Tayka Hotel de Sal

Where: Tahua, Bolivia

How much: About $ 95 a night

Why it's cool: You've stayed at hotels made of brick or wood, but salt? That's something few can claim. Tayka Hotel de Sal is made totally ofsalt—including the beds (though you'll sleep on regular mattresses andblankets). The hotel sits on the Salar de Uyuni, a prehistoric dried-up lakewhich is the world's biggest salt flat. Builders use the salt from the 4,633-square-mile flat to make the bricks, and glue them together with a paste(糊) of wet salt that hardens when it dries. When rain starts to dissolve (溶解) the hotel, the owners just mix up more salt paste to strengthen the bricks.

Green Magic Nature Resort

Where: Vythiri, India

How much: About $ 240 a night

Why it's cool: Taking a pulley(滑轮)—operated lift 86 feet to your treetop room is just the start of your adventure. As you look out of your open window, there is no glass! You watch monkeys and birds inthe rain forest canopy(罩篷). Later you might test your fear of heights by crossing the handmade rope bridge to themain part of the hotel, or just sit on your bamboo bed and read. You don't evenhave to come down for breakfast—the hotel will send it up on the pulley-drawn“elevator”.

Dog Bark Park Inn B&B

Where: Cottonwood, Idaho

How much: $ 92 a night

Why it's cool: This doghouse isn't just for the family pet. SweetWilly is a 30-foot-tall dog with guest rooms in his belly. Climb the wooden stairs beside his hind leg to enter the door in his side. You can relax in the main bedroom, go up a few steps of the loft(阁楼) in Willy's head, or hang out inside his nose. Although you have a full private bathroom in your quarters, there is also a toilet in the 12-foot-tall fire hydrant(消防栓) outside.

Gamirasu Cave Hotel

Where: Ayvali, Turkey

How much: Between $ 130 and $ 450 a night

Why it's cool: Experience what it was like 5,000 years ago, when people lived in these mountain caves formed by volcanic ash. But your stay will be much more modern. Bathrooms and electricity provide what you expect from a modern hotel, and the white volcanic ash, called tufa, keeps the rooms cool insummer. (Don't worry— there is heat in winter.)

The health-care economy is filled with unusual and even unique economic relationships. One of the least understood involves the peculiar roles of producer or “provider” and purchaser or “consumer” in the typical doctor-patient relationship. In most sectors of the economy, it is the seller who attempts to attract a potential buyer with various appealing factors of price, quality, and use, and it is the buyer who makes the decision. Such condition, however, is not common in most of the health-care industry.

In the health-care industry, the doctor-patient relationship is the mirror image of the ordinary relationship between producer and consumer. Once an individual has chosen to see a physician — and even then there may be no real choice — it is the physician who usually makes all significant purchasing decisions: whether the patient should return “next Wednesday”, whether X-rays are needed, whether drugs should be prescribed, etc. It is rare that a patient will challenge such professional decisions or raise in advance questions about price, especially when the disease is regarded as serious.

This is particularly significant in relation to hospital care. The physician must certify the need for hospitalization, determine what procedures will be performed, and announce when the patient may be discharged. The patient may be consulted about some of the decisions, but in general it is the doctor's judgments that are final. Little wonder then that in the eye of the hospital it is the physician who is the real “consumer”. As a consequence, the medical staff represents the “power center” in hospital policy and decision-making, not the administration.

Although usually there are in this situation four identifiable participants— the physician, the hospital, the patient, and the payer (generally an insurance carrier or government) — the physician makes the essential decisions for all of them. The hospital becomes an extension of the physician; the payer generally meets most of the bills generated by the physician/hospital, and for the most part the patient plays a passive role. We estimate that about 75-80 percent of health-care choices are determined by physicians, not patients. For this reason, the economy directed at patients or the general is relatively ineffective.

Show rooming

    One of the biggest challenges facing brick-and-mortar retailers(实体零售店) in recent years has been the "show rooming". Driven by the desire to get the best prices, many shoppers are now visiting brick-and-mortar stores to personally check on products that interest them, only to leave and then buy the items online. The new trend is forcing retailers to find out new ways to keep consumers from leaving their store for cheaper prices online.

    Recent research found that 40 percent of U.S. shoppers have shown roomed previously, with big-box retailers suffering the most. Specifically, the study shows that Best Buy, Walmart and Target are the most likely brick-and-mortar stores to have shoppers test out a product in-store and then purchase it online later, while Amazon is benefiting most from the practice, with nearly 60 percent of shoppers using the online retail giant(巨人) most often to make their show rooming purchases.

    Smart phones have pushed show rooming into the front. Shoppers no longer have to wait until they get home to see if they can find a cheaper price for the products they're considering buying. With smart phones, consumers can now compare virtual prices, at both other brick-and-mortar stores and online ones while still inside a retail store. If they can find what they're seeking for less online, the majority will be seeking the first exit. A recent study showed that 45 percent of customers shopping at brick-and-mortar stores walk out and buy their purchase online for a discount of as little as 2.5 percent.

    This puts pressure on retailers to provide both an in-store experience worth staying for and an online presence that can attract shoppers who are show rooming in other businesses.

    To cut down on show rooming, many retailers are adopting new methods to keep shoppers in their stores. Among the steps they're taking are price-matching guarantees that allow shoppers to pay a discounted price if they find it cheaper online. This ensures that even a show rooming shopper can make the purchase in the store—regardless of whether they find the cheaper price online.

    Another popular method to fight against show rooming is to give shoppers the ability to buy something online and pick it up at the store. This reduces shipping costs and gets customers in the store, where they may be encouraged to make an additional purchase.

    It is also important for businesses to take into consideration what makes shoppers purchase something in-store rather than online, and meet those needs. Research has found that more than 8 in 10 Americans consider being able to take the goods home immediately and the ability to touch and feel them—the most important aspects when deciding to purchase in a store rather than online.

    I stood outside my front door catching my breath. After a lazy Christmas holiday, I had to recover from climbing stairs with carry-on bags and a suitcase. I looked up and blinked. Red tape crossed the door. I didn't understand Hungarian, but the one English word said enough: "POLICE".

    Google Translate told me I would be arrested if I entered, so I didn't. Finally, I called my rental agent. He went to the police station for more details.

    My agent returned with authorization to enter. Not only were my files undisturbed, but so were the TV and printer. The burglars had taken a few items from the top drawer as well as a small amount of foreign currency in the bottom drawer. Somehow they hadn't found the jewelry box in the third drawer.

    I was in shock. My agent's words were fuzzy, something about fixing the locks tomorrow and making a list for the police.

    Then one day, I remembered that I'd left another jewelry box in the flat. My heart sank as I thought of another locket that had been in that box, a gold engraved one with a picture of my late honey Grandma inside. When I realized the box was missing, the whole experience seemed to crash down on me. I cried.

    At the end of January, I received a registered letter from the police. The burglar hadn't been found, and the case was closed. I slept with my purse by my bed. I hid my laptop when I showered. And then another challenge rose. I was unexpectedly laid off.

    Then one July night, I reached into my third drawer, pulled out my jean shorts, and heard a small thud. I looked down and blinked: It was the tiny jewelry box I thought had been stolen six months earlier.

    Inside was the locket with honey Grandma smiling at me, being there for me, telling me not to give up. I started to cry.

Dickens House Museum

Type: Historic House / Palace

Address: 2 Victoria Parade, Broadstairs, Kent, CT10 1QS

About

Dickens House Museum, Broadstairs celebrates Charles Dickens' long connection with Broadstairs from 1837 to 1851, through personal items and letters. Guided tours available.

The museum is housed in the cottage that was Charles Dickens' inspiration for the home of Betsey Trotwood in David Copperfield. David's description of Betsey's cottage with its square gravelled garden full of flowers, and a parlour of old fashioned furniture still fits today.

The character Betsy Trotwood is based on Miss Mary Pearson Strong who lived in the cottage that is now the museum. According to the reminiscences of Charles Dickens' son Charley, he and his father regularly had tea and cakes in the parlour (会客室) with the kindly and charming Miss Mary Pearson Strong. He also remembers that Miss Pearson Strong was completely convinced of her right to stop the passage of donkeys along the cliff top in front of her cottage. This belief became the donkey incident for the character of Betsy Trotwood, with the famous quote: "Janet! Donkeys!"

Spread over four floors, the Charles Dickens Museum holds the world's most important collection of paintings, rare editions, manuscripts, original furniture and other items relating to the life and work of Dickens. Perhaps the best-known exhibit is the portrait of Dickens known as Dickens' Dream by R. W. Buss, an original illustrator of The Pickwick Papers. This unfinished portrait shows Dickens in his study at Gads Hill Place surrounded by many of the characters he had created.

What's Nearby

The Mona Lisa is one of the most famous paintings in the world. Painted by Leonardo da Vinci in the early 16th century, it has captivated audiences for centuries with its mysterious smile and masterful technique. 

The painting is housed in the Louvre Museum in Paris, France, and attracts millions of visitors each year. However, the Mona Lisa's history is not without controversy. There have been numerous attempts to steal or deface the painting, and its conservation has been a subject of great concern.

Leonardo da Vinci's use of sfumato, a technique that blends colors and tones seamlessly, gives the painting a soft and hazy appearance. The sitter's expression, which seems to change depending on the viewer's angle and mood, adds to the intrigue of the work.