Help - driver going the wrong way on a motorway! Lessons from the UK, USA, New Zealand

California wrong way signage. Wikipedia.

In the UK and USA drivers have gone the wrong way. Causing fatal accidents. Several changes are needed. 

I was shocked. I thought, another one, that's two, one each side of 'the pond' or ocean. When I read the statistics, I was even more shocked. More than 400 such accidents in the USA each year.  Of course, prevention costs money. But imagine the costs of medicine for injuries, car damage, car replacement, insurance reports, insurance company investigations, police and ambulance attending, traffic delays, missed social events and work appointments, even clothes and stress to others, plus, of course, hospitals, enquiries, inquests into causes of accident events, coroner's report on medical findings, funerals, gravestones, memorial services, sometimes prosecutions or private court cases seeking damages, petitions for changes in the law.

I started writing two changes are needed. Then I thought of more and reached five. 

1 One way barriers to exits so only emergency vehicles can enter them.

2 Immediate warning signs to stop to all traffic if a vehicle enters the wrong way on a slip road. 

3 A wrong way vehicle emergency number to summon police if a vehicle is driving the wrong way. Restore hard shoulders so vehicles can pull over and stop if they or another vehicle are driving the wrong way. 

4 Mandatory stopping of traffic if a vehicle is seen driving the wrong way, not just honking and flashing lights. 

5 Lay-bys, or pull-ins, or pedestrian spaces are needed on the fast lane. My vehicle was hit by another and came to rest in the fast lane, endangering me and others. At my request the driver or a large lorry blocked my lane, also the next lane, by parking diagonally, which was an obvious obstruction and unusual position which could be seen for miles back, slowing traffic and prevented multiple rear-enders.

Some measures have already been taken, clearly not enough.

Causes of Wrong Way Driving

Accidental

Near borders and ferries UK-France, drivers where other countries drive on the opposite side. Drivers quickly realise their mistake and usually reverse slowly and re-route. Nowadays more and larger signs warn the British and others exiting from ports onto main roads. 

If you hire a local car, the driver's seat and driving wheel are usually in the middle of the road so he can see oncoming and distant traffic, whilst the front passenger seat is by the (pedestrian) pavement (sidewalk is what Amreicans call it) so that passengers exit safely, not into the road.

Distracted Driving

Noted Causes of Wrong-Way Driving

Driver reading online road maps - (I query, due to poor signage?) 

New Zealand changed signage to make it clearer, with fewer signs meaning less clutter. 

Driver texting. 

Driver watching movies! 

(Other types of accidents have been caused by a driver distracted by animals, by children (one notable case of a mother turning to stop siblings fighting, resulting in an accident causing the death of one child), back seat passengers, insects flying in.)

Places

In the USA there are apparently more accidents of this type in Florida, Texas and California.  I suspect the causes might relate, not entirely, but inflated by, the numbers of elderly drivers in Florida (poor eyesight, but in my opinion also Alzheimer's or poor decision making due to it; maybe drugs in California, resulting in poor attention, or thrill seeking. 

Lessons Learned To Avoid Being The Wrong-Way Driver

1 Remember which side of the road to drive on when going from the UK to Europe and Europe to the UK.

2 Have regular eye tests. Carry spare glasses in case you lose them. Check your route and intermediate points. Use speaking satnav rather than one requiring you to look down or away from the road.

3 If you miss your turning, never try to U-turn back against traffic on a motorway.

Avoiding One Way Drivers

Accidents are more likely when there is poor visibility at night or in bad weather. Watch the distance, if you can. Try to get behind an obstruction such as a parked car or tree or pole so that the other vehicle does not hit you head on with full force. In the USA you call 911 (not the old UK number of 999). Be familiar with emergency numbers, have them on a post-it and/or have them listed in your phone contacts.

Safe driving!

Useful Websites

Daily Mail 22 Jan 2025

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14311177/Six-million-Brits-retake-driving-test-campaigners-call.html

Global Statistics On Types Of accidents, which cause most fatalities, geographical hotspots, prevention

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrong-way_driving

In-car Warnings

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrong-way_driving_warning

Prevention When Others Approach Wrong Way

https://caraccidentattorney.com/blog/safety-tips-to-defend-against-a-wrong-way-driver

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Travel Wherever You Are Welcomed And Invited - Florida Fun, and Family Reunions

 TRAVEL MEMORIES

The moral of the story is, go with the flow. 

On previous occasions go with the flow served me well.

The Golf Tournament In Florida

 I was invited on a travel press trip to Florida so see a golf tournament. I don't play golf. 

I have two stories to illustrate this theme, one in Florida, USA, the other in London, England. First, Florida.

I was a travel writer specialising in romantic hotels and honeymoon suites, for couples, and hopeful singles. I married and after our son was born my field of interest and expertise expanded and developed, into family holidays and theme parks.

When I was living in the USA I received a phone call from a PR company, "Would you like to join a press trip to Florida - to a golf tournament?"

I had no expertise nor interest in golf. I did not think I could persuade a golfing magazine to accept an article from me instead of one of their regular experts.  However, if the PR company was willing to accept me, I was willing to do my best for them. Despite my feelings of imposter syndrome I went along. 

Our escorted 'golfing tour' group started with a wonderful, interesting tour of Florida. 

Singer Sewing Machines As a personal bonus, I picked up useful information on Singer - of Singer sewing machines! I am interested in sewing.  But even more importantly, this information was for use in my series of novels inspired by my family history starting in the 1880s. 

Golf

But what about golf? 

On the day of the match, the PR relayed good and bad news. First, the bad news. The roads were blocked, so we could not get near the golf. 

Second, the good news. Instead, she had arranged with the local tourist board and museums, so that we visited other museums in the area. 

On the last day, the last hour of the trip, it turned out that neither the PR lady, nor any of the other journalists, knew much, nor cared much about golf.  

We all wrote travel articles in which we dutifully mentioned the golfing event, plus all the other attractions of Florida.

2 An Old Distant Relative's Birthday

 I went to the birthday for a ninety year old, distantly related. 

I could not persuade the rest of my family to go. But I went. As a favour to his descendant by marriage. 

I was worried about travelling there and parking. However, near the date, the woman who had invited me rang to apologise. "I'm sorry but there's very little parking. Would you mind travelling in somebody else's car? They'll pick you up and take you back."

At the event, I politely looked through about 100 photos of people I didn't know, listening to a distant relative. 

Finally, he said, "I don't suppose you'd be interested in this one, I don't even know who these people are." 

I gasped, "I do. That's my parents!" 

He looked at me, the old photo, and back at me, suspiciously, "Are you sure?"

"Of course, I know my parents. That's their marriage! In World War Two."

"She isn't wearing white. How do you know it's a wedding?"

"She always told me, especially when choosing my white wedding dress, that she could not wear white when she married my father in wartime. Fabric was rationed. Besides, it was her second wedding. Her first husband died in a plane at El Alamein. And my father - in a top hat!"

Wartime wedding. 1940s. UK. Photo copyright Angela Lansbury.

"You've seen this photo before?"

'No. I've never seen that photo. I didn't even know it existed. I don't have any photos of their marriage!" 

He replied, "Would you like it?'

"Yes. Thank you. I'd love it."

The moral is, an art show, a sports event, a birthday of an elderly person, just go. If somebody else wants your support, you never know what interesting things you will find when you travel to somewhere new.

Useful Websites

https://www.visitflorida.com/places-to-go/southeast/singer-island/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singer_Island

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Hemingway happiness, horrors and places to visit - and a six word story challenge

 

Hemingway House

The top Hemingway attraction is the museum at Key West. He had a menagerie of animals. Including the famous Hemingway cats. He also travelled around the world.

Hemingway History & Books

I saw a film based on a Hemingway book about a soldier who falls in love with a nurse. The whole things made no sense. After reading that the author himself fell in love with a nurse, but she later married somebody else, and that Hemingway was recruited as a spy, this unlikely jumbled work of supposed fiction turns out to be based on fact and makes more sense.

I had also wondered why Hemingway was honoured by a statue in Cuba. Now I know he lived there and was honoured.  Although he met Castro only once, they admired each other.

Hemingway\s house answers some queetions and poses others. He killed animals but kept many animals. For examples, six toed cats renamed Hemingway cats.

Travel Landmarks to Look For, For Hemingway Fans

Whether you are amazed and awed or appalled, you cannot help being interested in Hemingway. As a writer I love the story about the six word story challenge. He is often quoted as having answered this challenge, but during his lifetime it was not recorded, and it was found  to have been used years earlier by others. 

The Six Word Story Challenge

The challenge is, write A novel summed up in six words? For sale, baby shoes, never worn. 

I could easily write another similar to that. For sales, small gun, used once.

Alternatively

For sale, gun, one careful owner.

Gun. Used once. One careless owner.

For sale. Gun and five bullets.

For sale, small house, distress sale.

Discount, murder victim's ouse for sale.

Missing millionaire's house for wale. Executors.

For sale. Wedding dress. Never worn.

For sale. Wedding dress. Worn twice.

What about a five word story.

For sale. Diary. Christmas gift. Unused..

For sale. Thirties car. Never driven.

For sale. Wooden coffin. Not needed.

For sale. Left shoes. Never worn. 

For sale, tomb, book cancer recovery.

For sale, fake banknotes, offers invited.

Missing, fiance named John, numerous aliases.

Wanted. Man with machinegun. Don't approach.

For sale. Titanic lifeboat. Not seaworthy.

Discount. Groom's outfit with bullet holes.

For sale smiling Mummy. Maybe fake.

For sale,haunted church, empty graveyard.

Clothes for quadruplets, or four twins.

Identical twins seek part time work.

Heminsgway's home in Florida, USA

Statue of Hemingway in Cuba

Maybe you can pick up some moere six word story ideas or title on your travels.

Useful Websites

https://en.hiddenremote.com/view/?id=laura-ingalls-wilder-life-hid&src=facebook&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=hid_a_ww_riella_hr7_225460_laura-ingalls-wilder-life_all_conv-atv160_sales_dynamic_both_18p_i-0_bid-0.6_288635996&utm_medium=120202240428560053&fbclid=IwAR3WCJc2KtrFSaxN0HSe_hcq1SPb2apDv-

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When travelling, children should not race around - dangers are everywhere!

A child ran along beside a cruise ship and apparently slipped into the water. The father tried to rescue the child. Both were unable to get back up. Luckily, passerby were able to locate a rope. 

This must have been traumatic for everybody. 

Two people were endangered. Two were saved. It could have been worse. As you travel, you encounter numerous dangers. Some are large scale. Predictable.

Others are specific to your actions.

Some are general. This is a French road sign. Stay alert.

So what is the moral? How could this be prevented? I see a common cause. Children run around in public places, beside obvious danger points. Or where they could collide with other people or objects.

I remember being told by the manager of a restaurant that he tells parents to keep their children at the table. His staff deliver hot tureens of soup from the kitchen to the buffet. If a child collides with the staff member, the restaurant could lose the food, have an injured staff member, and an injured customer.

You have probably read about road incidents. A parent with several children has the hands of the two youngest. The older one, still a youngster, races into the road.

Animals

We had another incident. In Florida. We were having breakfast. Our son wanted to leave the table with a piece of toast or bread in his hand. My instinct was to stop him. I was over-ruled. Antoher family member was busily telling a story. I could not concentrate on the story.  After a few moments I jumped up and ran to find our son. 

He had already left the restaurant. He was ready to throw his unwanted food into water beside a sign warning, do not feed the alligators. 

What can be done to prevent all thse incidents. Simple. Childen should stay at tables. Signs should instruct families that children must be in parental sight and control at all times. No running..

Children should stay by their parents and not run around in public places, escpecially road, by the sea, river, laikes water, cliff edges, and restaurants where servers are carrying big bowls of scalding soup or hot coffee. 

Useful Websites

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12589709/Horrific-moment-hysterical-woman-screams-eight-year-old-boy-falls-gap-cruise-ship-dock-Italian-port.html#comments

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Hotels recycle soap! Who knew?

A Daily Mail article summarizes what happens to hotel soap which is recycled.

It is sent to a company in Florida called Clean The World. 

Wikipedia tells you about the man who started the Florida company and when.

In the factory which he opened, the soap has the surface scraped off to remove human hairs and skin. It is heated and sanitized. 

The cleaned soap is turned into noodle shapes. The noodles are reformed into bars. 

The bars of recycled soap are sent out to countries which need cheap or free soup. For example, disaster areas. Countries where children under five die from diarrhea.

The public debate whether it is better to have soap bars, and shampoo in small plastic bottles which are thrown out. Or big refillable bottles of gel. 

Some still support individual baby sized bottles. And individual soaps. You can apparently get bars of soap which act as shampoo. 

The comments section refers to the Dirty Jobs series. I checked this out in Wikipedia. 

Dirty Jobs series, year 2002, episode 180.

I already knew that water is recycled. Many items such as plastic bags and tote bags proudly inform you that they are made from recycled material.

Coffee Capsule Recycling

Our coffee capsules are collected for recycling when new ones are delivered. This works better for my family in Singapore than in the UK.

When Nespresso delivers capsules, they deliver bags for recycling capsules and take away the old bags.

I think it would be useful if hotels had a booklet on a string in the lobby telling you about subjects such as whether they recycle soap, and their reasons for decisions.

Useful Websites

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-12263585/Travelers-left-HORRIFIED-finding-hotel-soap-really-made.html#comments

https://cleantheworld.org/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clean_the_World

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Dirty_Jobs_episodes

Weddings Worldwide: You can marry on a train in Florida, in a hotel garden or ski slope in America, on a beach in Hawaii, or the Maldives, outdoors in a field in Israel, on a rooftop in Singapore, UK Kew or zoo

American Weddings

Brightline is a privately owned railway  line which has served as a marriage venue for a wedding in 2022. 

I have witnessed a wedding (as the official witness) on a cruise ship out of Florida, but this is the first time I have heard of a wedding on a train.

The train wedding couple did not meet on the train. They met when the husband to be was renting property (Americans say leasing) from his bride-to be. They had many dates taking the train and the bride thought the train ride was the most romantic part of the date. 

The train company sectioned off part of the train for the ceremony and reception afterwards. Photos were taken on the train and at the station. 

UK Weddings & Emergency vehicles

In England I have seen many reports of unusual carriages to the wedding venue, usually connected with the jobs of one of the spouses or their family. A nostalgic horse and carriage is quite common.

 I recall a double decker bus being used. Also I recall one case of the bridal party stuck when the road was impassable. Emergency service vehicles (a fire engine) came to the rescue.

Israel Outdoors

I attended a wedding of a relative by marriage in Israel. The incoming security stopped me and asked me the bride's name. The wedding invitation was all in Hebrew and I hadn't a clue. (Her name was Ayala.) We took a taxi from the airport. The taxi driver had trouble locating the venue so we arrived later than expected.

Australia's Public Parks

I have also seen weddings in public parks in Australia. The problem with public parks is that strangers can come along and heckle or  intrude on photos. Not to mention wandering dogs!

I have also seen pictures of ski scenes in weddings, and under-water ceremonies.

Singapore's Rooftop Wedding Receptions

I attended a wedding on a rooftop in Singapore. While we were circling before the wedding we had a chance to take photo of the bride and ourselves against the distant scenery. Once we were seated, because of the high safety wall, we did not see the scenery at all. That was okay. We were more interested in the food and talking to each other. However, at 7 pm in Singapore the sun sets. Later, the view had vanished. Just some lights in the darkness far away. So it's a good thing to arrive early at a scenic destination to get photos. The bride and groom and official photographers might be monopolising the best spots, and, of course, they have priority. So, if you are a guest, arrive early.

Botanical Gardens Bandstand

And another in a restaurant in the Botanical Gardens, after a ceremony planned for the bandstand. The officiant was late. 

The bride wanted photos of exchanging vows on the bandstand at sunset. So we rushed to do a mock ceremony. 

As a Toastmaster I was able to improvise the mock ceremony. I had a few stage-whisper prompts from those standing alongside. 

Afterwards the officiant arrived as the dinner was being served at the allotted time. The real ceremony was performed indoors.

Useful websites

USA

Train

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brightline

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11211743/Florida-couple-married-Brightline-TRAIN-using-meet-one-dates.html

Ski Slope

https://www.herecomestheguide.com/wedding-venues/type/ski-resort

Boat

Singapore

https://www.facebook.com/vineyardhortpark (Singapore)

https://vogue.sg/the-best-unconventional-wedding-venues-in-singapore/

UK

You could get married at Kew Gardens in London. Going north, you could get your wedding photos at Ness Gardens in Liverpool.

You can hire a classic fire engine.

https://www.classicfireengines.co.uk/fire-engine-weddings/

My son got married indoors in London. However, just before the ceremony, the photographer unexpectedly walked us across to a tiny park we had never noticed with feature of rocks and tumbling plants. A look at a map might show you the nearest park to an indoor venue.

Angela in an Ann Balon dress and Marks & Spencer fascinator at her son's wedding in the UK. Pre-wedding photo in the nearby public greenery.

UK

https://www.kew.org/venue-hire/civil-ceremonies

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Green Beer Day In the USA and Green Theme Decor, Drinks and Food

Green beer, USA.

I was looking for photos of green beer, when  discovered that in Miami, Ohio, USA, they have had a green beer day. Yes, it was inspired by St Patrick's Day. With the Spring break dates and St Patrick's Day moving around so that they no longer coincided, somebody came up with the idea of having a green beer day during the spring break. So then, you had two green beer days, St Patrick's Day and the Green Beer day.  

My friend in Singapore enthused about green beer. However, when I read that it turned your tongue green, I went off the idea.

What about the American Green Beer Day. It sounded like innocent fun. Plus a commercial opportunity for selling green clothes. Plus, of course, beer. However, starting at 5 am, under age driving, and an alcohol related death. No way. No wonder there was official concern and interference.

Meanwhile, if you want to wear green and try out green beer at home, on St Patrick's Day, or Green beer day, or as a practice in advance any day, with food as well as drink so you don't drive or get drunk, why not.

By the way, the event started in Miami university, which is not in Florida, but in Oxford, Ohio. (Yes, not Miami, Florida, and not Oxford, England.)

One bar was selling for one US dollar a shot (small drink or addition to a drink or cocktail) of green jello (generic US term for jelly, from the brand Jello) which turns any drink green. 

The US bars seem to have a plentiful supply of food options. What was green?

Bread and Cereals

Rice with green rice (dyed green).

Marbled green bread. 

Vegetables: 

Avocados. Avocado dip. Brussel sprouts. Celery. Cress. Cucumber salad. Pickled cucumber. Cucumber sandwiches. Lettuce. Mange tout. Mint. Green beans. Green olives. Green Pepper. Parsley. Peas. Petits Pois. Spring onions. Wasabi. Watercress.

Fruit: 

Apples. Limes. Pears. Pineapples.

Desserts and Sweets

Green cheesecake. Green macaroons. Green marzipan. Mint chocolate chip ice cream.

Decoration: White Tee shirts with the name of the bar printed in green. (North End bar, Athens, Ohio, USA.)

 Green frosting on the rim of drinking glasses. Mint leaves. Green paper umbrellas decorating cocktails.

Cocktail Ingredients:

Crown Royal Apple Canadian whisky has a green label.

Midori, a Japanese drink, is green.

Captain Morgan Apple Smash.

Melon liqueur. (Midori Melon liqueur.

Pineapple Juice.

Rhinegeist beer from Cincinatti.

Casamigos Tequila.

I have saved several recipes to my Pinterest page. on food and drink.

Useful Websites

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Beer_Day

https://www.thepostathens.cosgom/article/2022/03/green-beer-day-local-bar-owners-athens-ohio

https://www.instagram.com/northendathens/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midori_(liqueur)

Oddments of the week - the upside down house, disappearing pictures on a sandy beac

 Tassenheide, Germany. Built 2008 in Germany, on the northern coast, as a tourist attraction. 

The town also had a giant red sneaker.

Sneaker Attribution: Löwe 48

USA

WonderWorks, Orlando, Florida, USA

Huashan Upside down house. From Wikimedia Commons. Author 吉爾

Upside down house

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trassenheide

dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-10519213/Pictured-Casa-Loca-upside-house-thats-drawing-tourists-Colombia

Sand art, Torquay, Melbourne, Australia, by artist Edward.

.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10529425/Banksy-like-artist-Edward-creates-regenerative-art-Victorian-beaches

ICE HOTEL, NICE HOTEL, ICE WEDDING CHAPEL, OR AN ALL YEAR ICE BAR IN FLORIDA?

 

Vodka at Ice Bar, Orlando, Florida, USA. Open all year.

CANADA

JAPAN

ROMANIA

SWEDEN

The first ice hotel was in Sweden. You can stay in an ice hotel until April 2021. North Sweden is not your only option. 

You could also pick an ice hotel in Canada or Finland.

If you don't have the time or money or are not sure whether this will suit you, you could try an ice bar. 

ICE Bar

One in Florida, USA is open all year. It also claims to be the world's largest ice bar.

SWITZERLAND

CANADA

Canada[edit]

Ice Hotel[edit]

The Hôtel de Glace (English: Ice Hotel) first opened in January 2001. 85 rooms are furnished with ice beds covered with deer furs and mattresses and equipped with arctic sleeping bags.^[1] It was originally located on the shores of Lac-Saint-Joseph, Quebec, 31 minutes north of Quebec City, but has since moved closer to the city, 10 minutes away from Old Town Quebec.^[6] It operates from the first week in January to the last week in March.^[7] It has the adjacent Le Quatre Temps restaurant, an ice bar named Absolut Ice Bar, which serves Absolut Vodka and other beverages, sauna and outdoor hot tub.^[3][8] Construction involves the use of blocks of ice and snow.^[8] In 2005, construction involved "400 tons of clear ice blocks, trucked in from Montreal, and 12,000 tons of snow produced on site."^[8] Beds are constructed of ice, which are topped with "a wooden boxspring and mattress",^[3] and mummy-style sleeping bags are provided.^[3] The hotel offers paid tours, the participants of which are allowed to use the ice bar until midnight.^[3] Ice Hotel was previously the only ice hotel in North America.^[3]

• Ice Hotel
• 

  The chapel, 2006

 
• 

Finland[edit]

SnowCastle of Kemi[edit]

The SnowCastle of Kemi in Kemi, Finland is the largest snow fort in the world, is rebuilt every winter and has a snow hotel^[10] with double rooms and a honeymoon suite. The facility also has a restaurant, chapel, and ice sculptures.^[10] It is near the Gulf of Bothnia.^[10] The style of the facility, including the theme, shape, size and decorations, changes annually.^[10]

• SnowCastle of Kemi
• 

  A view in 2006

 
• 

  The dining room in February 2013

Lainio Snow Village[edit]

The Lainio Snow Village is located 150 km north of the Arctic Circle in Lapland.^[11] This snow hotel is built in the winter atop a wood building. In 2007, construction began in November, and in early November, it began providing lodging.^[11] The hotel has restrooms and a sauna, and the village has a restaurant.^[11] Rooms are decorated with artwork created from snow.^[11] In 2007, art students contributed to the art with professional artists.^[11] In the summer, the village provides log cabin lodging.^[11]

Japan[edit]

The Alpha Resort Tomamu in the Shimukappu village of Hokkaido Island in Japan builds and opens an ice hotel every year.^[12] It may be Japan's first ice hotel, and everything in it is constructed from ice.^[12][13] The hotel interiors are typically −3 to −5 °C. Guests dine on ice tables and sit on ice chairs covered with sheepskin. The hotel provides sheepskin apparel for guests to stay warm.^[12]

SWEDEN

From Wiivoyage

Sleep[edit][add listing]

Ice hotel (Jukkasjärvi)

• 1 Ice Hotel (Ishotellet), Marknadsvägen 63, ☏ +46 980 668 00, ✉ info@icehotel.com. A hotel constructed entirely out of ice. There are many copycats now, but this is the original. Outdoor activities such as dogsled tours are arranged by the hotel but reservation may be advisable, and cheaper alternatives may be available from companies in nearby Kiruna. Remember that winter in Lapland can be very cold, and though Ishotellet provides snowsuits and boots, you may need to bring equipment such as expedition-grade gloves, face masks, and goggles depending on conditions. Read the weather forecast. It is also possible to visit the ice hotel as a tourist attraction without actually spending a night there. It is worth seeing the ice sculptures in the rooms and in the floors. While much of the ice hotel exists only between November and May, a few suites are preserved and open all year around. A stay will cost you upwards of €300/night.   edit

Go next

UK

I wanted to go to the Ice bar in London for my birthday in March. Then I discovered a few restrictions. First it was expensive. Secondly, you had to book a time and could not stay there the whole evening. thirdly you had to be warmly dressed which ruled out most of my pretty evening clothes.

I might be middling it up with the naked restaurant and the blind restaurant. Anyway, all three sounded amusing but I never made it to any of them for my birthday. We ended up eating locally so we could get home soon after eating and drinking.

USA

Useful Websites

Covering hotels in several countries:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_hotel 

USA

https://icebarorlando.com/

About the Author

Angela Lansbury is a travel writer and photographer, author and speaker, fashionista. Please share links to your favourite posts or one or more of the blogs

travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com

dressofthedayangela.blogspot.com

Weird and Wonderful Underwater, Waterside and Shell Restaurants, Hotels & Grottoes

Shell Grotto, Margate, Kent, UK

Jules Undersea Lodge, Key Largo, Florida, USA

2 bed, 1 bath. A former underwater observatory.

Underwater Hotel, Fiji

Useful Websites

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poseidon_Undersea_Resorts

Florida Alligators - How Our Small Son Could Have Died - When Travelling Check local safety rules

When checking into a hotel, ask about local safety rules.

We flew from London, UK, to the USA, Florida.



Our small son wanted to go alone to the buffet. I wanted to prevent him or go with him.

I was distracted from my conversation with my husband, and kept watching. My son had disappeared.

I chased up to the buffet. No sign of him. i raced around the dining room. No sign of him. I raced into the Reception hall. He was not in the hotel lobby.

The other way was the outdoor pond. A sign said 'Do not feed the alligators'. My son was throwing parts of his sandwich into the pool!

I grabbed his hand and pulled him back towards the door.

From a safe distance, away from the edge of the water, I read the sign to him.

I led him back to the dining table. I instructed him;
"You are never to leave the table, or the room, or throw food. You must stay with us at all times!"

American alligators are more widespread than you might think.

Warnings For Foreigners
In addition to signs warning about alligators, Reception staff should warn foreign visitors, and local visitors about local dangers, and hotel dangers, and roperty dangers, and city dangers, and country dangers. Also tell parents to keep childen within sight and reach at all times.

Fence and Glass Barrier
I think ponds should also be fenced or glassed in.

Useful Websites
Australian Rules About Fencing Swimming Pools
https://www.spasa.com.au/consumer-info/fencing-laws/https://www.spasa.com.au/consumer-info/fencing-laws/

About the Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
The Author
Author, Author! About the Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. (Not related to the actress.)
Author of twenty books including: Quick Quotations; Who Said What When.
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See other posts on singers and statues and languages and destinations.

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Where to Buy, Sell Or See Skulls? What you learn from skeletons in museums in Oklahoma, Florida or London - from catfish and camouflage to birds and prey

Penguin Skeletons.
Wiki article on the branch in Florida.

Two Museums of Skeletons, one in Oklahoma, their second in Florida, specialising in animals, birds, fish, insects and human skulls and skeletons. You can look, buy or sell a skull. Animal or human. Yup. You heard right. Read on.

My discovery of this Museum of Skeletons in Oklahoma came about in a roundabout way. On Facebook I was sent a video of a man holding a can of beer which was being sipped by a fish with long whiskers coming out of its mouth. I asked what it was and the reply was a catfish.

Of course, having visited the US and lived there I know about catfish. They are famously bottom feeders, or at least some of them are. As a person who is allergic to shellfish, I am wary of fish which feed on the bottom floor on dead creatures which drift down and decay. Cruel as it sounds, eating a live fish is healthier for the fish - or at least for the human who eats the fish which eats dead fish. maybe that's why we eat pigeons but not vultures.

Anyway, let's move on with the story of my search. I was amazed by the number of new words I learned whilst reading about the catfish. Their whiskers are called barbels.

Wikipedia seems to have much improved since the early days when you had too look up all the words you did not know in the dictionary. Wikipedia now has an article on every long word mentioned and when you click on the word you go straight to the definition.

The words I learned to recognize were those for:
barbels
dimorphism - difference in the males and females beyond just the frequently visible ones of sex organs.

Obvious differences - such as breasts in the female of mammals. (Mammary meaning breast or bulbous bits with nibble so the baby can suck milk. Remember m for mammary, milk and mother).

 Dimorphism - the ones you will recognize is the peacock with huge plumage to attract the plan coloured peahen.

Skeletons of female (left) and Male (right) black-casqued hornbills (Ceratogymna atrata). The difference between the sexes is apparent in the casque on the top of their bill. This pair is on display at the Museum of Osteology.Wiki article on sexual dimorphism.

Reading about dimorphism, I came across a picture of the skeleton of a bird, showing
the protrusion above the beak, obvious on the skeleton.

The photo was of an exhibit in the museum of skeletons. Oklahoma. USA>



I was very excited. First because the word skeleton has associations of horror and detective work. Secondly because Oklahoma is a bit of a blank on my list of states to visit in the USA. It is associated strongly with the song Oklahoma, yet no tourist attraction springs suddenly into my mind.

On second thoughts, I was not so thrilled with the idea of a museum on skeletons. The giant skeleton of the dinosaur in the entrance hall of the Museum of Natural History in London never moved me as much as the children who were impressed with its size - until it was moved, when I wanted it back. Now they have a whale.

Whale in Natural History Museum, London, England. Wiki.

Most museums of natural history have stuffed animals which are still found, just a skeleton of rarer and extinct species. I think immediately of the dodo. (Which has now been found on a remote place somewhere like Indonesia and its importance resurrected by being bred in a zoo, if I remember rightly. Skeletons of humans are much more exciting. However, there is an anti-skeleton movement regarding humans. Some people want all skeletons buried out of respect for the dead.

Respecting the Dead
 Frankly, when I am dead I would much rather be sitting up and dressed or in a glass case to be admired, rather, than buried in the dark underground, deteriorating further, daily getting ever less likely to have DNA which could be retrieved to identify me and resurrect me.

If your interest is in forensics, solving crime, detection, police museums abound worldwide. I first discovered the joy of police museums and detection in solving crimes in Hong Kong.

The words police and prison may be scary, just like the word skeleton. But I love the Discovery Channel and I am collecting a list of museums connected to Skeletons, forensics and police.

I shall expand this post with more websites and photos during the next 24 hours.


The Florida branch shop. Photo from wiki.

Meanwhile, from their website I found these items in their shop:
Tee-shirts in black or blue
Books about bones of bears and other animals
Bracelets, including bright red ball shape beads, my favourite, modestly priced at about two US dollars.
Acrylics with butterflies and insects embedded.
A tea infuser with a floating imitation seahorse stirrer
..................
Here's another branch  in Florida

Established	2015
Location	8441 International Drive Ste 250, Orlando, Florida 32819, United States
Coordinates	28.442805°N 81.469148°W
Type	Natural History Museum Attraction
Owner	Jay Villemarette
Website	skeletonmuseum.com

I looked at their list of items, hunting for the shop.

Sell Us Your Skull
Sell us your skull, they say.

Ah - they don't mean leaving them your own. They mean one you own.

They list human and animal. I presume research centres and vets and hospitals and natural history museums often have old items they want to dispose of or new ones they would like to add to their collections, but I presume roadkill, items dying in your garden, of not protected species, maybe the pet buried in your garden,
Now, where did you put grandma?

Looking at their shop, I can see the sources. You can buy a ram's head with horns, or a domestic goat skull. So people who have herds of animals must every so often have one dying from disease or old age, leaving skull.

A real human skull or skeleton is quite pricey, over 1000 US dollars. But for under 100 dollars you could buy an ornament from the Day of the Dead. Or just under ten dollars for a little Xmas tree ornament showing two cute brass giraffe skeletons. You can also have your trophy cleaned and mounted for educational purposes.

Natural History Museum, London, England. Wiki.

If you go to London, England, see the whale skeleton in Natural History Museum, and the statue of Darwin in the hall.

Darwin statue. Natural History Museum. London, England. Wiki.

Useful Websites
https://skeletonmuseum.com/skeletons-okc.php
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museum_of_Osteology
visittheusa.co.uk
visitbritain.com

About the Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
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