分类必应美图下的文章

清晨暴雨中的Cathedral，澳大利亚布法罗山 (© Ilya Genkin/Alamy)

直布罗陀巨岩上的人行天桥 The Skywalk on Rock of Gibraltar (© Stephen Ball/Alamy)

A state-of-the-art lookout on the Rock of Gibraltar

Make your way up the trails of this monolithic rock promontory to Skywalk, an 8,000-square-foot glass platform that soars more than 1,100 feet above sea level. On a clear day, you can see three countries and two continents from here. These epic views draw tourists, as does the Rock's legendary history. A British Overseas Territory since 1713, Gibraltar has long been a strategically important military outpost. Far below Skywalk, visitors can take in military relics that date back to the first years of British rule here.

Over time, the British Armed Forces built an extensive tunnel system through the limestone, greatly expanding the subterranean network during World War II. By then, the tunnels accommodated 16,000 men and elaborate amenities, including a hospital, bakery, and water desalination plant. General Dwight D. Eisenhower operated a command center from the tunnels for Operation Torch—a mission that was a turning point in the war, marking the entry of US forces alongside Britain. Skywalk is the newest attraction here, opening in March 2018 to great fanfare at a ceremony hosted by Mark Hammill, better known as Luke Skywalker.

白金汉宫和维多利亚女王纪念碑，伦敦 (© CTC Creative/Offset)

Artist Luke Jerram's installation 'Museum of the Moon' at Liverpool Cathedral, England (© Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Bringing the moon to earth

It was fifty years ago that Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to feel an alien gravity tugging at them. By landing on the moon on July 20, 1969, a mere 66 years after the first powered flight by the Wright brothers, the two astronauts met the challenge set by John F. Kennedy seven years earlier to land men on the moon before the end of the decade.

In the decades since, NASA and other space agencies around the world have continued to study our satellite companion to unlock its secrets. Those studies produced the detailed images and maps that British artist Luke Jerram used to produce his 23-foot-diameter sculpture Museum of the Moon (shown here in Liverpool Cathedral). The amazingly detailed installation is currently on display the Houston Museum of Natural Science as part of the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Apollo 11 moon landing.

日出时分的圣皮埃尔全景，加拿大圣皮埃尔和密克隆 (© Henryk Sadura/Getty Images)

科罗拉多斯普林斯的上帝公园，科罗拉多州 Garden of the Gods Park in Colorado Springs, Colorado (© lightphoto/iStock/Getty Images)

A place fit for the gods

Perhaps it was inevitable that the European settlers who established Colorado Springs decided to name this park the Garden of the Gods—the creation myth of the native Ute people cites this location as the spot where all life began. Today, it's a popular public park and National Natural Landmark. The Garden of the Gods is on the western edge of the city—an easy way for locals and visitors alike to get a heaping dose of nature without having to travel far from civilization. If you stroll past any of the rock formations here, you're likely to see a climber scaling the red and pink sandstone fins that give the park its distinct look.

Sheep flock in the Gobi Desert © Patrick Baz/Getty Images

Nomads of the Gobi

The Gobi Desert stretches across 500,000 square miles, covering parts of northern China and Mongolia. Due to the Gobi's high elevation and high latitude, it's a cold desert. And while we tend to think of deserts as endless sand dunes, most of the Gobi's topography is exposed rock.

Despite these harsh conditions, the Gobi is teeming with life—some of it human. Nearly one third of the population in the Gobi Desert leads a pastoral nomadic life. Small communities of people drive their livestock herds—like the sheep seen in our photo today—across the landscape in search of fresh grazing territory. Both herd and herders rarely settle anywhere for long.

Hemingway's Keys

We're in Key West for Hemingway Days, the annual celebration of beloved local hero and author, Ernest Hemingway. The Nobel Prize winner was also an adventurer and outdoorsman who enjoyed fishing and drinking here—in addition to working on several books including ‘To Have and Have Not,' which takes place in the coastal town. And no trip to Key West today is complete without visiting the Spanish Colonial that he called home. Built in 1851, Hemingway lived here in the 1930s. Though the house was in disrepair when he and his second wife, Pauline, took ownership, the two restored the home and even installed a swimming pool—at the time the only in-ground pool in 100 miles. The house is now a National Historic Landmark and museum.

Marine Day in Japan

In Japan, the third Monday in July is Marine Day (also known as Ocean Day), a day to show appreciation for the seas and oceans, particularly as an island nation. The modern holiday also serves as an official start of summer in Japan, and many folks hit the beach to celebrate the end of tsuyu, the rainy season. The holiday started as Marine Memorial Day in 1941 to mark the anniversary of the return of the Meji Emperor, but it wasn't observed as a national holiday until 1996. Some also mark Marine Day with beach cleanups and other environmentally friendly activities. In Okinawa, people throw EM (effective microorganism) mudballs into the sea—these contain bacteria and yeast targeted at eliminating sludge and slime., Other areas host beach cleanups and aquariums host special Marine Day events.

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