Skopelos is a Greek island in the western Aegean Sea. Skopelos is one of several islands which comprise the Northern Sporades island group, which lies east of the Pelion peninsula on the mainland and north of the island of Euboea. It is part of the Thessaly region. Skopelos is also the name of the main port and the municipal center of the island. The other communities of the island are Glossa and Neo Klima (Elios). The geography of Skopelos includes two mountains over 500 m; Delphi in the center of the island, and Palouki in the southeast. With an area of 96 square kilometres Skopelos is slightly larger than Mykonos and Santorini. The nearest inhabited islands are Skiathos to the west and Alonissos to the east.
Skopelos is one of the greenest islands in the Aegean Sea. The island has a wide range of flowers, trees and shrubs. The local vegetation is chiefly made up of forests of Aleppo Pines (Pinus halepensis), Kermes Oaks (Quercus coccifera), a small forest of Holm Oaks (Quercus ilex), Oleo-Ceratonion maquis, fruit trees and olive groves. The pine forests on Skopelos have replaced oak species that predominated in the past; this is due to a preference for pine trees, since their timber is widely used for ship construction.
Molyvos is located on the North Coast of Lesvos and is a town of stunning beauty and historical importance. Also known as Mithymna, legend will have us believe that one of the five daughters of the Mythical King Makara ruled the town during the middle ages. Mithymna was a formidable women and much admired by her adversaries who fought gallantly for the town and it's riches. It is also possible that the name of Molyvos (or Molivos) has been derived from 'Mont d' olives' meaning mountain of olives. However, or whoever gave the town it's name it has become today one of the most visited and popular tourists attractions on the island. In 1965, the then mayor and committee of the municipality of Molyvos enforced a preservation order which forbid the use of any other building material other than natural stone. This was true foresight indeed and today the fruits of thought have shone through in the shape of cobbled streets, traditional stone houses and a wonderful atmosphere of charm and discovery. There are a number of cultural events held in the town each year including art exhibitions, lectures, traditional folk festivals and theatrical performances. Although tourism plays an important part in the town's economic structure, but the local industries of fishing, olive growing and farming are still very much a part of everyday life. Source: lesvos.co.uk/molyvos/
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Mirabell Palace is a historical building in the city of Salzburg, Austria. The palace with its gardens is a listed cultural heritage monument and part of the Historic Centre of the City of Salzburg UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was built about 1606 outside the medieval walls of Salzburg according to Italian and French models, at the behest of Prince-Archbishop Wolf Dietrich Raitenau as a residence for his mistress Salome Alt. When Raitenau was deposed and arrested in 1612, Alt and her family were expelled and the palace received its current name from Italian: mirabile, bella: "amazing", "wonderful". It was rebuilt in a lavish Baroque style from 1710, according to plans designed by Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt. On 1 June 1815 the later King Otto of Greece was born here, while his father, the Wittelsbach crown prince Ludwig I of Bavaria served as stadtholder in the former Electorate of Salzburg. The current Neoclasical appearance dates from about 1818, when the place was restored after a blaze. In its geometrically-arranged gardens are mythology-themed statues dating from 1730 and four groups of sculpture (Eneas, Hercules, Paris and Pluton) by the Italian sculptor Ottavio Mosto, from 1690. It is noted for its boxwood layouts.
Source: fineartamerica.com/featured/majestic-salzburg-garden-carol-groenen.html
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Bormes-les-Mimosas is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. It has a Mediterranean climate. Bormes-les-Mimosas is a city in bloom and won the 2003 Gold Medal awarded by the Entente Florale. The Fort de Brégançon, located in the commune, is the official retreat for the President of the French Republic.
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The Jindai Botanical Garden is at the edge of the Musashino plateau just above Jindaiji Temple in Chōfu, Tokyo, Japan. It extends across 425,433 square meters, and each of its thirty areas features varieties of one kind of plant. Displays of ume, cherries, azalea, dogwood, peonies, roses, wisteria or other can be seen every month. In front of the temple below there is also a wetland annex for aquatic plants, where irises are cultivated. The garden has 100,000 trees and shrubs representing approximately 4,500 varieties, each with an identifying label. The park has a plant protection program to preserve endangered Japanese species and exhibitions and activities related to gardening for the benefit of local citizens. Just outside the rear gate there is an area where some plants are sold.
The site of Jindai Botanical Garden was once part of a medieval fortress said to date from 1537. Later it was a nursery that supplied trees for Tokyo's streets. After the war it was opened to the public as Jindai ryokuchi (green area) and in 1961 it was given its current name as it became the first botanical garden in Tokyo. A large greenhouse was built in 1984 holding the collection of tropical plants. In one section of the greenhouse is the lily pond. Downhill from the garden is Jindaiji Temple, the second oldest one in Tokyo.
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Locorotondo is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Bari, Italy, with a population of c. 14,000. The city is known for its wines and for its round historical center, from which derives its name, meaning "Round place". It is located in south-east Murgia, deep in the Itria Valley, dotted with white trulli. Locorotondo is listed as one of most beautiful villages in Italy. Locorotondo's heritage includes the Mother Church of "St. George the Martyr", built between 1769 and 1821 and including 14th century basreliefs; the church of "San Rocco", the Romanesque church of "Our Lady of Greece". The beauty of the historic centre is also represented by a labyrinth of white alleys, jealously guarded by their inhabitants. The houses are topped with unusual pitched roofs called "cummerse", a feature typical of the historical centre of Locorotondo.
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The Kintai Bridge is a historical wooden arch bridge, in the city of Iwakuni, in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. The bridge was built in 1673, spanning the Nishiki River in a series of five wooden arches. The bridge is located on the foot of Mt.Yokoyama, at the top of which lies Iwakuni Castle.
Kikkou Park, which includes the bridge and castle, is a popular tourist destination in Japan, particularly during the Cherry Blossom festival in the spring and the autumn color change of the Japanese Maples. It was declared a National Treasure in 1922. The bridge is composed of five sequential wooden arch bridges on four stone piers as well as two of wooden piers on the dry riverbed where the bridge begins and ends. Each of the three middle spans is 35.1 meters long, while the two end spans are 34.8 meters for a total length of about 175 meters with a width of 5 meters.
The sunflower (Helianthus annuus) is an annual plant grown as a crop for its edible oil and edible fruits (commonly called "sunflower seeds"). Sunflower is also used as bird food, as livestock forage (as a meal or a silage plant) and in some industrial applications. The plant was first domesticated in the Americas. Wild Helianthus annuus is a widely branched annual plant with many flower heads. The domestic sunflower, however, possesses a single large inflorescence (flowering head) atop an unbranched stem. The name sunflower derives from the flower head's shape, which resembles the Sun. Sunflower seeds were brought to Europe from the Americas in the 16th century, where, along with sunflower oil, they became a widespread cooking ingredient.
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Royal Azalea is a species of Rhododendron native to the Korean Peninsula and adjacent regions of Manchuria (Liaoning, Nei Mongol), Japan, and the Russian Far East. It is the dominant understory shrub in many Korean hillside forests, growing at 400-1500 m altitude. It is a dense deciduous shrub growing to 4.5 m in height, but more commonly 1-2 m tall. The leaves are obovate, 4.5-7.5 cm long and 2.5-4.5 cm broad, with scattered glandular hairs. The flowers are white to pink, often with small red spots on the upper three petals; they are produced in late spring to early summer. The scientific name schlippenbachii is derived from Baron von Schlippenbach, a Russian officer who collected the species in 1854.
In Korea, it is called cheoljjuk and if the color of the petals is white, the flower is called huincheoljjuk.The Royal Azalea is commonly chosen as a local symbol in South Korea, by cities and counties such as Gapyeong and Miryang. It is widely cultivated in other parts of the world; some cultivars bear white flowers.
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The Sonoran Desert is a North American desert which covers large parts of the Southwestern United States in Arizona and California, and of Northwestern Mexico in Sonora, Baja California and Baja California Sur. It is one of the largest and hottest deserts in North America, with an area of 280,000 square kilometers. The western portion of the United States–Mexico border passes through the Sonoran Desert.
In phytogeography, the Sonoran Desert is within the Sonoran Floristic Province of the Madrean Region in southwestern North America, part of the Holarctic Kingdom of the northern Western Hemisphere. The desert contains a variety of unique and endemic plants and animals, such as the Saguaro (Carnegiea gigantea) and Organ Pipe cactus (Stenocereus thurberi). Many plants not only survive, but thrive in the harsh conditions of the Sonoran Desert. Many have evolved to have specialized adaptations to the desert climate. The Sonoran Desert's bi-seasonal rainfall pattern results in more plant species than in the other North America deserts. The Sonoran Desert includes plant genera and species from the agave family, palm family, cactus family, legume family, and numerous others.
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Positano is a village and comune on the Amalfi Coast, in Campania, Italy, mainly in an enclave in the hills leading down to the coast. Positano was a port of the Amalfi Republic in medieval times, and prospered during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. By the mid-nineteenth century, however, the town had fallen on hard times. More than half the population emigrated, mostly to America.
The church of Santa Maria Assunta features a dome made of majolica tiles as well as a thirteenth-century Byzantine icon of a black Madonna. According to local legend, the icon had been stolen from Byzantium and was being transported by pirates across the Mediterranean. A terrible storm had blown up in the waters opposite Positano and the frightened sailors heard a voice on board saying "Posa, posa!" ("Put down! Put down!"). The precious icon was unloaded and carried to the fishing village and the storm abated.
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The Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge is located in the Sonoran Desert in southwestern Arizona in the United States. The refuge, established in 1939 to protect Desert bighorn sheep, is located along 56 miles of the Mexico–United States border, and covers 860,010 acres larger than the land area of the state of Rhode Island. Spanish for "dark head," the refuge's name comes from the Cabeza Prieta Mountains in the refuge's northwest part. Author Edward Abbey, a frequent visitor, described the Cabeza Prieta as "the best desert wilderness left in the USA."
The most popular time to visit the refuge is between November and March. The required permit is free and can be obtained at the refuge office in Ajo, Arizona, or by mail. A local organization gives evening presentations on the history, flora, and fauna during these months. Only lawfully-killed game may be taken from the area. The historic El Camino Del Diablo four-wheel drive dirt road crosses the southernmost part of the refuge, near the Mexican border. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Swiss Alps are the portion of the Alps mountain range that lies within Switzerland. Because of their central position within the entire Alpine range, they are also known as the Central Alps. The highest summit in the Swiss Alps is Monte Rosa near the Swiss-Italian border. The highest mountain which lies entirely on Swiss territory is the Dom. Other main summits can be found in the list of mountains in Switzerland. Since the Middle Ages, transit across the Alps played an important role in history. The region north of the St. Gotthard Pass became the nucleus of the Swiss Confederacy in the early 14th century.
The Alps are usually divided into two main parts, the Western Alps and Eastern Alps, whose division is along the Rhine from Lake Constance to the Splügen Pass. The western ranges occupy the greatest part of Switzerland while the more numerous eastern ranges are much smaller and are all situated in the canton of Graubünden. The latter are part of the Central Eastern Alps, except the Ortler Alps which belong to the Southern Limestone Alps. The Pennine, Bernese and Bernina Range are the highest ranges of the country, they contain respectively 38, 9 and 1 summit over 4000 metres. The lowest range is the Appenzell Alps culminating at 2,500 metres.
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Governor Tom McCall Waterfront Park is a 36.59 acres park located in downtown Portland, Oregon, along the Willamette River. After the 1974 removal of Harbor Drive (a good example of freeway removal), the park was opened to the public in 1978. The park covers 13 tax lots is owned by the City of Portland (Portland Parks and Recreation). The park was renamed in 1984 to honor Tom McCall, the Oregon governor who pledged his support for the beautification of the west bank of the Willamette River harkening back to the City Beautiful plans at the turn of the century that envisioned parks and greenways along the river. The park is bordered by RiverPlace to the south, the Hawthorne Bridge to the north, Naito Parkway to the west, and Willamette River to the east. In October 2012, Waterfront Park was voted one of America's ten greatest public spaces by the American Planning Association.
The most common uses for the park are jogging, walking, biking, skateboarding, fountain play, lunching, basketball, fireworks viewing, and boat watching. Due to its recreational use, lunch hours (11:00 am to 1:00 pm) are peak-use hours for the waterfront park. In addition to recreational use, the park is also highly used by bike and pedestrian commuters during rush hours (3:00 pm to 5:00 pm) because the park is easily accessible to the downtown Portland workforce and provides a pleasant, off street thoroughfare away from vehicular traffic. It is currently home to the Waterfront Blues Festival, Oregon Brewers Festival, Gay/Lesbian Pride Festival and The Bite of Oregon Festival. The park is also the host of many Rose Festival events.
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