Get Lost

A Swiss Cube in the Stars

Cube Aletsch bills itself as a ‘million star hotel’, and both points are fairly straight to the point: It is a cube, and the million stars it refers to are in the sky, rather than referring to thread count (even if there is a hot tub).

The cube is 2,800 metres in the air, so you’re pretty close to the stars it refers to. This height also gives you breathtaking views of mountains (in true Swiss style) and the famous Aletsch Glacier from which it derives its name.

Watching the sun snake it’s way from the gigantic valley below up the surrounding mountains, from the timber patio, with a bottle of wine and probably some Swiss cheese for good measure, is as good as travelling gets.

The cube itself is a humbly furnished living container, but that’s all it needs to be, with access via a cable car. The Aletsch Glacier is one of Switzerland’s most beautiful (which is saying something in a country full of epic mountains) but it’s losing ice at a rapid rate, with scientists predicting it will have vanished by the year 2100, so see it now before it diminishes.

Berlin Toilet Burger

When you exit the U-Bahn at Schlesisches Tor station, in Berlin’s uber-cool Kreuzberg area (they’re all uber-cool, right?) and walk across the road, you will find a fairly elementary looking public toilet.

And if it is between the hours of 11am and midnight, any day of the week, you will find a queue of around 50 people lining up at this public toilet.

No, the people of Kreuzberg are not particularly weak-bladdered people, nor is this some sort of secret Berlin nightclub (the latter easily the more likely of the two).

This is Burgermeister, an institution for travellers and Berliners alike since 2006. And I shit you not: The best burger I have ever (and I mean ever) eaten came from this toilet.

According to the original Burgermeister-er, he found the toilet in 2003, disused for several decades, and saw something special in it. I can genuinely say I have never felt the same way about a loo, but then this is why I am an ordinary man, and not the burger magician that the Burgermeister-er is.

This is no gimmick: the long lines are not there purely to capitalise on some sort of deliberately perverse tourism opportunity, to say that they ordered a burger from a toilet. They are there because the burgers are god-damn delicious.

The toilet people make their own buns, make their own meat patties, and produce their own fries – all fresh. This is unusual in itself for a fast-food restaurant, a trait they clearly aren’t scared of.

After a particularly big couple of nights that may well have been a week, a friend and I queued at Burgermeister for what seemed like another week, looking for sustenance and keen to see if this famous burger was worth the hype.

Long story short: it was.

A 700-year old Italian masterpiece

In the 700 years between the 14th century and now, a fair bit has taken place in Italy: the birth of Leonardo Da Vinci, the invention of the piano, the unification of the country and four soccer world cups, to name a few.

But stepping into Rastrello Boutique Hotel is like stepping 700 years back in time before all that took place, just with modern comforts of 2021.

The hotel is based in Umbria, central Italy – not far from Tuscany. Olive trees fill the fields and line the roads, making for a very Italian scene on the approach and as you look out from your balcony.

Rastrello is a palazzo restored with a lot of care, so much so that the old stone walls will make you feel like a King or Queen that you are…

Bella!

The Flying Bum is on its way

All aboard The Flying Bum.

In December we brought you news of the Airlander 10, which drew ass-related nicknames given it’s similarities to a gigantic rear end.

Much more than just a giant, white, airborne booty, the Airlander 10 airship is potentially the future of travel. Relying on a giant balloon of helium to get it up and into the sky means far less emissions than your regular plane, making an airship a much greener option.

get lost has recent;y ‘caught wind’ of some more news: OceanSky Cruises have set a date for the first flight for the Airlander 10: to the North Pole (or Svalbard) in 2024/25.

The world’s largest aircraft can go quite low and slow, and quietly too, making it ideal for an epic and pristine place full of wildlife..like the North Pole. In fact, it’s probably a lot quieter than a lot of other Gluteus Maximus’ we’ve come across, and it comes with a bar and bedrooms and a James Bond-like lounge.

Check out the video below for an idea of a 36-hour roundtrip to Svalbard might look like:

Game of Thrones Studio Tour

Winter The Game of Thrones Studio Tour is coming.

Fans of the realm will be more excited than Tyrone Lannister when he was named Hand of the Queen at the news a tour of the Linen Mill Studios in Banbridge, Northern Ireland is on it’s way in early-2022.

And not just any tour – HBO have poured $45 million into the tour, promising to transport fans into the very heart of Westeros’, promising to bring ‘visitors closer to the Seven Kingdoms than ever before’.

Theres 110,000-square-feet worth of interactive experience which will allow fans to explore a vast array of original sets, costumes, props and set pieces, with the aim of bringing visitors closer to the Seven Kingdoms than ever before.

Fans can step inside the iconic Great Hall at Winterfell where Jon Snow was proclaimed the “King in the North,”

It doesn’t open until February-2022, and there’s not a heap of info available. But you can bet we’ll be going.

Wes Anderson designed a train carriage

Filmmaker Wes Anderson is the man. When the man designs a luxury train carriage, there’s only one thing to do: buy a ticket on that train, wherever it’s headed.

The train appears to have come straight from the set of The Grand Budapest Hotel. Pastel pink and emerald green dominate the colour scheme, with intricate marquetry, art nouveau-style wooden panels and trippy geometric furnishings giving the carriage an elaborate crossover style that sits somewhere between Art Deco and stoner.

It’s the famous Belmond British Pullman train, the luxury chugga-chugga-chugga-chugga which operates out of London’s Victoria Station. Day trip tickets start at around £400 per person.

Texan Anderson doesn’t fly, preferring to catch the train where he can. Combined with his other skills, it means there probably isn’t anyone on earth more perfect man to design the interior of a train.

The train, for what it’s worth, travels from London to the Kent countryside, and back again. Not that that’s important.

Brand new VR gaming bar in London

Climb Everest, dodge robots or fight zombies with your mates, and have a couple of beers while you’re at it.

Otherworld is a virtual reality gaming bars in London, serving hyper-immersive virtual reality experiences in an uber cool futuristic setting.

The company has opened a second ‘VR Bar’ in central London, to go along with one that has been around for a couple of years in the trendy North London neighbourhood of Haggerston.

There are sixteen unique, multi-sensory virtual realities to take part in, from going into space to navigating creepy theme parks, and even a Rick and Morty themed adventure. There are craft beers and a more than capable kitchen, as well as pods that fit up to eight people.

The experiences appear to be pretty affordable, and absolutely epic.

The future is here.

Epic Cabin in the Norwegian Woods

You can only walk to Woodnest Cabin, a 30 minute uphill venture from the nearest place you can fit a car. But it’s ABSOLUTELY worth it.

The Cabin was built by Norwegian man Kjartan for his wife Sally (from Sydney), which would explain the intricate level of detail put into the extraordinary exterior, or the beautifully worked wooden interior, or the gorgeous bathroom, or…pretty much the whole thing.

Woodnest Cabin is luxurious seclusion at it’s best. The cabin is perched high up in a forrest overlooking one of Norway’s fjords, in a surreal setting.

The exact location isn’t given until after booking, but its based in Odda, and is striking distance to a number of epic places, including Trolltunga, one of the most Instagrammed spots in Norway.

New hotel in old Basel

Art house Basel is cool. Really cool.

If it were any more chic it’d be in Nile Rodgers’ 1980s disco-band of the same name.

A new world building set in old-town Basel, made out of concrete, black marble, and granite, there is a rooftop bar that overlooks Switzerland’s trendiest city, rooms with terraces that do the same, and a gorgeous interior of mostly oak-wood.

If you’re into your art, there are pieces lining the walls of corridors and rooms that change periodically to create a unique experience every time you go.

If you ask us though, the whole hotel is a work of art.

Art on the Beach

The recently opened Minos Beach Art Hotel is exactly what it sounds like: an exquisite Greek Island waterfront-stay with seriously cool art scattered through the hotel.

The design of the hotel is in sync with the rest of Crete: low-key luxury in low lying villas, set among narrow laneways snaking through the humble fishing villages that have been here for centuries.

The designs ensure that your eyes remain glued to the natural landscape that surrounds you, which is, frankly, bloody beautiful. Crete is filled with beaches, gorges, rivers, mountains, rocky cliffs and ancient archaeological sites from civilizations that were here long before St. Kilda’s last premiership (read: ages ago)

And if you do get sick of the views (you won’t) there is also the art: the 50-ish unique art installations throughout the hotel make you feel as though you’re in a gallery as soon as you leave the front door.

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region: Europe