Want to try 300 drinks from 5 different continents?

by Jessica Festa on

On December 1, 2011, ZaZa Bazaar will unveil its Wunder Bar. You will basically be able to go on a cocktail tour around the world without leaving Bristol, United Kingdom, as the bar will feature 300 drinks from five different continents.

Bar manager, Les Richards, and bar consultant, Ro Santus, have spent hours upon hours coming up with innovative and worldly drinks for all tastes and budgets. There will be 35 cocktails with European, Asian, American, and Arctic flare, as well as an extensive selection of spirits, wines, and champagnes. Beers will come from 10 different countries, some of which include China, Portugal, India, and Brazil. No matter what drink you choose, know that you are getting a high quality product that you can feel good about.

“We’ll use the freshest ingredients. Even the syrups and purees will have been made that day. All fruit and vegetables used in the bar will be sourced locally,” says Richards.

And, it’s not just drinks that will be international. There will also be an array of unique menus from around the globe, some of which include curries, sushi, Italian pasta, BBQ, Far East, Chinese, Indian, pizza, burgers, dosa, nacho bar, tex mex, and more.

For more information, visit their website.

ExtendNY.com: the Manhattan grid extended to every point on Earth

by Elizabeth Seward on

ExtendNY.com has taken something great about New York City and applied it to the entire planet. The Manhattan grid is well-known worldwide for it’s precise structure–so why not grid the whole world? ExtendNY.com has done just that. Visit the website and take a look. Drag the street and avenue signs around the globe and mark your sites (and location) as easily as you could in New York City. Unfortunately for all of us, the world and the cities within the world actually don’t work on an equally digestible grid (ever been to Austin, Texas?) and we couldn’t walk the blocks with as swift a stride as we could in New York. With that said, this website is a geographical toy. Play with it.

Museums and politics in the West Bank

by Sean McLachlan on

A new bill working its way through the Israeli government would put museums on Israeli settlements in the West Bank under Israeli law.

This piece of legislation is more than it seems, the Jerusalem Post reports. The real purpose of the bill, as its author, minister Uri Ariel of the National Union party makes clear, is to slowly annex the West Bank.

If this bill passes, Ariel hopes it will open the door for more Israeli law to be applied to the West Bank, gradually incorporating it into the rest of the country.

Currently museums on West Bank settlements are under military law, a product of the region being taken from Jordan in the 1967 war, and thus cannot get the same kind of funding as other Israeli museums.

The West Bank and Gaza strip are nominally part of the Palestinian Authority, but this government has had trouble receiving full international recognition and much of its land is actually owned by Israelis. Palestinians are barred from or have limited access to much of the West Bank because of Israeli settlements and their security zones, as this UN map shows.

The Knesset (Israeli parliament) education Committee has already passed the bill and it will probably be seen by the entire Knesset in the next two weeks.

I visited some West Bank museums when I was working as an archaeologist in the region in the early Nineties. The Israeli ones were mainly devoted to proving their right to the land and highlighting Muslim atrocities. The Palestinian ones were mainly devoted to proving their right to the land and highlighting Jewish atrocities.

In a country like Israel, history and politics always go hand in hand.

Ultrarunner sets new Everest to Kathmandu speed record

by Kraig Becker on

Last week, British ultrarunner Lizzie Hawker set a new speed record for running from base camp on Mt. Everest to Kathmandu, Nepal, besting her own previous record in the process. The 35-year old endurance athlete covered the 200 mile distance in just 2 days, 23 hours, and 25 minutes.

Hawker, who is considered one of the top long distance runners in the world, first made this run back in 2007, when she completed the course in 3 days, 2 hours, and 39 minutes. She had high hopes of shattering that record by a significant margin this time out, but heavy rains and cool temperatures forced her to take shelter in the village of Bupsa. That delay cost her 8 hours of time, which put her chances at the record in serious jeopardy, but she was able to find her rhythm and still managed to beat the previous time.

Covering 200 miles nearly non-stop is an impressive feat in and of itself, but when you consider the conditions that Hawker was running through, you gain a whole new appreciation for her accomplishment. The trail from Everest to Kathmandu is not a paved road, but is instead a rough, uneven path that wanders up and down the Himalayas. In addition to the rigors of the trail, Hawker had to deal with altitude as well, as base camp sits at 17,600 feet. The record run also came after Hawker participated in the 125 mile, nine-day Everest Sky Race, during which she also contracted a respiratory infection.

I’m going to try to keep all of those challenges in mind when I whine about my 3 mile run later today. It’ll help keep things in perspective.

Alice in Wonderland pop-up restaurant opens in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

by Jessica Festa on

And, you probably thought Alice in Wonderland was just a fairytale. Not anymore, as Swallowtail Canada presents their pop-up restaurant, Down the Rabbit Hole, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, from November 24-December 17, 2011.

Diners will not just enjoy delicious cuisine, but will actually experience the world of Alice in Wonderland. The night begins just outside an enchanted forest where guests will be greeted by a frantic rabbit who will lead them “down the rabbit hole”. Does this sound familiar?

Once they reach their destination, attendees will get to interact with their favorite Alice in Wonderland characters, such as being served tea by the Mad Hatter, and have unique experiences like enjoying soup from a bottle that is labeled either “Big” or “Small”. Choose wisely, because the bottle you pick determines what you’re next course is.

The pop-up restaurant is predicted to be so bizarre that it has even caught the attention of Celebrity Chef and Food Network Star, Bob Blumer, who is currently on the hunt for the “World’s Weirdest Restaurant”.

From what it sounds like, Down the Rabbit Hole has a great chance of winning.

Tickets are $129 per person and include five Wonderland-themed courses, a cocktail creation by Swallowtail, and the interactive show, which is performed by actors from In the House Festival. The location of the venue will not be disclosed until a week before the reserved date. Dates and times that still have tickets available include:

  • Saturday, November 26: 4PM and 8PM
  • Saturday, December 3: 4PM and 8PM
  • Saturday, December 17: 4PM and 8PM

To reserve your spot, e-mail theswallowdive@gmail.com or call 778-319-9453.