piątek, 31 sierpnia 2012

414. Chimney Rock

 Chimney Rock State Park is a North Carolina state park in Chimney Rock, Rutherford County, North Carolina in the United States. The 18.34 km2 park is located 40 km southeast of Asheville, North Carolina, and is owned by the state of North Carolina.  It offers hiking trails for all skill levels, spectacular views, the Devil's Head balancing rock and a 123 m waterfall, Hickory Nut Falls. Its most notable feature is a 96 m rock formation, a granite monolith, Chimney Rock, accessible by elevator and providing views of the park and surrounding countryside. Areas within the park as well as surrounding the park were featured prominently in the 1984 film A Breed Apart and most of the final scenes of the 1992 adaptation of The Last of the Mohicans, including the Huron negotiation, the chase along the cliff, the fight between Uncas and Magua, Alice's decision, and the climactic fight between Magua and Chingachgook.

413. East Coast Scenery of Taiwan

 East Coast Scenery of Taiwan

Bali - TYC

 Bali - The sacred temple of the volcanic lake, Pura Ulun Danu, at Bedugul. TYC for PL-480614

412. Everest is climbed

 Everest is climbed, 1954. Cover illustrtion by Richard Taylor

411. Moomins


410. Bamboo Grove

 Bamboo Grove is a symbol of Sage when foreigners visit, they would be facinated with beauty of bamboos

409. Sochi

 Aquapark/Restaurant/Seaside

408. Terem Palace

Terem Palace or Teremnoy Palace is a historical building in the Moscow Kremlin, Russia, which used to be the main residence of the Russian tsars in the 17th century. Its name is derived from the Greek word τερεμνον. Currently, the structure is not accessible to the public, as it belongs to the official residence of the President of Russia.  On the 16th century Aloisio the New constructed the first royal palace on the spot. Only the ground floor survives from that structure, as the first Romanov tsar, Mikhail Feodorovich, had the palace completely rebuilt in 1635-36. The new structure was surrounded by numerous annexes and outbuildings, including the Boyar Platform, Golden Staircase, Golden Porch, and several turrets. On Mikhail's behest, the adjoining Golden Tsaritsa's Chamber constructed back in the 1560s for Ivan IV's wife, was surmounted with 11 golden domes of the Upper Saviour Cathedral. The complex of the palace also incorporates several churches of earlier construction, including the Church of the Virgin's Nativity from the 1360s.  The palace consists of five stories. The third story was occupied by the tsaritsa and her children; the fourth one contained the private apartments of the tsar. The upper story is a tent-like structure where the Boyar Duma convened. The exterior, exuberantly decorated with brick tracery and colored tiles, is brilliantly painted in red, yellow, and orange. The interior used to be painted as well, but the original murals were destroyed by successive fires, particularly the great fire of 1812. In 1837, the interiors were renovated in accordance with old drawings in the Russian Revival style.

407. Rocky Mountain National Park

 Rocky Mountain National Park is a national park located in the north-central region of the U.S. state of Colorado. It features majestic mountain views, a variety of wildlife, varied climates and environments—from wooded forests to mountain tundra—and easy access to back-country trails and campsites. The park is located northwest of Boulder, Colorado, in the Rockies, and includes the Continental Divide and the headwaters of the Colorado River.  The park has five visitor centers. The park headquarters, Beaver Meadows Visitor Center, is a National Historic Landmark, designed by the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture at Taliesin West.

406. Joshua Tree National Park

 Joshua Tree National Park is located in southeastern California. Declared a U.S. National Park in 1994 when the U.S. Congress passed the California Desert Protection Act (Public Law 103-433), it had previously been a U.S. National Monument since 1936. It is named for the Joshua tree (Yucca brevifolia) forests native to the park. It covers a land area of 3,199.59 km2 – an area slightly larger than the state of Rhode Island. A large part of the park, some 173,890 ha, is a designated wilderness area. Straddling the San Bernardino County/Riverside County border, the park includes parts of two deserts, each an ecosystem whose characteristics are determined primarily by elevation: the higher Mojave Desert and lower Colorado Desert. The Little San Bernardino Mountains run through the southwest edge of the park

405. Jasper National Park

Jasper National Park is the largest national park in the Canadian Rockies, spanning 10,878 km². It is located in the province of Alberta, north of Banff National Park and west of the City of Edmonton. The park includes the glaciers of the Columbia Icefield, hot springs, lakes, waterfalls and mountains. Wildlife in the park includes elk, caribou, moose, mule deer, white-tailed deer, mountain goat, bighorn sheep, grizzly bear, black bear, beaver, Rocky Mountain pika, hoary marmot, grey wolf, mountain lion, and wolverine. This park was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984, together with the other national and provincial parks that form the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks, for the mountain landscapes containing mountain peaks, glaciers, lakes, waterfalls, canyons, and limestone caves as well as fossils found here.

środa, 22 sierpnia 2012

Braslau Lakes - Swap

 Braslau Lakes is one of the seven National Parks in Belarus. The National Park was set up in September 1995. It is a unique ecosystem with a number of lakes and a large area of pine forests. It has a total area of about 700 km 2. This includes 30 lakes. The largest lakes are Dryvyaty, Snudy and Strusta. Through the latest glacial period, about 18,000-29,000 years ago, the area of Braslav Lakes was covered with vast ice fields, up to several hundred metres thick. As the climate warmed, the ice slowly melted and the limit of the ice moved north. This complex process shaped the characteristic features of the nature of Poozerye with its hilly relief and lakes.

poniedziałek, 20 sierpnia 2012

404. Hello from Switzerland

 Jungfrau / Matterhorn / Dents-du-Midi / Piz La Margna / Pilatus

403. Munich

 View of Munich with New Perlach

402. Serra do Rio do Rastro

 Serra do Rio do Rastro is a mountain range located in the southeast of the state of Santa Catarina, Southern Brazil. It is crossed by the road SC-438, with remarkable landscapes and deep crags.
This mountain range is situated between the municipalities of Lauro Müller and Bom Jardim da Serra, and its highest point is situated at 1,460 metres above sea level. In the highest areas of this place, the Atlantic Ocean, located about 100 km away, can be spotted on clear days. Frosts are common and snowfalls can occur in the highest areas.

401. Nesvizh

 Nesvizh is a city in Belarus. It is the administrative center of the Nesvizh District (rajon) of Minsk Province and location of the Nesvizh Castle World Heritage Site.

400. Stinky

Stinky - A criminal by profession, trickster, and a dangerous influence who tempts the Moomin family to do things that are against the law. He has a code of conduct of his own, and is offended when the Moomins want to give him a large sum of money which has been causing them much trouble. Physically, Stinky looks like some sort of furry mammal, whose most characteristic attribute is his constant, unbearable stench. He appears in one book ("The Unwanted Guest") but mainly in comics and cartoons.

399. Zoo in Hannover

 Hanover Zoo is located in the city centre of Hanover, Germany. The zoo was established on May 4, 1865, and comprises an area of 22 hectares. Currently, it is home to about 3,414 animals in 237 species, which are cared for by more than 400 employees in the summer season (stocktaking 2010).

Silves - TYC

 Silves is a town and a municipality in the Algarve, southern Portugal. The city has a population of 10,800 inhabitants and the municipality reaches 33,830 (2001). The municipality of Silves is part of the district of Faro. Silves is the former capital of the Algarve and is of great historical importance. The municipality is crossed by the Arade River, which was navigable in historical times and was key to the prosperity of the city of Silves. The waters of the river form the dams of Arade and Funcho. The landscape of the municipality is generally hilly. To the south the municipality borders the Atlantic Ocean.

piątek, 17 sierpnia 2012

398. The Bergisches Land

 The Bergisches Land (Country of Berg or Land of Berg) is a low mountain range region within the state of Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany, east of Rhine river, south of the Ruhr. The landscape is shaped by woods, meadows, rivers and creeks and contains over 20 artificial lakes. Wuppertal is the biggest town and seen as the region's capital, whereas the southern part nowaday has closer economic and socio-cultural ties to Cologne. Bergisches Land used to be territory of the County of Berg, which later became the Duchy of Berg, who gave the region its name. The Duchy was dissolved in 1815 and in 1822 the region became part of the Prussian Rhine Province. Amongst the population today, a sense of belonging to the region Bergisches Land is notable in the hilly northern part, but not much anymore in the areas near the Cologne Bight, the Ruhr area or the city of Düsseldorf.

397. Schiedam

 Schiedam is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. It is part of the Rotterdam metropolitan area. The city is located west of Rotterdam, east of Vlaardingen, and south of Delft. In the south it is connected with the village of Pernis by the Beneluxtunnel. The city is known for its historical center with canals, and for having the tallest windmills in the world. Schiedam is also famous for the distilleries and malthouses and production of jenever (gin) - such as the internationally-renowned Ketel One - so much so that in French and English the word schiedam (usually without a capital s-) refers to the town's Holland gin. This was the town's main industry during the early Industrial Revolution in the 18th and 19th century, a dark period to which it owed its former nickname "Zwart Nazareth" or "Black Nazareth". Furthermore, the city is known for Saint Lidwina, one of the most famous Dutch saints (her relics are located in the Liduina Basilica in Schiedam).

396. Antwerp

 Antwerp is a city and municipality in Belgium and the capital of the Antwerp province of Flanders. Antwerp has long been an important city in the Low Countries both economically and culturally, especially before the Spanish Fury (1576) in the period of the Dutch Revolt. It is located on the right (eastern) bank of the river Scheldt, which is linked to the North Sea by the estuary Westerschelde. The city has one of the largest seaports in Europe. In the 16th century, Antwerp was noted for the wealth of its citizens ("Antwerpia nummis"); the houses of these wealthy merchants and manufacturers have been preserved throughout the city. However fire has destroyed several old buildings, such as the house of the Hanseatic League on the northern quays in 1891. The city also suffered considerable war damage by V-bombs, and in recent years other noteworthy buildings were demolished for new developments.

395. Holland


czwartek, 16 sierpnia 2012

China - Tag

 Huangshui River Valley and Mountain from QingHai Province

Ohrid - Private

 Ohrid is a city on the eastern shore of Lake Ohrid in the Republic of Macedonia. It has about 42,000 inhabitants, making it the seventh largest city in the country. The city is the seat of Ohrid Municipality. Ohrid is notable for having once had 365 churches, one for each day of the year and has been referred to as a "Jerusalem". The city is rich in picturesque houses and monuments, and tourism is predominant. It is located southwest of Skopje, west of Resen and Bitola, close to the border with Albania. In 1979 and in 1980, Ohrid and Lake Ohrid were accepted as a Cultural and Natural World Heritage Sites by UNESCO. In fact, Ohrid is one of only 28 sites that are part of UNESCO's World Heritage that are both Cultural and Natural sites