Cordes-sur-Ciel is a commune in Southern France. A fortified town built in 1222 Cordes-sur-Ciel is known for its outdoor market. While the original name was only Cordes, which meant ‘Rocky heights’, the town was renamed Cordes-sur-Ciel, indicating its height ‘Above the clouds’ and the surrounding low-lying areas. The town is also popular for being home […]
Rocamadour is a commune and small cliff-top village in South-central France. The village has always garnered attention for its unique location in a gorge. The magnificent monuments and historical artifacts adorning this town are another reason for its popularity. The many sights include the sanctuary of the Blessed Virgin Mother, Chapelle Notre-Dame with a statue
Mountains and hills are the elevated landforms. There are several similarities and dissimilarities between mountains and hills: ♦ Unlike mountains, hills are less steep and do not have very high elevations. However, both mountain and hill have a definite peak each, which is its highest point. ♦ Mountains are mostly rocky, whereas hills can be
Living Root Bridges are a unique form of tree shaping that is common in the southern part of Meghalaya, in India. These ‘Eco-friendly’ bridges are handmade by the Khasi and Jaintia people. The bridges are made from the aerial roots of the rubber trees. A slow process, the pliable roots are first grown through the
Peyto Lake is a glacier-fed lake located in Banff National Park in the Canadian Rockies. The origin of the Mistaya River, the Peyto Lake is fed water by the Peyto Creek, which drains water from Caldron Lake and Peyton Glacier. Standing at an elevation of 1,860 metres, glacial rock flour flows into the lake during
Xilitla is a town in San Luis Potosí, in Mexico. Known as the ‘Magic Town’ of Mexico, Xilitla is filled with mystery, art, surrealism, adventure and coffee. One can easily lose oneself in the changing hues of the deep blue skies, the omnipresent aroma of coffee and the soothing sounds of waterfalls and rivers flowing
The Wisteria Tunnel is a part of the beautiful Kawachi Fuji Gardens, located in Kitakyushu, Japan. The delicate flowers forming an elegant tunnel of pastel-coloured wisteria flowers give one the illusion of dreaming of an elegant fairy princess and her one-horned white steed prancing alongside. With two kinds of Wisteria Tunnels spread over 80 metres
Lake Reschen is an artificial lake in the western portion of South Tyrol, Italy. With its capacity of 120 million cubic metres, Lake Reschen is the largest lake not only in the province but also above a 1,000 metres in the Alps. The lake is famous for the steeple of a submerged 14th century church
The Swallow’s Nest Castle is a decorative castle located at Gaspra, a small spa town between Yalta and Alupka, in Crimea, Ukraine. Built around 1912, the castle was built in a neo-gothic design. Overlooking the Cape of Ai-Todor on the Black Sea coast the Swallow’s Nest Castle is one of the most popular visitor attractions
Predjama Castle is a Renaissance castle built within a cave mouth in South-central Slovenia. Built in Gothic style under a natural rocky arch with a high stonewall to make access difficult, the castle was first mentioned in the year 1274 with the German name Luegg, when it was acquired and expanded by the Luegg noble
Castle Flossenbürg is a castle almost in ruins, located in Flossenbürg, in Bavaria, Germany. The ruins of the Flossenbürg Castle lie in the same place as the site for the concentration camps that were used from 1938 until 1945. The beautiful castle was built around 1100; however, it was destroyed in the Thirty Years’ War,
Adelei Penguins, the sliding and diving birds, are the main inhabitants of the Antarctic. They cannot run or walk very fast, but they slide well on smooth ice surface on their bellies and can travel a long distance like this. Their wings are in form of flippers that help them to swim in the icy
Æroskøbing is a quaint town in central Denmark, located on the island of Ærø. A city that makes one crane one’s neck towards the heavens, Æroskøbing looks like it has been plucked from the pages of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairytale. The houses add to the charm of the place, with woozily angled bungalows and strikingly
The climate of the Antarctic is so harsh that it is not suitable for dense vegetation. Plants found in this region are non-woody and simple like algae, mosses, liverworts, lichens and microscopic fungi. There are a few types of insects such as mites and spring tails that feed on the Antarctic plants. The animals have
Bled is the resort town in the Carniolan region in Slovenia in the foothills of the Julian Alps. The town is set along the glacial Lake Bled. There is an ancient castle overlooking the lake in the cliff called the Castle Bled. It houses a museum, a chapel as well as a printing press. A