Get a Real Sense of Terroir - Hotel de Vrouwe van Stavoren

Wine snobs: You may have tasted all of the Bordeaux first-growths, visited every last winery in Napa Valley, and paired your last meal with a triple-digit-priced Cab ... but have you ever slept in a wine barrel? No? And you call yourself a connoisseur. Pfft.

Now you can get a REAL sense of terroir - by checking into giant wooden wine barrels that have been converted into hotel rooms. At the Hotel de Vrouwe Van Stavoren in the Netherlands, guests can sleep in one of four 15,000-liter capacity wine casks. The interiors have sadly been emptied of wine many vintages ago and now contain standard hotel-room furniture, but guests do receive a bottle of red upon check in. So if you consider yourself a true wine lover, you'll set down that glass of Château Frou-Frou and book a room tout de suite. Or you might as well admit that you're actually better suited for beer.

Bath Time - Pamukkale Hot Springs

I love hot tubs. Show me a steaming pool of over-chlorinated water and I will happily dive in, then proceed to recklessly ignore the warnings about not soaking for too long. If I am ever rich, my fantasy is to build a house with interconnecting hot tubs flowing from room to room. (Note to self: Patent the idea of interconnecting hot tubs in my latest effort to get rich.)

Or maybe I'll just take multiple trips to what may be the coolest hot tubs in the world, the Pamukkale hot springs of Turkey. Part naturally occurring phenomenon, part Candy Land fantasy, these pools of geothermally heated water sit on terraces made of white travertine and resemble cotton bowls filled with water (pamukkale means "cotton castle" in Turkish). I didn't even know landscape like this existed on Earth - it almost looks like a scene out of Star Wars. I know. I'm picturing Ewoks splashing in the pools, too.

Dark Magic - Bioluminescent Bay

When you're a kid, just about everything can be attributed to magic: Santa Claus, lightning, toilets. But by the time you become an adult, there's not a lot of magic left in the world. Well, that time I found a parking meter with 56 minutes left on it was pretty magical, but that's about the only example I can think of. See, it's a sad state of affairs. Which is why the bioluminescent bay in Vieques, Puerto Rico, is such a treat. It is a truly magical experience, no matter how old you are. You WILL squeal once you kayak through the bay in the dark, or jump into the waters for a swim. The water lights up in a mystical blue-green color every time you touch it. And if you scoop it up for a closer look, you'll see tiny silver sparkles twinkling like fairy dust in your hands.

So what exactly is happening here? I told you, it's MAGIC! Well, magic plus the fact that the biobay is home to tiny, single-celled organisms that light up when agitated. I know. How cute is that? They're glowing because they're mad! And because there are 720,000 of these organisms PER GALLON of water in the Vieques biobay, a bluish glow emerges from the combined bursts of light. But sometimes science can be such a buzz-kill. I say just go. Maybe keep your mouth closed when you jump into the water, though.

Think You're So Smart? - Escape the Room

Credit: Escape the Room NYC

It's Saturday night in New York City. Do you (a) take in the latest Broadway show; (b) go out to dinner at a shi shi restaurant; or (c) let yourself be locked in a room where you must decipher a series of clues found around the room in order to get out?

If you feel that C sounds way too similar to the premise of Saw (and you wouldn't be wrong), read no further. But if it sounds like your idea of fun, then dust off your trusty magnifying glass and sign up for Escape the Room. Choose from several scenarios (Victorian-themed home? Office space? Creepy old theater?), round up a group of your smartest friends, and see if you can work together to find the key that'll let you out of the room. It's loads of fun and will get your mental juices flowing. What's the significance of the chess game in progress? What's this message typed out on the old-timey typewriter? Are the eyes on that portrait following you?! Just kidding on that last one. But be warned: Only 20 percent of participants manage to get out of the room before the hour is up, so you'd better be as smart as you think you are, lest your fragile ego be crushed to smithereens. Not that I'm speaking from experience or anything.

Free Refills! - Waterfall Restaurant

Credit: Growld.com

At the Villa Escudero resort in San Pablo City, Philippines, vacationers can dine at a restaurant where delicious Filipino cuisine is served with a side of waterfall. Yes, as in that wet, cascading, impressive-looking thingy. Not only that, but the bamboo picnic tables are set up at the base of the waterfall, literally in its stream, so while you're eating, spring water is running over your feet. Floating pieces of dropped chicken adobo notwithstanding, it's a pretty neat idea, no?

I'm packing my fanciest poncho with one hand while I type this, and if you have any sense at all, you would, too. After all, you know what they say: You should always whet your appetite while you wet your feet. ... What? No one says that? Well, clever me. Just remember that you heard it here first.

Don't Eat a Big Breakfast Before Visiting - Mütter Museum

Credit: Mütter Museum

What's that? You're wondering where you can go this weekend to view some brains and skulls? Of course you are. The Mütter Museum in Philadelphia is billed as a museum of medical history, and it has on display numerous anatomical goodies, including pieces of Albert Einstein's brain, the conjoined livers of conjoined twins, John Wilkes Booth's thoracic tissue (not sure why they decided to collect that particular body part, but okay), and the pièce de résistance, a 139-piece skull collection. For those who are squeamish about viewing real pieces of anatomy, there are exhibits of medical equipment as well, including a delightful display of an actual Civil War amputation kit.

This museum is not for the faint of stomach or, well, most people. In fact, there's a very good chance you might be heebee-jeebee'd to death. But c'mon - Einstein's brain is on display here. How cool is that? You might even get smarter just by looking at it.*

* You won't get smarter by looking at Albert Einstein's brain.

Enroll Today! - College of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Do you fancy yourself a real Harry Potter fan? Have you read all seven books in one sitting? Dressed up as Neville for Halloween? Applied for a license to own an owl? Well, guess what. That sort of adorably earnest but ultimately noncommittal display of fandom doesn't cut it anymore. Real Potterheads enroll in wizard school in Leśnia, Poland. That's right, there's a real-life WIZARD SCHOOL, and if you're a true fan, you'll fill out an application TODAY.

The Czocha College of Witchcraft and Wizardry is based in a real 13th-century Polish castle, and students who are accepted to the program are provided with robes and textbooks, sorted into different houses, and given lessons in essential life skills such as potion-making and spell-casting. And of course there's Quidditch. I'm not sure how your degree in wizardry will translate to job-readiness in the real world, but no doubt you'll still have an advantage over the psychology and English majors.

Fans of Child Labor Unite! - Baby Boss

I am a big fan of child labor (for proof, see my previous post on Kinderkookkafé). Yes, I know how that sounds and no, I'm not taking it back. Children need to earn their keep, and if it means roughing up those cute little chubby hands, then so be it. Serendipitously, the people of Taiwan agree with this viewpoint and have come up with an ingenious way of disguising child labor as a family attraction.

At Baby Boss in Taipei, children are invited to try their hand at different professions, like construction worker, hairdresser, pizza maker, astronaut, fire fighter. At each job placement, attendants help dress up the kids in convincing costumes, give them a run-down of the job, and let them give the equipment a whirl. It's all very realistic and fun. The fire hoses really spray water, there's a real crane at the construction site, and real pizza gets made (and eaten). At the end of each session, the children are paid in "baby bucks," which they can then spend at the shops within the building. I know. BABY BUCKS. If that's not reason enough to fly to Taiwan immediately, you're obviously a Communist.

And You Thought Your House Needed Work - Upside-Down House

Credit: WonderfulEngineering.com

So here's a trend I never saw coming: upside-down houses. This one, on display at the Tierpark Zoo in Gettorf, Germany, is the the latest in a series of topsy-turvy abodes to be built around the world; some are exhibits open to the public, while others are actual personal dwellings. The interior of these houses are upside-down as well, so the furniture is bolted down (up?) and visitors are required to walk on the "ceilings."

Come to think of it, why live in a boring old right-side-up house when you can live the inverted life? You'd never have to deal with a leaky roof. If a burglar breaks in, he won't be able to steal anything because all the furniture would be stuck to the floor ... er, ceiling. And he'd be very confused. Plus, your neighbors will leave you alone because you're obviously cray cray. Win-win-win. Never has anything made so much sense to me. Excuse me while I go check my local real-estate listings.

Who's Down for Some Hiking? - Haiku Stairs

Did your last vacation include physical activity beyond lifting piña coladas? Is your idea of fun doing a lap around the nearest national park? Do you own a walking stick? If you answered yes to any of these questions, I'm not sure I can be friends with you. You're probably in better shape than I am and look better than I do. But I'll let you in on a secret anyway. There exists in Oahu, Hawaii, a hike that offers fantastic views of the top of Pu'u Keahi a Kahoe. Consisting of steps, platforms and ladders (some completely vertical), the Haiku Stairs, or "Stairway to Heaven," leads visitors more than 2,300 feet up, from Haiku Valley to a peak that rises above the clouds. The rickety 4,000-step path was originally constructed during World War II to provide access to transmission stations at the top of the ridge.

Before you run to grab your walking stick, I must tell you that it's currently illegal to attempt this hike, as no one wants to see "stairway to heaven" become a literal term - although there are plans in the works to reopen the stairs to the public. Trespassers have been stopped by the police, and tickets have been issued, so you have been warned! I do not encourage or condone illegal behavior! Unless you're planning on bringing me back some spam musubi, in which case, carry on.