Cool Things In Random Places

A little refreshing randomness from around the globe

Browsing Posts published in February, 2009

Valencia, Spain
La Despertà the beginning of Fallas 2009 -The last Sunday in February boasts one amazingly loud display making this one of the most dramatic festivals in the world. Firecrackers in the hands of thousands of people 7:30 am on a Sunday morning. The aftermath is a cloud of smoke and ringing ears.

“The last Sunday in February is a huge, busy day in the city. Not all Sundays are like this. And in Valencia, the last Sunday in February manages to achieve the polar opposite. It’s 7:30 in the morning, and you’re on the streets, in the middle of World War III.

The Despertà is Valencia’s annual wake-up call for Fallas — the region’s most important festival and one of the biggest in the world. At 7am, thousands of people belonging to organized groups (Fallas Commissions) gather at Parterre Park (location) to collect their ammunition bags for an assault on the city’s sleeping populace. And at 7:30am sharp, all hell breaks loose.”
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Ivrea Carnival

Ivrea Carnival

The Battle of the Oranges, Ivrea, Italy
Italy stages its biggest food fight each  February in the Piedmont town of Ivrea, where thousands gather each year before Lent to re-enact a medieval battle by hurling oranges at each other. By the end of it the entire town is awash with Vitamin C.

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Crossword Facade

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People of Lvov city in Ukraine decided add a really cool art installation to the side of a residential building in hopes of boosting visitorts. According to the project details, a crossword puzzle spanning 100 feet (30 meters) tall at the wall was applied to the sides of a multi-story residential building.

There is one interesting detail about the design of the puzzle. It looks like an empty puzzle during the day, but at night when special black lights turned on, the words in the puzzle become visible with a faint luminescent green-glow.

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One of the world’s biggest holes is located in Russia.
The giant hole is actually a diamond mine in Eastern Siberia near the town Mirna. It is 525 meters deep and 1.25 km in the diameter. Mirna’s open pit diamond mine closed operations in 2004 after nearly 50 years. According to bizarre reports air traffic has been suspended due to the “suction above the hole” reporting of extreme downdrafts over the pit.

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Crocosaurus Cove

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Crocosaurus Cove ” Cage of DeathNot Really…

An Australian  theme park hopes to lure tourists into a “Cage of Death” for a close encounter with a 18ft crocodile.

Just 1.5″in of acrylic separates brave visitors from the jaws of “Choppa” – a feisty saltwater croc.

Top End tourists climb into a clear box before being lowered into “Choppa’s” lair.

They’ll then spend 15 minutes inside the 9 foot high cage and watch Choppa, who lost both front feet while fighting other crocodiles, trying to take a bite out of them.

One of the first people to climb into the Cage of Death, Jim Charles, told the Northern Territory News it was a scary experience.

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