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Unusual

Unusual

Message in a bottle

Sending out an SOS . .  Some things are just not meant to be. The beautiful island of Montserrat is known for many things - breathtaking - almost otherworldly - scenery, surrounded by glorious seas, world-class architecture and, at one point, one of the top recording studios in the world. George Martin (probably the fifth…

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A penny for your plots, my dear

Buying a home is pricey, unless you plan on moving to the small town of Legrad in Croatia, in which case, it’s unbelievably cheap - as low as 1¢ US. Legrad once had the second-biggest population in Croatia, but when the Austro-Hungarian empire collapsed, new borders were formed. And the town — which is on the…

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Liechtenswhere?

One of the only two doubly landlocked nations in the world, the ‘Principality of Liechtenstein’ is unquestionably a European country worth exploring. As of July 2010, the nation accommodates a meagre population of 35,002. It is widely acknowledged as a tax haven and was accused of assisting wealthy Germans in tax evasions involving millions of Euros. Liechtenstein…

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Hole-y crap!

Planet Earth holds some of the strangest, natural tourist destinations in the solar system.  Earth is perpetually bombarded with debris from outer space. Luckily for us, most of it burns up during entry through our atmosphere and we enjoy this bright burn in the night sky in the form of fleeting meteor showers. But on…

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Watch your step

We think this is a good thing:  recycling is the way forward.  And here's an unusual and creative take on it. A massive new theme park is being built in the Middle East - on an oil rig. The project, called The Rig, will be spread over a whopping 1.6 million sqft in Saudi Arabia…

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The 10 most beautiful Wetherspoons?

Yes, you read that right. For those not familar, Wetherspoons is a chain of pubs in the UK that have a "reputation."  They offer some of the most inexpensive places to have a pint of beer anywhere.  However, some words that are associated with that include "fights", "drunk", "yobs" and more.  And, to be honest, there…

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Lelijk!

We love Europe - that's no surprise to anyone who visits our site.  The variety, the history, the diversity and the beauty.   But not always the latter.  Even stylish Europe has its exceptions.  In this case, Belgium is the culprit.  You might see a Belgian house and scratch your head and mumble "why?" Well, someone has risen…

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Battleship holiday

Here's another article for those who have seen it before and have done it before. You’ve seen it in James Bond's Skyfall and all over the media. Now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the ruins of Nagasaki Prefecture‘s abandoned Hashima Island, better known as Gunkanjima (or “Battleship Island”), has attracted attention for its post-apocalyptic appearance. Well,as you…

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There’ll be blue skies

We love aircraft here at Matouring.  All kinds of aircraft, especially those that have been lovingly maintained or restored.  And we're not alone.  You can too.  Visit the Royal International Air Show at Fairford, UK in the south Cotswolds (July 15-17, 2022), which next year will be celebrating the United States Air Force’s 75th anniversary…

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Some builders would do anything

More than 1,600 years ago, close to the southeastern coast of the Korean Peninsula, laborers were hard at work building a palace for a fledgling kingdom. They finished the foundation layer of the massive western rampart and then paused before beginning the next construction phase, a stone wall. The foundation, made from packed shells and…

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Don’t fence me in

If you live in a housing complex with dozens of units, take heart. An apartment building in St. Petersburg, Russia, (population five million) houses 18,000 people. We're all for efficiency, but we have to wonder about the logistics of managing a place like this.  Parking?  Elevators? As some people have noted, how would the wifi…

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Here’s looking at you, kid

Conspiracy theorists, look away now. Think about it for a minute: if you’re willing to hold a camera to your eye, why not have a camera attached to it that can snap away, by voice instruction, instead of finger on the shutter? That’s the premise of Facebook’s new $299 camera glasses that also play music and podcasts.…

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Boris & Chief Kamanawanalea

This is a different kind of cold war. Russian Fort Elizabeth is a National Historic Landmark and is administered as the Russian Fort Elizabeth State Historical Park just southeast of present-day Waimea on the island of Kauaʻi in Hawaiʻi. It is located at the site of the former Fort Elizabety, the last remaining Russian…

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SOM thing to behold

New York is, of course, a marvel.  Like so many other super-cities around the world, you never really run out of things to do, even if you live there.  And, as always, there is constant change. But, what is equally as interesting is the "hidden" places that can fascinate.  One such "hidden" place is actually…

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Bloom where you’re planted.

To many of us, this may come as a surprise, especially in this day and age of corporate efficiency. For decades, KLM Airlines have been creating miniature ceramic collectibles of Amsterdam canal houses, and they share them with loyal customers.  Each house is a miniature replica of an existing house, almost all of them in the…

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Red sky at night, traveler’s delight

China is set to enter the space tourism business. This should come as no surprise to anyone who is awake in this day and age.  We wonder why we haven't seen this kind of offering sooner than this:  the Chinese know how to get things moving. ANU astrophysicist and cosmologist Dr Brad Tucker says it…

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