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Five Airport Bars Made From Actual Old Airplanes

Spending your free time hanging out on an airplane before hopping on an airplane to actually go somewhere isn't everyone's cup of tea. Five airports around the world are betting otherwise, however, as they've actually taken airplanes—ones which can no longer buzz up into the air—and installed them as bars, all in the name of getting you buzzed instead.

Now, without further ado, here are the Five Airport-area Bars Made From Actual Airplanes:

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Inside Runway 34, a Vintage Airplane-Turned-Restaurant at Zurich Airport

In 2005, an old Soviet Ilyushin IL-14 airplane made its final flight (pic here), landing for good at Zurich International Airport. Its fate was to become a very unique attraction, the centerpiece of a new restaurant just outside the airport at the very end of runway 34. In fact, the restaurant and bar is called Runway 34, and it's something of a special secret for international flight crew, aviation geeks and those who just enjoy seeing the quirky sights.

During a recent jaunt off to Switzerland, we made it a point to visit Runway 34, even if it involved a trek through deserted streets at 10pm the night before our early morning flight. There was an airplane trapped in a restaurant! Duh, we wanted to go and at least have drinks on its wing. Unfortunately our cutting it short cost us, and only the bar was open. Perfect, actually; a waiter took a shining to us and gave us a guided tour of the whole place, letting us run around and go camera-crazy.

And we have video...

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Aussie Band 'Set Sail' Serenades a Virgin Atlantic Flight at 37,000 Feet

What would you do if a trio of musicians stood up and began serenading you while at 37,000 feet onboard a long-haul flight? Hopefully, you wouldn't club them and assume they're undercover hijackers throwing the flight crew off their scent; you'd clap right along, just as these Virgin Atlantic passengers did recently when the Australian band Set Sail covered the Jason Mraz song "I'm Yours."

The cute performance happened somewhere between Hong Kong and Sydney, as the band is setting out on a 48-country itinerary to give street shows throughout the rest of this year. This is only the second video of a slew they're planning, and Josiah Willows (one of the band members) explains, "flights aren't always bad food and uncomfortable seats!" Every week they'll release another video to YouTube—follow them here—mixing music and travel.

What's next? We're thinking violin on a Venetian traghetto would be cool, also perhaps a cappella in Agra or a little soft shoe while eating soft shell crab congee. Mmmm...soft shell crab congee.

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OMG. The World's Biggest Slip-and-Slide.

Please forgive us for sending you into daydream mode so early in the morning already, but we simply have to share Entertainment Weekly's find of the World's Largest Slip-and-Slide. Now, it's not been confirmed as the largest by an official from Guinness World Records or anything, but one glance at this video and it's quite difficult to imagine anything beating it.

The Slip-and-Slide is really a man-made reservoir—a totally off-limits, no trespassing-allowed one—but authorities should've considered making it of another material if they really wanted people to keep out with their bodyboards. And of course, like much of the best stuff in Hawaii, this reservoir is located nearby some truly breathtakingly lush scenery.

So here's where it is:

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Airports Need More Gigantic Flume Slides, Just Like at Singapore's Changi

Gothamist posed a very important question today, when they heard that Singapore's Changi International Airport installed a 4-story slide. They mused: "Do New York Airports Need Slides?" Without a doubt the answer is yes, but we're pretty sure that JFK, EWR and LGA don't have an atrium as impressive as Changi's for putting one in.

Despite the fact that the New York-area airports need some funning-up like what comes from installing a gigantic silver tube slide, we may have to save up our pennies and take a trip to Singapore to experience this impressive airport slide. What do solo travelers do with their luggage while sliding, we wonder? And did Changi take this from the Carsten Höller exhibit of about three years ago when the artist installed very similar slides for the public at London's Tate Modern?

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See Serial Killer Art at Hollywood's Gory 'Museum of Death'

Some people like their art with dark themes, but the Museum of Death takes it to a whole other level. The Hollywood museum specializes in what it calls "death education."

The museum owns the largest collection of artwork from serial killers. It also has collections of coffins, mortician instruments, replicas of execution devices and different colored body bags. But this oddball museum isn't going to expire any time soon. It marked its 15th anniversary last month.

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'Fly' Beneath The Hawaiian Waves On A Winged Submarine Jet

Adventure travel company Incredible Adventures has been letting customers pilot high-altitude fighter jets for years. Now the Florida-based company is going from soaring through the air to "flying" under the sea, teaming up with California's Sub Aviator Systems to let people navigate the oceans in company's winged submarine. The Super Aviator looks much more like a jet than it does a sub, and apparently it feels that way too. Per the website blurb, it's a "totally new dimension of flight."

To handle the unique sub you'll need to go to Hawaii this February and be able to hand over between $3,350 and $8,650. But if you're willing to do that they're willing to train you and take you beneath the waves. The Super Aviator runs on battery power but it runs fast—in contrast to a normal submersible where you can stand up and walk, zooming around in this jet requires Indy-500 style seat belts.

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Go Balls-Out at Huntley's Turkey Testicle Festival

When November comes around, people's mouths water for turkey—be it the white meat, dark meat or wings. Then there are those who salivate for turkey balls. Seriously. In Huntley, a small suburb about 45 minutes west of downtown Chicago, turkey scrota are as much a Thanksgiving tradition as stuffing at the annual Turkey Testicle Festival, which will swing into town on November 25.

What began as a local tradition has become a draw for tourists. Last year, more than 3,900 people turned out to to the Parkside Pub, the festival's home base, to munch on 1,280 pounds of turkey testes. The small bits—no offense to male turkeys—are coated in breadcrumbs and then cooked crispy in a deep fryer. They taste gamey, like chicken, or so we're told. Some douse them in ketchup or Tabasco, but most people just eat them plain. The bar usually sells out of the treats by 9:30 p.m.

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Pop-Up Restaurant Opens On Paris Rooftop, Sends Foodies Swooning

Earlier this year, we pouted and said a sad little "au revoir, notre amour" to the Hotel Everland, a single little hotel room which sat atop Paris' Palais de Tokyo and offered an unparalleled view of the EIffel Tower starting from $488 a night.

After a very successful run of just over a year, the pop-up hotel room left in April, but now Paris is reviving the concept in the form of a restaurant. Fashion Week Daily has the dirt on what's sure to be the next big thing on the Paris cuisine scene:

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LA Crime Scene Tour Is O.J. Simpson-Free

The Santa Monica Pier won't look the same after an excursion with Esotouric.

Esotouric knows your type well: You spend hours watching true crime documentaries on television, dream up outlandish conspiracy theories, and would never, ever be caught dead on the Boston Duck Tour. That's why the company, whose name speaks to their quirky Los Angeles expeditions, has devised the Wild Wild West Side tour, which we guarantee has nothing to do with the 1999 Will Smith movie.

The tour, coming up on October 10th, appeals to wannabe sleuths and those with a morbid fascination in the "blood-soaked history" of the Westside, including Venice, Santa Monica, Culver City, and Marina del Rey. Tour creator Kim Cooper started compiling outlandish stories from the area's past and marking down creepy points of interest, like the grave of a mummified teenage cult priestess. While this isn't the most family friendly way for visitors to experience Los Angeles, it's a compelling alternative to Universal Studios' backlot tour, with tales of spirit possession and murder replacing talk of movie filming.

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Are You Batty Enough to Vacation in Zambia?

Plenty of people go to Africa to see animals, but most are looking for exciting safari animals like lions or maybe rhinos. But if you head to Zambia in November, you can experience something that the experts consider to be near the top of the wildlife calendar for unique experiences.

You might be surprised to learn that this wildlife fantasy come true is actually the migration of a million fruit bats. Apparently they show up every November in Kasanka National Park in Zambia at just the time the fruits on the local trees ripen – smart bats.

Tourists get to climb to a 60-foot high tree-top "hide" to watch the bats, and sunset sounds especially creepy – the sky becomes black with bats as they head off for their evening meal. There are expensive-sounding tours run out of Britain for £3,599 ($6,000) per person just for the week, and at that price we wonder if the tourists might just be a bit batty already.

Related Stories:
· Rhino Travel: Kenya is Back in Black [Jaunted]
· Minimal Impact Lion-Spotting in Botswana [Jaunted]

[Photo: Shek Graham]

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Japanese-Style Maid Cafes Have Opened in Los Angeles

If you've been thinking to yourself "you know self, I'd really like to experience some surreal Japanese sexual creepiness but I just can't afford a trip to Tokyo right now" - great news! Among Japan's recent innovations is the Maid Cafe, a place where prepubescent-looking girls and boys dress up as French Maids and spoon sweetcake into the mouths of patrons. Because why should cosplay (enter if you dare) be limited to geeks? Naturally this is an institution tailor-made for the City of Angels, and indeed two Maid Cafes have opened up in the Greater LA area.

It turns out, though, that some people consider restaurants staffed by girls in fetish outfits to be a little... declasse. Knowing that, these fine establishments have gone to great lengths to convince customers that French Maid servers are the height of ironic and kitschy sophistication Ironic and kitschy and and not at all creepy sophistication.

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