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Why The F**k Was Chris Pratt Cast As Mario?

The first trailer for Super Mario Bros.: The Movie is here and it’s really made us wonder why Chris Pratt was cast as Mario…

Anyone who grew up in the 80s and 90s played Super Mario.

It was (and still is) an iconic game series and whether you’re a fan of the OG game, where you – as Mario – had to jump on top of Goombas, collect coins and rescue Princess Peach, or the Mario Kart driving game, you’re undoubtedly excited about Illumination’s upcoming film, Super Mario Bros.: The Movie.

And good news Mario fans, the first trailer for the film just dropped. But sadly, there’s also bad news: Chris Pratt was definitely not the right choice to voice Mario.

We mean no disrespect to Pratt but Mario has a very distinct voice that fans have come to love and the way Pratt performs Mario’s one line in the trailer, “Mushroom Kingdom, here we come,” leaves something to be desired.

WATCH: The official trailer for ‘Super Mario Bros.: The Movie’…

Animated films casting A-list actors to voice the characters is nothing new and Super Mario Bros.: The Movie is no different. Alongside Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Day, Jack Black, Keegan-Michael Key and Seth Rogen voice various characters in the Super Mario Bros. film.

But based on the trailer, at least Black and Key (who voice Bowser and Toad respectively) have made considerable efforts to emulate the original Bowser and Toad voices from the games whereas Pratt hasn’t.

When it was first announced that Pratt would voice Mario in Super Mario Bros.: The Movie, fans were disappointed because they were confident that he wouldn’t be able to do the character justice; he’s an actor, not a voice actor. But Illumination founder and CEO, Chris Meledandri defended Pratt and told Deadline back in June:

“When people hear Chris Pratt’s performance, the criticism will evaporate…”

Well, we’ve heard him perform one line as Mario and we’re not impressed. Perhaps it’s time that animated films go back to casting voice actors rather than A-listers; especially when it’s a film adaption or reboot of something as iconic as Super Mario…

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The post Why The F**k Was Chris Pratt Cast As Mario? appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Daniel Ricciardo Spotted Wearing $1.25 Million ‘Off-Catalogue’ Patek Philippe

We always knew Daniel Ricciardo was a bit of a watch guy – but it turns out he’s actually a Patek Philippe VIP.

The affable Australian Formula 1 driver – who’s been enjoying a bit of sightseeing in Tokyo ahead of the 2022 Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka this weekend – has been spotted rocking a rather special Patek Philippe Nautilus ‘Ruby’ (ref. 5711/112P) whilst out for dinner with former F1 driver Felipe Massa.

As we’ve mentioned above, it’s an ‘off-catalogue’ model, meaning that it’s a model that’s not officially listed anywhere on Patek Philippe’s website or on display in boutiques. This is a rare and exclusive watch that’s only offered or available to Patek’s most important (or biggest spending) customers.

Officially this piece retails for around US$162,500 (~AU$253,352) but it’s got a market price of well over US$800,000 (~AU$1.25 million). Ooft.

This eye-catching rendition of Patek’s famous luxury sports watch features a platinum case and integrated bracelet; 44 baguette-cut rubies (32 set in the bezel and 12 as hour markers) and a black gradient dial. Patek only make a few of these a year, so it’s exceptionally rare. Sneaky move, Ricciardo.

Danny Ric is lowkey one of Patek’s biggest customers. Not only does he own another Nautilus on top of this one (a rose gold chronograph model) but he also owns a rather lavish Grand Complications ref. 5271P-001, also in platinum. Must be nice.

It’s interesting as when he’s on duty as a McLaren driver, Danny Ric wears one of a number of Richard Mille models – well, he’s contractually obliged to. Most watch fans, regardless of millionaire status, would be more than happy to wear a ‘Millie’… But ‘The Honey Badger’ isn’t your average watch fan.

Check out what other watches F1 drivers (including Ricciardo) wear when they’re ‘off-duty’ below.

The Hack Squat Could Be The New King Of Leg Exercises

We don’t need to repeat the adage that you should never skip leg day. So when it comes to punishing your pins, you’re likely going to head straight for the squat rack to perform some barbell squats. It’s a great exercise, make no mistake, but Australian fitness trainer Nick Cheadle reckons there is a more effective and safer route to muscular legs.

Posting on his TikTok account, Nick Cheadle, co-owner of Paragon Strength & Performance in Artarmon, Sydney and ambassador for Optimum Nutrition says the hack squat is actually going to benefit you more than the much lauded barbell squat.

WATCH: Nick Cheadle Shows How To Perform A Hack Squat

In the caption of a video of him performing hack squats, Nick says “this widespread belief that barbell squats are the king of all exercises needs to die.”

“No one exercise will help you achieve all the things. Which is why if your main aim in the gym is to slap some size on your legs, barbells squats aren’t going to be the best exercise you could choose to do that.”

We reckon Tom Platz would disagree (although it’s said he was actually a fan of the hack squat), but we digress.

Justifying his reason for encouraging the hack squat over the barbell squat, Nick says the latter has limiting factors, including “your ability to brace, stabilise and to maintain balance to continue to create enough tension through your torso, underneath a heavy barbell weighing you down, to actually allow your legs to do the hard work they need to do in order to grow most effectively.”

We can’t disagree here. While it is regularly claimed the barbell squat is a fantastic leg exercise – and to some extent a full body exercise, because of the aforementioned bracing required – they do inherently pose a risk of injury. This often occurs when a lifter attempts to lift too much weight (leave your ego at the door, lads) or if they perform the movement incorrectly (which can be easy to do).

So, to not only minimise the risk of injury but place tension solely on the legs, the hack squat is a much better alternative.

“They take away the necessity for us to have to brace & spend so much energy on creating the rigidity required to hammer our legs.”

“These machines are extremely sturdy,” says Nick, “and safe, and put us in a position where our legs get the opportunity to truly work towards failure, without us having to worry about getting crushed by a barbell.”

Nick provides a few other reasons as to his bombshell claim in his video, one of which says the hack squat “allows you to incorporate more range of motion in a safer manner.” Although, we’ve also previously discussed the potential benefits of just squatting or lifting to 90-degrees, rendering the whole idea of achieving a greater range of motion utterly pointless.

So, while the jury may still be out as to which method is the optimal, if you can get deep with your squats, you’re not going to cause any harm.

How to perform a hack squat

If you’ve not performed a hack squat before, it’s actually incredibly easy. And certainly much easier than a barbell squat.

Firstly, however, you will need to make sure your gym has a hack squat machine. You’re kinda screwed without one.

With your machine secured, the steps couldn’t be simpler.

Load some weight onto the machine and step on
Lock down your shoulder blades and keep your torso upright, resting on the cushioned pads
Start by standing upright with your feet shoulder-width apart and point your toes outwards ever so slightly (similar to a barbell squat)
Grab the handles in a neutral grip, inhale and squat down
Once at the bottom of the squat, exhale and push back up through the balls of your feet
Keep the movement slow and controlled throughout. You can opt to include a pause at the bottom of the squat if you wish
Repeat for 8 – 12 reps for 3 – 4 sets

There is often debate as to which method of training equipment is more effective, machine vs free weights, but when it comes to minimising injury and improving form, the machines cannot be beat.

Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson Wears A Surprisingly Subtle TAG Heuer Watch

The world’s biggest man is normally a fan of super-huge, super-lavish watches – which makes his most recent watch acquisition all the more interesting.

The 50-year-old actor, former professional wrestler and tequila entrepreneur puts a sizeable chunk of his $800 million net worth towards fine timepieces and has been spotted wearing brands as diverse as Audemars Piguet, IWC Schaffhausen, Panerai and Rolex. He loves gold and very few of his pieces cost less than US$10,000.

That’s why it was so surprising to see him wear a comparatively subtle green-dial TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph (ref. CBN2A10.BA0643), which retails for US$5,750. Not a cheap watch by any means, but a very different pick for The Rock. It shows that he’s a true watch fan.

One of the most iconic chronographs in the world and a watch steeped in motorsports heritage, the TAG Heuer Carrera is a total classic. Boasting a tri-compax subdial layout with a date window at 6 o’clock, a super-comfy H-link bracelet and powered by the in-house Heuer 02 movement, it’s the perfect daily wearer… Or red carpet accessory.

This model’s 44mm case size definitely puts on the larger size when it comes to watches… But when you consider The Rock regularly rocks pieces with 47mm+ case sizes, this is a small watch for him.

It’s also nice to see him wear a real TAG Heuer for a change. Last year he came clean on Twitter about how back in the 90s he used to wear a fake Carrera… “Before it turned green”, at least. Well, now he’s got a real TAG that’s actually green. Funny how the world works.

Check out some other highlights from The Rock’s watch collection below.

Dwayne is currently on a whistle-stop tour of the Americas promoting his latest film, Black Adam: a DC Extended Universe superhero film where he plays the eponymous anti-hero. He also voices Krypto the Superdog (Superman’s dog) in another DC film that’s in cinemas right now, The League of Super-Pets.

Daylight Savings Got You Rattled? Lower Your Stress With This Simple Morning Hack

Your alarm goes off earlier than you’d like, you may have kids to feed and water and you just found out your train has been cancelled. All this results in one thing: stress. But, while stress could be seen as inevitable, there is one thing you can do to both increase your tolerance and decrease your stress levels at the same time.

The answer is simple; a morning routine.

We’ve previously discussed the importance a morning stretching routine can have on your gains, but what about your mood?

You may already have one, and if you do, then you may already be aware of the benefits it has bestowed upon you. But for those who don’t have a solid morning routine, or have one that could use some tweaking, then Dr Rangan Chatterjee has some advice for you.

The British physician, author, television presenter and podcaster has previously spoken to Stephen Bartlett for his Diary of a CEO podcast, about the importance of morning routines. Stephen questions Dr Chatterjee about his “3 M’s of morning routines,” asking what they are and what one can do to improve their own morning routine.

WATCH: Dr Rangan Chatterjee explains the importance of morning routines to Stephen Bartlett

He explains how stress and morning routines go together in harmony by providing his concept of “micro stress doses and stress thresholds.” He says each of us have our own personal stress threshold, which is dictated by “how you deal with things and what’s going on.”

“When we get to that threshold, that’s when things start to go wrong.”

Circling back to his micro stress dose concept, Dr Chatterjee explains that when we wake up in the morning from a good night’s sleep, we are “far removed from our stress threshold.”

So, when we’re jolted out of bed when our alarm goes off, “that’s micro stress dose number one.” If we then snooze our alarm, only for it to go off again 5 minutes later, “that’s micro stress dose number 2.” Next, we might check our emails, “‘oh man there are these three emails I forgot to get back to yesterday’, that’s MSD number three.”

He continues by giving examples of little things that likely happen in the morning for the majority of us and says, “each one of these micro stress doses slowly moves us closer and closer to our stress threshold.”

“The mistake we make, is that by 3 o’clock in the afternoon, when that email from your colleague frustrates you, you think it was that email. But it wasn’t that email, it was the fact you’ve already acquired 20 micro stress doses, you’re right at your threshold, you’ve got no capacity to deal with, so that email bothers you.”

How can morning routines help?

How Dr Chatterjee says we can minimise the chance of reaching our threshold, or increasing it and building our resilience is to take up a morning routine.

“They can reduce how many micro stress doses you’re exposed to, so you’re going into your day with much more headroom, more resilience.”

“For me, I know, if I do that morning routine is feeds the control leg of the core happiness stool. But it also means I’m not exposing myself to micro stress doses, or I’m even going into the negative to myself even more headroom.”

“For me a complete morning routine has these 3 M’s: mindfulness, movement, mindset.”

“Currently my morning routine is 30 minutes, but that’s what I’ve found works for me. I’ve found if I don’t get that time to myself, I’m not as good a dad or a husband.”

“Mindfulness, is a practice of breath work and meditation. Then I go to the kitchen and put my coffee on, and it’s very specific. I put a timer on for 5-minutes. In those 5-minutes, I don’t go on Instagram, I don’t check emails, but instead I do a workout in the kitchen in my pyjamas. And then I get the reward of a fresh coffee.”

“I’ll then read something positive for 10-minutes.”

But what should we do if unexpected obstacles come and disrupt our morning routine? Dr Rangan says he no longer sees them as problems. Using the example of his daughter waking up too and wanting to sit with him, he says a few years ago he would have become frustrated.

But now, “I don’t need to look at it as a problem. This is life, if we think life is going to be great when everything goes our way, we’re going to be waiting a long time.”

So, that’s mindfulness and movement taken care of, what about mindset?

Dr Rangan encourages the use of affirmations. He claims there is plenty of research to suggest the benefits of affirmations – something Chris Hemsworth has promoted too – adding, “how you program your mind, matters.”

Dr Rangan continues by talking about a patient of his who had bad acne and claimed they didn’t have time to strike up a morning routine. But even with just a short 5-minute practice each morning, dedicating a couple of minutes to each of the 3 M’s, his patient found their acne cleared up and their overall mood improved.

You can watch and listen to Dr Rangan’s entire segment on the importance of morning routines on YouTube.

iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max Australia: Features, Price, Dynamic Island & More

The Apple iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max are now available to buy in Australia, alongside the slightly lower-specced iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus. The new foursome of phones was unveiled by Apple on Wednesday 7th September.

As expected, Apple says the iPhone 14 is “the best iPhone ever,” (it would be a bit shit if it wasn’t as good as the iPhone 13 it replaces) thanks to improved battery life, improved cameras and some new features that are specific to the iPhone 14 Pro models.

Now that they’re on sale, the most burning question is “how much does the iPhone 14 cost?”. Well, you best ensure you’ve saved up, because they ain’t cheap.

Here’s everything you need to know about the iPhone 14 in Australia.

iPhone 14 Australia: Name & Lineup

iPhone 14
iPhone 14 Plus
iPhone 14 Pro
iPhone 14 Pro Max

With the iPhone 14 launch event, Apple has also put to bed all speculation relating to the names of the new lineup. There are four new iPhone 14 models, as expected, called iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max.

iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus

As expected, Apple introduced two ‘base’ model iPhone 14 models: the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus. These two phones share many of the same features, with the only major difference being the size of the screen. The iPhone 14 retains the familiar 6.1-inch display, while the iPhone 14 Plus goes much larger, with a 6.7-inch display.

Elsewhere, the overall design of the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus is largely the same as the iPhone 13 series. However, in the US at least, Apple has removed the SIM card tray. Judging by imagery, this won’t be the case for Australia, so Australians will still be able to insert their own SIM card from another phone if they wish.

An eSIM works in the same way as a physical SIM card, but is stored digitally on the phone instead.

As for the tech internals, both the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus get Apple’s A15 Bionic processor with 5-core GPU for super speedy performance, but this combination of CPU and GPU also allows the iPhone 14 and 14 Plus to receive a notable photography upgrade over their preceding models.

Those camera upgrades include an improved front-facing TrueDepth camera, which now gets autofocus for the first time. Not only does this allow for better selfies, says Apple, but it will also allow for improved photos in low light. On the back, the Main camera sensor has been upgraded to 12-megapixels which, when combined with the ultra-wide camera sensor and internal processing magic – which Apple is calling Photonic Engine – should result in some spectacular photos, with improved performance in low-light.

The screens on both the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus support HDR and Dolby Vision, should you have any content in either format available to stream. Other new features include Crash Detection, which sees your iPhone 14 automatically detecting when you’ve been in a car crash, and connecting to a satellite rather than a cellular network, to notify authorities of your location.

The iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus are available in Australia in midnight (black with a fancy name), blue, starlight, purple, and (PRODUCT)RED colours. The iPhone 14 is already available to buy, but the iPhone 14 Plus won’t be available until Friday October 7.

iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max

Apple’s two more expensive and more feature-packed iPhone models have been given some serious upgrades for 2022, too. Inside, the two Pro models get Apple’s latest A16 Bionic processor (just one of the features that separates the Pro models from the non-Pro) and a virtually brand new camera system.

This sees the iPhone 14 Pro models get a 48-megapixel camera sensor for the first time in an iPhone which, when combined with the aforementioned Photonic Engine, should result in some of the most impressive low-light photos we’ve ever seen from a smartphone.

Both iPhone 14 Pro models get the same 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch displays as found on the non-Pro models, but they get upgraded with ProMotion technology and a higher level of brightness (Apple says it’s the brightest display on any smartphone right now) so you can expect colours to pop on screen.

Dynamic Island

The notch at the top of the display has now gone, sort of. In its place is a more pill-shaped cutout for the front-facing camera and FaceID sensor. But, in true Apple fashion, the technology giant has turned this into a marketable feature, known as Dynamic Island. This, says Apple, “maintains an active state to allow users easier access to controls with a simple tap-and-hold. Ongoing background activities like Maps, Music, or a timer remain visible and interactive.”

In practice, the Dynamic Island allows you to view extra information depending on what app you’re using. For example, if you set a timer in the Clock app, for example, you can press and hold on the Dynamic Island notch to see how much time is left.

The Dynamic Island on the iPhone 14 Pro in action in three separate scenarios.

The iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max are available in deep purple, silver, gold, and space black colours at launch. Although, if experience is anything to go by, Apple may well introduce a new colour later in the year or in early 2023. The previous iPhone 13 series received a gorgeous new green colour well after the launch, so we wonder if Apple will do the same again.

iPhone 14 Australia: Price

The most important question anyone wants to know whenever there is a new iPhone is how much it costs. The iPhone 14 range varies in price in Australia, from $1,399 all the way up to $2,769, depending on which model and storage option you choose. The prices for the iPhone 14 are actually more expensive than those of the iPhone 13 range when it launched in Australia.

iPhone 14 Price

128GB – A$1,399
256GB – A$1,579
512GB – A$1,899

iPhone 14 Plus Price

128GB – A$1,579
256GB – A$1,749
512GB – A$2,099

iPhone 14 Pro Price

128GB – A$1,749
256GB – A$1,899
512GB – A$2,249
1TB – A$2,599

iPhone 14 Pro Max Price

128GB – A$1,899
256GB – A$2,099
512GB – A$2,419
1TB – A$2,769

iPhone 14 Australia: Release Date

Unveiled on 7th September 2022
On sale from 16th September 2022

After months of rumours, Apple finally unveiled the iPhone 14 on Wednesday 7th of September. The Californian company confirmed the unveiling by sending out official media invites to the event, which took place at The Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino.

The event invite (pictured above) depicted the Apple logo surrounded by a starlit night sky. While it was initially predicted this was a cryptic clue to suggest the iPhone 14 would feature even better night time photography skills, it was actually in reference to the theme of the Apple iPhone 14 launch event, which was called “Far Out.”

When is the iPhone 14 coming out in Australia?

Apple officially unveiled the iPhone 14 on Wednesday 7th of September. The iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max went on official sale from Friday 16th September, while the iPhone 14 Plus went on sale from Friday 7th October.

How much does the iPhone 14 cost?

Prices for the iPhone 14 in Australia start at A$1,399 and rise to A$2,769 depending on the model you choose and the amount of internal storage.

The post iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max Australia: Features, Price, Dynamic Island & More appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

With The Pound In The Toilet, Now’s The Time To Do A ‘Rolex Run’ To The UK

Rolexes are expensive no matter where you are on the planet.. But with Great Britain’s economy not looking so great and some recent helpful policy changes, now might be the perfect time to plan a holiday to the UK to go buy some watches.

As you might have noticed, the pound is absolutely tanking right now. In September, the pound slumped to a record low against the US dollar (getting almost as low as 1:1) after new Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s controversial tax cuts rattled investors. It’s since rebounded – but not by much.

That’s already got plenty of people booking British holidays but it gets even better (or worse, depending on your perspective). On top of the weak pound, the UK goverment has reintroduced instant Value Added Tax (VAT) rebates on goods bought in the UK by overseas visitors.

Those two factors combined mean that tourists can get some serious savings on Rolex watches – as well as all sorts of luxury goods more broadly. It’s not a discount per se but rather very favourable conditions.

WatchPro reports that American tourists can save up to as much as 31% on some popular Rolex models like the GMT-Master II ‘Batman’ or the Submariner ‘No Date’, for example. Indeed, the savings you’d make on a white gold Cosmograph Daytona would be in excess of US$10,000 – so you could fly business class and still end up saving money.

The Rolex GMT-Master II ‘Batman’ on a Jubillee bracelet, one of Rolex’s most popular models. Image: Watch Advice

As Bloomberg reports, Rolex raised their prices in the UK by an average of about 5% earlier this month in hopes of heading off price arbitrage moves by buyers taking advantage of the weak pound – but the pound’s continued decline to levels not seen in decades has made that adjustment “almost irrelevant”.

Other brands that have raised their UK prices over the last few months include heavy hitters like Audemars Piguet, OMEGA and Patek Philippe.

Of course, just because Rolex retail prices are comparatively lower in the UK right now doesn’t make it any easier to actually purchase one at retail. According to watch fans online, there’s almost no Rolex stock in the UK right now; the country is just as badly affected by the current stock shortage as everywhere else.

Any excuse for a holiday we suppose.

Graham Norton Reveals Who ‘Gets The Prize’ For Being His Worst Guest Ever

Graham Norton has admitted that Harvey Weinstein is the worst guest he’s ever had on The Graham Norton Show.

Graham Norton, the Irish comedian best known for The Graham Norton Show, has had multiple celebrities as guests on his chat show over the years. And so, it’s only natural that he’s come to have favourites and… least-favourites.

Norton artfully dodged the question, ‘Who’s the worst guest you’ve ever had on your show?’ right up until 2018 when he suggested that Robert De Niro was his least favourite guest because of De Niro’s “benign presence”.

But now, Norton has amended his answer and flat out declared that Harvey Weinstein was the worst guest he’s ever had on The Graham Norton Show. As reported by JOE, while in Dublin, promoting his latest novel, Forever Home, Norton said:

“I often talk around who my least favourite guest was, but now, someone reminded me, I have a really good answer to this now. It’s Harvey Weinstein. He’s in jail, so he gets the prize for the worst guest ever.”
Graham Norton

Weinstein was one of the most successful producers in Hollywood until he was found guilty of sexual assault and rape in 2020. Weinstein is currently serving a twenty-three-year sentence in prison for his crimes.

Weinstein appeared on *The Graham Norton Show* in 2015 alongside David Tennant, Olivia Colman and Jessie J. Image Credit: BBC

Norton clarified why Weinstein was the worst guest he’s ever had on his show, namely because of Weinstein’s persistence.

“It was weird because [Weinstein] asked for my e-mail. And he e-mailed me something very nice, a complimentary thing. And then he decided he wanted to be on the show because he was going to promote something.”
Graham Norton

“And it was a show that was fully booked, so I replied saying, ‘Oh, thank you so much, but the show is fully booked’. He e-mailed back, ‘What if I blah de blah de blah’. [I replied,] ‘No, the show is fully booked, blah de blah.’”

“And he e-mailed back again, ‘But I think…’, and I just had to turn to my booker and say ‘Can you please deal with this?’ And at the time, I thought that sort of attitude, that kind of ‘Oh no, I’m going on,’ that is what makes you a very good producer.”
Graham Norton

“But of course, now that we know what we know, that is what makes him a predator. It was that kind of weird, tunnel-vision thing. And it was sort of chilling in retrospect because I was just laughing at those emails. But you realise, ‘Oh my God, that is an insight into how that man is.’”

Weinstein appeared on The Graham Norton Show in 2015 alongside David Tennant, Olivia Colman and Jessie J. While nothing of note happened during the episode, considering how infamous Weinstein has become since then due to his deplorable behaviour, we agree with Norton and think he’s definitely earnt the title of ‘worst guest’.

Incredible ‘Croatia Alternative’ Blowing Travellers’ Minds

Albania is quickly becoming one of the hottest spots in Europe, and not just because of global warming. Its bounty of beaches, incredible Mediterranean scenery, delectable food, and friendly citizens have put it at the top of many people’s bucket lists, with the destination becoming seen as a cheap alternative to Greece, Italy or Croatia.

You’ve heard about the French Riviera, but what about the Albanian one? Albania’s secluded beaches and beautiful waters are now being opened up more and more to the eyes of the world. This process is no longer so much being instigated by The Lonely Planet and co. but now more so is being done by (or on the platforms of) tech juggernauts like Meta and TikTok.

Case in point: the following video by farecompare.com, which was posted recently posted to Facebook. The video showed off the “abundance of beautiful beaches, incredible scenery, delicious food, and more than hospitable locals” which, according to farecompare.com, means The Albanian Riviera “should be at the top of your must-see travel list!!”

Can they put their money where their mouth is though? How do Albania’s secluded beaches stack up next to Croatia Sail? Take a look at the following video and decide for yourself.

WATCH: Is Albania The New Croatia!??

In response to the video, one Facebook commenter said it had opened their eyes to a whole new side of the world. They wrote: “Crazy how there’s [sic] so many beautiful places in the world, and thanks to social media we get to see these places exist and plan to visit some time.”

“Growing up without social medias, the way schools here in the USA painted other countries is that they were not good places to visit and basically every where was a third world country except here.”

“Where is this beautiful place,” another social media user said. “I would love to go there!”

Left: @vlore_albania.al, right: @gutomirandaa.

Another tried their hand at explaining the locations seen in the video, writing: “The first beach is in Ksamil town. Then the other beaches look like from everywhere in the Albanian Ionian Coast. One of them could be in Porto Palermo. The Blue Eye spring is located in Saranda, Albania.”

The same social media user added: “The beach views from those restaurants are very common in the south, but Lekuresi Castle in Saranda is a great spot for amazing views. The pebbled town is in Berat. The small church surrounded by mountains is in the North of Albania (likely Theth or Valbona).”

Others pined the departure of summer (“summer miss you already. 8 months to have you back”) and others pointed out the fact that it was the “same sea as Croatia, Italy and Greece.” Yet others tagged their friends and suggested a trip (“pack your bags girl, we’re going to Albania!”).

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by vlore_albania.al (@vlore_albania.al)

Whether or not The Albania Riviera ever will ever replace The French Riviera or a sailing experience in Croatia remains to be seen. What’s not up for debate is that its beaches look beautiful. So who knows: maybe it’s worth adding to your list.

How to perform a hack squat

How can morning routines help?

In this iPhone 14 story…

iPhone 14 Australia: Name & Lineup

iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus