including: Bourbon Street (New Orleans-styled clubs and restaurants), Europa Boulevard, and Chinatown. The mall has a theme park called Galaxyland whith a number of attractions including a roller coaster. In addition, the mall has an indoor lake, which is home to four sea lions and a replica of the Santa Maria. The mall also has a hotel, indoor shooting range, petting zoo, dinner theater, cinemas, four radio stations and an inter-denominational chapel.(Link 1 | Link 2)

7. The Dubai Mall (Dubai)

The Dubai Mall is the world’s largest mall in terms of total area (12.1 million sq ft).

The mall has 1,200 shops and houses and an aquarium, which earned the Guinness World Record for the world’s “Largest Acrylic Panel”. The mall also is home to an ice rink, 250-room luxury hotel, 22 cinema screens plus 120 restaurants and cafes. It also features the unique “malls-within-a-mall” concept with themed shopping areas like Gold Souk, Fashion Island, and The Grove, an indoor-outdoor streetscape with a fully retractable roof.(Link 1 | Link 2 | Link 3)

9. Beijing Mall (Beijing, China)

Not only has this mall made it to the world’s top 10 largest mall, but it also holds a slot in the top 10 luxurious malls of Beijing with a gross leasable area of 3.4 million sq ft. (Link)

9. Istanbul Cevahir (Istanbul, Turkey)

It is reported that this mall is the largest shopping centre in Europe. Located in Istanbul, Turkey, it brings 343 shops, about 50 restaurants, 12 cinemas, including a private theatre, a bowling hall, a small roller coaster and a glass roof with the second biggest clock in the world under its roof. It claims the 5th spot with 3.47 million sq ft of gross leasable area. (Link)

King of Prussia Mall (Pennsylvania, USA)

Boasting seven world class department stores and more than 400 stores, boutiques, and restaurants, King of Prussia has more pure retail shopping space than any other attraction in America and it features stores that cannot be found elsewhere in the region. (Link)

11. Zlote Tarasy Mall (Warsaw, Poland)

The Złote Tarasy (English: Golden Terraces) is a commercial, office, and entertainment complex in the center of Warsaw, Poland, located next to the Central Railway Station between Jana Pawła II and Emilii Plater streets. It opened on February 7, 2007. (Link 1 | Link 2 | Link 3)

12. Westfield London Shopping Centre (England)

Westfield London is a shopping centre in Shepherd’s Bush in the LondonBorough of Hammersmith and Fulham. The centre was developed by the Westfield Group, run by Frank Lowy on a site bounded by the West Cross Route (A3220), the Westway (A40) and Wood Lane (A219), and opened on 30 October 2008.

The centre is noted for its size: with a retail floor area of 150,000m² (1.615m ft²), the equivalent of about 30 football pitches. At the time of its opening it was reported to be the third largest shopping centre in the United Kingdom. (Link)

 

10 Geological Wonders You Probably Never Heard About

Original Post by Gracie Murano on http://oddee.com

1. Pamukkale (Turkey)

In Turkish the name literally means Cotton Castle and it is easy to see why it was given that name. Yet this geological wonder is also the site of the ancient city of Hierapolis and over the centuries the two have seemed to come together, almost merged into one. In fact some of the old tombs in the city’s necropolis have become part of landscape. The site itself is a series of travertines and hot springs. The travertines here have a concentric appearance and are almost sheer white giving the area an ethereal appearance. The hot springs precipitate calcium carbonate at their mouths and produce the strange almost organic looking structures. (Link | Via)

2. Ice Towers of Mount Erebus (Antarctica)

Mt. Erebus is one of the largest active volcanoes on Earth. It reaches nearly 4 km above sea level, and is renowned in volcanological circles for its persistently active lava lake, which is sited in the summit crater. The hot volcanic gas steaming from Erebus does more than fuel for the lava lake. Hot gasses traveling up through cracks and fractures in the volcanic rocks surrounding the Erebus summit have created an intricate system of ice caves all over the mountain. (Link)

3. Fly Geyser (Nevada, US)

These look as if they were taken on another planet, or at least on the set of a new and very expensive science fiction movie. Yet these pictures are of the Fly Geyser which is very much of planet earth (Nevada, US to be exact). The geyser can be found in Hualapai Valley near Gerlach. It is a little seen phenomenon as the land upon which it sits is private. It can be seen from State Road 34 but unless you have permission the view from a distance is all you should attempt. Back in 1916 the owners of the place were looking for water in the hope of creating rich farmland in this desert area of the state. They came across water, yes, and the well worked for decades. However, the drill that was driven down a shaft hit a geothermal pocket of water and the result was a geyser. (Link | Via)

4. Kasha Katuwe Tent Rocks (New Mexico, US)

New Mexico’s Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument, where erosion chisels rock formations formed by explosive volcanic eruptions between six and seven million years ago. While the formations are uniform in shape, they vary in height from a few feet to 90 feet throughout the 4,000 acre monument. (Link)

5. The Valley of the Moon (Argentina)

Ischigualasto, meaning “the place where you put the moon” is a remote valley in Argentina. It is studded with geological formations left by wind erosion, amazing standing stones and boulders that are so rounded they look like enormous marbles. The valley’s once-fertile ground is now arid and contains so many plant and animal fossils that paleontologists come from all over the world to study them.

Erosion over the millennia unearths the fossils as well as other geological formations such as a host of almost spherical concretions. The wind, inexorable and patient, has pounded the local bedrock for an age. Revealed, the boulders that mudstone – in its original wet form, helped to form look as if giants have been playing marbles. (Link | Via)

6. Danxia Landform (China)

This unique geological phenomenon, known as a ‘Danxia Landform’, can be seen in several places in China. This example is located in Zhangye, Gansu Province. Danxia, which means “rosy cloud”, is a special landform formed from reddish sandstone that has been eroded over time into a series of mountains surrounded by curvaceous cliffs and many unusual rock formations. (Link)

7. Enchanted Well – Chapada Diamantina National Park(Brazil)

Poço Encantado, or Enchanted Well, is located in the Chapada Diamantina National Park in Bahia state, approximately 400 kilometres inland from Salvador, the capital city of Bahia. This giant sunken pool is 120 feet deep and the water is so transparent the rocks and ancient tree trunks are visible on the bottom. When the sun is just right, light comes through a crevice and creates a blue reflection on the water. Access to this pond is highly controlled for environmental protection of its rare and delicate ecosystem.(Link)

8. The Stone Forest (China)

The Shilin (Chinese for stone forest) is an impressive example of karst topography. Its rocks are made of limestone and are formed by water percolating the ground’s surface and eroding away everything but the pillars. It’s known since the Ming Dynasty as the ‘First Wonder of the World.’ (Link)

9. Wulingyan, Hunan (China)

The Hunan region is full of dramatic landscapes and the magnificent Wulingyan is one of their biggest attractions. This geological wonder is made up of over 3000 limestone karsts. There are scenic waterfalls and some of Asia’s biggest limestone caves.

10. Salar de Uyuni (Bolivia)

The Salar is one of the iconic images of Bolivia, a massive salt desert in the middle of the Altiplano. It is an expansive, virtually flat desert that reflects the sun in such a way as to create a mirror effect with the sky. There are several lakes in the desert with strange colours from the mineral deposits in the region.

Some 40,000 years ago, the area was part of Lake Minchin, a giant prehistoric lake. When the lake dried, it left behind two modern lakes, Poopó Lake and Uru Uru Lake, and two major salt deserts, Salar de Coipasa and the larger Uyuni. Uyuni is roughly 25 times the size of the Bonneville Salt Flats in the United States. It is estimated to contain 10 billion tons of salt, from which less than 25,000 tons is extracted annually.