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Since January we can see, with Google Earth, some of the most famous and important museums where of the Prado Museum in Madrid.
And even if it could seem contradictory, you will see pieces with a better quality and details at home from your computer than within the museum.

Google never stops surprising us, and this time it has realized a project with the Prado Museum in order to allow anybody to contemplate, from the other side of the world, 14 paint artworks with a high resolution.

This project is called “Prado’s works of art on Google Earth” and enables to look at several pieces with a high resolution.
Images have 14 billions of pixels, a level of details 1400 times better than what we could get with a camera of 10 mega pixel.

This system is so specific that we can see micro details that painters incorporated in their works, details impossible to see naked-eyes; we can also appreciate works’ scratches and imperfections and, of course, any deep and shade of licks of pain that made these pieces becoming classics.

14 works of art can be seen, here are some of them:

• La Crucifixión, Flades, Juan de
• El caballero de la mano en el pecho, El Greco
• La familia de Felipe IV o Las Meninas, Velázquez
• El sueño de Jacob, Ribera
• 3 de mayo, Goya
• La Anunciación, Fra Angelico
• El Cardenal, Rafael
• El emperador Carlos V a caballo, en Mühlberg, Tiziano

@ brainsluice

I love Thai temples and orientalism, with nature and spirituality around it. We can breathe it in each step of the construction, trying to join socialite and mysticism.

What really curious about them?
They are not as ancient as we could think and the White Temple is an example of it.

Moreover, its official name is Wat Rong Khun and it has been created by Chaloemchai Khositphiphat, the most famous artist in Thailand.

It is a modern construction that they plan to end up in 90 years. However, we are already surprised by what there is already, such as its entrance, special and eerie, but I keep it for the end as it the thing that struck me the most.

@ Dust Mason

Inside, its walls contrast, even if it is more for their strange details than for their beauty: As soon as we get there we can see a plane against a twin tower, a fetus within a uterus, various weapons and some devils.
It is the symbolism of spirituality confrontation and oriental peace with the chaos and oriental overconsumption.

Outside, the chapel is decorated with crumbled mirrors, the pinion with a Naga and an elephant; inside, it has a wall painting illustrating Buda’s life, also made by Khositphiphat.

As I told you before, I have left you the temple entrance part for the end. Here we go …

@ karma-police

To get to the first floor we need to cross a bridge. The bridge itself is not so surprising, but sculptures around it, those hands that seem going out from the water and from the ground, imitating sinners trying to get out from the Hell.

@ Daffydus

An image that will cool you off…

@ Patrick Mayon

With the typical Italian euphoria, now news papers tell that the tower is safe.

In January 1990, after 20 years of research, the Tower of Pisa had been closed to public to protect it from its inevitable worsening. In December 2001, its visitors could go and see it again. With all maintenance works, the tower got, partly, its verticality back.

Technicians say that it got back almost the same position than in the 1700s, it can stay like this for 300 more years if researches and preventive cares still go on. But visits are limited.

The tower of Pisa started to be built in 1173 and it is prone to various stories and myths.
They say that Galilee threw two different mass cannon balls from the top of the tower in order to demonstrate that the descent speed was independent of the mass.

Various initiatives have been undertaken in order to look after the tower, but without a real success. Included Benito Mussolini, in 1934, commanded to set the tower in a vertical position, by spilling cement on the base of it in order to sink further in the soft ground.

Campers, trekkers of the extreme, be aware!

The designer John Moriarty, with the help of Billy Harney, has created a survival cocoon.

Imagine yourself lost in a forest, with really bad conditions (storm, wind…); this item will able your body to wait for rescue without any danger.

It is simple; you just need to find a branch of a tree, a steep rock, anywhere where you can cling on and there you go!

The setting up is easy: Built with bright colors and material specially made for extreme conditions, this cocoon creates a cozy place for your body.

@ campist

So, adventurous, this survival product will be as useful as a Swiss knife.

National geographique had done a selection of the most amazing landscapes of our planet. Of course, as any kind of ranking, it is a subjective selection done according to a particular view, even if they used as unit of measurement places’ popularity, the common image that we have of them, how they manage to captive us and tourists preferences.

The 10 most beautiful landscapes are the following:

01. Perito Moreno Glacier :

located in Patagonia, in Argentina; it’s an authentic marvelous. For its colors, for the power that it represents, for the supremacy that condenses each one of its vertical rock face of this huge ice mass.

@ sfer

02. Grand Canyon, Colorado:

it is a work of art sculpted by Colorado River’s artistic hands. An impressive parade able to cut breath to anyone. Moreover, seeing sunshine over there is an unequalled show.

@ StormeTX

03. Yunnan, in China:

It is a region located in the South of China where landscapes of the tropical forest and traditional rice fields are highlighted.

@ ecololo

04. Cliffs of Moher:

Located in Galway, in Ireland, these huge cliffs have a longitude of 5 miles and an altitude of 656 feet above the sea.
Here, waves whipping the cliffs will make a show for you.

@ Sitomon

05. Rio Iguaçu, in Argentina and in Brazil:

It invades also a part of Paraguay, but its famous parts are more in Argentina and Brazil.
This is another great wonder of our world. Waterfalls and waterfalls… more than you will never see. The water power facing up to tropical forests, giving us an exclusive landscape.

@ AnaElisa

06. Ulhuru, in Australia:

Its image is the one of a lunar landscape. Solicitude, nostalgia, sadness, but also immensity with an arid ground, dotted with blade of grass and a huge red 2.3 miles large monolith which appears alone in the geographical center of Australia.

@ Dinaiz

07. Cappadocia , Turkey:

A fairly tail: Fascinating and immortal. It is like this region is hiding between its legendary prehistoric formations and hided stories, magic and secret than no one will ever know.

@ waffle-iron

08. Cordillera Del Plaine, Chile:

Andes… another marvelous landscape we can find in South America, separating Argentina from Chile, and, in the middle, establishing, above all other highs, the famous peak “Del Plaine”.

@ * hiro008

09. Mount Cook , in New Zealand.

An ice mountain that dominates all highs of this continent. Located in the South island, it is highest peak of New Zealand.

@ Antoine Hubert

10. Banff National Park , in Canada:

it is THE perfect landscape. One of those When you see a picture of it you want to go immediately. A typical Canadian landscape made of green and blue, snow-capped mountains reflecting on crystalline lake that furrows the entire Canadian valley.

@ simsbury119

You must start thinking that there are others, but it is really difficult, to choose, between all marvels of the world, only 10 landscapes.
For my side, it would be Himalayas with the highest peak of the world, the Everest; or the Victoria falls, in Africa, or also, why not, the Amazonian forest with its fabulous exotic landscapes, in Brazil.

They are so many… You have to decide! Would you add some? Or would leave some?

Ha-long bay is one of the most spectacular landscapes of South Asia. Mysterious and reminiscent, with more than 3.000 islands, it constitutes a natural landscape wrapped in a permanent fog, which makes its own universe.

Going to Vietnam without seeing the Ha-long Bay means doing only half of the travel, missing the most important. Travel agencies from this Asiatic country know it; that is why there is a whole touristic architecture organized in Vietnam, which offers excursions at an economic price.

@ robertlafond2009

The Ha-long Bay declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994 and in 2000, and has always been in the top 10 of more than 200 exceptional sites doing the competition.

We always tend to compare while visiting a place for the first time. Those who have already been in Thailand or China might find some similarities.

The best way to visit this bunch of islands is to go for a cruise. If you try to go on your own, the cost will be higher; first because you will have to go to Ha-long city (a place without much interest); from there, you can catch a boat or look for other tourist to share it. In these two cases, you will get more freedom but the cost will be higher than going in a few days tour.

@ Prognatis

Due to the competition of travel agencies, prices are also very competitive. You still had better to check agency reliability. You can find a two days cruise, with transport from Hanoi, for about 30 Euros.

The best views are for sunset time and sunrise time which makes cruises a success, as you sleep on a boat.

The dragon legend

” Once upon a time, soon after the Việt people established their country, invaders came. The Jade Emperor sent Mother Dragon and her Child Dragons down to earth to help the Việt people fight against their enemy. Right at the time invaders’ boats were rushing to the shore, the dragons landed down on earth. The dragons immediately sent out from their mouths a lot of pearls, which then turned into thousands of stone islands emerging in the sea like great walls challenging the invaders’ boats. The fast boats couldn’t manage to stop and crashed into the islands and into each other and broke into pieces.
After the victory, Mother Dragon and Child Dragons didn’t return Heaven but stayed on earth at the place where the battle had occurred. The location Mother Dragon landed is nowadays Hạ Long Bay and where Child Dragons descended is now Bái Tử Long. The dragons’ tails waving the water created Long Vĩ (present Trà Cổ peninsula) and formed a fine sand beach over ten kilometers long”.

@ ChazWags

Couchsurfing consists in welcoming one or more people in lending your sofa, for a night (or more…), a piece of your garden in order to plant a tent, or, even better, a room with a real bed, or simply, having a cup of coffee with a foreigner to do some culture exchanges. Rules are not specified which makes all the charm of it.

According to a survey done by “Réseau de Veille en Tourisme de l’UQAM” more than hosting, it’s all the travel philosophy that’s changing: “Couchsurfing moves aside travelers from usual touristic places, stimulates better behavior to the host community and strengthens intercultural understanding”. What do we need else?

Where to get informed?

You can go on the website www.couchsurfing.com; there are a lot of offers. Thus, don’t miss the opportunity to get to know new people from other cultures by traveling for cheap.

Here are some websites where you can get more information.
Couchsurfing.com
hospitality club
Let me stay for a day

Cinema has always been one of the best ways to travel without going away from our chair. Who has never dreamt about being an Indiana Jones in Petra or an Audrey Hepburn in front of Tiffany´s window on the 5th Avenue? Luckily, we don’t have to go as far as Jordan or New York to get the feeling of being in the silver screen.

Here are movies offering travels from another point of view.

Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain

Paris has always been known as THE city of love, but since this movie has come out, Paris became “Amélie’s city”.
As a result, the coffee place: Le Café des deux Moulins, Amélie’s working place, turned out to be an inevitable stopover while visiting the French capital.
M. Collignon’s grocery, where Amelie did her shopping, has kept the sign from the shooting and has become one of the most famous in France.

Life is beautiful and Tuscany

Since 1997, year of its release on the silver screen, the city of Arezzo became famous to be the place chosen to shoot this story, directed and acted by Roberto Benigni. Arezzo is a city in Tuscany, 47 miles away from Florence. You could walk around its streets and visit the church place, the theatre or the school where Guido’s mother gave classes.
But the city of Arezzo offers also other interest places, such as San Francisco Basilica, or the Plaza Mayor by Vasari.

Movies shot in Barcelona.

Before that Woody Allen chose it to shoot his last movie, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, the city of earl, a lot of movies were shot. Pedro Almodovar had chosen it as backdrop for his former works.
The beach of Barceloneta, the Park Güell, the Sagrada Familia or la Boqueria market have been protagonists on the silver screen.

This is one of the most practical idea that I’ve seen lately, a portable shower that you can bring each time you are going to camp rough or to a camping site in order to be as “clean” as being home.

As a result, you won’t have any excuse anymore for not being fresh. You will not have to share bathroom with dozen of strangers as you will have your own personal shower.

As you can see on the picture, it is small but enough, which makes easy its carriage.

Actually, it is a multiuse tent which can be utilized as a shower, a sink and a place to get changed. This tent is sold with a floor that you can put on and take off as much as you feel, a tank of 20 liters of water that will get warm by the sun and a spillway to evacuate the water.

This tent is perfect to get privacy while camping or while you spending some days in a music festival.

You can find it on the website of Wenzel camping gear.

@ R.Duran

Barcelona is a city of arts. Its historical architecture, such as the Sagrada Familia built by Gaudi and its artists such as the painter Joan Miro, famous from his colorful oeuvres, makes us traveling in an unreal world.

Barcelona Turisme Creatiu gets involved in a new project. They give a chance to artists from all over the world and with any style to exhibit, to act and to create in Barcelona.

If you take a look at the website, and if you let yourself know where it is going on, you will be able to show your artistic skill.

This project, created by Barcelona tourism, is presented by the Fundació Societat i Cultura (Fusic). According to them, about twenty applications are considered per day.

This works thanks to people and structure diversity in the city as Caroline Couret, project coordinator explains.

Thus, if you are an artist and you have no idea where you could exhibit your works of arts, where to act, now you know that in Barcelona everything is possible. If it has worked for some people, why not YOU?

Moreover, they make a report about yourself, in order to get to know more about you and your culture.

GOOD LUCK TO ALL ARTISTS !!!!!!!

@ ironmanixs