Jonathan Ross would make a great family travel blogger. Reading about his trips in the ‘My Hols’ bit of the Sunday Times yesterday, it would seem he loves to discover the kooky and the unconventional when he visits places.
The Ross family’s  favourite destination is Tokyo because it is ‘delightfully weird’. They went to a ‘haunted hospital’, part of the Fuji-Q Highland theme park, a three-story building set out like a real hospital but with zombies jumping out at you. I’m hoping Emma from ‘A Bavarian Sojourn‘ can tell me more about what Tokyo has to offer when she returns from her summer trip to Japan.
Jonathan’s family spend a lot of time in America as they have a house in Florida. A previous road trip consisted of finding the oldest resorts and theme parks, including the Weeki Wachee Springs, in Hernando County, where ‘women dressed as mermaids perform shows underwater.’
I’ve realised that hunting out the unusual is something we tend to do as a family when we are travelling. Choosing a hotel because it has a name which sounds a bit rude (Klitterhus hotel, Sweden) or finding an obscure spot where aliens were meant to have landed (Angelholm, Sweden) make for very memorable holiday experiences. Will I ever forget the Penis Museum in Iceland or the Bodyworlds exhibition in Copenhagen?
I also like to find unusual sculptures, artwork that catches the eye. Below are some I’ve spotted in recent years. I don’t think you’ve seen the middle one before. What a lovely gesture, to create a huge stone version of your breasts and pop it in a local park.
 |
| ‘The Kiss’ by Sophie Ryder (Aynhoe Park, Cotswolds) |
 |
| ‘Till Jose’ (To Jose) by Gabriella Sandin (Angelholm, Sweden) |
 |
| ‘The Unknown Official’ by Magnus Tomasson – Reykjavik |
Finding the bizarre looks like it might be on the menu for our forthcoming trip to Austria. As I pore over guidebooks and articles on the internet, I have begun to make a list of ‘things to do’ which might not normally be associated with such a holiday.
How about the Death Dance Museum in Metnitz or the Torture Museum at Sommeregg Castle?
Maybe Monkey Mountain is worth a look, with 130 macaques?
There’s a Porsche Museum in Gmund. The boys would like that.
Schleppe Brewery in Klagenfurt? The boys would like that too.
Mushroom Museum – might not be mush room in there (Boom Boom!)
Bee Museum -new exhibition with interactive stations apparently.
Finally, I rather fancy taking a trip to Gurktal Valley to see the ‘Dwarf Park’. I had to look twice when I saw this then realised it’s home for 1000 garden gnomes. Who wouldn’t want to take a detour to see this.
Jonathan Ross would love it.
What’s the oddest attraction you have visited on holiday? The weirdest statue?
So Jose was a great trifle maker I'm assuming…?
He did love his jelly moulds…
I remember seeing a program on TV about the underwater mermaids, maybe it was presented by Jonathan Ross?
That would be cool. I've tried googling Jonathan Ross and the underwater mermaids of Weeki Wachee but all I get is this post!
Those boobs look fake to me…
You're right. Now if they had been more realistic they would flop to the sides and people would have somewhere to sit.
I certainly will Trish! We have been here for less than 24 hours and have seen enough brilliantly quirky weirdness to last a lifetime! 😀 Thanks for the mention xxx
Just what I wanted to hear. Looking forward to your posts now xx
Those boobs aren't even a very nice shape! Perhaps he should get Jordan to model for him next time. On second thoughts…
The sculptor, Gabriella, is, I imagine, the owner of the boobs. Unless she used someone else's and the gesture of presenting them 'To Jose' was to give him something different??
I'm making a lot of suppositions here…
Those breasts look impressive!!
I might come and join you for a tour of the "Dwarf Park"… Fabulous!! xx
Will get you a ticket! 🙂
I love how the British and the Europeans can take it to the edge on their statues. Here in the US people are much more reserved – I do like the bow and arrow in San Fran but would love something edgy too.
There really are some edgy ones about – have you see the Damien Hirst statue in Ilfracombe? Now that does push the boundaries in a little seaside town.
I've been to Aynhoe (the top picture/sculpture) for a home stay break. It was brilliant and different…never seen so many stuffed animals with hats on! A must see place if you like all things quirky!
We only drove past Aynhoe and spotted the sculpture at the front of the building. I wasn't sure if it was a hotel, private house of conference centre. It seems a fabulous place now i've looked into it. Bit more. Certainly worth a proper visit, if it has quirky things in it.
Thanks so much for commenting. Much appreciated 🙂