Ivrea Carnival

The Battle of the Oranges, Ivrea, Italy
Italy stages its biggest food fight each  February in the Piedmont town of Ivrea, where thousands gather each year before Lent to re-enact a medieval battle by hurling oranges at each other. By the end of it the entire town is awash with Vitamin C.

Orange fetishists are well advised to visit the northern Italian town of Ivrea, 35 kilometers from Turin, on the Sunday before Lent when the townsfolk stage their annual Battle of the Oranges, the country’s largest fruit fight.

It involves around 3,000 revellers on foot and in carts drawn by decorated horses and lasts for three days, after which everyone is covered in pulp and orange juice, and the streets are slippery with squashed orange peel.
The ceremony, part of the town’s historic carnival, marks the rebellion of the people against tyrannical lords who ruled the town in the Middle Ages. Each year a carnival mascot is chosen from the town’s school children to play “Violetta”, a beautiful girl who in medieval times refused the advances of a lord and came to represent the victory of freedom over tyranny.

More at Spiegel-source.



 

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One of the world’s biggest holes is located in Russia.
The gaint hole is actually a diamond mine in Eastern Siberia near the town Mirna. It is 525 meters deep and 1.25 km in the diameter. According to bizarre reports air traffic has been suspended due to the “suction above the hole”. Which some have claimed have resulted in several helicopter crashes.

Kennecott Mine. is actually the world’s largest man-made excavation. “Kennecott mine looks more like a huge canyon than it does a hole, as compared to the nearly-symmetrical pit in Siberia….Started over a hundred years ago, it pioneered open-pit mining operations. It is located 28 miles southwest of Salt Lake City. It’s 2.5 miles across and 3 quarters of a mile deep. The mine is so big that it can be easily seen from space shuttles in outer space with the naked eye. By comparison, the Mirna diamond mine is only about one-third of a mile deep and less than a mile across.” source

Kennecott Copper Mine, the world’s largest man-made excavation and first open-pit, is located 28 miles southwest of Salt Lake City. 2 ½-miles across, and ¾-mile deep, the mine is so big, it can be seen from space shuttles in outer space.

Located in north-western India, the small city of Deshnoke,has a place of worship unlike any other, Rajastan’s famous Karni Mata Temple. The temple is home to over 20,000 worshipped rats, referred to as Kabbas. Many people travel great distances to pay their respects. 

 

For many Westerners this would seem bizarre and strange to have a place of worship over run by an animal that is commonly associated with pestilence and disease. Since the temple was constructed there has never been an outbreak of disease associated with the vermin.

‘This ornate, isolated Hindu temple was constructed by Maharaja Ganga Singh in the early 1900s as a tribute to the rat goddess, Karni Mata. Intricate marble panels line the entrance and the floors, and silver and gold decorations are found throughout.

“The legend goes that Karni Mata, a mystic matriarch from the 14th century, was an incarnation of Durga, the goddess of power and victory. At some point during her life, the child of one of her clansmen died. She attempted to bring the child back to life, only to be told by Yama, the god of death, that he had already been reincarnated.

Karni Mata cut a deal with Yama: From that point forward, all of her tribespeople would be reborn as rats until they could be born back into the clan.

 

In Hinduism, death marks the end of one chapter and the beginning of a new one on the path to a soul’s eventual oneness with the universe. This cycle of transmigration is known as samsara and is precisely why Karni Mata’s rats are treated like royalty.”

“Unlike the rest of the world, where rats are commonly killed for inhabiting the same space as humans, in this temple the rat residents are treated with sincere devotion. The veneration is so complete that if someone accidentally steps on a rat and kills it, they are expected to buy a gold or silver rat and place it in the temple as atonement.”

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The Banpo Bridge  spans the Han River in Seoul, Korea.  Work began last March on the design of water fountains that shoots out from the bridge, in sync with an amazing light display specially designed to attract more tourists. 

The water fountain  falls gracefully from the Banpo Bridge, much like a waterfall. The water dance to music in 100 different configurations. At night an amazing light show creates an even more fantastical scene. 

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Located in Brussels, Belgium, NEMO33 is officially the Deepest Pool in the World with a depth of 108 feet. The complex was designed by Belgian diving expert John Beernaerts as a multi-purpose diving instruction, recreational, and film production facility, and opened in 2004. 

The pool is filled with 660,430 gallons of non-chlorinated, highly filtered spring water.

 “The water that fills the pool comes from a spa and it’s heated by solar panels to keep it nice and warm.”

 Imagine jumping in to a pool minus the chlorine smell. The temperature is  maintained at 86°F and contains several simulated underwater caves at the 32 foot depth level. At this level there underwater windows that allow outside visitors to peer into the pools at various depths. The pool is a big hit with recreational scuba divers who are able to enjoy the constant controlled atmosphere and water temperature for varying levels of instruction. The pool has two large basin areas at depth levels of 16 ft and 32 ft, and a large circular shaft descending to a depth of 33m (108 ft). There are three permanent bells of air under pressure where air is renewed constantly, this aids instructors to spend more time with students at depth.

 

The Kayabukiya tavern, north of Tokyo in Japan, has two interesting employees. The two Japanese Macaque monkeys working for tips are on two hour a day shifts. The new waiters serve customers hot towels and drinks, and are given generous tips in the form of soya beans. The two uniformed monkeys are family pets of the owners that have been allowed to help in the bar. Many patrons insist that the new servers are actually better than their human competition. The tavern is a traditional sake house owned an operated by Kaoru Otsuka. The tavern has been monitored by animal rights regulators to insure that they are cared for properly.  Mr.Otsuka is beginning to train new staff to handle the flood of curious customers. Three baby monkeys are already learning the trade and will soon be ready to join the ranks.

 

 

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An abandoned holiday resort in San Zhi, a small town on the north coast of Taiwan, consisting of bizarre podular buildings.

 

The site was commissioned by the Taiwanese government and several local firms. It was an attempt at a luxurious vacation resort for those travelling from Taipei. It was even going to include an amusement park. The project was abandoned with out ever being completed. The architect is unnamed.

 

 

 
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A spa in the northern communal village of Talmey El’Azar Israel offers snake massage treatments using Milk snakes, Corn snakes, Florida and California King snakes. Ada Barak applies the treatments to those that are unnerved by the reptiles, with the belief that once customers get over the fear of the creatures, they find the contact to be soothing.

Time Magazine reporter Tim Mcgirk was brave enough to experience this trend.



The name of the bizarre spa is “Ada Barak’s Carnivorous Plant Farm”. She will even add some mice to spice up the sensation.

Video available at:Israeli Snake Massage

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