Lego -Pompeii

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Today, I shall take you on a new trip we shall go to see a miniature of a doomed city. You will ask which city. Well, the miniature represents Pompeii city. You know the one city that had a volcano erupting and that in the process was destroyed and also at the same time very well preserved. But let’s go back to the miniature. The miniature is made out of Lego and represents the city before being destroyed. It was created by Ryan McNaught of Melbourne, an artist known as “The Brickman”[2]. Here its a video I found on YouTube about what they did and how and what they choose

https://www.thebrickman.com/throwback-thursday-lego-brick-pompeii/

The miniature of the city is exhibited in a museum in Australia, so that’s where we can find it, in Nicholson Museum.

I hope you enjoyed!

Hue park -Vietnam

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Today I shall take you on a new trip. We will go far away, to Vietnam, to Hue. We will try to find an abandoned amusement park. For an unknown reason, this park was abandoned even if it had all the chances to be a great place. It was supposed to be a water park. It is guarded by a dragon, a beautiful dragon, even if it is starting to decay( some say that besides the dragon, there is also a human guardian that might not let you pass inside the park). The dragon is situated in the middle of the lake. You can actually go on a kind bridge inside the dragon. I think it was supposed to be an aquarium, or so it looks like. While you walk inside the dragon, you think you are really in a dragon. You can even go to the mouth of the dragon and enjoy the view. From there you can see the lake and the park. It is a big park that could be a big attraction. Even in this state still brings enough people to see it.

Some waterslides were supposed to go in the water. There are also big pools that were probably designated for water shows as nearby them is a kind of amphitheater.

At some point, it seems the park was inhabited by some crocodiles, but it seems they left the premises with the help of PETA.

The park is interesting to see. Some rumors say it might be cursed, and that’s why it wasn’t finished. Anyhow, we don’t know the reasons it wasn’t finished were. For sure, it does attract people.

Bellow, it is a video that I found about it that will help you more to understand :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeG5oz3U92M

Here more about the city: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hu%E1%BA%BF

When the starts aligns- Islamic 12 century bathhouse discovered by chance in Seville.

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Today, I shall take you on a new trip we shall go, to Spain in Seville. You might ask me what we would do there? Well, we shall enjoy a good drink in a bar. It is an old bar named Cervercería Giralda, it seems to have been open since 1923, but what makes it interesting is that recently the owners after, deciding to take advantage of the pandemic time and started to renovate the place they found out that the place is way older. It seems that long ago like somewhere in the 12 century there was a bathhouse that preserved quite well.

There were rumors and also some old documents that indicated that on bar place might have been such a place, but most of the people thought they were just stories and that the look of ceiling and walls were more recent and that they belonged to neomudéjar style or a revival of the Islamic style. Fortunately, when the renovation, was done there was also an archaeologist involved. So the chance was on their side, so they discovered that the place was much older. What they uncovered was from the 12 century from the time of the Almohad caliphate. The decorations are well preserved, better than any know bathhouses from the Iberian Peninsula.

So we can have a drink and admire the place and enjoy the story.

Here you can find more about it: Islamic 12th-century bathhouse uncovered in Seville tapas bar | Spain | The Guardian

Bar Cervecería Giralda | Un Bar de Tapas histórico (cerveceriagiralda.com)

El neomudéjar, un estilo español | Turismo Madrid (esmadrid.com)

Almohad Caliphate – Wikipedia

Annabell

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Today, I shall take you on a new trip. We will go to meet someone. Who will we meet with is Annabelle. She is a doll, but not a common one it seems. Annabelle seems to be a possessed doll, or so the story goes. But before we shall meet her, let me tell you more about her. Sometime in 1970, she was given as a gift to a young student woman by her mother. At first, Annabelle seemed like a regular doll. But after a short time, she often changed the way she was standing. Also, the woman who received the doll started to notice writings on the walls. First, they thought that someone was getting inside the house and writing the messages on the walls as a joke. They even started to put signs to see what was moved around the house. In the end, they noticed that the doll moved to other rooms than it was initially. Annabelle started to make herself noticed. So the woman and her roommate, from that time decided to do something about the doll, as the doll was starting to creep them out. So they decided to bring a medium to learn more about the doll. The medium that came told them that the doll was possessed by a young girl’s spirit. The spirit didn’t have who to play and when she found the doll she tried to get in and possess her. This spirit even asked permission to use the doll, to live inside her. The two women agreed, considering it was the spirit of a young girl. But, things didn’t go as they thought they will. This spirit that inhabited the doll was called Annabelle. Annabelle didn’t prove to be a good girl. She started to react badly, she was doing all kinds of evil things to her roommates. It seems one of the women had a boyfriend who didn’t like Annabelle. So she started to scare this guy, even attacking him to make him go away. The women decided in the end to bring someone that could help them with the doll. They contacted their local priest, he told them that they were all in danger, that soon things shall escalate to a worse situation. Later, the priest asked for the help of some paranormal researchers, who said to the women that they didn’t allow a young girl to inhabit the doll as they first thought. What was possessing Annabelle was a demon who will soon put all of them in danger. Even more, as they gave their permission for him to inhabit the doll. They asked the priest to come and bless and exorcise the apartment. The priest said some nasty things to the doll, and it seems later he got into a car accident.

The paranormal researchers on their name Ed and Lorrain Warren(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_and_Lorraine_Warren) brought Annabelle with them in the car. Their trouble just started with that. They were close to having an accident. So, in the end, they decided to put Annabelle on a glass box and exhibit her in a museum that they made.

Annabelle was the inspiration for a few movies and books. 

We can’t know if she did all of those things she was accused of. Annabelle might just be a regular doll about whom people invented things. Some say that even at the moment, she does harm to some. Let’s hope that everything is just a story. Or if not that she will behave nicely with us.

Here are some links that I found over the internet that might help you to find more if you want her to haunt you more.

Here are some links that I found over the internet that might help you to find more if you want her to haunt you more

Annabelle (doll) – Wikipedia

(152) Annabelle the Doll: The Origins | Documentary – YouTube

Robert the doll

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Today I shall take you on a new trip. We will go to a museum to visit a doll. This doll is a special one. So grab my hand, and let’s find out more about this doll. We have to be careful. The doll might get upset and curse us.

Why is it so special? Because it is supposed that was alive or acting like being alive. It is believed that the doll was manufactured by Steiff company from Germany. Richard Steiff was the German designer that helped design the Teddy Bear.

Robert the doll was given as a gift. A grandfather gave his nephew the doll. He bought it from Germany around the year 1904. Some say that the doll was manufactured by a woman employed by Eugene’s parents. In this part, the story goes that she put a spell on it as revenge. Whatever version you believe, it seems that the doll liked to do things around the house, like moving things talking.

At first, everything seemed ok, but the doll started to appear alive with time. The little boy that received the doll was Eugene Otto( painter and author). He began to say that the doll was alive. He wasn’t the only one who thought that the doll was alive. His parents started to feel the same after they heard noises coming from their child’s room one night. When they got into Eugene’s room, they saw him frightened, saying that Robert the Doll had started to move the furniture. Often when Eugene was doing something nasty, he would say that the doll put him to do it

His parents heard them often talk in different voices. On many occasions, Robert the Doll made things that scared people. Years after Eugen grew up, he returned to his parent’s house and found Robert once again. After his parent’s death, Eugene moved with his wife in his parent’s house, and Robert started to do nasty things once again. Eugene at first gave Robert the doll one room, but later, when his wife complained that she felt uneasy with Robert, Eugene moved the doll to the attic. Staying there wasn’t too pleasant for Robert, so the story goes that he was heard by visitors pacing up and down. He will also be seen at another room window by kids from outside. Or find it in another corner of the room than the left one. Robert the doll lived in this house until 1994. Until that time, Robert did many nasty things to curious people to come near him. Some even blame him for car accidents, broken bones, accidents, or other bad things that were happening to them. Robert moved in 1994 to a museum. The museum’s name is East Martello Museum. Even here, the doll still does nasty things makes the people that take care of the museum feel a bit frightened. Some still blame the doll after they visit it for all the troubles that come after

It seems that Robert doesn’t like to be touched or photographed. People have issues when they try to take pictures. Pictures are not good, or equipment doesn’t work, at least that’s what people are saying. I hope with us he will be gentle.

Here is a link that I found on the internet, where people are talking about Robert and his effects. (149) Robert “The Haunted Doll” Rules After Dark at Ft. East Martello Museum Key West – YouTube

I hope you enjoyed our trip!

The death that hides in the water-Lake Natron, Tanzania

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Today, I shall take you on another trip. It will be a long trip. Our destination is Lake Natron in Tanzania. You will ask, why go so far away? Well, it is because the lake is kind of special. I m not sure if this is the best way. It is special because of the water composition. It is a salt lake similar to the Dead Sea. In the salt aspect and how the water evaporates and leaves the salt and other minerals and different because the lake is also highly alkaline, has a lot of natron in( natron is a combination between baking soda and sodium carbonate).

Natron is an old substance used in different ways over the years. It has been known since ancient Egypt. It was used as a cleaning product for the house and the body. Blended with oil was used as a soap. From natron was also made a kind of mouthwash using natron undiluted. Mixed with other things was used as an early antiseptic for minor wounds. Egyptians used natron also in the process of mummification. Natron helped in the drying process. Mixed with castor oil was used to obtain a smokeless fuel used by Egyptians to paint the walls of their tombs. Inside the house, it was used as an insecticide repellent. Another use was to bleach the leather.

Natron was also used as a meat preserver. Now that I told you a bit about what the substance can do let’s go back to the lake. This lake ph.’s is relatively high, around 10,5 or higher, almost as high as ammonia. Even if the composition of the water makes a living in such conditions quite harsh, there are still some fishes in the water(Alcolapia latilabris), some algae, and flamingos that feed on the algae. Flamingos like this lake as they are not disturbed. We can’t swim in this lake because the water is caustic. The most minor cut we would have or wound that we could have would make us be more in pain because of the water effect on the skin. During the dry season, when the water is lower, many birds’ bodies are coming out of water. They are pretty well preserved, as you can see in the picture below in the link: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/this-alkaline-african-lake-turns-animals-into-stone-445359/In the link above, you can see photos of the bird that died and were conserved by the lake water. They look creepy and, in a way, alive. The temperature in the lake is around 60 Celsius degrees, a swim for some animals can be fatal and lead to death and a well-preserved calcified body. The lake can have a pin-red color because of the bacteria living inside the lake and feeding with salt. So let’s have a walk and enjoy the view! Here is a video that I found on YouTube about the lake. You can heave a look: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SML8K3WQfPY