Archive for the Travel & Places Category

  • Lightning Storms

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    Collection of hair-raising electrical storms

    Most visually effective lightnings occur over city skylines, somehow. That must be due to the added element of danger; they might strike a building or wreak havoc on the city’s energy grid.

    Various skylines featured here belong to Toronto, Sydney, Hong Kong, Singapore; other backdrops to heavenly unrest include the Arizona desert, Bryce Canyon, Baltic Sea, Madeira island or a nameless field in Wilmington, North Carolina. In every case, the display of electrical storm lights is both humbling and exhilarating.


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  • Dry Valleys of Antarctica

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    Journey Through the Otherworldly Landscape

    The Dry Valleys of Antarctica (located within Victoria Land west of McMurdo Sound) get almost no snowfall, and except for a few steep rocks they are the only continental part of Antarctica devoid of ice. The terrain looks like something not of this Earth; the valley floor occasionally contains a perennially frozen lake with ice several meters thick. Under the ice, in the extremely salty water live mysterious simple organisms, a subject of on-going research.

    Victoria Valley, Wright Valley and Taylor Valley.

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  • Amateur Travel Photography in China

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    China never looked so good (since the advent of digital photography)

    Amateur travel photography in China reaches new heights, as this site clearly shows. The splendor of the land complemented by growing skills and technology makes for a fascinating viewing. Here are a few samples:

    China Travel

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  • Inside the Largest Crane and Container Ships

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    A world record weightlifting in its class. 1600 metric tons.

    They are “crane ships”: jumbo vessels with installed cranes, designed to serve MechaGodzillas, hmm… no, load containers, assist in offshore construction and lift various heavy loads.

    Dutch company JumboShip makes some outstanding vessels of this kind (first two photos):

    Ships, Transportation, Cruise

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  • Mont Saint-Michel

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    Mont Saint-Michel is located on a tidal island in Normandy, France. It is home to the unusual Benedictine Abbey and its steepled church (built between the 11th and 16th centuries), daringly placed at the top of the mount. Many underground crypts and chapels had to be built to compensate for this weight. The tides in the area can vary greatly, at roughly 14 metres between high and low water marks. This image and below: click to enlarge; images via, originals unknown Read the rest of this entry »

  • Sumela Monastery in Turkey

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    Sumela Monastery in Turkey:
    built around a cave, hanging over a precipice

    Sumela Monastery in Turkey was founded in the year 386 by two Athenian priests - Barnabas and Sophronius. During its long history, the monastery has fallen into ruin several times and been restored by successive Emperors. It clings to the wall of a steep cliff facing the Altındere valley in the region of Macka in Trabzon Province, Turkey. The government proceeds with restoration, but for now the ruins stay mostly untouched. When the fog rises from the valley this place looks positively haunted.
    (click to enlarge images)

    History, Travel, Culture, Photography

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  • A Humbling Perspective

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    Stars and Planets Scale Comparison

    “Things are not what they seem, nor are they otherwise.”

    This scale comparison shows “the true place” of Earth and our Sun among the various giants of the universe. It is simultaneously sobering and mind-boggling experience.
    First series of images opens with the Death Star compared to Mimas, one of Saturn’s moons. Note the similarities between the two :)

    Astronomy, Science, Digital Photography
    Astronomy, Science, Digital Photography

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