The World’s Best Places to Live

by Willy Volk on

Finland was recently named the best place in the world to live, thanks largely to great air and water quality, low rates of infant diseases, and protection from water pollution and natural disasters. What else is great about Finland? Well, for starters, Finland …

Plus, it’s gorgeous.
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Iceland also made the list of the world’s best places to live. Despite it’s name, Iceland is not made entirely of ice. In fact, Iceland offers:

Iceland has all this, plus … it’s stunningly beautiful.
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Norway made the cut, too. Despite it’s reputation as being expensive, Norway has:

Don’t believe us? Check out this amazing gallery.
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Ahhhh … Sweden. There are so many reasons to love this nation:

Yup … it wouldn’t be hard to live here.
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Austria rounds out the list of the five most liveable countries. However, just because it came in at number five — and just because it has controversial urinals — don’t dismiss this nation. Austria is the proud home of:

Of course, the nation is lovely to look at, too.
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Don’t feel like living outside the U.S.? Be sure to check out Money’s list of the best places to live in America!

Pope Urges Europeans to Have More Children

by Iva Skoch on

Here is a good opportunity for tourists with good sperm! Europe needs more children. At least the Pope thinks so. During his recent trip to Austria, he blasted Europeans for beings selfish and not wanting to procreate. As a result, Europe is aging rapidly.

Nothing seems to help Europeans have more kids though: they have tried bonuses for child delivery, generous benefits, cheap daycare…now the Pope.

Consequently, statistics show the Austrian Church has lost about one million followers since 1983, and only 67 percent of Austrians are still officially Catholic, compared to almost 92 percent in 1900.

The World’s Biggest Ferris Wheel (For a While at Least…)

by Brett Atkinson on

I was a bit scared of ferris wheels when I was a kid, and actually didn’t go on one until I went to Vienna when I was in my early 20’s. Sad, I know, but since then I’ve made up for lost time by going on mega-wheels like the London Eye.

Now Singapore has announced plans for the world’s biggest ferris wheel. Opening in March 2008 it will be 165 metres high, slightly taller than the 160-metre high Star of Nanchang in Jiangxi, China, and considerably bigger than the 130-metre high London Eye.

Don’t count on the Singapore Flyer being the biggest for long though, because the same developers are looking at opening a 208-metre high circular attraction in time for the Beijing Olympics in August 2008.

I’m actually kind of glad the first ferris wheel I went on was at Vienna ‘s Prater amusement park. The 65-metre wheel played a starring role in one of my favourite movies, the terrific Before Sunrise starring Ethan Hawke and the luminous Julie Delpy.

Thanks to arjuna_zybcho on Flickr for the pic of the Prater.

Controversial Urinals in Vienna

by Neil Woodburn on

Having been in Vienna last summer, I was disappointed to learn a little too late about a most extraordinary bathroom.

The Toilet-Bar Vienna is a small public bathroom located in an underpass near the National Opera. As you can see from the photo above, this is no ordinary bathroom. For the small price of just 75 cents, patrons of the urinal arts can relieve themselves in some of the most decorative urinals ever conceived by man.

Unfortunately, someone blabbed their mouth off to the opposite gender and local women’s rights groups eventually forced the proprietors to remove the sexist objects.

The creator of the lip urinals eventually sold them on eBay, so who knows where they might appear next. If you happen to run across them in a bathroom located in some sexist corner of the globe, don’t tell anyone!

World’s Largest Ice Caves

by Neil Woodburn on

Ice caves are very different from normal caves. They have a strange feeling about them, as though they are not from this planet, and one has just temporarily stepped into their world when spelunking their depths.

There are many ice caves throughout the world, but the Eisriesenwelt Ice Caves in Austria are some of the largest known to man. They are located within the Tennengebirge Mountains near Salzburg and stretch for a remarkable 40 kilometers. Only a portion of the labyrinth is open to tourists but it’s enough to get a taste of what the remaining network is like: a truly mesmerizing palate of Mother Nature’s handicraft.

For a photographic journey through these amazing caves, click on the link below and delve into the icy realms of Eisriesenwelt–the World of Ice Giants.