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Lake Retba, Senegal

May 11, 2013, 9:08 am
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Lake Retba or Lac Rose lies north of the Cap Vert peninsula of Senegal, north east of Dakar.

It is so named for its pink waters, caused by Dunaliella salina algae in the water that produce a red pigment that uses sunlight to create more energy, turning the waters pink. The color is particularly visible during the dry season. The lake is also known for its high salt content, which, like that of the Dead Sea, allows people to float easily. The lake also has a small salt collecting industry and was often the finishing point of the Dakar Rally, before it moved to South America in 2009.
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Amazing click of Pisa, Italy

May 11, 2013, 9:10 am
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Elevation of Piazza del Duomo: about 2 metres (6 feet, DMS)
Height from the ground floor: 55.863 metres (183 ft 3 in), 8 stories
Height from the foundation floor: 58.36 metres (191 ft 47 in)
Outer diameter of base: 15.484 metres (50 ft 9.6 in)
Inner diameter of base: 7.368 metres (24 ft 2.1 in)
Angle of slant: 3.97 degrees or 3.9 metres (12 ft 10 in) from the vertical
Weight: 14,700 metric tons (16,200 short tons)
Thickness of walls at the base: 2.4 metres (7 ft 10 in)
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St. Bartholomew's Church - Berchtesgaden, Germany

May 11, 2013, 9:15 am
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St. Bartholomä is a Catholic pilgrimage church in the Berchtesgadener Land district of Bavaria in Germany. It named for Saint Bartholomew the Apostle, patron of alpine farmers and dairymen. The church is located at the western shore of the Königssee lake, on the Hirschau peninsula. It can only be reached by ship or after a long hike across the surrounding mountains.

A first chapel at the lake was built in 1134 by the Provosts of Berchtesgaden. From 1697 onwards it has been rebuilt in a Baroque style with a floor plan modelled on Salzburg Cathedral, two onion domes and a red domed roof. The church features stucco work by the Salzburg artist Joseph Schmidt and a three-apse quire. The altars in the apses are consecrated to Saint Bartholomew, Saint Catherine, and Saint James respectively.
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Monterosso, Italy

May 11, 2013, 9:11 am
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Monterosso al Mare is a town and comune in the province of La Spezia, part of the region of Liguria (northern Italy). It is one of the five villages in Cinque Terre. It was extensively damaged by a flood on 24 October 2011.

Originally, the village was only accessible by sea or by mule paths that connected the villages of the Cinque Terre and to Via Roma, the main road that connected all of Italy to Rome. These mule paths have been maintained and used over the centuries and now provide hikers with a more intimate view of the sea-swept Cinque Terre. The area was recently designated as part of the national park system and is considered a protected area, to the effect of limited development and resource usage. The Cinque Terre hiking trails have been taken over by the national park system and there is now a fee to hike on all portions of the trail.
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Puente Nuevo - Ronda, Spain

May 11, 2013, 9:13 am
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The Puente Nuevo is the newest and largest of three bridges that span the 120-metre (390 ft)-deep chasm that carries the Guadalevín River and divides the city of Ronda, in southern Spain. The architect was José Martin de Aldehuela, who died in Málaga in 1802. The chief builder was Juan Antonio Díaz Machuca.

The bridge started being built in 1751 and took a total of 42 years to build and claimed the lives of 50 builders. There is a chamber beneath the central arch that was used for a variety of purposes, including as a prison. During the civil war (1936 to 1939), both sides allegedly used the prison as a torture chamber for captured opponents, killing some by throwing them from the windows to the rocks below at the bottom of the El Tajo gorge. One enters the chamber via a square building that was once the guard-house. It contains an exhibition describing the bridge's history and construction.
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Starfish Beach, Grand Cayman

May 11, 2013, 9:17 am
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Grand Cayman is the largest of the three Cayman Islands and the location of the nation's capital, George Town. In relation to the other two Cayman Islands, it is approximately 75 miles (121 km) southwest of Little Cayman and 90 miles (145 km) southwest of Cayman Brac.

Watersports such as scuba diving and snorkeling are among the most popular activities[citation needed] on Grand Cayman as the island is known for its coral reefs and underwater sea walls along with a number of shipwrecks. As well, Grand Cayman Island also has a number of natural attractions: the blow holes in the East End district, the Mastic Trail that runs north to south through the center of the island, Hell in the West Bay, and the acclaimed Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park, to name a few.
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Wieskirche - Bavaria, Germany

May 11, 2013, 9:18 am
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The Pilgrimage Church of Wies is an oval rococo church, designed in the late 1740s by Dominikus Zimmermann, who for the last eleven years of his life lived nearby. It is located in the foothills of the Alps, in the municipality of Steingaden in the Weilheim-Schongau district, Bavaria, Germany.

It is said that, in 1738, tears were seen on a dilapidated wooden figure of the Scourged Saviour. This miracle resulted in a pilgrimage rush to see the sculpture. In 1740, a small chapel was built to house the statue but it was soon realized that the building would be too small for the number of pilgrims it attracted, and so Steingaden Abbey decided to commission a separate shrine. Many who have prayed in front of the statue of Jesus on the altar have claimed that people have been miraculously cured of their diseases, which has made this church even more of a pilgrimage site.
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Torres del Paine National Park, Chile

May 11, 2013, 9:19 am
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Torres del Paine National Park is a national park encompassing mountains, glaciers, lakes, and rivers in southern Chilean Patagonia. The Cordillera del Paine is the centerpiece of the park. It lies in a transition area between the Magellanic subpolar forests and the Patagonian Steppes. The park is located 112 km (70 mi) north of Puerto Natales and 312 km (194 mi) north of Punta Arenas. The park borders Bernardo O'Higgins National Park to the west and the Los Glaciares National Park to the north in Argentine territory.

Torres del Paine National Park is part of the Sistema Nacional de Áreas Silvestres Protegidas del Estado de Chile (National System of Protected Forested Areas of Chile). In 2006, it measured approximately 242,242 hectares. It is one of the largest and most visited parks in Chile. The park averages around 150,000 visitors a year, of which 60% are foreign tourists.
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Townhall in Vienna, Austria

May 11, 2013, 9:21 am
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The Rathaus is a building in Vienna which serves as the seat both of the mayor and city council of the city of Vienna. The town hall also serves, in personal union, as Governor and Assembly (Landtag) of the State of Vienna, a state with the Austrian federal system.
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Las Lajas Sanctuary, Columbia

May 11, 2013, 9:22 am
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Las Lajas Sanctuary is a minor basilica church located in the southern Colombian Department of Nariño, municipality of Ipiales and built inside the canyon of the Guáitara River The present church was built in Gothic Revival style in 1949. The name Laja comes from the name of a type of flat sedimentary rock similar to shale.

The inspiration for the church's creation was a miraculous event in 1754 when Amerindian Maria Mueces and her deaf-mute daughter Rosa were caught in a very strong storm. The two sought refuge between the gigantic Lajas, when to Mueces's surprise, her daughter Rosa exclaimed "the mestiza is calling me" and pointed to the lightning-illuminated silhouette over the laja. This apparition of the Virgin Mary instigated popular pilgrimage to the site and occasional reports of cases of miraculous healing. The image on the stone is still visible today.
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Cappella Colleoni - Bergamo, Italy

May 16, 2013, 4:43 am
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The Cappella Colleoni (Colleoni Chapel) is a church/mausoleum in Bergamo, northern Italy.

Dedicated to the saints Bartholomew, Mark and John the Baptist, it was built in 1472–1476 as the personal shrine for the famous condottiere Bartolomeo Colleoni, a member of one of the most outstanding families of the city, and his beloved daughter Medea. The site chosen was that of the sacristy of the nearby church of Santa Maria Maggiore, which was demolished by Colleoni's soldiers.

The design was entrusted to Giovanni Antonio Amadeo, whose plan respected the style of the church, as can been seen from the octagonal tambour of the dome and in the lantern cusp, as well as in the use of polychrome marbles.
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Highway of Death, Bolivia

May 16, 2013, 4:52 am
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The North Yungas Road (alternatively known as Grove's Road, Coroico Road, Camino de las Yungas, Road of fate or Death Road) is a 61-kilometre (38 mi) or 69-kilometre (43 mi) road leading from La Paz to Coroico, 56 kilometres (35 mi) northeast of La Paz in the Yungas region of Bolivia. It is legendary for its extreme danger and in 1995 the Inter-American Development Bank christened it as the "world's most dangerous road". One estimate is that 200 to 300 travellers are killed yearly along the road. The road includes cross markings on many of the spots where vehicles have fallen.

A South Yungas Road (Chulumani Road) exists that connects La Paz to Chulumani, 64 kilometres (40 mi) east of La Paz, and is considered to be nearly as dangerous as the North Road.
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Bridge Silhouette, Prague

May 16, 2013, 4:55 am
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The city of Prague is traditionally one of the cultural centres of Europe, hosting many cultural events.

Some of the significant cultural institutions include the National Theatre (Národní Divadlo) and the Estates Theatre (Stavovské or Tylovo or Nosticovo divadlo), where the premières of Mozart's Don Giovanni and La clemenza di Tito were held. Other major cultural institutions are the Rudolfinum which is home to the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra and the Municipal House which is home to the Prague Symphony Orchestra. The Prague State Opera (Státní opera) performs at the Smetana Theatre.

The city has many world-class museums, including the National Museum (Národní muzeum), the Museum of the Capital City of Prague, the Jewish Museum in Prague, the Alfons Mucha Museum, the African-Prague Museum, the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague the Náprstek Museum (Náprstkovo Muzeum), the Josef Sudek Gallery, the National Library and the National Gallery, which manages the largest collection of art in the Czech Republic.
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Moorea, French Polynesia

May 16, 2013, 5:00 am
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Moʻorea is a high island in French Polynesia, part of the Society Islands, 17 km (roughly 9 mi) northwest of Tahiti. Moʻorea means "yellow lizard" in Tahitian. An older name for the island is ʻAimeho, sometimes spelled 'Aimeo or ʻEimeo (among other spellings misunderstood by early visitors with no knowledge of the language). Early Western colonists and voyagers also referred to Moʻorea as York Island.
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Mode Gakuen Spiral Towers - Nagoya, Japan

May 16, 2013, 5:03 am
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Mode Gakuen Spiral Towers is a 170-metre (558 ft), 36-story educational facility located Nakamura-ku, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan. The building is home to three vocational schools: Nagoya Mode Gakuen, HAL Nagoya and Nagoya Isen.
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Mount Rainier National Park, Washington

May 16, 2013, 5:05 am
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Mount Rainier National Park is a United States National Park located in southeast Pierce County and northeast Lewis County in Washington state. It was established on March 2, 1899 as the fifth national park in the United States. The park encompasses 236,381 acres (369.35 sq mi; 956.60 km2) including all of Mount Rainier, a 14,410-foot (4,390 m) stratovolcano. The mountain rises abruptly from the surrounding land with elevations in the park ranging from 1,600 feet (490 m) to over 14,000 feet (4,300 m). The highest point in the Cascade Range, around it are valleys, waterfalls, subalpine wildflower meadows, old growth forest and more than 25 glaciers. The volcano is often shrouded in clouds that dump enormous amounts of rain and snow on the peak every year and hide it from the crowds that head to the park on weekends.

Mount Rainier is circled by the Wonderland Trail and is covered by several glaciers and snowfields totaling some 35 square miles (91 km2). Carbon Glacier is the largest glacier by volume in the continental United States, while Emmons Glacier is the largest glacier by area. About 1.8 million people visit Mount Rainier National Park each year. Mount Rainier is a popular peak for mountain climbing with some 10,000 attempts per year with approximately 50% making it to the summit.
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Scotney Old Castle - Kent, England

May 16, 2013, 5:06 am
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Scotney Castle is an English country house with formal gardens south-east of Lamberhurst in the valley of the River Bewl in Kent, England. It belongs to the National Trust.

The gardens, which are a celebrated example of the Picturesque style, are open to the public. The central feature is the ruins of a medieval, moated manor house, Scotney Old Castle, which is on an island on a small lake. The lake is surrounded by sloping, wooded gardens with fine collections of rhododendrons, azaleas and kalmia for spring colour, summer wisteria and roses, and spectacular autumn colour.
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Porto Katsiki Beach - Lefkada Island, Greece

May 16, 2013, 9:00 am
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Porto Katsiki on the Ioanian Sea island of Lefkada is one of the most famous beaches in Greece and Europe in general. Translation to English means "Port of the Goat", because before only a goat could reach this area.

A very famous and photogenic beach, it is at the bottom of an arc of pale cliff that seem to have the clean lines of something designed by an architect rather than a natural wonder. It rises out of the water like a wedge, narrow at the center of the bay where there are only a few stairs to the sand, and then towering upwards at either end. As well as the white lines of the cliffs, the water is bright, bright blue and the cliffs have grassy topped fringes.
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Weave Bridge at University of Pennsylvania

May 16, 2013, 9:02 am
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The Weave Bridge is a 145 ft (44 m) bridge at The University of Pennsylvania, USA which was conceptualized by Cecil Balmond and engineered by Ammann & Whitney. It was commissioned by the University in 2007, and opened in June 2009.

The bridge creates a pedestrian passage over the Amtrak train tracks that currently separate the main campus from athletic fields along the Schuylkill River. The design features a "braided rope" structure consisting of six steel strands. It marks the first milestone in the University's plan to transform a former postal depot into a 24-acre (97,000 m2) complex, called Penn Park. The design uses a "never before used bridge structure"  It is in keeping with Balmond's purusal of a "non-linear world, and his principle that "structure as conceptual rigour is architecture." His dynamic and organizational approach to structure is informed by the sciences of complexity, non-linear organization and emergence.
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Waterfall in Letchworth State Park, New York

May 16, 2013, 9:04 am
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Letchworth State Park is a New York state park located 35 miles (56 km) southwest of Rochester and 60 miles (95 km) southeast of Buffalo in Livingston (towns of Leicester, Mount Morris, and Portage) and Wyoming (towns of Castile and Genesee Falls) counties. The park is roughly 17 miles (24 km) long, covering 14,350 acres (58 km2) of land along the Genesee River.

Within the park, there are three large waterfalls on the Genesee River and as many as fifty waterfalls found on tributaries that flow into it; the gorge formed by the river, with rock walls rising up to 550 feet (170 m) in places and which narrow to 400 feet (120 m) across above the middle of the three falls, prompted the area's reputation as the "Grand Canyon of the East".
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