分类必应美图下的文章

桌山，南非开普敦 Table Mountain, Cape Town, South Africa (© 4FR/Getty Images)

Cape Town at dusk

It's a beautiful evening here in Cape Town, South Africa. From this vantage point, we have a striking view of Table Mountain, with its 'tablecloth,' or cloud cover that typically shrouds the local landmark. Cape Town is a popular tourist destination noted for its beaches, natural beauty, architecture, and multicultural diversity—and in that diversity, it's a showcase for South Africa that Archbishop Desmond Tutu called the 'rainbow nation').

We're here today in honor of the Day of Reconciliation, a public holiday celebrated annually on December 16 that's meant to celebrate unity. President Nelson Mandela and the government's Truth and Reconciliation Commission created the holiday in 1995 to heal the wounds after decades of apartheid, South Africa's system of institutionalized racial segregation and oppression. South Africans observe the day with parades and other festivities.

银装素裹的Luzulo-Fagetum山毛榉林，比利时阿登 Luzulo-Fagetum beech forest covered with frost and snow, Ardennes, Belgium (© Philippe Moes/Alamy)

The Battle of the Bulge 75 years later

Seventy-five years ago this week, the Battle of the Bulge began in the forests of the Ardennes in Belgium. On the morning of December 16, 1944, the beleaguered German army threw its best remaining troops and armor against a lightly defended section of the American and Allied line. Bad weather neutralized Allied air superiority and over the first few days, the Nazi offensive produced a 'bulge' in its offensive west into Belgium. Desperate to hold the line, US General Eisenhower sent the 101st Airborne to hold the strategically important crossroads in Bastogne. The town was surrounded for nearly 10 days by German forces, but the Airborne held out. In fact, a German demand for Allied surrender was rejected with a single word: “NUTS” (a bit of 1940s American slang that needed to be explained to the Nazi officers). This weekend, the town of Bastogne has been celebrating NUTS Weekend, an annual tribute to the soldiers who defended the town in 1944.

Festivities include a military parade, a walk around the perimeter, and even the 'Jet de Noix' (throwing of the nuts).

朗德瓦萨桥上的贝尔尼纳快车，瑞士格劳宾登 Bernina Express on the Landwasser Viaduct, Graubünden, Switzerland (© Marco Bottigelli/Getty Images)

Taking the scenic route

Often called the most beautiful train ride in Switzerland, if not the world, the Bernina Express offers spectacular views on its sightseeing routes that connect towns in southeastern Switzerland to Tirano, Italy. It's been in operation here since the late 1800s. The classic route takes about four hours and departs from Chur, Switzerland. Outfitted with panoramic windows, the train passes through 55 tunnels and over 196 bridges, some over 100 years old, like the Landwasser Viaduct pictured on our homepage today. The cheerful train winds its way up and over the Bernina Pass in the Alps, reaching an elevation of 7,392 feet. Pay special attention on the stretch from Thusis to Tirano—this portion of the route was designated a World Heritage Site in 2008. Reservations recommended!

Golden Hall in Stockholm City Hall for today's Nobel Prize Award ceremonies (© Mikhail Markovskiy/Shutterstock)

Congratulations, 2019 Nobel Prize laureates!

This opulent room is the Golden Hall, a banquet hall in Stockholm City Hall, which will be one of the venues for today's Nobel Prize Award ceremonies. The room, which is completely covered in mosaic tiles, includes representations of important people and places in Swedish history, including the large mosaic of the Queen of Lake Mälar—a reference to Lake Mälaren, a large lake near Stockholm—with the city of Stockholm in her lap, that appears in today's image.

Tonight, on the anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death, most of this year's Nobel laureates, the King and Queen of Sweden, and more than 1,000 guests will attend the award ceremony at the Stockholm Concert Hall. There the King will present the winners with a gold medal, a unique handcrafted diploma, and a document confirming the monetary amount of their Nobel Prize (nine million Swedish krona or about $925,000 this year). Next, this same group will attend the Nobel banquet in the Stockholm City Hall's Blue Hall, followed by dancing here in the Golden Hall. These events are the culmination of a more than 14-month process of nominations and selections by the Nobel Committee and other institutions. While five of the six Nobel Prizes are presented here in Stockholm, the Peace Prize is awarded by the Norwegian Nobel Committee, something that Alfred Nobel stipulated in his final will. This occurs in a separate ceremony, usually on the same day, in Oslo, Norway.

In the Peace Prize ceremony, attended by more than 200 guests, the Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee presents the laureate with a medal, diploma, and monetary prize at the Oslo City Hall with a banquet afterwards at the Oslo Grand Hotel.

喜马拉雅山脉中的Tengboche修道院，尼泊尔 (© Kyle Hammons/Tandem Stills + Motion)

In the Himalayas for International Mountain Day

The steep, angular summit of Ama Dablam rises behind Tengboche Monastery, a Tibetan Buddhist site resting at over 12,000 feet. Ama Dablam means 'mother's necklace': Its swooping shape is thougth to evoke a mother cradling a child, and a dangling glacier on its southwest face is believed to resemble the religious pendants many Sherpa women wear. Situated in the nearby Khumbu Valley, Tengboche Monastery is a stop on the Sacred Sites Trail Project, a self-guided trek through holy places that dot Nepal's Sagarmatha National Park.

We're showing it to you today for International Mountain Day, recognized each December 11. Created by the United Nations in 2003, the observance recognizes the challenges faced and overcome by high-elevation populations. Among these mountain people are the Sherpas, who live here, high in the Himalayas, and haul scarce resources by backpack or yak over terrain where wheels are useless. Many Sherpas make dangerous livings as mountaineering guides. The 2019 theme for International Mountain Day, 'Mountains Matter for Youth,' recognizes the many young people who live in such mountain settlements. Mountain Day events worldwide will educate children and adults in ways to preserve precious mountain resources, not only for future generations but also the 1.1 billion people who call mountains home today.

初雪与最后的秋色相会，日本 Early season snowfall meets the last of the autumn colors, Japan (© SpontaneousPictures/iStock/Getty Images Plus)

"Snow and autumn leaves" Tokushima

Today is “Koyuki”. On the calendar, it is said that it is slightly snowing. It's still autumn, but it's getting colder in the morning and feeling the coming of winter ...

This is the mountain landscape of Tokushima. The snow in the far peak is thin, contrasting with the autumn leaves remaining in the foreground. In Tokushima Prefecture, you can enjoy abundant mountain peaks and beautiful autumn leaves that color the Sanuki Mountains that extend to the border with Kagawa Prefecture and the Kenzan Mountains with coniferous forests.

A growing business

Today we're showing off a serene scene at a Christmas tree farm outside Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. If you were to visit a farm like this, however, it's unlikely you'd find much peace and quiet. Of the 25 million to 30 million natural Christmas trees sold each year in the US alone, 98 percent of them come from farms. 'Tis the season for tree chopping. Oregon, home to the popular noble and Douglas firs, produces the most Christmas trees of all US states, shipping much of the harvest to California. North Carolina, of Fraser fir fame, comes in at No. 2. Canada is the world's largest exporter of Christmas trees, spreading holiday cheer around the world.

Tonight, the National Tree Lighting Ceremony in Washington, DC, will be held in President's Park near the White House. President Trump will push a button to illuminate a towering evergreen, just as other presidents have done since the first ceremony in 1923.

Wild and beautiful Alaska

In honor of Alaska National Parks Day, we're traveling to Kenai Fjords National Park—home of the awe-inspiring Exit Glacier seen here. The park sits at the edge of the North Pacific Ocean where frequent winter storms dump the snow that feeds this land of ice. The Harding Icefield crowns the park with at least 38 flowing glaciers—one of which is Exit Glacier. Exit Glacier is known for being one of the most-visited of Alaska's glaciers, likely because it’s accessible via the Seward Highway. In mid-November, the road to the glacier closes due to heavy snowfall, so visitors can only get there via snow-friendly transportation like dogsled or cross-country skis.

Kenai Fjords is just one of Alaska's eight national parks, which together boast the nation’s largest glacial system, incredible wildlife viewing, and North America’s tallest peak. These parks exist in part because of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, which President Jimmy Carter signed into law on this day in 1980. It converted massive tracts of Alaskan wilderness into protected land, doubling the amount of national park land in the state. For that, we are grateful. Alaska may be cold, but it sure is beautiful and worth protecting.

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