Black Forest – Germany

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The Black Forest or Schwarzwald is one of the most attractive and visited international tourist destinations in Europe with almost 10 million visitors per year. If you love nature, you will absolutely admire the Black Forest in Germany. The black forest is called that because all the trees put together make it look black.It was already named one of 28 finalists in an international contest to decide the seven wonders of the natural world.

The Black Forest is one of the beautiful regions of Germany, with mountains and hills, green valleys and open fields. The Black Forest (German: Schwarzwald) is a wooded mountain range in Baden-Württemberg, southwestern Germany. The Black Forest is an area of mountains and forest 200 kilometers long and up to 60 kilometers wide but forest has an area of approximately 12,000 km2 which borders France in the west, Switzerland in the south, the Swabian Alb and Lake Constance in the east, and the Kraichgau region in the north.

The highest peak is the Feldberg with an elevation of 1,493 meters (4,898 ft) and others mountain are Feldberg, Herzogenhorn, Belchen, Spieshorn, Schauinsland, Kandel, Hochblauen and Hornisgrinde.

There are many rivers in Black Forest include the Danube, the Enz, the Kinzig, the Murg, the Neckar, the Wiese and the Rench.

Freiburg and Baden-Baden cities are popular tourist destinations on the western edge of the Black Forest, Towns in the forest include Bad Herrenalb, Baiersbronn, Freudenstadt, Furtwangen, Gengenbach, Gütenbach, Sasbachwalden, Schramberg, Staufen, Titisee-Neustadt, Hausach and Wolfach.

Black forest germany

The Vogtsbauernhöfe is an open-air museum that shows the life of sixteenth or seventeenth century farmers the region, featuring a number of reconstructed Black Forest farms. The German Clock Museum in Furtwangen shows the history and art of the clock industry and of watchmakers. Also Black Forest is famous of traditions. Almost every valley has its own distinct rituals. Traditions in the Black Forest mean far more than simply costumes and dances.

Black Forest is also famous for traditions. Almost every region has its own distinct rituals. You will find cultural highlights throughout the entire region, ranging from the folk drama festival on Germany’s biggest open-air stage in Ötigheim to the Schwarzwald Musikfestival- the Black Forest music festival – with numerous acts in 25 villages and cities throughout the entire Black Forest

The Antelope Canyon – Arizona

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Antelope-canyon-arizona

Antelope Canyon is located on Navajo land near Page, Arizona. Actually there is two antelope Canyon’s Upper Antelope Canyon and Lower Antelope Canyon located on either side of route 98. Antelope Canyon looks more like an oil painting than a rock formation. It is on of the most visited canyon in the southwest America.

Upper Antelope Canyon

The upper canyon also known as Corkscrew Canyon. The entrance is a narrow curved only a few feet wide. Once you enter inside, the temperature drops as Antelope Canyonmuch as 20 degrees as the visitor enters one of the most beautiful of all natural formations. The sunlight filtering down the curved sandstone walls makes magical environment, constantly changing patterns and shadows in many subtle shades of color. Some sections of the canyon are wide and bright, while others are narrower and more cave-like, with no light reaching the sandy floor

Lowe Antelope Canyon

Lower Antelope Canyon, called Hasdeztwazi, or “spiral rock arches” by the Navajo.The lower canyon is longer and deeper than the upper section, but also more challenging, requiring climbing down ladders in some places to Antelope-Canyondescend several sheer drops. Lighting is better in the early hours and late afternoon.

Antelope Canyon is not visited without of guided tours, in part because rains during monsoon season can quickly flood the canyon. On August 12, 1997 eleven tourists were killed in Lower Antelope Canyon by a flash flood.

Fee Description

Both Antelope Canyon are charge separate entry fees of about $18 per person.

The Flam Railway – Norway

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The Flam Railway is one of the world’s steepest railway lines on normal gauge. The twisting tunnels that spiral in and out of the mountain are manifestations of the most daring and skilful engineering in Norwegian railway history. The Flam Railway runs from the mountain station at Myrdal on the Bergen Railway, down to Flam station by the Aurlandsfjord.

The Flam Railway was completed in 1944 after a construction period lasting 20 years. Eighteen of the line’s 20 tunnels, which have a total length of 6 km, were built by hand. Trial operations started in 1940 with small steam locomotives, but the line was not fully electrified until 1944.

Today the Flam Railway is one of Norway’s major and most spectacular tourist attractions. The train journey provides some of Norway’s wildest and most magnificent scenery. On the 20 km-long train ride you can see rivers that cut through deep ravines, waterfalls cascade down the side of steep, snow-capped mountains and mountain farms cling dizzily to sheer slopes. There are 11 main stops along the line. Starting from Flam and ends at Myrdal station.

The first stop is at Lunden, where you start to get a glimpse of some beautiful mountainous scenery

The next stop is at Hareina, where you get to see some of the mountain farms, as well as the lovely Rjoande Waterfall. You are already at 48m above sea level.

The journey continues to Dalsbotn, where you enter two tunnels, followed by a stop at Berekvam. You are now at 343km, so quite a climb. This is actually the half way point on the line, between Flam and Myrdal. At Berekvam there Nutshell-Flam Railwayare also double tracks, so the trains returning from Myrdal came pass.

Continue on to Blomheller, where you can see the location of the dangerous Trolla Avalanche that plummets down the mountain each winter.

Next up is a stop at Kardal where yet more waterfalls are in view, as well as a tiny hamlet. The train is now at 556m above sea level.

Kjosfoss the next stop and is the main stop that passengers off load the train at, and in fact the train stops for 10-15 minutes at this location to allow time for photographs of the breathtaking Kjosfoss Waterfall – and in fact the water Kjosfossen-Flma Railwayfrom here flows down to the nearby power station- providing hydro electric power for the railroad.

Past Reinunga, and then on to Vatnahalsen, where you can start at the Vatnahalsen hotel and enjoy yet more views over the Flam Valley. At this point the train is at 811m above sea level.

The final destination is then reached at 866m at Myrdal, where passengers can, if they wish, link to the main Oslo Bergen rail line

Fee Description:-

A single ticket for a adult currently costs 230Nk (approx $38) whereas a return ticket costs 330Nk (approx $54).

Lisbon Oceanarium-Portugal

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Lisbon Oceanarium-Central Tank

The complex was completed in 1996 but opened in 1998.Built as part of Nations Park for the 1998 Expo, the Oceanarium has become one of Lisbon’s (Portugal) most popular tourist draws. Inside the Oceanarium are a number of smaller aquariums all centered around but the key element of the exhibit is an enormous central tank an impressive 1,000 m2 and 5,000 m3 tank with four massive 49 m2 acrylic windows on its sides which houses the most spectacular marine animals on display, including sharks, rays, schools of fish, eels and even a couple of bizarre-looking sunfish (mola mola)

Lisbon’s Oceanarium is the largest aquarium in Europe and second largest in the world after Lisbon’s Oceanarium. Both Lisbon’s Oceanarium and Lisbon’s Oceanarium designed by American architect Peter Chermeyeff

Lisbon Oceanarium

The Lisbon Oceanarium is contains approximately 16,000 animals and plants from over 450 distinct species. The Lisbon’s Oceanarium is famous for the design rather than the size. The four towers around the central tank of the building house contain four different habitats:Birds in Lisbon

The North Atlantic rocky coast tank contains penguins.

The Antarctic coastal line tanks

The Temperate Pacific kelp forests tanks contains otters.

The Tropical Indian coral reefs tanks.

Fee Description:

General Admission     € 10.50

Under   12                    € 5.25

Over    66                     € 5.75

Operation Hour: Oceanarium is open year around 10-6 and 10-7 in summer but closed on December 25.

 

Eye of the Sahara Mauritania

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Eye of the Sahara called Richat Structure has a diameter of almost 50 kilometers (30 miles). Placed in Mauritania, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania is a country in northwest Africa. It is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the west, by Senegal on the southwest, by Mali on the east and southeast, by Algeria on the northeast.

This spectacular landform in Mauritania in the southwestern part of the Sahara desert with a diameter of 30 miles huge and can be visible from the space. Called Richat Structure or the “Eye of the Sahara” the formation was originally thought to be caused by a meteorite impact but now geologists believe these features were formed by an uplift and subsequent erosion from wind and water. However, why the Richat Structure is circular remains a mystery.