Straddling between breakfast and lunch time, brunch has become the hottest trend these days… our favorite leisure break! It’s story was framed in the late 1800s by English and its’ fame was escalated after 130 years in the U.S. However, the word itself was first appeared in Hunter’s Weekly content when Guy Beringer asked the public to have only light meals before going to church on Sunday afternoon. He said that brunch gives you a more jaunty temper and you are instantly like an upbeat ‘’looney kid’’. He even suggested the local restaurants and pubs serving beer with a nice plate of delicacies instead of the typical English tea or coffee. However, there was a short mention on the Punch magazine in 1876 saying that when you eat at times which are a bit closer to breakfast, this is brunch… Read More
Amazing Floating Hotels Around the World: If you think about it, land has been way over estimated, so, here at Purple Travel, we’ve found the best floating hotels, to stay somewhere really different.
Fab 4 Hotel, Liverpool – If you’ve never sung Yellow Submarine in the shower then, well, you’re lying! Now you can get a step closer to the Fab Four’s favourite floating ferry! It’s all thanks to a British businessman, Alfie Bubbles, who converted this original 25-metre long submarine to a hotel in 2012. Its interiors have been inspired by the 60s; however it features all modern amenities, such as Wi-Fi connection and 3D TV sets.
An overnight at this avant-garde accommodation costs approximately £146.
Salt and Sill, Klädesholmen, Sweden – Salt & Sill hotel is found in the western coast of Sweden and consists of 6 two-storey floating structures. It’s the first floating hotel in Sweden and an exceptional choice for fine dining. Guests can choose among 23 rooms, one of which is a suite featuring a separate platform with sauna.
Prices vary from season to season, but start from 1990 SEK from January to March and October to November.
4 Rivers Floating Lodge, Cambodia – The 4 Rivers Floating Lodge consists of twelve luxurious residencies on the banks of Mekong River and is located in a secluded area of the rainforest. However, all 45m2 rooms feature a Wi-Fi connection, mini bars and flat-screen TVs. This green accommodation offers a water bio-cleaning system and has also been made with eco-friendly materials.
Prices start from USD 203.15 for one person.
Queen Mary Hotel, Long Beach, California – History buffs would surely want to visit the Queen Mary Hotel, which arrive at Long Beach in 1967, after travelling for 37 years in the open sea. It weighs 81237 tones, featuring 314 rooms and suites, as well as 2 bars and 2 restaurants. Watch out, though, the ship is considered to be…haunted!
Shwe Inn The Floating Resort, Myanmar – This floating hotel is unique in Myanmar and opened to the public in 1996, over the tranquil Lake Inle, including traditional retreats and a swimming pool for guests that prefer not to swim in the lake waters. The famous Heya Ywama market is very close by boat, and the staff can arrange canoe cruises and hiking in the surrounding villages.
We go around the world to find the most beautiful, weird and wonderful hotels. From caves to igloo styled hotels, expect the unexpected. This week, Sala Silvermine Underground suite in Sala Västmanland, Sweden.
What’s the gimmick? If you fancy spending a night with your other half, 500ft underground in a room dug out of a cave, then this room in a silvermine is just the ticket. This little bit of luxury is so hidden away, you can only access it via a mineshaft lift.
Travel all the way to the small town of Sala Västmanland in Sweden, and spend a night in the world’s deepest bedroom. The Silvermine of Sala is one of the world’s best preserved mine settings and your stay here begins with a guided tour. Although there are plenty of luxurious touches, it’s 14 storeys down, so if you need a phone, beware!
However it is the perfect balm to the stresses of life, not too many people can reach you down there, unless you choose to; through a personal intercom system. Before leaving for the night, your guide will leave a basket of goodies for you and then you are all alone to feel the peace and quiet of your new world. You’ll see the guide again in the morning when breakfast arrives. There is a toilet near your “room” however the showers are topside.
Why stay? You can sleep 155 metres underground, where you will see dark winding galleries, vast caverns and magical lakes. It doesn’t matter if you’re familiar with mining or not, the underground setting will amaze you. Oh, and you’re not alone with the idea, weekends are usually booked up all year round.
The WOW Factor?The experienced guides tell you of a fantastic chapter in industrial history. During its heyday, production amounted to more than 3 tons of silver a year, and a total of more than 400 tons of silver and about 40,000 tons of lead were extracted – completely by hand! Most of the silver was used in manufacturing coins, but artefacts were also made.
A stay at this one of a kind single suite amounts to 3750 sek or about £287 per night.
Art is all around us, whether in a piece of graffiti on the inner tunnel of a bridge or on a spotlight-hit wall at the MoMa. However, this is truest perhaps in Stockholm, whose entire Metro system is in essence, one huge underground art gallery. Out of 110 stations, just over 90 feature art created by some 150 artists. And the best bit? For little more than the price of a Stockholm Metro ticket, you can see everything from sculptures to mosaics, paintings to installations, messages from the 1950s right through to the 2000s. Stockholm Syndrome – take that.
Beginning at T-centralen station, you will find 1950s tiling and reliefs on the walls, while at the Arsenalsgatan (blue line), you’ll see an archaeological installation of a dig complete with ancient columns. Solna Centrum station (blue line) is one of our favourites, morbid may it be. With a cavernous, blood red ceiling, from which the escalators break through, it appears more like a staircase to hell than a welcoming entrance to the Metro. In other words, we like.
Construction of the underground began in 1941, with the most recent addition completed in 1994. As many of the yawning hollow interiors where left with unfinished bedrock exposed, others were tiled or even embellished with Romanesque statues. In the 1950s, artists Vera Nilsson and Siri Derkert were behind the campaign to produce art in the Metro and in 1955, two motions on art in the Metro were submitted to Stockholm City Council in quick succession, the first by the Left Party, the second by the Social Democratic Party. And so work began.
In our weekly series, we go around the world to find the most beautiful, weird and wonderful hotels. From caves to converted prisons, expect the unexpected. This week, we’re celebrating Christmas with a cool hotel made of ice.
What’s the gimmick? Newly rebuilt every year the IceHotel is created from tonnes of snow and ice, in the village of Jukkasjarvi, in Lapland. Although it can drop to -30 C outside, it never gets colder than -5 to -8 degrees inside. The hotel is filled with art made from ice, the beds are made of igloo style blocks of ice and every morning, hot lingonberry juice is offered to warm you up.
Why stay? The IceHotel has everything. On arrival you will be given special insulating clothes and reindeer blankets to fight off any cold. You’ll get your own locker for your luggage and you are advised to pack long johns! Some guidelines from the hotel include leaving your luggage at reception: “Your luggage will be stored in a locked luggage room during your stay. If you bring it to your room, it will freeze during the night.”
One of the pleasures of staying is the surrounding areas, there are night trips to discover the Northern Lights, dog sledding transfers from the airport and evening sauna trips to warm you up. The IceHotel is also offering space travel, having partnered with Virgin Galactic with reservations on the world’s first private space expedition.
The hotel also offers technical trips, where you can learn about CO2 emissions and the technology used to create and manage hotels like this. It’s got an onsite chapel for the coolest wedding imaginable. Oh and a trip to the legendary Ice Bar is a must: it’s so popular it’s been licensed all over the world
Off The Beaten Track: Seeing The Northern Lights 2014
The Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis, are one of the most amazing and awe inspiring natural phenomena you will see in your entire life. Yes, we know that’s a big statement and we stand by it! Here’s the Purple Travel guide to the Northern Lights 2014.
The natural light show is caused when collisions between charged particles in the ionosphere release mass energy and light in multiple colours, which will leave your jaw on the floor. The mysterious Northern Lights 2014 are a wonder to behold and their magical as well as atmospheric formations completely win over anyone lucky enough to actually experience them.
Oh! You lucky things, there’s still lots of time to book as winter 2014 has been characterized as the “Solar Maximum Period” and therefore predicted to be the best aurora season in many years. Bear in mind though the lights are visible only under dark skies between the months of September to April, preferably under a clear, cloudless sky.
Usually seen between 5pm and 2am, it is important to be away from artificial light (and to bring a thermos of coffee with you!) No month guarantees better sightings than another but December to February offer the longest hours of darkness, while the months of autumn and spring are likely to offer more stable weather conditions and often see more aurora activity.
If you head for the area known as the auroral oval that sits above the Arctic and sub-Arctic, you’ll have the best chance of seeing the lights. The best options and most easily accessible of these destinations are Iceland, Sweden, Finland, Norway and Canada. Our top choices include the Hotel Ranga in the Iceland’s southern countryside, the Aurora Sky Station at Abisko in Swedish Lapland or just outside Tromso in Norway.
Northern Lights tours are popular and give visitors the best chance of catching the lights. There are actually plenty of options for anyone willing to spend a few days in the icy landscapes. A romantic Northern Light Cruise could be a good honeymoon option, or the Northern Light tour will give the ultimate Arctic Circle Experience.
Gothenburg, as its name may suggest, is vastly infested with activities for the darkly inclined. While as a goth, you may prefer to explore at night, there are plenty of places where you can seek refuge from direct sunlight in Sweden’s second city.
Gothenburg in winter
Begin your gothic getaway in the defunct, graffitied power station situated beside the giant Älvsborgsbron. Now known as Röda Sten, this is one of Sweden’s coolest art centres. Here you’ll find many of your own kind amongst it four gritty floors, along with a number of modern art exhibitions. Wear head-to-toe black and stand ominously in a corner, shocking unbeknown tourists who will only assume you’re part of some morbid, avant-garde installation.
The building also houses an indie-style cafe with summertime riverside seating (avoid), weekly live music (enjoy) and offbeat one-offs like punk bike races, boxing matches and stand-up comedy (definitely avoid – cracking a smile is not good for your image).
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was based in Sweden
Hungry after a day’s hard gothing about, why not head over to the Salrosen restaurant. Unfortunately, they do not serve fresh blood or bat’s heads, but they do serve up some mean vegetarian cuisine, which is pretty much second best. A 1970s survivor, this laid-back student haunt is a Haga institution (note the photos of passed-on regulars above the counter). Or if that’s not your bag, head along the leafy Vasagatan Boulevard, to Java Kaffebar, a café thick with dreadlocks, dyed hair and nipple rings.
Gothin’ about
Where else would you find a goth than in… a cemetery, of course. The Eastern cemetery in Gothenburg was designed by architect J. H. Strömberg and is one of the most beautiful cemeteries in Scandinavia (n.b. we mean this in the way a dead bird is beautiful, not a glorious sunrise – that’s just sick). The huge hill on its west side hosts some magnificent mausoleums, perfect for doing some après-dinner Ouija boards.
Next hot foot it to Barbarella, which opened in 1991 as a store for fetish clothes and shoes. After frequent requests from customers and some appearances on MTV, Barbarella decided to stop selling clothes and became a full-time piercing studio. The studio is now located at Lilla Drottningatan in the city center of Gothenburg, offering our customers the largest and widest collection of piercing jewellery in the whole of Scandinavia. Get yourself sufficiently perforated with as much metal as you can fit in your face, then take your transformed image on a Gothed-up night out.
Home to Swedish death metal bands such as Nihilist and Carnage, Gothenburg offers an excellent after-dark scene for the goth crowd. The street Andra Långgatan has become a hub for the alternative and creative occupation of Gothenburg, with new bars, cafes and unusual shops popping-up all the time. Truckstop Alaska is an underground rock bar in the heart of the former industrial districts of Hisingen. Although you have to be a member to get in, the hassle of joining will only add to the feeling that you’ve stepped into some dark enclave of the occult, where all kinds of sordid affairs take place…