UNDERGROUND BUNKER HOME: Village Of Vals, Switzerland

I love it when an unusual house is made from something you probably wouldn't even think possible.

In Switzerland in the village of Vals this underground bunker and tunnel has been made into a modern designer residence.

Extra stunning by night

The creators Search and Christian Muller architects designed this appealing home, and it comes with all the rooms, fixtures and fittings you would expect to find in your own house.

Special areas were also added like an underground pathway. The pictures here really give you an insight of what life would be like living here. I think it's fascinating.

Underground pathways

As you can see from the airel view of the house below, it would be quite hard to find - can you see it?

Here are some more pictures:

Entrance

Kitchen

Study

Lounge

Stairway to the upper floor

Could you live here?

WORLDWIDE ACCOMODATION FINDER

Simple Search criteria

What do you look for when your doing a hotel search for your short break and holidays? Price comparison?, User Reviews?, Accommodation Pictures?

If you have scoured the Internet you probably know it's not usually as simple as that, without going to a few different sites.

But there is a hotel finder site called Hotels Combined, that offer all of the above and more - and you can see everything from one place.

Whether you looking for Hong Kong Hotels, a romantic break in Venice or any other destination from around the world, the website enables you to do a quick easy search.

Example of Hotel Results Search

All you have to do is select your destination, input your check in and out dates, guests staying, rooms required and you are taken to a list of suitable hotels.

Lets say you selected a search for accommodation in Paris, the results page will show you the price of all hotels in the area, so you can easily compare them against each other. You can see all the features the hotel has to offer, as well as pictures, a map, user reviews/ratings and nearby attractions.

It's very informative and i found it really useful to help me in my decision making.

Hotel Details Pages

Hotels combined are also looking to spread the word about their great service such as a blog post, a Tweet or becoming a fan on Facebook.

For doing this an amount of money will be sent to a Hotels Combined Charity that are World Vision, WWF and Make-A-Wish.

You can find out more about the site and the charity by using the links within this post.

DESERTED TOWN IN ITALY TO BE RE-DEVELOPED: Balestrino

The actual origins of this town are still a bit of a mystery, as it was constructed really slowly in pieces over centuries. We do know though that in the 1100's it was owned by the Benedictine abbey of San Pietro dei Monti.

Residents were evacuated from this beautiful hilltop town in 1953 due to movements in the earths surface. Italy had been hit by many earthquakes in this 19th century period.

The town was abandoned for the reason: 'geological instability' as it was considered dangerous to live in.

Some residents actually built new homes along the main road which was considered a safe area, and it has 500 permanent occupants living there. You can expect to find a grocery store, pharmacy, post office and 3 restaurants.

In the abandoned area you can still see the ruins of the Church of St. Andrea, the Church of St Giorgio and cemetery, the Chapel of Monte Croce. You are also able to see right over the Mediterranean Sea and mountains from many parts.

This area has remained untouched for many years, and is still in a good preserved condition, that is it currently undergoing an application for planning permission for re-development to bring it back to life.

I wonder if this will be allowed considering its earth quake past? An earthquake hasn't hit for years, but when will the next one be? And how will they be able to secure the unstable ground?

SAFE EUROPE TRAVEL: Euro Trains

Alot of people don't like the idea of flying or taking a ferry to their destination.

Have you ever thought about using Euro Trains instead?

If your travelling from the United Kingdom you can reach destinations such as Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Netherlands and Lille, via Euro Trains high speed train service.

Starting prices are from just £59.

MIDI CAR FRIDGE

This RC89400 12v Midi fridge is ideal to take with you if your looking to go on a picnic, or you intend on stopping somewhere to eat in your car on your journey.

The fridge is a 17 litre capacity with a Thermoelectric cooler and warmer. It can cool to approximately 17C below ambient temperature.

As you can see it will easily hold a 2 litre bottle, and you will still have room to put other items in there too.

You get a 2m power cord that has a cigarette lighter plug end, so you can easily run it inside your car.

ENHANCE YOUR DRIVING EXPERIENCE: Car & Truck Accessories

You can get some good truck accessories that will not just enhance the look of your car, but can be very useful in general too.

Like Cargo liners for example. These are great if your putting stuff in the boot for a trip that may be prone to leak, or you may keep your pets in the back of your car. Any leakages or mess can then be wiped up easily without staining your actual car.

You can get these from website CARid, as well as other useful accessories like rain guards, GPS systems, Superchips, Licence Plates,Dash kits and more.

All this as well as practical parts like Headlights, Billet Grilles, Spoilers and Exhaust systems.

The Dash Kits in particular is something that can transform the whole look of your car, and make it look like you have bought a brand new one.

As you can see there is so much you can do. Have a look at the site yourself for some inspiration.

THE TOWN WHERE A MINE FIRE STILL BURNS: Centralia, Pennsylvania

The Before and After

This was once a thriving town in Pennsylvania called Centralia. Now as you look at the after picture above you can see it has fell into a sorry state.

Centralia had a mine fire back in1962, but it never went out. No one knows how the fire started, but there was speculation of trash that was being burned caught on an exposed vein of coal.

Over time the the highways started to fill with smoke, underwater gas tanks became heated and there were even stories of person swallowing sink holes.

Heat cracked roads

Lots of the residents moved on because of the safety aspect, but there are still a few people who insisted on staying on. In fact there were 1,000 residents counted in 1981 and a mere 9 who still remained in 2007.

Imagine that your one of 9 living in a town that's dammed? They stay on still knowing that the fire is still burning down below very slowly, and could probably rise at any moment. How scary is that?

Smoke that rises from underground

There was a government relocation programme in place to re-house residents until 2005. But the people who remained refused to be bought out.

Most of the buildings have been been demolished either by humans or nature, after they were condemned by the government.

To note: I have listed this as a tourist attraction, but it's not an official one for the obvious reasons that you have read. Although there are residents the place is dangerous. So if you do go it is at your own risk.