Wednesday, August 27, 2008

From the "You're Joking, Right?" Department

Baghdad plans to build giant Ferris wheel

Iraq is calling on companies to submit designs to build a giant Ferris wheel in Baghdad - the latest in a string of lavish proposals painting the capital as a leisure friendly city.

The Ferris wheel, dubbed the Baghdad Eye, will soar more than 650 feet over the city and feature air-conditioned compartments that would each carry up to 30 passengers, Baghdad municipal spokesman Adel al-Ardawi said Wednesday.

Al-Ardawi said the wheel would be taller than the iconic London Eye, which sits on the banks of the River Thames and reaches a height of about 450 feet over the British capital.

The project would including a six-star hotel, spa, an 18-hole golf course and a country club.

Iraq's Tourism Board also is seeking investors to develop a "romantic" island on the Tigris River in Baghdad that was once a popular honeymoon spot for newlywed Iraqis.

*****

Might be a 'tough sell', don't you think?
Sectarian violence, suicide bombings, and general warfare aside - it's the middle east for Pete's sake and it has never been known as a place of leisure or hedonism ... at least as a pan-cultural ideology.
There have been single cultural groups to embrace those ideals throughout history, but as a whole the region has not.

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