Jail Hotels: bunking like an inmate

by Abha Malpani on


Call me weird, but there is something sickly exciting about living in a hotel that used to be a jail. I prefer hostels, bed and breakfast inns and motels to hotels — with a special dislike towards 5-star luxury — but should I have the opportunity to stay at the new Boston jail hotel, I’d take it.

Smartly called “Liberty Hotel”, the once notorious Charles Street Jail celled Boston Mayor James Michael Curley and Frank Abagnale Jr., the con artist played by Leonardo DiCaprio in the movie “Catch Me If You Can.” After a $150 million refurbishment, it is now a 4-star hotel that seems to have succeeded in making something once squalid into something luxurious. Opened only in August, the likes of Meg Ryan and Mick Jagger have already been guests.

Less luxurious and more prison-like is the “Jail Hotel” in Switzerland, and the Liepaja prison in Latvia that takes your ‘lock-up’ experience to different heights. At the Liepaja, you are photographed and given a prison passport; you are given a medical test, a ‘do’s and don’ts’ list, and you have to make your own bed to strict army codes; a gun shot is fired if they see you smirking!

Any takers?

[Via ABC News]

Photo: Travelblog.org — Downpour30, Justin and Lauren

The Best Hostels to Get Wasted In

by Catherine Bodry on

Martha’s post on her drunken debauchery across the globe got me thinking about the hostels I used to seek out in my infant days of traveling. Eager for familiar accents and the kind bonding that 10 hours of drinking will bring, I was drawn like a mosquito to juicy flesh to any establishment my trusty Lonely Planet profiled as “full of drunken American college students.” While those descriptions were probably meant to deter travelers from that type of lodging, they served as guiding lights for me. I’m a little bit ashamed to admit all this now, but at the time I fully embraced being such a cliché. (Although now I’m probably just a different cliché.) But staying at places like these made me feel a little less lonely (and a lot less sober). And I had a great time.

A few that come to mind are Balmer’s Herbage in Interlaken, Switzerland; the Pink Palace on Corfu, Greece, and the Flying Pig in Amsterdam. The photos on the front pages of their websites ought to clue you in as to how you’ll sleep if you’re hunkered down in one of their bunks.

I know these aren’t the only three; where are the other party hostels?

World’s Largest Fondue Planned for New York

by Martha Edwards on

Growing up, fondue was a fixture in my house — a delight for a cheese-loving family and a bit of nostalgia for my dad who spent a large amount of time living near Switzerland. His version of the traditional melting pot involved lots garlic, wine and stinky cheese and man, was it ever good.

And if like me, you can appreciate a good fondue, you might want to head to the New York area next month, when Swiss cheese producer Emmi will try to break the world record for largest fondue. Served from a giant pot, the fondue is expected to feed around 3000 lucky people. Now that‘s a lot of fondue forks. Lucky diners will also be treated to live Swiss-themed entertainment in the form of yodelers and alpine horn players … perhaps even the Ricola dudes?

The last record-setting fondue was served in 1998. It consisted of 732 kg of cheesy deliciousness.

Cow Poop Bingo in Switzerland

by Justin Glow on

In the small municipality of Ruswil, Switzerland, a grassy field has been painted with a grid. This wasn’t done to test out some sort of new cultivation method, but instead as a game that pits man against beast. Each square is numbered (there are 750 of them in the field) and spectators bet on which the cow will eventually defecate into. Hopefully there’s more than one cow, because 1:750 odds isn’t that great, especially when it comes to feces bingo.

This idea isn’t new. A simple Google search of “cow chip bingo” brings up a similar event that has taken place the past four years at the Jefferson County Fair in West Virginia. Amanda Thomas was crowned the 2007 Cow Chip Bingo Queen by selecting the correct square of I-10. The fair’s website has several photos of the event, including some rare shots of a tortilla chip superhero and the post-game playing field. Mmmm….

Photo by Reuters/Sebastian Derungs [via]

How Much Would You Pay for a Pair of Lederhosen?

by Martha Edwards on

A new world record has been broken recently — most expensive pair of Lederhosen. A version of the traditional alpine outfit recently sold for 85,000 euros, which is $115,000. Lederhosen, which are traditionally made from the hide of an animal — typically a goat, pig or elk — is strangely enduring fashion trend in the Alps. This particular pair is adorned with 116 diamonds, each set in gold. Doesn’t that seem a bit … I dunno … excessive?

onsidered to be to the Alps what the kilt is to Scotland (according to the Lederhosen entry on Wikipedia), the leather knee-length shorts-and-suspender-combo can be worn while hiking outside, pounding back a few at Oktoberfest, or anywhere else, I suppose. Still, I don’t think I’ll be picking up a pair any time soon — and certainly not at that exorbitant price.

Don’t stop here — Gadling has a ton more Oktoberfest 2007 coverage!

%Gallery-7103%