Volkswagen’s Car Towers at Autostadt in Wolfsburg, Germany

The Autostadt is a visitor attraction adjacent to the Volkswagen factory in Wolfsburg, Germany, with a prime focus on automobiles. It features a museum, feature pavilions for the principal automobile brands in the Volkswagen Group, a customer centre where customers can pick up new cars, and take a tour through the enormous factory, a guide to the evolution of roads, and cinema in a large sphere. One of the prime attraction at the Autostadt is the two gleaming car parking towers of glass and galvanized steel where cars are automatically moved from the Wolfsburg plant and on to the customer centre where they are collected by their owners.

Each tower is 60 meter tall and houses 400 cars each and are the heart of vehicle delivery at the Autostadt. The two towers are connected to the Volkswagen factory by a 700 metre underground tunnel. A conveyor belt system transports finished cars directly from the adjacent manufacturing plant to the towers' basement. From there they are lifted into position via mechanical arms that rotate and run along a central beam, moving vehicles in and out of their bays at a speed of two meters per second. When a customer purchases a car from Autostadt the car is picked from the silo and transported out to the customer without having driven a single meter, and the odometer is thus on "0".

Moss Pink (Shibazakura) Blossoms at Hitsujiyama Park, Japan

Moss pink, or shibazakura, is a flower that grows close to the ground in brilliant colors of magenta, pink, and white. The season for moss pink, which is from late April to mid-May, comes after the more well-known cherry and peach blossom season in Japan. A popular way to enjoy moss pink is to go to a pink moss festival or park and see the various designs made by arranging the moss pink by color. One of the best places to enjoy the blooming of moss pink is at Hitsujiyama Park close to the city of Chichibu, in Saitama Prefecture.

About 400,000 Shibazakura plants of eight varieties bloom from April to May on the slope of the Hitsujiyama Hill at the foot of Chichibu’s symbolic Mt. Buko, creating an elegant carpet of pink, purple and white. Winding paths lead you across the surreal pink and purple hillside overlooking the city. The backside of the Daisetsuzan Mountain Range offers its pointy snow-covered peaks as a backdrop and tulips adorn the the wide gently-sloped paths on your journey across the hill. Aside from Shibazakura, approximately 1,000 cherry trees, including yoshino cherry, weeping cherry, and double-petal cherry trees, planted in the park, blossom out in April.

Thrihnukagigur: The Volcano That You Can Explore From Inside

Thrihnukagigur volcano, located about 30km from Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland, has become the latest adventure tourism destination, because it is the only dormant volcano that allows regular access to its magma chamber. In most cases, when a volcano erupts, the magma chamber is filled with lava which subsequently cools and hardens, blocking the entrance. But at Thrihnukagigur, it is believed the lava solidified through the walls or simply drained back to the depth of the earth. The magma chamber remained exposed and intact, making this a completely unique phenomenon to Thrihnukagigur.

The volcano last erupted some 4,000 years ago, leaving an opening of approximately 4×4 meters in diameter, leading to a bottle-shaped volcanic vault. The magma chamber is about 120m deep and measures 50x70m at the bottom. An Icelandic tourist operator

 now provides curious adventurists a chance to explore this ancient volcano inside out.

Sheraton Huzhou Hot Spring Resort

Starwood Hotels and Resorts is looking to grow its Sheraton brand aggressively during 2013, with 30 planned openings, predominantly in the Asia Pacific region. — Sheraton will open 15 new hotels across China over the next 12 months, including the striking Sheraton Huzhou Hot Spring Resort (pictured below), moving Starwood closer to its target of 80 properties in China by the end of 2015.

Expansion for the brand will also extend into Africa and The Middle East with the addition of four new hotels, including the Sheraton Medina Hotel in Saudi Arabia, Sheraton Dubai Mall of Emirates and the first in Tajikistan - Sheraton Dushanbe Hotel. Sheraton will also open two new hotels in Turkey, in the cities of Adana and Bursa.

In Latin America Sheraton will open its ninth property in Argentina with the Sheraton Tucuman Hotel. There will also be two openings in Brazil as it ramps up preparations for the 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympics, with the Sheraton da Bahia Hotel in Salvador and Sheraton Reserva do Paiva Hotel and Convention Center, located 30 minutes from Recife, opening in early 2014.

Hoyt Harper, global brand leader for Sheraton Hotels and Resorts said, "Sheraton is anticipating record-breaking growth, putting us on track to open our 500th hotel in 2015. The majority of our new hotel development is taking place in the world's fast-growing economies, while in North America, Sheraton remains one of the most sought-after brands for conversion opportunities." Images © MAD architects/Sheraton Huzhou

2013 World Press Photo Contest Winners

For over 55 years, the World Press Photo contest has encouraged the highest standards in photojournalism. The contest is judged by leading experts in visual journalism who represent various aspects of the profession and the composition of the jury is changed from year to year. The prize-winning images are assembled into an exhibition that travels to 45 countries over the course of a year and over two million people go to a hundred different venues to see the images. The winners themselves uphold the foundation's simple mission statement: We exist to inspire understanding of the world through quality photojournalism. A sampling of the winning images follows.