536. The Arches National Park

 Arches National Park is a U.S. National Park in eastern Utah. It is known for preserving over 2000 natural sandstone arches, including the world-famous Delicate Arch, in addition to a variety of unique geological resources and formations.  The park is located just outside of Moab, Utah, and is 31,031 ha in area. Its highest elevation is 1,723 m at Elephant Butte, and its lowest elevation is 1,245 m at the visitor center. Forty-three arches have collapsed due to erosion since 1970. The park receives 250 mm of rain a year on average.  Administered by the National Park Service, the area was originally created as a National Monument on April 12, 1929. It was redesignated as a National Park on November 12, 1971

DE-1759047

535. Snufkin

FI-1604508

534. Rouveen and Christmas card

 Rouveen is a village in the Dutch province of Overijssel. It is located in the municipality of Staphorst, about 4 km southwest of that town.

 First Christmas card this year

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533. Seealpsee

 Seealpsee is a lake in the Alpstein range of the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden, Switzerland. At an elevation of 1,143.2 m, the surface area is 13.6 hectares. The lake can be reached by foot from Wasserauen or from Ebenalp. A network of routes around Ebenalp connects Seealpsee with other notable sights in the Appenzell Alps, such as the Wildkirchli and Säntis.   The Berggasthaus Forelle am Seealpsee, with a large open air terrace, dominates the western end of the lake.

CH-128887

532. Morko

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531. Berlin

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530. Amsterdam

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529. Alishan sacred tree

 The Alishan Sacred Tree is one of the most notable Alishan attractions. The tree is located at the Sacred Tree (Shenmu) Railway Station with an elevation over 2000 meters above sea level. The Sacred Tree is known as Shenmu in Mandarin with an age over 3,000 years. This giant tree and dozens of younger generations of giant trees are one of the top five Alishan must-see sceneries along with sunrise, sunset, forest railway, and sea of clouds.

TW-659023

528. Watertower

 

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527. China

 

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526. Kawartha Highlands Provincial Park

 Kawartha Highlands Provincial Park (officially called Kawartha Highlands Signature Site) is a 375 km² area of preserved wilderness and recreational areas in south-central Ontario, Canada. It is located to the north and east of the main belt of the Kawartha lakes primarily in the township of North Kawartha. It is the largest single area of preserved land in the southern part of the province (excluding Algonquin Park, parts of which are in northern and southern Ontario).  The park was expanded from its original size of 18.6 square kilometres (7.2 sq mi) to its current size in June 2003. It was previously a mostly-wilderness tract enclosing Bottle Lake and Sucker Lake, and accessible primarily by canoe, many by portage routes only. It now encloses many more small lakes as well as all of Anstruther Lake, and has many cottages and access roads. As of 2008, the park is not officially operational; trails, campsites and entry infrastructure have not been completed, and official provincial maps do not yet indicate the expanded area.  Municipally, the park is completely within Peterborough County; about two-thirds of its area is in the township of North Kawartha, and the remaining western portion is in the township of Galway-Cavendish-Harvey.

CA-294305

525. Kaprun

 Kaprun is a municipality in the Zell am See District in the state of Salzburg, Austria. It is located in the historic Pinzgau region on the northern slopes of the Alpine Glockner Group with Mt. Großes Wiesbachhorn, 3,564 m, part of the Hohe Tauern range forming the border of Salzburg with Carinthia. At the foot of the Kitzsteinhorn Glacier, Kaprun is a year round sports centre. The Kapruner Ache creek joins the Salzach River south of the settlement.  The Mooserboden hydroelectric plant uses water from two reservoirs held back by some of Austria’s largest dam walls. The reservoir area has become a tourist attraction, giving spectacular views over the towns of Kaprun and Zell am See. The visitors centre gives guided tours of the area. Tauern Spa World was completed in November 2010, and is the second largest spa complex in Austria. It is an 2 hour transfer to resort from Salzburg Airport.

 

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524. Black Lake

 

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523. Texas

 Texas is the second most populous and the second-largest of the 50 states in the United States of America, and the largest state in the 48 contiguous United States. Located in the South Central United States, Texas shares an international border with the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León and Tamaulipas to the south, and borders the US states of New Mexico to the west, Oklahoma to the north, Arkansas to the northeast and Louisiana to the east. Texas has an area of  696,200 km2, and a growing population of 25.7 million residents

US-1960637

522. Finland

 FI-1593955

521. Zugspitze

 The Zugspitze, at 2,962 metres above sea level, is the highest peak of the Wetterstein Mountains as well as the highest mountain in Germany. It lies south of the town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, and the border between Germany and Austria runs over its western summit. South of the mountain is the Zugspitzplatt, a high karst plateau with numerous caves. On the flanks of the Zugspitze are three glaciers, including the two largest in Germany: the Northern Schneeferner with an area of 30.7 hectares and the Höllentalferner with an area of 24.7 hectares. The third is the Southern Schneeferner which covers 8.4 hectares.

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520. Dombai-Ulgen

 

 Dombai-Ulgen or Dombay-Ulgen is a 4,046 m high mountain of the Greater Caucasus and the highest point of Abkhazia, a state with limited international recognition otherwise seen to be part of Georgia. It is located on the border with Karachay–Cherkessia, an autonomous republic of Russia.

BY-666232

519. Taiwan Hot Air Balloon Festival

June 29 - September 02, 2012

 Taiwan's first hot-air balloon festival was held from July 1 to August 31, 2011 at Luye Goutai, Taitung County. For the first year, we invited pilots from the United States, Canada, Switzerland, New Zealand, India, Thailand and Dubai. They were all stunned with the views of the sites and the natural beauty of Taitung. The event has attracted more than 350,000 people from Japan, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan to visit and experience. It sure has become Taiwan's most popular summer tourism activities in 2011. Every balloon team can choose the period that is convenient to them during the festival. Each team shall attend the festival at least 7 days.

TW-717318

518. Central Fire Station

 The Central Fire Station (Chinese: 中央消防局) is the oldest existing fire station in Singapore, and is located at Hill Street in the Museum Planning Area, within the Central Area, Singapore's central business district.

SG-85882

Stinky - Private

 

517. Brest Fortess

 Brest Fortress (Belarusian: Брэсцкая крэпасць, Brestskaya krepasts' ; Russian: Брестская крепость, Brestskaya krepost' ; Polish: Twierdza brzeska), formerly known as Brest-Litovsk Fortress (the Polish name of the city was Brześć Litewski), is a 19th century Russian fortress in Brest, Belarus. It is one of the most important Soviet World War II war monuments commemorating the Soviet resistance against the German invasion on June 22, 1941 (Operation Barbarossa). Following the war, in 1965 the title Hero-Fortress was given to the Fortress to commemorate the heroic defence of the frontier stronghold during the very first weeks of the German-Soviet War. It was then part of the Byelorussian SSR. The title Hero-Fortress corresponds to the title Hero City, that was awarded to an eventual total of twelve Soviet cities.

BY-581873

516. Bad Gandersheim

 The town is full of character and is made up of many half-timbered houses. It's origins date back to 852, the town's first abbey church (Stiftskirche) was started in 856. A mineral spring was discovered in 1240 and this led to Pope Gregory IX asking for the building of the Holy Spirit Hospital. In about 1330 the Duke of Brunswick built a castle which today is used as the magistrates' court and young offenders correctional facility.As in the Middle Ages so again today two historic trade and pilgrimage routes meet each other in bad Gandersheim, running from North to South and from East to West.In the late 19th century, the city began to become known for the curative powers of its mineral springs and in 1932 it received the official right to call itself a spa town, thus 'Bad' Gandersheim, on account of these springs.In the summer of 1926 there was a three-day "Roswitha Memorial Celebration in 1000-year old Gandersheim". This was the first time the medieval author was used as a symbolic figure for the city. Similar celebrations took place in 1930 and 1933; these had clear national-socialistic themes — 'German Culture' versus 'Jewish-Communist Decadence'.In 1952, the city celebrated the 1100 year jubilee of the founding of the monastery by Liudolf. A history play "The Song of Gandersheim" was presented on the market square.The summer festival Gandersheimer Domfestspiele, was started in 1959 and has taken place yearly on the plaza in front of the Stiftskirche since that date. Bad Gandersheim has established itself as Lower Saxony's largest professional summer theatre festival. In 2006, its four major productions were attended by approximately 55,000 theatre visitors.

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515. Russia

 Sunset on the Myachine lake

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514. Holland

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513. Scottish coast

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