Taking a leaf out of the book of Dubai and Las Vegas, the ultimate meccas of all things bling and plastic, Venecia palace is a riot of fluffy velvet, polished brass, faux-old furnishings and an artificial lake. Venecia is the first place offering this ...

Stretching 7,000 kilometers around the top of the planet, Russia's Far North dwarfs the Arctic regions of the rest of the world put together. Russian bureaucrats call the Arctic the "Zone of Absolute Discomfort" an icy wasteland dotted with decrepit...