I’ve always said it’s a pity that most of us don’t get the chance to visit this entire world and enjoy all its breathtaking sceneries.
However, this doesn’t mean we should stop trying and hoping that one day will get to accomplish all the things and ideas in our heads. Let’s make baby steps and see where they can take us, right?
That’s why I have decided to talk to you today about some interesting facts about this amazing landmark.
1. Members of one Native American tribe still live inside the canyon – The Havasupai Indians (which means “people of the blue-green waters”) live in a village located near Havasu Creek, a tributary of the Colorado River that often sees flash floods.
According to grandcanyontourist.com, Supai Village is only accessible via helicopter or horse and mule trails that climb in and out of the canyon. Visitors are welcome, but they’ll have to pay an entry fee of $35 per person.
The Grand Canyon is the second largest canyon in the world
2. The Grand Canyon is the second largest canyon in the world – The Tsangpo Canyon in Tibet is actually deeper and longer than the Grand Canyon.
3. You can’t buy bottled water in the park – According to quirkytravelguy.com, as of March 10, 2012, the Canyon is officially eliminating the sale of water in disposable containers. This decision came after a study determined that 20 percent of the park’s waste came from plastic water bottles.
Don’t worry if you get thirsty, because the park has free water stations throughout, so bring your own water container and fill it up as much and as often as you like.
You can’t buy bottled water in the park
4. There aren’t any dinosaur fossils at the Grand Canyon – The explanation is that the rocks here are far older than the dinosaurs. Therefore, the fossils you find are simple prehistoric creatures such as corals, sponges, and trilobites.
5. The weather can vary dramatically between the North Rim and the South Rim – The North Rim is considerably higher in elevation, and as a result is quite a bit cooler and more unpredictable, with the possibility of snow almost year round.
According to grandcanyontourist.com, as a result, the North Rim is only open to visitors in the late spring, summer, and early fall.
The weather can vary dramatically between the North Rim and the South Rim
6. You can get from one side of the canyon to the other in 5 hours – Until now, nobody has built a bridge across the canyon, even though North Rim and South Rim are only about 10 miles apart straight across.
Therefore, according to quirkytravelguy.com, if you want to get from one side to another, you’ll have to drive all the way around the canyon – 215 mile.
7. The Spanish “discovered” the Grand Canyon in 1540 while searching for native riches – Francisco Vázquez de Coronado was looking for the mythological Seven Cities of Gold when his expedition encountered the Grand Canyon. They explored the canyon only briefly due to lack of water.
Many people die here
8. Many people die here – According to quirkytravelguy.com, in 2009, 12 people died there – one from a heart attack, one from suicide, and 10 from accidents.
And that’s not all – Approximately 53 people fell to their deaths from the canyon rims from 1925 to 2005, with another 48 deaths inside the canyon. On rare occasions, people have even driven their vehicles straight into the canyon off the South Rim, Thelma and Louise style.
9. The Grand Canyon was a holy site for the native peoples in the area – Long before it became a popular tourist destination, people have been making trips here, according to grandcanyontourist.com. The canyon had important spiritual meaning for the Pueblo Indians, and therefore the focus of many pilgrimages.
10. You can hike from one side to the other – quirkytravelguy.com says that it’s a 21-mile hike, which means that you’ll have to camp within the canyon overnight to complete it. And temperatures inside the canyon can be up to 30 degrees hotter than at the rim. Definitely not a trip for beginners!
There aren’t any dinosaur fossils at the Grand Canyon
We have to love the Earth and protect it. Earth Day is a day early each year on which events are held worldwide to increase awareness and appreciation of the Earth’s natural environment.
It all started in 1970 when Gaylord Nelson, then a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, after witnessing the ravages of the 1969 massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California, had the idea to create this amazing event.
According to earthday.org, Nelson was inspired by the student anti-war movement – he realized that if he could infuse that energy with an emerging public consciousness about air and water pollution, it would force environmental protection onto the national political agenda.
The event is planned for April 22 in all years at least through 2015
Therefore, he persuaded Pete McCloskey, a conservation-minded Republican Congressman, to serve as his co-chair; and recruited Denis Hayes as national coordinator. Hayes built a national staff of 85 to promote events across the land.
As a result, on the 22nd of April, 20 million Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment in massive coast-to-coast rallies.
Thousands of colleges and universities organized protests against the deterioration of the environment. Groups that had been fighting against oil spills, polluting factories and power plants, raw sewage, toxic dumps, pesticides, freeways, the loss of wilderness, and the extinction of wildlife suddenly realized they shared common values.
In 1990, Earth Day went global, mobilizing 200 million people in 141 countries and lifting environmental issues onto the world stage. The event gave a huge boost to recycling efforts worldwide and helped pave the way for the 1992 United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.
Also, in 1995, the magnitude of the event prompted President Bill Clinton to award Senator Nelson the Presidential Medal of Freedom – the highest honor given to civilians in the United States — for his role as Earth Day founder.
Nowadays, Earth Day is now coordinated globally by the Earth Day Network and is celebrated in more than 175 countries every year. Moreover, the event is planned for April 22 in all years at least through 2015.
You are all invited to celebrate this day, every day. And most important, don’t ever forget to take care of our planet, is the only one we’ve got.
It is said eating is an art, but you haven’t experienced its highlights until you have tried at least one of these strange restaurants, where food combines with violence, crime, sex, hunting, books, natural phenomena, film and other artistic or crazy features.
Prison turned into restaurant. Photo by quirkyguide.com
Guests go through security, their phones and bags are confiscated, their bodies checked, their mental healthiness tested, and only after they are allowed to sit and eat their dinners using plastic cutlery. Although a top-security prison, the white wine, Fattoria Sorbaiano, keeps flowing in the Fortezza Medicea, which used to be a castle in Italy.
Surrounded by villas, in the picturesque scenery of Tuscany, the inmates at the jail have swapped their “striped pyjamas” for shirts and ties to cook and wait an extraordinary dinner for those eager to taste the prison life.
Waiters at Fortezza Medicea in Italy. Photo courtesy to Reuters.
It happens only several nights a year, being part of a project to raise money for charities, as well as to teach cooking and waiting skills to the prisoners. Since 2006, guests can reserve a table for a meal priced at 35 euros per person, through a local tourism agency according to Reuters.
Ever head some food-prison fantasies? That’s the place to turn them into reality.
2. El Diablo, Lanzarote, Spain
Cooking food on a volcano!? Madness you’d say, but this restaurant uses a grill over an active volcano, which erupted in 1824, to cook food. For you!
Opened on March 20, 1969, the restaurant was built in the national park where the highest temperatures are registered: the Mountain of Hilario. It takes advantage of the geothermal energy and its circular is a fantastic viewpoint overlooking the volcanic landscape of the Mountains of Fire.
3. Cabbages and Condoms Restaurant, Thailand
At the end of your dinner, you won’t receive some mints or sweets anymore, but complimentary condoms. And all proceeds go to Thailand’s Population and Community Development Association (PDA). This is a non-profit organisation which launched Cabbages and Condoms after declaring that condoms should become as ordinary as cabbages. Where else if not in Thailand?
4. Zauo Fishing Restaurant in Tokyo
A boat surrounded by a large sea pool in the middle of the bustling Tokyo. Very original and challenging for its customers, the restaurant will make its patrons to catch their dinner by themselves.
Catch your dinner!
So, if you are planning to go fishing, you can try this new ‘pond’, but be aware of the rules: you must eat whatever you catch. Choose wisely and take your time unless you want to end up eating very expensive fish instead of chowing on some cheaper Mackerel.
5. Modern Toilet Restaurants, Taiwan and Hong Kong
With a truly very unusual theme, the Modern Toilet is a chain of restaurants spread throughout Hong Kong and Taiwan. Why is it so different? Well, because the interior design is made of plungers that hang from the ceiling alongside lights shaped like faeces.
As a guest, you’ll sit on toilets – that’s not so uncomfortable if you think about it – eat your food from miniature toilet bowls and drink cocktails out of tiny urinals.
It doesn’t really sound like your dream restaurant-toilet? I can’t tell you anything about the food, I’m afraid you’ll have to try that by yourselves and let us know.
6. Dinner in the sky, Brussels
Are you afraid of heights? Then don’t go for this ‘heavenly meal’! “Dinner in the Sky” is a restaurant based in Brussels, Belgium, but you can find it in various countries as well.
London Dinner in the Sky
A chef, a waiter, and an entertainer serve meals for up to 22 persons suspended at a height of 50 meters. Build unforgettable memories while eating in the..sky.
Sushi and nudity go fish in mouth! You’re quite confused about this, aren’t you? Well, try to eat sushi off a perfectly still, naked woman’s body and not be puzzled by it.
This Japanese tradition is called “Nyotaimori” and it is also know as “body sushi”. These restaurants are actually very rare.
Geisha House in Las Vegas, as well as Yoshi in Rome can delight you with naked sushi.
“However, following the body sushi tradition, Japanese invented another kind of Nyotaimori restaurant, where the body is made from edible ingredients, and it is set on an operating table, much as though in a hospital.”
Imagine you’re a surgeon and you can cut the body and eat whatever you find inside. To make it as real as possible, the body will also bleed.
8. Dark Restaurant, Beijing
The Chinese opened the first dark-dining restaurant in Asia in 2006. It has become very popular ever since in another parts of the world as well.
The concept is similar in all the dark restaurants: the clients are welcomed in a luminous entrance hall, then they are guided by waiters wearing night-vision goggles to their seats.
But they are also asked to dispose of all luminous sources as lighters, mobile phones, cameras, watches. So, they all dine in darkness, an extraordinary journey which arises even more your appetite along with your other senses: smell, taste, touch.
This is more of a personal, subjective choice, I have to admit. Being so keen on movies, I would love to experience dinner in a cinema restaurant that screens foreign films while I’m enjoying my food in a covered outdoor courtyard.
image by foreigncinema.com
Chic, intimate, artistic, this would be a very delicious experience for any food/film fan.
For those of us who find books the best companions while travelling, this restaurant, located in Union, Connecticut, USA, will seem like an oasis. The restaurant offers a unique dining experience, hosting over 100,000 books which are given away every year. Indeed, the books come free with your meal.
Books and meals. Photo courtesy to gonewengland.about.com
Imagine how lovely would be to browse its shelves while waiting on your meal. Surely the quest is even harder when you have to choose one volume for free. So, if ever in the area, don’t miss this restaurant that will feed both your belly and your brain.
Whether a timid Casanova or a lady looking for prince charming, this restaurant can offer you a great evening out. On each table there’s a telephone and a highlighted number so you can start up a conversation with whomever you want or fancy. You can also ask someone to dance with you or play games about how the one who called looks like.
I believe this is an utterly original way to see some sparks in the air while enjoying your food.
I know this is not counting as a restaurant, but it is pretty unusual to take a bath in beer, isn’t it? (Not for the heavy drinkers maybe!)
Famous for their beers, countries like Czech Republic, Austria and Germany offer you the possibility to sit back and relax in a beer bath.
Beer Baths in Czech Republic bychodovar.cz
Beer Baths are an original curative spa therapy combining remedial effects of warm mineral water, beer, ingredients for brewing beer, products of the brewing process and classical as well as special massages. This sounds quite appealing, but no matter how thirsty you might be, try not to drink it from the same bath you’re in.
13. Entertaining restaurants
There’s a variety of restaurants with acrobatic or artistic servers who entertain their patrons while having dinner. At Ed Debevic‘s in Chicago, USA, the waiters are dressed in characters and dance on counters, while in Amsterdam, at Palazzo, the dinner becomes a show with acrobatics and comedy.
If you want to impress someone special, choosing the right restaurant can make all the difference. These restaurants offer romantic atmosphere, as well quality food and service that are sure to impress — whether it’s Valentine’s Day, an anniversary or another special occasion.
This warmly lit restaurant feels more like a country inn — complete with a roaring fire in the colder months. Dine on fine American cuisine and if you’d really like to impress, reserve for the chef’s special menu.
Savoy Basics:
70 Prince St.
Between Crosby and Lafayette Sts.
212-219-8570
This West Village restaurant offers all of the romance of New York’s finest restaurants, but with a more affordable price tag. The menu features both American and pan-European cuisine.
The Place Basics:
310 W. 4th St.
Between Bank and W. 12th Sts.
212-924-2711
Danny Meyer’s restaurants are reknowned for impeccable service, and Gramercy Tavern is no different. Serving creative American fare, Gramercy Tavern is the perfect place for a perfect meal, from start to finish. Reservations suggested, though the tavern area has reduced prices and a no-reservation policy.
Gramercy Tavern Basics:
42 E. 20th St.
Between Broadway and Park Ave. So.
212-477-0777
Another Danny Meyer destination, Union Square Cafe offers great service and delicious fare in a comfortable setting. Union Square Cafe is friendly to vegetarians. Reservations suggested, though the bar area offers you an in without a reservation.
Union Square Cafe Basics:
21 E. 16th St.
Between Fifth Ave. and Union Sq. West
212-243-4020
Often considered the most romantic restaurant in New York City, One if By Land, TIBS is housed in a former carriage house that features nightly live piano music and working fireplaces. Exposed brick and dim lighting make this a great destination for a romantic evening.One If By Land, Two If By Sea:
17 Barrow St.
Between 7th Ave. S. & W. 4th St.
212-228-0822
With an annual Valentine’s Day tradition of serving a “hands-free” meal, Blue Hill offers an off-beat take on your typical romantic evening. Serving American cuisine, Blue Hill builds a menu focused on seasonally available produce from the Hudson Valley.Blue Hill Basics:
75 Washington Pl.
Between Sixth Ave. and MacDougal St.
212-539-1776.
If it’s the perfect view that makes you feel romantic, you can do no better than The River Cafe on Brooklyn’s waterfront. Featuring delicious food combined with professional, attentive service, The River Cafe is well worth leaving Manhattan for the food alone, but the view of downtown Manhattan makes this an irresistable choice.The River Cafe Basics:
1 Water Street, Brooklyn
718-522-5200.
If you really want to dazzle your date, Daniel is among New York City’s most impressive restaurants, with prices to match. Decor reflects Daniel Boulud’s appreciation for Italian Renaissance design, but the menu features creative French cuisine. 3 Course Prix-Fixe $96.
Daniel Basics:
60 E. 65th St.
Between Park and Madison Aves.
212-288-0033
Overlooking the ice rink at Rockefeller Center, The Sea Grill is a great choice for a romantic evening, assuming your date likes seafood. From oysters and clams to herb crusted skate, the menu offerings reflect a range of seafood options all well prepared and very fresh.The Sea Grill Basics:
19 W. 49th St.
Between Fifth and Sixth Aves.
212-332-7610
I must admit, I’m a bit prejudiced, since Balthazar is where I went for dinner after I got engaged, but if being transported to a bustling Parisian bistro is your idea of romance, this is the perfect destination. Steak frites are fabulous, as is the onion goat cheese tart.
Balthazar Basics:
80 Spring St.
Between Crosby & Broadway.
212-965-1785
