Witness the hidden corners of Iceland in high definition

by Jessica Festa on

In this video, Pétur Kristján Guðmundsson of TrailerPark Studios films his home country of Iceland, focusing on the diverse and unique landscape as well as the culture. The overarching goal of the film, which is called Heild, or Totality, is to “present Iceland in a way it has never been presented before, using many elements of higher-end cinematography”. In the video, viewers not only see the well-known areas of Iceland but also off-the-beaten path regions that one must be quite adventurous to get to, and extremely patient to truly capture. The video is so clear that even gentle motions seem strong, from the rippling lake to the billowing clouds. Meet locals, fly over plains, mountains, and craters, and lay under a neon-colored night sky.

To get a taste for yourself, check out the trailer for Heild here:


HEILD l Totality Trailer from Petur K. Gudmundsson on Vimeo.

Eco-tourism gets edible with the Ritz Carlton, Charlotte’s, giant green gingerbread house

by Jessica Festa on

The Ritz-Carlton, Charlotte, in North Carolina, is taking their eco-friendly hospitality to a whole new level. From Thanksgiving Day through December 28, 2011, the hotel will showcase a life-sized “edible eco-manor”, designed by architects and made by pastry chefs using all-natural and organic ingredients. The structure will be 12 feet high by 14 feet wide by 10 feet deep and will also feature LED lights and a green “moss” eco-roof.

So what goes into making a giant eco-friendly gingerbread house?

  • 350 pounds of organic white, brown and confectioner’s sugar
  • 70 pounds of organic egg whites
  • 300 pounds of organic bread flour
  • 100 organic eggs
  • 24 pounds of molasses
  • Four pounds of salt
  • Four pounds of baking soda
  • 120 pounds of shortening
  • 24 ounces of cinnamon
  • Two gallons of organic milk
  • Eight ounces each of nutmeg, allspice and cloves
  • Nine ounces of ginger

This unique exhibit complements The Ritz-Carlton, Charlotte’s, already eco-friendly programming. The property is LEED-certified, meaning that the hotel’s construction and design follows the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design guidelines. Some sustainable practices of the Ritz-Carlton, Charlotte, include building materials that use 30% less energy than most hotels, reduced water usage by 35%, a green, vegetated rooftop, recycling more than 80% of construction waste, and having bicycles as available transportation for guests, among other initiatives.

For more information on the hotel’s green programming, click here.

Visit the world’s largest indoor rainforest resort

by Jessica Festa on

While Europe isn’t typically known for it’s tropical rainforests, a visit to the Tropical Islands in Germany can show you that they do indeed exist on the continent. In fact, the world’s largest indoor rainforest is located right outside of Berlin in the town of Krausnick.

Located inside of a giant, 22,000 square foot dome, the indoor tropical resort is about the size of eight football fields and wins the title of the world’s largest indoor rainforest, as well as the biggest tropical sauna and spa complex in Europe. The complex is also home to more than 29,000 plants while cocktatiels, parrots, and budgerigars provide animal life for the space.

There are many other features to this tropical paradise, as well. Visitors can relax on a man-made beach, swim in the “ocean”, go mini-golfing, or partake in some overnight camping. For those who want a short break from the natural side of things, restaurants, bars, and shops are also located in the rainforest resort.

Green travelers will be happy to know that Tropical Islands is also eco-friendly, recycling swimming pool water to feed the plants as well as using natural UV light that seeps through the dome’s massive panels. Rain showers also occur naturally inside the dome, forming from the humidity found inside the structure.

For more information, visit the Tropical Islands website.

D*Haus’ dynamic new house transforms shape with the weather

by Jessica Festa on

When it gets stormy outside, I usually just close my windows. But with the new innovative design concept by D*Haus, homes may soon by able to simply morph when the weather changes.

The London-based company has come up with a eco-friendly house that sits on rails, allowing it to change its form into different configurations, pivoting open and closed, based on the weather. According to Daniel Woolfson of D*Haus, “The dissection of the square into four distinct shapes allows it to be rearranged to form the [equilateral] triangle. This concept alone is fascinating, but the possibilities are endless when applying this formula to the world of architecture and design.”

When developing the home, designers had the regions of Sweden and Lapland in mind, hoping to create something that would respond to the harsh climates of these areas. For example, when it’s chilly out and you need to conserve heat the house can pull itself into a tight square.

There is still some work to do before the house is perfect, as you can probably imagine there are a lot of technical issues that go into a project like this. To get a better idea of how this shape-shifting house works, check out this video:


D*Haus Dynamic from The D*Haus Company Ltd on Vimeo.

Could you be a Papantla Flyer in Mexico?

by Jessica Festa on

Do you think you could handle having one leg tied to the top of a shaky 30 meter pole while you hang limply from the top? How about then being quickly spun in circles as you slowly fall to the ground?

The feat is known as the Danza de los Voladores de Papantla, or Dance of the Flyers. The ritual, which is thought to have been used to call on the gods during times of drought, is best associated with the town of Papantla, Veracruz in Mexico, where it still takes place. There are five people who take part in the dance, including four flyers and one person who stands at the top of the tall pole dancing and playing a flute and drum.

We’ve seen the thrill seeking travelers of Fuel TV‘s “Strangers in Danger“, Mike “Rooftop” Escamilla and Zach “Catfish” Yankush eat live octopus in Korea, and tonight we’ll get to watch as they do the Dance of the Flyers, a feat which seems to scare them even more. Check out a clip of what you can expect here or watch the full episode tonight (and every Tuesday) at 10:30 E/P.