Guests arrive for the opening ceremony of the 23rd Life Ball in Vienna May 16, 2015. Life Ball is Europe's largest annual AIDS charity event and takes place in Vienna's city hall. The Life Ball is a charity gala to raise money for people living with HIV and AIDS. (Photo by Leonhard Foeger/Reuters)

A traditional game that earned hollers from the crowd saw a male rider gallop after a young woman, stretching for a kiss. Only a handful of the men managed the risky peck before the young women turned the tables and thundered after the men with whips in hand. (Photo by Amos Chapple/Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)

An employee stands on the step of The Venice Simplon-Orient-Express at Istanbul Station in Istanbul, on August 31, 2022. The Venice Simplon Orient-Express luxury train arrives in Istanbul, completing its annual voyage along a mythical route that takes it across Europe from Paris. (Photo by Yasin Akgul/AFP Photo)

A skater jumps through a ring of fire at the La Bodega Skate facilities as part of one of the Vans contests to showcase the top street skaters in Europe on September 16, 2023 in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain. (Photo by Juan Carlos Toro/Getty Images)

Grand banqueting halls, opulent lobbies and vast ballrooms; you could easily be forgiven for thinking this was a collection of photographs was documenting some of Europe’s grandest hotels. However, a closer look will reveal the majestic rooms to be engulfed in swathes of dust and moss; hotels that once hosted royals and high society abandoned to the elements. This is the latest result of urban exploration photography, going beyond “no entry” signs to capture images of dilapidated buildings across Europe. IT worker Thomas Windisch, from Graz in Austria, indulged his passion for photography by traveling across the continent, visiting over 100 abandoned hotels along the way. Here: inside a hotel in Austria. (Photo by Thomas Windisch/Caters News)

A child uses an umbrella to avoid rain falling on a fire at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni, Greece, Monday, April 25, 2016. Many thousands of migrants remain at the Greek border with Macedonia, hoping that the border crossing will reopen, allowing them to move north into central Europe. (Photo by Gregorio Borgia/AP Photo)

This female orangutan was born at the zoo in the German capital of Berlin. German online users have fallen in love with Berlin Zoo's most recent addition – this newborn orangutan. The female orangutan was born in the early hours of 12th January at the zoo in the German capital of Berlin and weighed a tiny 1.8 kilograms, normally regarded as small for an orangutan baby but nevertheless the infant is healthy and strong. (Photo by Europics/Zoo Berlin)

Costumed revellers perform in the parade during the Notting Hill Carnival in London, Monday, August 27, 2018. The carnival has been held every year since 1966 and one of the largest festival celebrations of its kind in Europe. (Photo by Tim Ireland/AP Photo)