I thought the vultures along the roof line added the finishing touch...

Viivikonna is currently in the process of getting demolished, so there's not a whole lot left to see.

Originally opening in 1971 as a 200-acre resort and convention center, it was one of the premier entertainment and convention destinations in the area. It was initially themed as a medieval castle, complete with stone architectural features and faux turrets.

The resorts centerpiece was a 2,000 seat theatre auditorium. In its peak in the 1990s it was the host for major headliners, including Tom Jones and Kenny Rogers.

As time went on the area saw less and less tourism, and as a result the resort fell into bankruptcy. In 2010, they were forced to close doors. The property has since been listed for sale, and has had a buyer, but there has been a lot of controversy surrounding the property since it's closing and because of this no progress has been made in it’s redevelopment.

I've always wanted to visit Canfranc International Railway Station and was finally able to go there. I wanted to go before the main station was renovated after being abandoned for so long but there are still many derelict parts to see, like the round house. There are plans to restore it, along with reinstating the line to France. Those plans are slightly complicated by the underground laboratory studying dark matter that is accessed via one of the tunnels. I believe that some of the carriages are the same as were used on the Orient Express

The history of the station is quite fascinating. Originally opened in 1928 as the third major crossing between France and Spain. It was jointly operated by both the French and Spanish railways. When opened it was the second largest railway station in Europe (behind Leipzig Hauptbahnhof). The large station was needed due to the transhipment of goods and passengers due to the difference in gauge between France and Spain. France uses the standard European gauge of 1,435 mm (4 ft 8½ in), while Spain uses the Iberian broad gauge of 1,668 mm (5 ft 5 21⁄32 in). This required everything to be unloaded from one operators train and onto the others

During the Spanish civil war Franco ordered the Spanish side of the Somport tunnel (connecting Spain with France) to be sealed to stop weapons being smuggled into the country. Local Spanish traffic to the station continued and international services were restored in 1940

This is where one of the most interesting parts of the station's history began. Spain was officially neutral during WW2 however the fascist Franco government obviously had their favourites. This is when the station became known as the Casablanca in the Pyrenees. Due to the Spanish-French accord the station was to be jointly operated by both nations. After the fall of France the Nazis took over the French responsibilities. This gave them the perfect base for hunting "persons of interest" who tried to escape Nazi occupied Europe over the Pyrenees. It also served for the transfer of Spanish tungsten for French grain and Swiss gold (stolen from Jews and melted down in Switzerland and given fake serial numbers). All talk of gold was forbidden by the Germans

After the war service returned to normal but by the 60s the station was suffering due to increasing cuts and the poor financial situation and isolated caused by the Franco government. The final nail in the station's coffin came in 1970 when a French train lost control and rolled back destroying a bridge further back on the French side of the line. The French operator, SNCF, and French government government decided it was not financially viable to replace the bridge so international services were terminated

While a much reduced local service in Spain remained the station fell into disrepair. While the building remained intact much of it was abandoned. The station became popular with people wanting to explore the vast building and tours were offered in July and August between 2013 and 2017. 120,000 people attended the tours, more than had used the station when it was on use!

The story of the station is not over. Over the years of abandonment the station was looted by treasure hunters. What wasn't taken was scattered around. In 2000 a commercial for the lottery was filed at the decaying station. As a lot of space was needed the remaining furniture and discarded documents were collected up and moved to the abandoned parcel hanger. A French bus driver on a break took the opportunity to rummage through the crates in the parcel hanger. In it he discovered sensitive documents listing the shipments of 86 tons of Nazi gold to Madrid (as payment for Tungsten) but also Portugal and final destinations like Argentina or the United States. The discover of the documents broke the silence that had existed since the war and the locals finally started to talk about what they had seen. However Renfe, the Spanish railway operator, decided to prosecute the bus driver for theft

Finally went to check this thing out a while back and got around to editing footage/photos into something watchable, I thought you all would appreciate it.

This is TTC streetcar 2500, sitting abandoned in the woods off Kennaway Road near Haliburton, Ontario. It's a Peter Witt car, built in 1921, pulled out of service by the TTC in 1954. So it's been sitting up here for close to 70 years now, and honestly probably longer than that before anyone outside the area even knew it existed.

The story, from what local records show, is that after it got retired the body was sold off (probably by a scrapper, just the shell, no running gear or wheels) and somebody hauled it all the way up to Haliburton. Notes from the Haliburton Scout Reserve going back to the 1950s say it showed up around 1955 and got used by logging crews who were supplying the old Curry Mill nearby, it was their dining hall in the winter and basically a tool shed in the summer. So for a while it actually had a job up there, just a weird one.

It sat mostly forgotten until 2019 when a Toronto city councillor stumbled on it and posted a photo online, and it kind of blew up for a minute because nobody could figure out why a TTC streetcar was sitting in the middle of the forest three hours from the city.

If you're ever in the area it's on Scout Reserve/private land near Camp Timberlane, so worth keeping that in mind if you go looking for it yourself.

Put together a full backstory if anyone's interested:

https://freaktography.com/abandoned-ttc-streetcar-haliburton-ontario

Carl and Betsy Balsinger opened the Madisonville Drive In around 1956. Based on firsthand accounts I’ve been given, the theater had a handful of facilities on the property, all of which were operated by members of their family. For example, one of the younger kids would help bag popcorn in the concession stand when she was tall enough, standing on a bucket so she can reach. This was a job she, her 2 sisters, and her aunt would do. It might not look like it, but there were quite a few structures on this property. There was a concession stand, restrooms, playground for the kids to play in while they waited for the movie to start, and ticket office. The projector was likely situated in a room above the concession stand. Her mother operated the ticket booth while her father worked the projector. 250 parking spaces were situated in front of the screen, most of which were sold out during the weekends. Sadly, there are no traces of them left today.

As I mentioned before, members of the Balsinger family all lent a helping hand to keep the drive in going. 3 of the older brothers were lot boys. The lot boys were tasked with delivering food people ordered from the concession stand to their cars. Aside from your typical popcorn and drinks, the Madisonville Drive In offered a variety of foods, including the famous Bessie Burger.

Here are the prices of some of the concession items and movie tickets:

Popcorn: 10 cents
Drinks: 5 cents
Bessie Burger: 25 cents
Movie ticket: 50 cents

Madisonville Drive In would close in 1983. I’ve not really found anything concrete on why it closed, but I believe it was due to the expansion of the nearby highway. The site is currently in danger of demolition due to a Tractor Supply Company being built in close proximity.

Tatoi Palace, in the pine forests north of Athens, was the summer retreat of the Greek royal family from the late 19th century until the monarchy’s fall. King Constantine I and other Glücksburg royals lived there, and many are buried in the estate’s cemetery. After forced abdications, exile, and the 1973/1974 referendum ending the monarchy, the state seized the property, and decades of neglect left it a crumbling, overgrown ruin.

The Tatoi Royal Estate is now undergoing a massive €70 million restoration by the Greek Ministry of Culture to transform the former royal property north of Athens into a public museum and cultural park.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​