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In our roundup of NCS Travel tales this week: five-star luxurious in Turkey, a fairytale citadel with an underground Nazi advanced, plus a bikini downside on an Australian bus.
Canadian winters will not be for the unprepared.
Temperatures can drop as little as -4 F (-20 C) in Toronto and Montreal, so when the deep freeze hits, of us head the place it’s heat: deep underground.
Toronto’s PATH and Montreal’s RÉSO are huge subterranean cities-within-cities the place urbanites work, store, commute and socialize, totally protected against the harsh climate above. Take a look here.
By distinction, in Qatar, the place summer season temperatures can hit 120 F (49 C), it’s excessive warmth which locals work onerous to keep away from. Rather than sheltering indoors or in super-cooled buying malls, nonetheless, folks can now comfortably stroll outdoors thanks to a brand new innovation: an air-conditioned “forest” on Gewan Island.
The Crystal Walk promenade, stretching over a couple of third of a mile, or 450 meters, supplies shade beneath synthetic branches coated in 10 tons of crystals that give it its identify. Here’s how it works.
Finally, the local weather disaster is making winemaking an more and more unstable enterprise, however one winemaker in Namibia has labored out how to produce award-winning wines in certainly one of the driest locations in the world.
At Neuras Wine and Wildlife Estate, on the fringe of the Namib Desert, grapes are grown beneath netting to preserve off hungry baboons, that means there’s loads for us tipple-loving primates to take pleasure in. This is how they cracked the code.
Underground Poland
Here are two extra tales of the subterranean, one sinister and one salty.
The first is for NCS subscribers. In Poland’s Owl Mountains, an underground Nazi advanced lies beneath the fairytale Baroque structure of Książ Castle. It’s tied to certainly one of the Third Reich’s most mysterious building initiatives and, legend has it, a misplaced practice crammed with stolen gold.
A four-hour drive away, simply southeast of Krakow, lies the Wieliczka Salt Mine — half cathedral, half industrial relic, half theme park.
Every day, up to 9,000 guests descend into the mine, which was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978. There are greater than 150 miles of tunnels throughout 9 underground ranges, and friends are inspired to lick the walls.
This villa prices $50,000 an evening. Here’s what you get for the cash
With new openings in Italy, Poland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, Robert De Niro and his enterprise companions are increasing Nobu’s resort chain throughout Europe quick. NCS joined them at the opening of their new hotel-restaurant on Rome’s iconic Via Veneto. Watch here.
Paradise Bay, in Turkey’s Bodrum Peninsula, is a hotbed of thrilling new five-star openings. Exclusive villas right here can price round $50,000 a night.
Villa Maçakızı, widespread with A-list celebrities, is certainly one of the greatest established. ”Whatever folks need, no matter their wildest creativeness,” the crew can “put that together and make it happen,” says normal supervisor Andrew Jacobs.
Dining on the metro – it’s a factor in London
Eating on the London Underground is normally frowned upon, however certainly one of the metropolis’s most uncommon eating experiences lies at the northern finish of the Victoria tube line inside a decommissioned practice carriage. Supperclub.tube hosts up to 36 friends for multi-course tasting menus, served between moquette seats and polished chrome fittings.
Bikinis have been banned on a Sydney bus after modesty complaints.
Locals say passengers in swimwear are “off-putting” and “confronting.”
Italy’s well-known “Lovers’ Arch” collapsed on Valentine’s Day.
Better to have loved and lost than by no means to have cherished in any respect.
Luck be a woman with Chinese sodiac predictions.
See what’s in store for 2026 as we enter the Year of the Fire Horse.
A civil rights icon. An enormous avalanche. A royal scandal.
What do you bear in mind from the week that was?