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Showing posts with label places. Show all posts
Showing posts with label places. Show all posts

1/20/2017

4 Days in Washington Dc

 
If you are staying in Washington DC, there is a lot to see and do here, a lot of it. Thankfully, most of what you could possibly want to do in Washington DC is in a single area, or, within easy to reach distance. On this page, I am going to cover some of the best things you can do if you are in the city for just 96 hours.
1. Museums: There are 19 museums in Washington DC operated by the Smithsonian. If you love museums, then you are going to feel right at home, all of them are free to enter. Although, of course, each museum is going to take a good few hours to explore. You will, therefore, want to choose your favorites. Start at the Smithsonian Institute Building and pick up a guide to the museums and choose which ones you want.

2. Memorials: If you are not American, you may want to give these a skip. If you are, you should try and see as many as possible. Although, to be honest, they are a bit spread out. I suggest that you take a guided tour to see all of them within the 96 hours that you have. These guides will also throw out a few interesting facts. This includes the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam, Jefferson Memorial and the World War II memorial.
3. White House: You really can’t head to Washington DC, American or not, without seeing the White House. You will also be able to find two other top buildings nearby. This includes the Supreme Court and the Capitol. Basically, all of the biggest decisions in the United States of America are made here. You are going to be at the center of everything. If you wish for a free ticket to the Capitol, you must obtain them online beforehand. If you are American, you can also get them from your local Senator.
4. Georgetown: This is the waterfront of Washington DC. It is very historic. I suggest that you go here during the latter part of the day when you are starting to get hungry. This is because there are a lot of restaurants here and just about every cuisine is covered. In addition to this, the later part of the day is the best time to shop. The crowds tend to be at the minimum.
5. Kennedy Center: If you have an evening spare during the 96 hours that you are spending in Washington DC, then make sure you head to the Kennedy Center. There always seems to be some sort of show going on there, and they all tend to be pretty thrilling. If there is nothing going on, there is also a free guided tour held from time to time which will take you through the history of the building and allow you to see all of the artwork which has been stored here. It is actually pretty interesting, but only do it if you are not really pressed for time whilst in Washington DC.

Free Things You Can Do in San Francisco

 

1. Art Galleries:

There are a lot of art galleries in San Francisco, many of which are free. New art shows are popping up all of the time too. Basically, San Francisco is an art lover paradise. Dedicate a day or two to touring some of the bigger art galleries and you will be pleasantly surprised at just how much fun you are having.

2. Golden Gate Bridge:

Walking across the Golden Gate Bridge is simply awe-inspiring. It is a pretty long walk through at 1.7 miles, particularly if you want to walk back too. If you head across the Golden Gate Bridge, make sure you dress up warm as it can be pretty cold near the middle of it. You will also wish to take a camera as you are almost certainly going to want to snap a few photographs.

3. Randall Museum:

If you have children in tow, this museum is somewhere that you are going to want to be. There are plenty of live animals on show, as well as a number of additional workshops which both adults and children alike can take part in. In addition to this, you will be able to enjoy some pretty decent views over the entirety of San Francisco, so even if you are not going to take part in any of the workshops happening in the Randall Museum, you still should make this place a ‘must visit’

4. Golden Gate Park:

This is, obviously, somewhere that you are only going to want to go if the weather is playing ball. There is a lot happening in the park, particularly at the weekends. I suggest that you look online before your trip to San Francisco to find out exactly what is happening in this fabulous area. You may, for example, be able to take part in free lawn bowling lessons, you may be able to watch a live music concert, or you may even be able to feast your eyes on a good Shakespeare play.

5. Pier 39:

Any time of the year is good for Pier 39. However, if you wish for the best experience, head here during January to July. 1,300 sea lions will be on full view.

6. Wave Organ:

I am going to cap off with this one, simply because the sounds it makes are brilliant. The sounds change throughout the day based upon the tied. In some cases, it can be very spooky, others, a bit more relaxing. There are a couple of restaurants nearby and it makes the perfect soundtrack to your meal! I suggest coming in during the later stages of the day if you wish to hear the best sounds.

1/19/2017

Zion National Park, Utah

 

Protaras, Cyprus

 

Moon Point, Santa Cruz Island, California

 

Minatomirai, Japan

 

Mdina, Malta

 

5/06/2016

What Causes the Northern and Southern Lights

 
Simply put, these lights are caused by very fast moving electrons striking atoms in the Earth’s upper atmosphere, primarily oxygen and nitrogen atoms which make up most of our atmosphere.  When this happens, it can put these atoms in an excited state.  During the process with which they return to their normal state, they emit this excess energy in the form of visible photons.

So where do these fast moving electrons come from?  Charged particles from the sun’s corona are constantly striking near the Earth and are more or less deflected by the Earth’s magnetic field, which in turn protects life on the Earth from being harmed by these solar winds. When these charged particles encounter the Earth’s magnetic field, they end up traveling along the field lines with some of them ending up interacting with the magnetic field lines, cutting across the field, thus producing a current which can accumulate to upwards of 10 million megawatts!
This current ends up creating a fairly unstable state in the magnetosphere.  Occasionally, some of this current is discharged causing electrons in the magnetosphere to spiral down towards the poles and through the Earth’s upper atmosphere.  As it descends into the atmosphere, it collides with primarily oxygen and nitrogen.  When this happens, the atoms move to high energy orbitals.  This state is fairly unstable for these atoms and they will return fairly quickly to their normal orbitals.  To do so, they must release the excess energy they have stored up from this collision by emitting a photon.  With enough of these atoms going from the high orbital state to the low orbital state, it will produce enough light to be viewable to the naked eye by people standing in appropriate locations on Earth.

3/28/2016

Summer sunset and Wildflowers, Mount Rainier National Park, Washington

 

Bull moose Denali National Park, Alaska

 

 

2/29/2016

Bachalpsee, Switzerland

 

Bachalpsee, Switzerland

Bachalpsee (also known as Bachse or Bachalp lake) is a lake located in centeral  Switzerland.
The lake is situated at 2,265 meters above seal level and is divided into two lakes (the smaller is a little lower).
During summer and on clear days, the lake acts as a mirror and a truly captivating piece of nature.

2/28/2016

Door to Hell, Turkmenistan

 

Door to Hell, Turkmenistan


Derweze is a small village in Turkmenistan, not far from the village, in the middle of the Karakum Desert there is a giant burning hole in the ground! This hole is called by the locals “The Door to Hell”.
Soviet geologists (back in the early 70’s) held surveys around the area when in one drilling their rig collapsed into the ground creating a 70 meter wide hole in the desert. 
Since the hole was filled with poisonous and inflammable gases, they decided to light it up so the fire will consume the gas, they miscalculated and the fire is burning constantly since 1971.






9/26/2015

The Taj Mahal, India's architectural crown jewel is one of the seven wonders of the world.

 

One of the most beautiful surroundings to take a break from sight seeing is the Cafe at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.

 

Nasir al-Mulk Mosque Shiraz, Iran

 

Bangalore, India

 

5/30/2015

Brinicle - pic and video

 

What looks like the aquatic version of the Nothing from The NeverEnding Story up there is actually ... well, no, turns out that analogy is pretty accurate. The Brinicle is an icy tentacle of doom that instantly freezes any sea creatures unlucky enough to be caught in that ominous river of frozen death up there. And you really have to watch it in time-lapse action to see how disturbing it is. 



It happens when newly formed sea ice creates very salty brine that is denser than the sea water. When that brine inevitably sinks to the bottom, the water surrounding it freezes over, leaving an "icy sheath" in its wake. As soon as the frozen brine hits the bottom, the surrounding sea floor is enveloped in a catacomb of ice, killing any life caught in its path.

That's right: The Brinicle is the literal icy finger of death.

Firebows

 



High altitude cirrus clouds sometimes contain a large number of hexagonal ice crystals, and if these are struck by sunlight at just the right angle, with the sun elevated at least 58 degrees, the sky suddenly looks like somebody waved a giant magnet in front of an old-school computer monitor.

Snow Rollers

 

Is Old Man Winter whittling a shiv? Is Frosty the Snowman rolling up the bodies of all the children that didn't believe in him in giant ice-rugs for later disposal?
Nope. Those are "Snow Rollers," and the name is pretty self-explanatory. For a snow roller to form, the ground must be covered by a layer of ice that snow will not stick to, the layer of ice must be covered by wet, loose snow with a temperature near the melting point of ice, the wind must be strong enough to move the rollers, but not strong enough to blow them apart and, finally, the ground must have a slope, to start the rolling.



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