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Let's explore unusual places of our planet and expand our horizons!
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00:00It's called the Water Cube, and for good reason.
00:03The Beijing National Aquatic Center indeed looks like a cluster of bubbles.
00:08And when it lights up at night, it's even more spectacular.
00:11This amazing show of lights led people to compare this stadium with Bilbao Art Museum,
00:16another great example of contemporary and modern design, located in Spain.
00:22Back in 2008, this sports center hosted the main events for the swimming, diving, and synchronized swimming Olympics.
00:30After the Games, the Water Cube was closed for renovations, which aimed to turn a part of the stadium into
00:36a water park.
00:37Its intricate and creative design is equally as beautiful, with bubbles and jellyfish hanging from the high ceiling.
00:44The construction of the soccer stadium from Johannesburg in South Africa started in 1986, but was repurposed for the 2010
00:52World Cup.
00:53It features 94,000 seats and a unique design, with a facade made out of a highly compressed, fibrous concrete.
01:01This material allows the light to poke through at night, offering sports fans a spectacular view.
01:08A floating stadium? You'll need to fly to Singapore for that and visit the float.
01:13It opened in 2007, and hosted parts of the Youth Olympic Games in 2010.
01:18To this day, it's the largest floating stage in the world.
01:22It features a structure completely made out of steel, and it's a bit larger than a football pitch.
01:28It also has a capacity of 30,000 people, but if you're ever afraid of water, it may not be
01:35the place for you.
01:36Not a stadium per se, sure, but the Burj Al Arab Hotel helipad was for a brief period the world's
01:44tallest tennis court.
01:45Two famous tennis players, Roger Federer and André Agassi, played a couple of amicable rounds up there in the sky,
01:52at the 1,053-foot hotel located in Dubai.
01:56During the same tennis exhibition events, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal played the game on water, in Qatar, on a
02:04partially submerged court.
02:06Cricket, the sport, not the insect, may not be as famous as it used to be, but in this interesting
02:11location, it's played 2,000 feet underground.
02:15A Cumbrian slate mine, dubbed the Honister Slate Mine, is the host for such an event, and it's located in
02:21the north of England.
02:22The first match ever happened back in 2013 between two English village teams.
02:29The home of Sweden's national men's hockey team is called the Eriksson Globe, and you can find it in Stockholm.
02:36It seats up to 14,000 fans, and is considered the biggest spherical building in the world.
02:42The concept surrounding this building centers around our galaxy, the Milky Way, in which the Eriksson Globe is portrayed as
02:50the Sun.
02:51The architects behind this project designed the entire solar system at a 1 to 20 million scale.
02:57Planets are scattered throughout the city of Stockholm and other regions in Sweden.
03:04A lot of sports are played in Switzerland, with football, skiing, and ice hockey being fan favorites.
03:11But probably the most interesting of them all is polo played on the frozen surface of the Lake of St.
03:17Moritz, an alpine resort level located at about 6,000 feet above sea level.
03:22The icy surface of the lake has even been hosting horse races ever since 1907.
03:29The highest football field in Europe is also in Switzerland, and it's called the Otmar Hitzfeld Stadium.
03:36It stands at a jaw-dropping 6,500 feet above sea level.
03:41For those that don't have a fear of heights, the views are equally as beautiful.
03:45The stadium is surrounded by a mountain peak twice as high.
03:49Because of the high altitude, Otmar Hitzfeld Stadium turns into a ski resort during the colder season.
03:56The Faroe Islands are a series of 18 islands located in the North Atlantic Ocean, the midpoint between Iceland and
04:04Norway.
04:05They're the home of some of the most amazing waterfalls in the world, beautifully colored cottages, and a tiny sports
04:12area called Aja Stadium, dubbed the most beautiful stadium in the world.
04:16It's almost completely surrounded by water, caught between the Norwegian Sea and Lake Nyaravaden.
04:22Because of this unusual location, it even has an employee, whose job is to retrieve the balls that have been
04:28accidentally thrown into the sea.
04:29The stunning historic center of the Italian city of Siena is called Piazza del Campo, and twice a year, it
04:37completely transforms during the Palio di Siena horse race.
04:40During the summer months in July and August, riders and their horses get together bareback, each dressed in the colors
04:47corresponding to the city yards they come from.
04:50It's estimated that about 40,000 people gather around to witness the race each time.
04:55For all the pomp and ceremony of the event, the race itself only lasts for a minute and a half.
05:02That's the amount of time needed for the rider to complete three laps around the city square.
05:07Not all stadiums are famous for their beauty or unique architecture.
05:12Estadio Hernández Siles, for example located in La Paz, Bolivia, is the home stadium of the national team.
05:18And a delicate subject for some famous football players, it became notorious for being an extremely tough place to play
05:26for foreign teams.
05:27Mostly because it's located at 11,932 feet above sea level.
05:33Up there, the air is so thin, some find it really challenging to catch their breaths during a match.
05:39Lionel Messi was said to have gotten sick here during a World Cup qualifier in 2013 because of altitude sickness.
05:46Another famous player mentioned in 2017 that he needed an oxygen mask to play and even called the place inhumane
05:53for sports fans and athletes.
05:56Home to one of Europe's most profitable football clubs, Real Madrid is the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.
06:03The team has a whopping nine European titles in their portfolio.
06:07It was opened back in 1947 and it has been renovated twice, in 1982 and 2001.
06:13It may not be impressive due to its architecture or size by any means, but it has seen action by
06:20some of the best football players in history.
06:22Renz Puskas, Zinedine Zidane, or Cristiano Ronaldo.
06:28Probably the most iconic football venue in the world is Wembley Stadium, located in the United Kingdom.
06:34It also has an impressive capacity, being able to host around 90,000 people.
06:41Dubbed the home of football, it's the largest sports area in the UK and the second largest stadium in Europe.
06:48Wembley is also known for its incredible entertainment.
06:52The band Queen made history here during the 1986 concert.
06:56In 2017, Adele broke the record for the highest attendance during a show, with 98,000 people gathering to see
07:03her perform.
07:04The reason why a lot of artists love performing here so much is that the acoustics are really special.
07:11Crowd recordings were used as audio benchmarks by a design team,
07:15which then combined sophisticated computer models with the unique architecture of the stadium to give way for the perfect audio
07:21experience.
07:23But this stadium wasn't always as it is today.
07:26It was completely demolished in 2003, and the fact that people had to say goodbye to the initial White Twin
07:31Towers didn't sit well with all the fans.
07:34On the other hand, since there is an arch now supporting the roof, there are no stick pillars anymore,
07:40which means better views for a lot more people.
07:46Behind those huge steel doors is one of the most guarded places on Earth.
07:50It's known as Site-R, or the Raven Rock Mountain Complex.
07:55You'll find it in Pennsylvania.
07:57The construction is 60 stories underground.
07:59It is said to be a safe place for people in case of a natural or human-made disaster.
08:04There's not a lot of information online about this mysterious place,
08:08but what we do know is that it's equipped with 38 communication systems.
08:12It's obviously not available for visits via Google Earth,
08:15but you can catch a quick glance at the two gates that face the complex.
08:20Vatican City is one of the most famous enclaves on Earth,
08:23and it's certainly worth a visit due to its wonderful architecture and vast list of art pieces to check out.
08:30One place, however, will always be off-limits for visitors,
08:33the Vatican Secret Archives.
08:35They have some of the oldest and rarest books on Earth.
08:38These archives are available only to a limited number of people,
08:42and since they have been visited by a small number of people so far,
08:45they also trigger a lot of weird theories.
08:48For example, that there may be books proving there's life outside our planet.
08:53If you're fascinated by shipwrecks,
08:56you'll be interested to know that one of the largest wrecks you can see on Google Earth
08:59is on North Sentinel Island, India.
09:02It used to be called the SS Jacin.
09:04It was a Bolivian ferry that sank in the area back in 2003.
09:08The reason why people can't visit it physically isn't because of the ship itself,
09:13but because the island is home to the world's most dangerous tribe.
09:17We don't really know how many people live there,
09:19but it was estimated that between 50 to 400 people call this place home,
09:23and they really don't like tourists.
09:25No person that tried to reach them survived.
09:28Also, to protect them, their privacy, and their special status,
09:33the island is closely monitored by the Indian authorities.
09:36That's mostly because it's believed the locals don't have any immunity to modern diseases.
09:41So being in contact with foreigners might be dangerous for the tribe's people,
09:45since they've never seen the outer world.
09:48A huge pink bunny appeared seemingly out of nowhere in the Italian Caletto Fava Mountains back in 2005.
09:54Besides the locals, some people stumbled upon it online, too.
09:59They were puzzled by the discovery.
10:01Unfortunately, that 200-foot-tall bunny is completely gone today.
10:05You can still find the images of it online, though.
10:08The unusual object was designed by artists from Vienna.
10:12They encouraged tourists to climb, jump, or even take a nap on top of the large rabbit.
10:16The whole purpose of the project was to allow people to experience
10:20what it would be like to live as smaller creatures.
10:22The bunny didn't have any removal date at the time it was placed there,
10:26and was expected to last at least until 2025.
10:29But Mother Nature had other plans.
10:32A Japanese artist decided to move back to her little home village named Nagoro.
10:37But she soon found out that most of her neighbors were moving to bigger cities.
10:41To deal with loneliness, she started putting together scarecrow-like dolls,
10:45or kakashi, and placing them all over her garden.
10:48She didn't stop there, though.
10:50The artist soon began doing the same with many other places in her village,
10:54creating dolls and placing them as if they were taking part in various human activities.
10:59These dolls keep moving around, too.
11:01But the woman likes to stay true to her story and insists she doesn't touch them.
11:05You can see the images of this quirky village on Google Maps.
11:09This weird portal was discovered via online maps in New Baltimore, New York.
11:14It gave people all sorts of bad dreams.
11:17With spooky-looking buildings and all sorts of blurry figures,
11:20this area soon became a source for many weird internet theories.
11:24Turns out it was nothing more than a technical issue,
11:27which resulted in those images being rendered in a distorted manner.
11:31Either way, if you look for these images on Google,
11:33you won't be able to unsee them.
11:36This cute miniature world map was created by an artist from Denmark.
11:40He continuously worked on this tedious project from 1944 until 1967.
11:45Using mostly his hands and just a few tools for moving heavy rocks around,
11:50he gathered stones at the edge of the water,
11:52then recreated the map of the world on the surface of this lake.
11:55During the winter, he was able to use a sled to transport larger pieces of rock over the ice
12:00and then place them in the perfect position.
12:03Apart from the continents themselves,
12:05the map also features rivers and lakes,
12:07as well as some other famous landmarks.
12:10Care to have a look at a sea without any coasts?
12:12Search for the Sargasso Sea.
12:15You'll find it in the northern Atlantic Ocean.
12:17This weird sea is surrounded by four ocean currents and no dry land at all.
12:21It got its name from the seaweed that grows there.
12:24Sargassum.
12:26Fingerprints on the lens of a satellite camera?
12:28You may be tricked into thinking this if you search for the Finger Maze.
12:31It's located in the city of Brighton, UK,
12:34and is a large fingerprint created in Hove Park.
12:37It also has a maze at the center.
12:39It can be really hard and time-consuming to look for wild animals on Google Earth,
12:44but the Geo Browser does have a nice feature that can help if you're eager to see hippos and flamingos
12:49in their natural habitat.
12:50Try googling animals from above and start scrolling through these images.
12:54This unique feature can take you from Kenya to Namibia and even all the way to Antarctica,
12:59where you can see emperor penguins.
13:02There are some places on Google Maps that, for specific reasons, aren't available for the online public.
13:08Like the Royal Palace in Amsterdam.
13:10If you head over there via Google Earth, you'll see that everything around the Dutch Royal Palace is still visible,
13:16like the vegetation and roads, but the construction itself is blurred from all angles.
13:21That's probably because local authorities want to keep the unique views of the palace for the eyes of physical visitors
13:26only.
13:27The same goes for the Tantaco National Park in Chile.
13:31This one is a privately owned nature reserve that can only be seen on Google Maps from a distance.
13:36Once you reach a certain point, the zoom feature stops working.
13:39Some people say that since it's a nature preserve, it may be home to some endangered species,
13:44and extreme measures are taken for their protection.
13:47You know how a certain brand of fried chicken has a certain kernel on their logo?
13:51Yeah, you won't see any of these logos in high resolution on Google Maps.
13:55That's because the online map uses specific algorithms to detect people's faces and blur them out.
14:01As you can see, it's not always really that accurate.
14:05It's called Snake Island, and the Brazilian authorities prohibit people from visiting it.
14:10For good reason.
14:11You'll find the island near the city of Sao Paulo in Brazil.
14:15It's said to be home to over 4,000 snakes.
14:18Some of the most venomous types of reptiles on Earth call this place home.
14:22If that's not creepy enough, how about that some of them are so dangerous
14:26that a small drop of their venom can permanently damage the human skin?
14:31You can see the shape of the island on Google Earth.
14:33But the more you zoom in, the blurrier it becomes.
14:37Here's another cool thing you can do on Google Earth.
14:40Time travel.
14:41Well, at least sort of.
14:42You won't be able to travel back in time and tell yourself to study more for that tricky exam.
14:46But you can see certain historical images of places you like.
14:50You can check if this feature works by looking at the upper left corner of the screen.
14:54If you can see a small icon with a clock, it may allow you to scroll some years back.
14:59But you can also see how sunlight affects Earth if you turn on the sunlight feature.
15:08You're driving along a deserted road.
15:11There are lifeless fields on the sides and high mountains in front.
15:15You stop near a yellow sign.
15:17It says, the phenomenon that defies gravity.
15:21You go a little further, drive uphill, and stop the car.
15:25A strange anomaly occurs right there.
15:29You release the gas pedal, turn off the engine, and take your hands off the steering wheel.
15:34Your car is moving up.
15:37You get out of the vehicle and see it from the side.
15:40The road rises, and the car rolls further as if the road goes down.
15:45You can put a bowling ball, and it will also move against the laws of physics.
15:50This place is called Magnetic Hill.
15:53It's located 18 miles from the Indian city of Leh.
15:56Every year, thousands of tourists come here to enjoy the picturesque mountain landscape
16:02and see the unusual phenomenon with their own eyes.
16:06There are many legends around this place.
16:08Locals believe this road leads to the sky.
16:11It draws good people up, and the bad ones get confused and can't find a way to reach the sky.
16:18Scientists have a different possible explanation.
16:21This hill has a strong magnetic force coming out deep from the ground.
16:25It's so powerful that planes flying over this place encounter interference with their navigational devices.
16:32Also, many travelers from all over the world reported GPS and compass failures.
16:38There may be a source of magnetic force here, but this theory has never been proven.
16:44Magnetic Hill is a powerful optical illusion.
16:46You think the road's going up, but it's going down.
16:50The shape of the surrounding landscape and the mountain horizon change the perception of the road and create an optical
16:57illusion.
16:58To see the next natural optical illusion, you need to get on a ship and go far away from the
17:04shore.
17:04You're in the middle of the sea.
17:06The sky and sea are divided by a straight line of water.
17:10There are no clouds, and the sun goes down.
17:13You're watching a beautiful sunset and see a bright green flash.
17:18It seems as if the sun has turned green, but the effect disappears after two seconds, and you see the
17:24orange-red light again.
17:26You can also observe the green flash at sunrise.
17:30This natural phenomenon happens when light passes through the atmosphere at a certain angle.
17:35The atmosphere bends the shape of the sun's rays and separates them into different colors.
17:41Combinations of these colors look like a green flash.
17:45There are several varieties of green flash, and the rarest one is green ray.
17:50Immediately after the sun sets over the horizon, a green ray of light releases into the sky.
17:55You can observe it when the green flash mixes with foggy air.
18:00The next illusion is located in the swamps.
18:04It's night.
18:05You're driving along a highway between two British cities.
18:08The moon is shining brightly, and you're driving off the road to a swampy area.
18:14Then you get out of the car and look at the dark green waters.
18:17There's no one around except croaking frogs.
18:21At this moment, strange orange lights appear in the air.
18:26It hangs right over the swamp and flies in different directions.
18:29It's like somebody's trying to light your way with a kerosene lamp.
18:33For centuries, people have observed this phenomenon and called it fool's fire or spook lights.
18:41Previously, people thought that somebody who was in trouble lit a torch to call for help.
18:46People walked towards the light and got into swamp traps.
18:50Today, science can explain the nature of phantom lights.
18:55Bioluminescent fungi and algae grow in swampy places and sometimes glow with a blue color.
19:01From a distance, this creates an illusion of little lights.
19:04The wind and water shake the algae, and it seems like the lights are flying.
19:10Also, there's a lot of plant material in the swamps.
19:13Leaves, grass, mud, clay, tree branches.
19:18This stuff decomposes quickly in damp conditions and releases methane.
19:22When methane contacts the air, it ignites and flies over the swamp in the form of a burning ball.
19:29This phenomenon is observed all over the world in swampy areas.
19:33But the most famous flying lights are located in the desert of West Texas.
19:38It's called Marfa Lights.
19:40A lot of people saw lights the size of a basketball flying over the desert.
19:44They have yellow, blue, and red shades.
19:48The lights flicker, merge, divide into two parts, fly high.
19:52You can see them several times a year under different weather conditions.
19:56There's no exact scientific explanation for Marfa Lights.
20:00But one of the theories says it's the headlights of cars passing on a neighboring highway.
20:05The heated air and the desolate flat terrain create the effect of flying balloons.
20:10It could also happen when cold air gets over warm air and light passes through them.
20:16Many people think Marfa Lights appear for the same reason as the lights in British swamps.
20:22There are huge reserves of oil and natural gas, including methane, in Texas.
20:27It comes out of the ground and fires up.
20:30You arrive in sunny California and stop the car at the foot of the St. Lucia Mountains.
20:36Here, you feel as if someone's watching you, but there's no people around.
20:41You raise your head and look at the mountains.
20:43There are silhouettes of huge people on the peaks.
20:47They are three to four times larger than an ordinary person,
20:50and they seem to be wearing raincoats and hats.
20:54They just look at you, and you feel their heavy gaze.
20:57You sweat and want to run away, but your legs don't listen to you.
21:01After a few seconds, the giants disappear.
21:04You get in the car and drive out of this place as quickly as possible.
21:08This phenomenon is called dark watchers.
21:11People first noticed it more than 300 years ago, but still, no one can explain its nature.
21:18The most common hypothesis says that the clouds create shadows that fall on the rocks.
21:23The human brain draws an image of giants from these shadows.
21:27This may be a mind deception.
21:29For many years, people have been telling each other about the watchers, so everyone sees what they believe in.
21:36Our next stop is Nashville, Indiana.
21:39There's a hotel here built in the 19th century.
21:42The building is well-preserved to this day and still welcomes guests.
21:47The name of the hotel is The Story Inn.
21:50There are 18 rooms, and each of them has a unique history and is made in a different style.
21:56The hotel preserves the atmosphere of the 19th century, so you won't find a lot of modern technologies here.
22:03You book a room, go up to the desired floor, and open the door.
22:06The room looks old, but cozy and neat.
22:10You put your things down and notice an old book on the table.
22:14As soon as you open it, your eyes widen.
22:17Each page tells about the paranormal activity that occurs in this hotel.
22:21You read in detail about each specific strange case that happened in hotel rooms.
22:26Behind each door, you can encounter different creepy things.
22:32The book contains dates and a detailed description of each strange case.
22:36It looks like a report or an administrator's journal.
22:40These books had already been here when the current hotel owner bought this building.
22:44The owner decided to keep them to attract tourists, and it worked.
22:48Fans of weird things often stay at The Story Inn.
22:53The most popular story among guests and employees is the story of the Blue Lady.
22:58Many people believe that if you light up a room with blue color, the lady will appear.
23:03She has blue eyes and leaves blue objects in the room.
23:07Sometimes, it appears just like that, in the light of day or at night.
23:12Of course, that's all legends.
23:14But you go to the nearest store and buy a transparent plastic cover for the table lamp.
23:19You come to the room, turn off the light, and wrap the lamp with the cover.
23:23Then, you draw the curtains and click on the switch.
23:28You still don't remember exactly what happened that day at the hotel.
23:31But you'll never forget those blue eyes.
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