2020年12月

布拉索夫中央广场的圣诞市集，罗马尼亚 Christmas Market in Main Square of Braşov, Romania (© Alpineguide/Alamy)

A Carpathian Christmas celebration

Nestled at the foot of Mount Tampa in the southern Carpathian Mountains of Romania, Brașov is a wonderful example of medieval Europe's intersecting cultures. Founded by Teutonic Knights, settled by Saxons and Hungarians, influenced by the Ottoman Empire, the Tartars, and the native Romanians, the city's Gothic architecture and unique cuisine reflect its rich history. The city's Christmas market is held throughout the month of December and is dominated by a 90-foot-tall, live Christmas tree. The market's numerous stalls feature food, drink, and local crafts.

The festival is known as 'Braşov—the city from the tales,' perhaps because legend has it that this square is where the children of Hamelin emerged after being led away by the Pied Piper. However you arrive, it's a magical place to drink a cup of cheer and toast to your Romanian hosts with a hearty 'Noroc!' But even if you're keeping it local this year, it's easy to be warmed even by the image of this golden glow from 'the city from the tales.'

喀尔巴阡山的圣诞庆典

布拉索夫坐落在罗马尼亚喀尔巴阡山脉南部坦帕山脚下，是中世纪欧洲文化交融的一个极好的例子。由条顿骑士建立，撒克逊人和匈牙利人定居，受到奥斯曼帝国、鞑靼人和罗马尼亚土著人的影响，这座城市的哥特式建筑和独特的美食反映了它丰富的历史。这座城市的圣诞集市在整个12月举行，以一棵90英尺高的活圣诞树为中心。市场上有很多摊位，有食品、饮料和当地工艺品。

这个节日被称为“传说中的城市”，也许是因为传说这个广场是哈梅林的孩子们在被派笛手领走后出现的地方。不管你到了哪里，这里都是一个神奇的地方，你可以在这里喝上一杯干杯，并用一口热情洋溢的“诺洛克”为你的罗马尼亚东道主干杯。但即使你今年把它保留在当地，也很容易被“传说中的城市”发出的金色光芒所温暖。

基奈峡湾国家公园的尖顶湾，阿拉斯加 Cove of Spires in Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska (© Sekar B/Shutterstock)

Protecting Alaska

On this day in 1980, President Jimmy Carter signed into law the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, which converted massive tracts of Alaskan wilderness into protected land. That single act 40 years ago doubled the size of the entire national park system. Alaska's eight national parks cover more than 54 million acres. The Cove of Spires, shown here, is just one of the dramatic glacial landscapes that you can experience in Kenai Fjords National Park. Located near Seward, Alaska, the park is home to 38 glaciers which cover over half the park's area in ice—though climate change has reduced that drastically over the last decades.

杜拉通河谷中的Nuestra Señora de la Hoz老修道院，西班牙塞哥维亚 Nuestra Señora de la Hoz, an old monastery in the Duratón River gorge, Segovia, Castile and León, Spain (© Arco Images GmbH/Alamy)

A gorge-ous spot for a monastery

Lace up your walking shoes and let’s head into the Hoces del Rio Duratón, in the Spanish region of Castile and León. This imposing 17-mile-long limestone gorge boasts towering vertical walls that can reach up to 100 metres high. The Duratón river which carved it meanders through a landscape rich in history and archaeological treasures.

Inside the cliffs are several caves with ancient paintings dating back to the Bronze Age, and a dark Visigothic grotto which is thought to be the first Christian temple in the region. Above one of the bends in the canyon sits a 12th century Romanesque church, just a few miles away from the ruins of the long-abandoned and isolated Franciscan monastery you see in our homepage image.