Windsor

The English Windsor is about 40km west of London. Its Castle, shown above, is justly famous – built by William the Conqueror and still used regularly by the royal family, it is both the largest inhabited castle in the world, and the palace which has been occupied for the longest period of time. We visited it back in 2006.

It bears little resemblance to Windsor, Ontario, which is most often in the news for its dwindling number of car manufacturing plants, and its increasing number of casinos designed to draw American tourists across the border from Detroit.

Cornwall

Cornwall, in England’s far south-west, is a holiday-makers paradise, with pristine beaches, soaring cliffs and picturesque villages, and is of course home to Land’s End.

It would be hard to find any similarities with Cornwall, Ontario, which has a reputation as a rough-edged town polluted by industrial waste and popular with those wanting to smuggle cigarettes across the nearby US border.

One advantage of the toxic waste dumps is that they can apparently serve as ski hills in the winter!

Waterloo

Waterloo is a municipality in Belgium where the famous Battle of Waterloo saw Napoleon’s French army defeated in 1815. A large monument marks the battleground.

The only battle of note in Waterloo, Ontario, is the one for control of the smart-phone market, with Blackberry-manufacturer RIM being based here.

Athens

The Greek capital of Athens is often called ‘the cradle of Western civilisation’ It is home to countless historic buildings and treasures, and was the birthplace of the Olympic Games.

It bears little resemblance to Athens, Ontario, which is a small farming town of 3,000 people, seemingly most famous for its corn festival held every summer. It also has a number of pleasant murals of rural life.

Tweed

The River Tweed is a bucolic waterway in the Scottish borders region. It attracts anglers from all over the world for its renowned salmon fishing.

Tweed, Ontario, is mainly noted for its amusingly-decorated fire hydrants. It was also rumoured to be a hiding place for Elvis by those who believe his death was faked, although – surprisingly – no real evidence of this has ever surfaced.

Khartum

Khartoum is the bustling capital of Sudan, with a turbulent and often lawless history on the banks of the Nile. Recent development has been spurred by income from the country’s oil wells.

It could in no way be confused with Khartum, Ontario, which is, well … not much really. If anything it’s a ghost town. It is identified on the map and there are couple of roadside signs with the town’s name, but there’s nothing between the two signs that could really define it as a community. How it got the name, we have no idea!

If you have a favourite namesake, send it to us through our submission form and it might be included in a future post!

Locations: England, Greece, Ontario, Scotland, Sudan / Categories: Buildings, Monuments, Street Views, Weirdness

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10 – The Bridge Suite, The Atlantis, Bahamas

Situated on Paradise Island, the Bridge Suite is located in the Royal Towers, sixteen stories up between two other buildings. It comes with a staff of seven, your own private entrance, and will sleep four adults. All for only $22,000 per night.

Customer rating: 70% (#51 of 170 hotels in the Bahamas)

9 – The Ritz-Carlton Suite, Ritz-Carlton, Tokyo

Situated on the 53rd floor (somewhere near the top of the picture), the Ritz-Carlton Suite overlooks the Imperial Palace as well as most of Tokyo. You’ll have access to an indoor pool, fitness suite, and the Ritz-Carlton lounge. You’ll also get a dedicated concierge for your $25,000 per night.

Customer rating: 90% (#8 of 613 hotels in Tokyo)

8 – The Penthouse at The Setai, South Beach, Miami

The Penthouse has four bedrooms (two of them kingsize), four bathrooms, two living rooms, a music room, and on the terrace there’s a pool and jacuzzi. It can be yours (for a night) for just $30,000 (and if you really like it, you can buy one for a cool $15 m).

Customer rating: 72% (#7 of 199 hotels in the Miami Beach area)

7 – Villa La Cupola Suite, Westin Excelsior, Rome

Located over the 5th and 6th floors the Villa La Cupola Suite claims to be the largest suite in Italy. For your $31,000 per night you get use of six bedrooms, a jacuzzi, rooftop terrace and balconies, private wine cellar, butler service and much more.

Customer rating: 71% (#274 of 1271 hotels in Rome)

6 – The Royal Villa at the Grand Resort Lagonissi, Athens

On the coast south of Athens, the Royal Villa offers you a living room packed with home entertainment, an office, a personal chef, heated indoor and outdoor pools, a gym, and a private beach. Not bad for $32,000 per night.

Customer rating: 67% (#51 of 411 hotels in the Attica Region)

5 – The Presidential Suite, Hotel Cala di Volpe, Costa Smeralda, Sardinia

A Bang & Olufsen stereo system, flat screen TVs, high speed internet, wine cellar, steam room and jacuzzi are just some of the luxuries available in the Presidential Suite. Just $34,000 per night.

Customer rating: 75% (#114 of 794 hotels in Sardinia)

4 – Penthouse Prestige Apartment, Hotel Martinez, Cannes, France

Overlooking Cannes bay the Penthouse Prestige Apartments provide you with a first class butler service for the duration of your stay. Fitted with the usual luxuries this apartment also comes with a Hammam (turkish steam bath). You’ll be able to book for about $35,000 per night.

Customer rating: 68% (#24 of 114 hotels in Cannes)

3 – Ty Warner Penthouse, Four Seasons Hotel, New York

Ty Warner Penthouse in the Four Seasons New York offers 360⁰ views of Manhattan from the 52nd floor. It has TVs tuned to every station in the world, so you’ll never miss your favourite show from home. You’ll also have use of a chauffeur to take you sightseeing in a Rolls Royce Phantom or a Mercedes Maybach. Excellent value for $35,000 per night.

Customer rating: 84% (#86 of 428 hotels in New York city)

2 – Hugh Hefner Sky Villa Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas

Stay where Kanye West partied after the MTV awards. The Skyvilla has a cantilevered jacuzzi pool with glass end wall overlooking the Vegas strip. If you get really lucky at blackjack, now you know where you can spend $40,000 on one night’s accommodation.

Customer rating: 63% (#100 of 284 hotels in Las Vegas)

1 – The Royal Penthouse Suite, President Wilson Hotel, Geneva

The Royal Penthouse Suite overlooking Lake Geneva will cost you an unbelievable $65,000 per night. This suite will sleep you and five of your friends – and nobody with have to sleep in any of the marble bathrooms, or the hot tubs. This suite also boasts the absolute pinnacle of decadence: an “iPod docking station”.

Customer rating: 69% (#11 of 111 hotels in Geneva)

And before anyone asks, no, I’ve never stayed in any of these!

Thanks to Business Insider, and Tripadvisor for the reviews.

Locations: Florida, France, Greece, Italy, Japan, Nevada, New York, Switzerland, The Bahamas / Categories: Buildings, Street Views

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The islands that you see today are actually the remains of the ancient volcano’s caldera that erupted over 3,500 years ago, and the blast itself is estimated to have been up to 120 times more powerful than the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens! There would have been ash, pyroclastic flows, and tsunamis that spread throughout the Mediterranean causing massive devastation.

The remains of Santorini today are a circular chain of islands that the Greeks have transformed into one of the most beautiful places on Earth. Never mind the active volcano resting in the caldera, the locals have taken the time to create a surreal destination for vacationers and cruise ships thanks to the island’s stunning geology and ideal location in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea.

Legend has it that Santorini’s location, beauty, and volcanic history are no coincidence. There may be a good reason people have been drawn to this place for thousands of years. Ancient writings from Plato’s dialogues Timaeus and Critias (which interesting enough were written about 2,400 years ago) have led scholars to believe that Santorini could have been the site of the mythical and legendary island of Atlantis! Let me explain…

First, Santorini matches the physical description of the legendary lost island due to its circular shape. Plato wrote of a series of rings alternating in land and water that made up the island nation of Atlantis. If you look at Santorini from above, it’s definitely circular, and considering the island in the caldera could have been much bigger before the eruption, it could be described as “rings of land and water” as well!

Secondly, Plato wrote about the colours of quarries on the island of Atlantis. He wrote “one kind of stone was white, another black, and a third red”. We can see white rocks from space near some of the cliffs, and we’ve got ground level views showing some red cliffs on the island as well.

So we have white and red, but what about the black? Look at this beach near Perissa. It’s got black sand! Remember this island is really a volcano, so there are black rocks just about everywhere you look.

The third link to Atlantis are the ancient civilisations that inhabited Santorini 3,500 years ago. Archeological digs performed on the island reveal a civilisation with an advanced engineering for its time. Digs like the one at Akrotiri revealed multi-story buildings, earthquake resistant walls, complex plumbing, and interior air systems. Akrotiri itself was actually buried in the eruption, much like the Italian city of Pompeii, and remained remarkably preserved for thousands of years.

Of course there are many links between the island of Santorini and the legend of Atlantis, but perhaps the biggest one is the history of the volcano itself. Santorini is the remnants of a caldera rising above the water, and Plato’s writings of Atlantis falling into the sea would be a good description of what happened to the middle of Thira’s lagoon 3,500 years ago. Over time that island in the lagoon has slowly built itself back up, but sooner or later you have to expect it might just happen again.

Regardless whether you think Santorini is linked to Atlantis or not, it remains an absolutely beautiful island deep in the Mediterranean that’s definitely worth a visit.

To read more about Santorini, Greece, visit the municipality’s website here, or read about the island on Wikipedia.

Locations: Greece / Categories: Volcanoes

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The Mediterranean Sky has been resting off the coast of Greece since early in 2003. We’re not sure if and when she’ll be returning to work, as most of her hull has rusted through.

However, the fact that her lifeboats are still intact (not salvaged as one would suspect) could mean that she is just waiting for someone to come and rouse her from her slumber. There’s a rumor going around that this old girl had some financial problems back in 1997. – Perhaps that is the reason she’s being all lazy, lying around doing nothing?

We’ve seen this sort of reckless abandonment before, so we know this little nap taker isn’t an isolated issue. See for yourself the beginnings of an international problem! What would happen if any old ship just decided to lay up in the shallows? Catastrophe!

To further investigate this crisis of sleeping/deep sleeping ships, check out some of our previous coverage: Shipwreck, Key Largo, More Shipwrecks, Iraqi Shipwrecks, Shipwreck! and Saharan Shipwrecks.

Update: RobK points out another sleeping beauty, this time its the World Discoverer in the Solomon Islands.

Can you find any more? Post the link in the comments and we’ll see how many of these dosing giants we can find!

Locations: Greece / Categories: Abandoned, Watercraft

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At each end of the canal there are unique submersible bridges which can be lowered to the bottom of the canal to allow the boats to get past! Very cool. You can see a sequence of photos showing the bridge in action on the Wikipedia page.

Locations: Greece / Categories: Bridges, Islands, Structures, Watercraft

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Due to the movement of tectonic plates, the distance between land here is increasing at a rate of 30 mm per year. To accomodate this, the piers of the bridge are designed to slide, accomodating any expansion of the Gulf within the bridge’s lifetime.

There’s more at the WIkipedia page and at the official site, neither of which seem to be able to decide how to spell Rio[n]-Antir[r]io[n].

Thanks to Abigail Brady, Will, Bertrand Capo, dustin, Igor and Pille.

Locations: Greece / Categories: Bridges

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Thanks to Sebastian ‘BuzzDee’ and Cecco.

Locations: California, Greece / Categories: Weirdness

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Here in Edinburgh we’ve got the National Monument, a copy of the Parthenon which was unfortunately never finished (supposedly due to a lack of funds), and is known locally as Edinburgh’s Disgrace (Wikipedia page). There’s no high-res of it yet, but I bet you’ll all be glad to hear that I can see it from my bedroom window

There’s another (way more impressive) copy in Centennial Park, Nashville, but again no high-res I’m afraid

Back to ancient Greece, and just east of the Acropolis you can still see the remaining columns of the Temple Of Olympian Zeus (Wikipedia page).

Thanks to… deep breath… Jean Lorraine, Chris Jernigan, Adam Parker, Bltiz, Matt, ray hollis, Martin Willey, Jim L., Ron Vogel, Roland, Stephen Train, Ruben Vermeersch, Salinga, Sig, Matt, GS, Evan O., Bennet Langlotz, Gut, Ellen van Swieten, Greg Askins, Ian, Ken Arnold, Feng Wu, banic, Boniface, martin e, Serge Lyubomudrov, noknok, Richard Cobbe, Scott Kleihege, Fai Sheng and cacafuego.

Locations: Greece, Scotland, Tennessee / Categories: Buildings

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Check out this fantastic image of half-sunk ships in Greece. Spooky!

Props to Mike for this little beauty

Locations: Greece / Categories: Watercraft, Weirdness

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Starting from the west is the Olympic Velodrome (with photo-stitching error) which was used for the track cycling. To the east are the open air swimming pools (of which only one is filled). Then we get the Olympic Indoor Hall before the Olympic Stadium, with the two parts of the roof lying to either side. North east are the sixteen tennis courts.

For comparison a more recent satellite photo is available on Wikipedia.

Thanks: Bill Kendrick, Jean Lorraine, Chris Jernigan, Anne Mathews, Marc Armstrong, Tim, Freddie, Terry Foster, Jim L., Daniel Jibouleau, Michael Davis

Locations: Greece / Categories: Stadiums and Sport

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