10 most cozy Italian towns

To start the holiday period many of our compatriots are chosen as a place to stay beautiful Italy. For those who can not be surprised bustle of the eternal city of Rome and Milan shopping our selection of the most cozy Italian cities on the coast. Probably each of us ever dreamed to spend if not life, then at least a vacation in a quiet hamlet on the beach, drinking coffee and wine tasting at local restaurants, listening to the voices of gulls and surf.

Choose! 

1. Vernazza

Vernazza is the most organic, beautiful and picturesque town Italian "pyatizemelya" (Cinque Terre) Liguria. Today it is home to just over a thousand people, so Vernazza is also one of the quietest towns and compete with them can only calm Manarola. On a background of multicolored multi-storey houses-towers are evident older medieval walls of galleries, palaces, monasteries and, of course, the castle, whose low walls once protected the rest locals from pirate raids. In the narrow streets of Vernazza, at steep angles going down to the sea, at almost every step, you can see the boats, "parked" at home so naturally as look cars standing in our backyards at entrances.

10 the scariest roller coaster in the world

May 8, 1976 has been a real revolution in the world of roller coasters. In the amusement park Six Flags Magic Mountain in California opened the world's first steel roller coaster with a noose. In our time loop - this is not the worst thing that the creators are willing to offer rides to fans of adrenaline lining up around the world to tickle your nerves. We offer you a virtual ride on the ten most scary roller coaster in the world! Attention: nervous, fearful height and people with weak vestibular system is better not to look further!

Historical Tower of Hercules

In 61 BCE a Roman seaborne expedition, probably led by Julius Caesar himself, landed at present-day La Coruña (Brigantium) with the intention of installing a port and commercial settlement. There had already been Roman colonisation along the Mediterranean facade of the Iberian Peninsula and along the south and south-west from the 2nd century BCE. The port of Brigantium played an important role during the Cantabrian Wars (29-19 BCE). Once peace was restored, its strategic maritime role at the entrance to the Bay of Biscay, as well as that of a trading station, were confirmed. It became a rear base for the conquest of the British Isles while Galicia was being Romanised.

Under the name of Farum Brigantium, the Tower was probably erected in the 1st century CE, at the latest in the reign of Trajan (98-117). The votive inscription on a small ancillary construction would appear to bear this out. This monumental lighthouse is located at the entrance to La Coruña harbour, in the north-west of the Iberian Peninsula. It is designed to facilitate navigation along the rugged Galicia coastline, on a strategic point on the sea route linking the Mediterranean to northwest Europe.

The Trulli Houses of Alberobello

The small town of Alberobello in the province of Bari, in the southern region of Puglia, in Italy, displays some remarkable examples of a traditional mortar-less construction called Trulli. These dry stone huts are constructed out of limestone slabs stacked on top of each other to form pyramidal, domed or conical roofs. Despite the lack of mortar, the structure is surprisingly stable.

Trulli were built during a period of history, when the construction of stable dwellings was highly-taxed. The ingenious inhabitants of the region came up with the idea of the trulli – temporary houses that could be dismantled at short notice, particularly when the tax inspector is around. This is known to have occurred in 1644 to thwart tax inspectors sent by the King of Naples.

Karakul Lake in Tajikistan

Lake Karakul or "Black Lake" is located in the high and dry Pamir Mountains in Tajikistan, within the Tajik National Park, in one of the most beautiful and remote location in Central Asia. It is a deep brackish-water lake lying in a closed basin at an altitude of 3,900 meters above sea level. Surrounded by high mountains which block humid air masses, the valley receives less than 30 mm of precipitation a year making it one of the driest places in Central Asia. Between October to May the lake is entirely frozen and forms a white expanse when viewed from Karakul village where a small community of Kyrgyz people survive through nomadic herding of yaks, sheep and goats.

10 Most Beautiful Landscapes of Finland

Finnish nature photographer Tea Karvinen shares her list of Finland’s ten most beautiful landscapes. Utö, Finland’s southernmost inhabited island is a very unusual place. Travelling there by car and boat from Helsinki takes just as long as flying to New York from Helsinki, even though the distance to Utö is a mere fraction of a trip to the United States.

Yet many Finns prefer to visit the island of Utö, especially during the winter or in the spring and autumn to watch the migration of the birds. The rocky island is just over one square kilometre in size and only about 50 people live there all year round – the number triples during the summer. After the Finnish Armed Forces vacated the island in 2005, their premises were taken over by locals that are now rented out as accommodation for tourists.

Jurmo, an island village close to Utö, is also worth visiting for those wishing to gain a glimpse into the nature and life on the Finnish archipelago, which is one of the world’s largest island clusters. Koli in northern Karelia is Finland’s most well-known national landscape. Imagine the blue (white in winter) of Lake Pielisjärvi, speckled with its many islands and the rocky summit of the Ukko-Koli Mountain soaring above you. This is surrounded by beautiful hills covered with tall candle-shaped spruce trees. This amazing landscape is only a short 10-minute walk from the Koli Hotel.

In Koli National Park, you can walk to a wide variety of natural wonders: traditional gardens, ancient forests, hilly scenery covered with trees, flowery meadows, sheep grazing areas, and lush groves. Over 100 years ago, Finnish artists and nature enthusiasts, such as classical composer Jean Sibelius, writer Juhani Aho and painter Eero Järnefelt, began elevating Koli’s status as an important national landscape.

10 fascinating photo from Finland

Finnish Lapland is known around the world primarily as the birthplace of Santa Claus.However, in this wonderful edge has another unique feature - a forest, which in the winter turns into totally unrealistic, mysterious figure.

Jacob’s Well - One of the world's most dangerous diving spot

Jacob's Well in Texas Hill Country is a perennial karstic spring located on the bed of Cypress Creek in Wimberley. The mouth of the well is four meters in diameter through which thousands of gallons of water surges up per minute feeding Cypress Creek that flows through Wimberley, sustaining Blue Hole and the Blanco River, recharging the Edwards Aquifer, and finally replenishing estuaries in the Gulf of Mexico.

The well was first discovered in the 1850s when a couple of early settlers followed Cypress Creek to its source. They described the crevice in the creek bed which was overflowing with an abundance of clear, cool water as "like unto a well in Bible times." Since then, the location has been a beloved swimming hole for generations, a gathering place for Native Americans and early settlers, and a rich habitat for aquatic species. It is also a popular diving spot for thrill seekers despite the fact that at least eight divers have lost their lives here over the years.

 

18 frames on how built Ostankino tower

April 30, 1967 was put into operation the Moscow Ostankino TV Tower. Now it seems that it was once the tallest building in the world, survived a fire in 2000, has always been. But once it was just starting to build! Introduce you to a very interesting, in our view, a report on the construction of a television tower - with the technical details, based on historical photographs.

Tower, weighing more than 32 tons, built on a monolithic reinforced concrete foundation ring width of 9.5 meters, 3 meters in height and diameter (the circumscribed circle) of 74 meters. In decagonal concrete foundation tape with the help of hard reinforcement ring (it consists of 104 beams, each beam 24 wire with a diameter of 5 mm each) created prestressing - each bundle is tensioned by hydraulic jacks with a force of about 60 tons.

One day in Chinese Venice

A small but very picturesque village on the water - Uzhen that is a couple of hours drive from the city of Hangzhou.

National Geographic Photo Contest - 2013

The National Geographic Photo Contest for 2013 ends tomorrow, Nov. 30, but for procrastinators there’s still time to enter.The contest officially closes at 11:59:00 p.m. US Eastern Time Saturday. This post features a sampling of the entrants work. Winners in the three categories (people, nature, places) will be published in the National Geographic magazine. The caption information is provided and written by the individual photographer.

(Nature) An over/under water split level image of beautiful crimson red waratah anemones in a rock pool at low tide. What I really love about over/under photographs is that it gives the underwater element a sense of place. For the viewer it marries the underwater environment with our own familiar world. It links the unknown with the known. (Photo and caption by Matt Smith/National Geographic Photo Contest)

The Majestic Tufa Towers of Mono Lake, California (USA)

Mono Lake is a shallow salt water lake located in the high desert on the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, in California in the United States. The lake has no outlet to the ocean causing high levels of salts to accumulate in the waters. As a consequence of its high salinity, no fish live in Mono Lake, but there are plenty of brine shrimp that thrive in its waters. Over two million annual migratory birds use Mono Lake as a stop over and resting place as they fly to South America or the tropical oceans. They feed on the shrimps, lay eggs and hatch their young ones here.

The most unusual feature of Mono Lake are its dramatic tufa towers emerging from the surface. These rock towers form when underwater springs rich in calcium mix with the waters of the lake, which are rich in carbonates. The resulting reaction forms limestone. Over time the buildup of limestone formed towers, and when the water level of the lake dropped the towers became exposed.

Circling Trains In Brusio - Switzerland

The Brusio spiral viaduct is a single track nine-arched stone spiral railway viaduct located in Brusio, in the Canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. Like most spiral tracks, the Brusio spiral viaduct was built to allow trains to gain elevation in a relatively short distance. The spiral viaduct is 110 meters long, has a horizontal radius of curvature of 70 meters, a longitudinal slope of 7%, and is made up of nine spans, each 10 meters in length. The viaduct lifts the train by 20 meters. The Brusio spiral viaduct forms part of the Bernina Railway section between Brusio and Campascio, and is approximately 55 kilometres from St. Moritz. The stone-built viaduct was opened on 1 July 1908, upon the opening of the Tirano–Poschiavo section of the Bernina Railway. In 1943, the whole of that railway company was taken over by the Rhaetian Railway, which still owns and uses the spiral viaduct today.

Waitomo Glowworm Caves - New Zealand

The Waitomo Glowworm Caves, located just outside the main Waitomo township on the North Island of New Zealand, is a famous attraction because of a sizeable population of glowworms that live in the caves. Glowworms or Arachnocampa luminosa are tiny, bioluminescent creatures that produce a blue-green light and are found exclusively in New Zealand.

The Waitomo Glowworm Caves were first explored in 1887 by local Maori Chief Tane Tinorau accompanied by an English surveyor Fred Mace. Local Maori people knew of the Caves existence, but the subterranean caverns had never been extensively explored until Fred and Tane went to investigate. They built a raft of flax stems and with candles in hand, floated into the cave where the stream goes underground.

Bunda Cliffs in Australia Is this the End of the World ?

Located on the Great Australian Bight in Southern Australia, is the vast, featureless Nullarbor Plain - the world’s largest single piece of limestone, covering an area of 270,000 square km and extending some 1,000 km from the east to the west. The area is so flat that the Trans Australian Railway runs across its surface for about 483 kilometers in a completely straight line. On the surface of the plain there are areas of slight depressions where sparse rainfall has slowly dissolved away some of the limestone. There are also places where underground caves or sinkholes have collapsed to form dents in the surface. But mostly, the plain is horizontally flat and devoid of trees, as its Latin name suggests. The Nullarbor Plain ends abruptly at the spectacular Bunda Cliffs, comprising a 200-kilometer-long precipice curving around the Great Australian Bight.

Bishop Rock World's Smallest Island

Bishop Rock is a small rocky ledge jutting out of the sea, 4 miles west of the Isles of Scilly in Cornwall. The rock rises from a depth of 45 meter to expose a tip 46 meters long by 16 meters wide. On this narrow ledge stands a lighthouse, which makes Bishop Rock the world's smallest island with a building on it, as recognized by the Guinness Book of Records. The rocks around the Scilly Isles caused the wreck of many ships over the years. When Sir Cloudesley Shovel's squadron of the British Fleet sank in 1707 along with 2,000 men, the Elder Brethren of Trinity House decided that the lighting of the Scilly Isles, which at that time consisted of only the old lighthouse at St. Agnes, was inadequate, and resolved to build a lighthouse on the most westerly danger, the Bishop Rock.

Stanserhorn Cabrio - Amezing Two Storey Cabin Cableway

 Ruslan Eunice wrote: "The cable car Stanserhorn Cabrio has its origins in the Swiss town of Stans (Stans), a few kilometers from Lucerne, Canton of Nidwalden (Nidwalden). And it leads to Mount Stanserhorn (Stanserhorn) altitude 1898 meters above sea level. Opened as recently as May 2012. Is unique in that passengers have the opportunity to ride on the world's first two-story-Convertible telekabine. The upper floor has a roof, and tourists can feel the wind blow, breathe fresh air and enjoy the gorgeous 360-degree view. "

10 Best Islands in the World

Ambergris Caye, Belize. Ambergris Caye - a great place for a holiday. There is enough amenities, but at the same time, the island is not so developed, that you had to wade through the crowds of tourists. This island with white as snow, beaches - the largest in Belize. To navigate through the sandy roads are typically used golf mobiles. Divers will enjoy the Belize Barrier Reef and the Great Blue Hole - 122 meters deep cavity formed by the limestone rocks. In the center of the island is also mangrove swamp.

Ronda - Town on The Rocks (Spain)

Ronda - a small but very picturesque Spanish town located in the northwest of the province of Malaga. On the official website of the city it is called the soul of Andalusia - and for good reason, because it's unique charm does not leave anyone indifferent tourists who visited the place. Colorful Spain has lost a lot would not if she had such an interesting angle, so visit Ronda - one of the essential tasks for any self-respecting traveler.

The main feature of the city is its location - it is a hill, divided into two deep gorge at the bottom of which flows the river Guadalevin (Guadalevín).

New Crude Oil Spas in Naftalan at Azerbaijan

In the Azerbaijan city of Naftalan, 320 kilometers north-west of the capital Baku, crude oil is found in such abundance that people literally bath in it. During the Soviet era, Naftalan’s famous crude oil baths used to draw tourists from all over the Soviet Union. It is believed that Naftalan crude oil has medicinal properties and is good for treating skin conditions such as eczema and psoriasis, easing joint pains and generally calming the nerves. At their peak in the 1980s, Naftalan spas had 75,000 visitors a year. This reduced to a trickle when war broke out between Azerbaijan and ethnic Armenians in nearby Nagorno-Karabakh in 1988, and many resorts were converted into camps for housing refugees. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, petroleum baths closed down entirely. Now nearly two decades later, crude oil spas have started opening up again.