2019年5月

The City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia, Spain © MAIKA 777/Getty Images

A ‘city’ within Valencia

Inspired by the City of Science and Industry in Paris, the Valencian Autonomous Government created the City of Arts and Sciences, enlisting the talents of architects Santiago Calatrava and Félix Candela to give the Spanish city a modern cultural attraction. Built on a sunken park in the drained riverbed of the Turia River, the first portions of the multi-building attraction opened in 1998, with an opera house completing the complex in 2005.

Today, we’re showing this futuristic-looking center for education and entertainment to celebrate International Museum Day. The observance began in 1977, with participating museums, galleries, and similar institutions offering free or reduced admission, as well as programs to highlight the work they do. Saturday is a great day for wandering around an old favorite museum or exploring a new one.

Ghyakar村，尼泊尔上木斯塘 Ghyakar village, Upper Mustang, Nepal (© Frank Bienewald/Alamy)

High trekking season in Upper Mustang

If you’re lucky enough to be one of the thousand or so tourists allowed into Upper Mustang each year, spring and autumn are the best times for trekking through this incredibly dramatic landscape. Tucked into a remote region of Nepal, it’s geographically part of the Tibetan Plateau. The area is surrounded by the Annapurna and Dhaulagiri mountains and marked with deep gorges, terraced fields, and colorfully stratified rock formations. But perhaps most fascinating of all are the sky caves, 10,000 or so caves dug into the sides of valleys in several areas of the district. Some of these manmade caves are thought to be ancient burial chambers, others are richly decorated with valuable Buddhist paintings, sculptures, and artifacts from 8th to the 14th century. Perched 150 feet over the valleys, the questions of how they were built, what they were all for, or even how people accessed them remain a mystery.

山毛榉树林里的蓝铃花，英国赫特福德郡 (© Dan Tucker/Alamy)

the Pura Meduwe Karang神庙中雕刻艺术家W.O.J.Nieuwenkamp的作品，印度尼西亚巴厘岛 A carving of artist W.O.J. Nieuwenkamp in the Pura Meduwe Karang temple in Bali, Indonesia (© John Elk III/Getty Images)

Work out on your way to work

The third Friday in May is National Bike to Work Day, which encourages commuters to try biking as a healthy and safe alternative to driving. The carving we're looking at is in Bali, Indonesia. It depicts W.O.J. Nieuwenkamp, a Dutch landscape and portrait artist who rode his bike around Bali in the early 1900s, painting as he went—essentially biking to work each day. Nieuwenkamp was the first European artist to visit Bali and was influential in introducing Balinese art to Europe. The carving is part of the Pura Meduwe Karang, one of the largest temples in Bali. The temple served as an entrance to the island in the early 20th century and contains several symbols of international influence to reflect that.

Abu Simbel temples on the west shore of Lake Nasser, Egypt © George Steinmetz/Getty Images

3,000 years of history

These massive temples - known today as Abu Simbel - were built in the 13th century BCE by the pharaoh Ramesses II. He left a legacy of monuments and temples across Egypt, many of which, like Abu Simbel, featured Ramesses II himself as the star attraction. But over the centuries, these temples were almost completely buried in sand and forgotten. It was not until the early 1800s when an explorer saw the heads of the colossal statues poking through the sand that the temples were again ‘discovered.’ Then, in the 20th century, rising waters of the Nile threatened to flood the site. The temples were disassembled and relocated to a nearby hill. The process took almost five years and required that workers cut the temples into pieces and reassemble them exactly as they were built 3,000 years ago. We think Ramesses II would approve.

Midnight sun at North Cape, Norway © Ron Bennett/Shutterstock

Basking in the glow

Norway may not be top of mind for most sun seekers, but around the middle of May until late July, head to the Arctic Circle and you can experience a natural phenomenon known as the midnight sun. During these few months the sun is visible at midnight local time, like you see in today's image of Norway's North Cape. Of course, as nature strives to maintain a balance, during winter many of these same places experience polar night, when the sun never rises above the horizon.

戛纳，法国 Cannes, France, where the annual film festival begins today (© Manjik Photography/Alamy)

Cannes, France, in the spotlight

The Cannes Film Festival is known for the glamour and luxury of its host city, which sparkles day and night. Celebs come to hang out on yachts and be seen on the red carpet at the Palais des Festivals convention center. But it's not all about the glitz—Cannes is considered one of the three most prestigious European film festivals, along with the Venice Film Festival and Berlin International Film Festival. This year, the French Directors’ Guild will honor horror legend John Carpenter ('Halloween,' 'Christine’) with the Golden Coach Award (Carrosse d’Or) for his body of work. New films will compete for the festival's top prize, the Palme d'Or.

In praise of bogs, swamps, and marshes

Swamps and bogs probably aren’t the first that comes to mind when it comes to America’s celebrated landscapes. That’s a shame, since wetlands like these play a crucial role in the health of our ecosystems. In addition to providing unique habitat to the many species that call wetlands home, they filter water, provide a natural buffer from storms, absorb flood waters, and capture carbon from the atmosphere—helping to protect our planet from climate change.

Each year in the month of May, environmental groups and partners celebrate the humble bog as part of American Wetlands Month. You can find some of the country’s healthiest examples of wetlands in Florida, home to swamps, which are dominated by forests, and marshes, which are home to grasses, rushes, and weeds. Today’s homepage comes from Pine Log State Forest, located near the town of Ebro in the Florida Panhandle. Established in 1936, it’s Florida’s oldest state forest, and a fine place to explore.

Bringing together history and technology

On the second Saturday in May, the Dutch celebrate an iconic national structure—the windmill—like these historic ones at Zaanse Schans. With hundreds of windmills across the country, many sites use the day to demonstrate how windmills work and host art exhibits. But the concept of using wind power isn’t just a historical anecdote—this renewable energy is experiencing a boom, and by 2050 is predicted to provide one-third of the world's electricity.

星空迷

澳大利亚太平洋海岸的海崖大桥 (© Nick Fox/Alamy)