Paraguay’s Best Cities: Asuncion and Ciudad del Este

A country known as the “Heart of America” is Paraguay, located in Central South America, northeast of Argentina. It’s landlocked, squeezed between Argentina, Bolivia and Brazil. It’s the only country that has no access to the sea.

Paraguay had been a colony of Spain who achieved its independence in 1811. They lost two-thirds of their soldiers during the disastrous “War of the Triple Alliance” in 1865–1870. This war was fought against Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay to gain access to the sea. They lost but they won the “Chaco War” of 1932-1935 with Bolivia. Paraguay then gained a large part of the Chaco lowland region. This war claimed 36,000 lives among their soldiers, and this explains the country's low population density. However, in recent decades high population growth was recorded. Read more...

***All images used are from Google Images

Galapagos Islands: The Enchanted Isle

An archipelago of volcanic islands scattered around the equator in the Pacific Ocean are the islands of Galapagos. The second of the world’s largest marine and wildlife reserve; voted world’s number 1 scuba diving site from 2000 – 2002, and one of UNESCO’s World Heritage Site.


In 1535, Fray Tomas de Berlanga, the Bishop of Panama, discovered the islands when his ship was swept off course in the Pacific. A Flemish cartographer named Orteliu first named “Isolas de Galápagos” in 1570. The name “Galapagos” is a Spanish word for saddle, after the many saddleback tortoises found in the islands. It was known as “Las Encantadas” (the Enchanted Isles), for the perilous currents, and frequent disappearance of the islands in the mist. Read more...

***All Images used are from Google Images

The Picturesque Town of Manarola Italy

A town that is the oldest in the region of Cinque Terre in Italy, and is located on the tip of a ravine down to the wild and rugged coastline of the Ligurian Sea is Manarola. It’s the second of the smallest town in Cinque Terre that’s very popular with tourists for its colorful houses and a picturesque view of the sea.

The foundation of the town dates back from the early 14th century, and their primary industries are fishing and producing wine. Their wine named “Sciacchetra” has been renowned for its taste for hundreds of years. Historical Roman documents made several mentions of the high quality of this wine.

Most of the local cafés there specialize in fresh, homemade pasta, bread, and pesto, and they use locally grown ingredients. One of the most popular dishes is “Farinata”, a dish of Tuscan and Ligurian origin. Read more...

***All images used are from Google Images

The Amazing Longleat Hedge Maze

During the 18th century in Britain, when landscape gardener Lancelot “Capability” Brown replaced formal gardens with natural-looking features, hedge mazes flourished, but with the growth of industrialization and the leisure industry in the 19th century, mazes became less elitist.

Mazes were popular forms of amusement for kings and princes; they were found only at the wealthiest palaces throughout Europe. In 1975, designer Greg Bright created the Longleat Hedge Maze. It’s made of more than 16,000 English Yews, and covers an area of around 1.48 acres with a total pathway length of 1.69 miles. It is also three-dimensional having six wooden bridges that offer tantalizing glimpses towards the elusive centre of the maze. It is a full scale maze, with several dead end and multiple paths that surrounds a central tower. The average time taken to reach the center is 90 minutes.


The Longleat Hedge Maze will forever appeal to everyone’s sense of playfulness whatever the age to explore and discover. Visitors will surely enjoy the puzzle, mystery and over-all experience in figuring out a way to reach the center and to safely return back to where they started. Read more...

***All Images used are from Google Images

The Sacred Temple of Abu Simbel

On the southern part of Egypt and on the western bank of Lake Nasser, are two massive rock temples known as “The Temples of Abu Simbel.” It’s a rock-cut temple from the time of the Pharaoh Ramses II.
The great Pharaoh Ramses II, in 1257 BC (13th century BC) had two temples carved out of solid rock. He dedicated it to the Gods Re-Hor-Akhty, Amon, and Ptah. He also had a statue of him built seated with these three gods. The main purpose of the temples was to show his alleged victory at the Battle of Kadesh, and to intimidate his Nubian neighbors. It was also a lasting monument to himself and his queen Nefertari.

The temples suffered from the raising water of Lake Nasser while the High Dam was being built, so they had to relocate it on an artificial hill high above the Aswan High Dam reservoir in June 1964; it was finished in September 1968. The two Temples were cut into many pieces, and then they were reconstructed again to escape the rising water level. Read more...

***All images used are from Google Images

The Great Blue Hole of Belize

At the coast of Belize is a large underwater sinkhole called “The Great Blue Hole of Belize.” During the last glacial period it was formed as a limestone cave system when sea levels were much lower, but when the ocean began to rise, the caves were flooded and the roof collapsed creating this perfectly circular limestone sinkhole.

The Great Blue Hole of Belize isn’t just an amazing geographical phenomenon, but also one of the best diving sites in the world. It’s circular in shape, over 300 meters (984 ft) across and 125 meters (410 ft) deep. The outer edge is merely a few feet underwater at high tide. The range of the stalactites and limestone formations which mould its walls seem to become more elaborate and intense the deeper one dives.

At some time, many millions of years ago, there was a major earthquake and this probably caused the cave ceiling to collapse forming the sinkhole. The great depth of this sinkhole creates the deep blue indigo color and corals surround it. Water doesn’t circulate freely in the Blue Hole, so there is very little marine life below its shallow depths.  Read more...

***All images used are from Google Images

Meanings of the Colors of the Roses

Roses are known to have flourished 35 million-years ago. The earliest known gardening was the planting of roses along the most travelled routes of early nomadic humans. Heaps of different varieties have been found in Europe, and it was the Romans who cultivated this great beauty and named it “Rosa Gallica”.

In Greek mythology, Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love, is said to have created the rose which came from her tears and the blood of her lover Adonis. Another version of the legend of the rose in Greek mythology is when Venus´ son Cupid was stung by a bee he accidentally shot arrows into a rose garden. It was believed to be the sting of the arrows that caused the roses to grow thorns. When Venus walked through the garden and pricked her foot on a thorn, it was the droplets of her blood which turned the roses red.

Each rose color has different meanings, usually more than one. Get to know them. Read more.
 
 
 
 
***All images used are from Google Images