分类必应美图下的文章

纳汉尼国家公园保护区的鸟瞰图，加拿大西北部 (© Robert Postma/Getty Images)

雕刻师在矿山湾创作的岩雕作品，新西兰北岛陶波湖 The Mine Bay Māori Rock Carving of Ngatoroirangi by Matahi Whakataka-Brightwell on the edge of Lake Taupo, North Island, New Zealand (© Evgueni Zverev/Alamy)

A tribute to the ancestors

To celebrate International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples, we're on New Zealand's North Island, looking at the Ngatoroirangi rock carving in Mine Bay, by Māori artist Matahi Whakataka-Brightwell. This artwork is part of a larger collection of carvings on the edge of Lake Taupo and has become a big tourist attraction despite being accessible only by boat. Four years in the making, the work is a tribute to Māori ancestors and guardians, and the integral roles they play in the Indigenous Māori culture.

International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples was created by the United Nations to draw attention to the distinct cultures of Indigenous peoples and to support measures that protect their rights. This year's theme is 'Leaving no one behind: Indigenous peoples and the call for a new social contract.' With this focus, the UN hopes to raise awareness about the unwritten rules, or 'social contracts,' that help communities function equitably. Historically, Indigenous peoples have been excluded from these social contracts, which were often meant only for dominant populations. This year's festivities hope to address that inequity and will include a virtual commemoration for guests to discuss how communities can redesign these contracts to be inclusive of the Indigenous and their ways of life.

向祖先致敬

为了庆祝世界土著人民国际日，我们来到新西兰北岛，观看由毛利人艺术家Matahi Whakataka Brightwell在Mine Bay创作的Ngatoroirangi岩雕。这件艺术品是陶波湖边缘更大的雕刻收藏的一部分，尽管只能乘船前往，但它已成为一个巨大的旅游景点。经过四年的创作，这部作品向毛利人的祖先和监护人以及他们在土著毛利人文化中所起的不可或缺的作用致敬。

联合国设立了世界土著人民国际日，以提请人们注意土著人民的独特文化，并支持保护其权利的措施。今年的主题是“不抛弃任何人：土著人民和呼吁新的社会契约”。联合国希望以此为重点，提高人们对帮助社区公平运作的不成文规则或“社会契约”的认识。从历史上看，土著人民被排除在这些社会契约之外，而这些契约往往只针对占主导地位的人口。今年的庆祝活动希望解决这一不平等问题，并将包括一个虚拟的纪念活动，供客人讨论社区如何重新设计这些合同，使之包含土著人及其生活方式。

伊丽莎白女皇码头桥，澳大利亚珀斯 Elizabeth Quay Bridge in Perth, Australia (© Amazing Aerial Agency/Offset by Shutterstock)

Bridge to infinity

Infinity Day has us visiting Perth, Australia, and the Elizabeth Quay Bridge. From this aerial view, the bridge closely resembles a tilted ∞, the common symbol for infinity first popularized in a 17th-century mathematical text. We recognize this unofficial holiday every August 8, because the number 8 resembles the infinity symbol, and the eighth day of the eighth month is an infinitely superior day to celebrate the infinite.

View this bridge from ground level and you'll quickly realize that the graceful figure-8 seen from above is something altogether different when viewed from below. The architects behind this bridge designed it to dramatically link the Swan River with the city. The upper left and bottom right curves seen in this image are actually double arches that loop up and then under a 360-foot pedestrian and bicycle pathway. This pathway offers striking views of Perth's central business district and links the area with the newly developed Elizabeth Quay mixed-use development, featuring shops, cafés, apartments, and bars. If you do ever have a chance to take a walk on this bridge, we recommend taking a moment to ponder the infinite, just like the mathematicians and philosophers of the 17th century did.

通向无限的桥梁

“无限日”让我们参观了澳大利亚的珀斯和伊丽莎白码头大桥。从鸟瞰图上看，这座桥非常像一座倾斜的桥∞, 无穷大的通用符号首次在17世纪的数学文本中普及。我们每年8月8日都会庆祝这个非官方的节日，因为数字8类似于无限的符号，而8月的第八天是庆祝无限的一个非常好的日子。

从地面上看这座桥，你会很快意识到从上面看到的优美的8号图形与从下面看到的完全不同。这座桥背后的建筑师将其设计成戏剧性地将天鹅河与城市连接起来。图中左上角和右下角的曲线实际上是双拱门，在一条360英尺长的人行道和自行车道下循环。这条小路可以看到珀斯中央商务区的醒目景色，并将该地区与新开发的伊丽莎白码头（Elizabeth Quay）混合用途开发区连接起来，以商店、咖啡馆、公寓和酒吧为特色。如果你有机会在这座桥上散步，我们建议你花点时间思考一下无限，就像17世纪的数学家和哲学家那样。

乌尤尼盐沼上的锥形盐堆，玻利维亚 Salt cones on the Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia (© John Shaw/Minden Pictures)

Salt of the earth

This shimmering white expanse could easily be mistaken for Antarctica. But what we're looking at isn't snow and ice—it's a surreal landscape of endless salt high in the Andes of southwest Bolivia. Located at a lofty altitude of about 12,000 feet above sea level, Salar de Uyuni is the world's largest salt flat (or salt pan), spanning just over 4,000 square miles. It was formed when prehistoric lakes dried up over centuries, leaving behind a desert of bright white salt that can be seen from space. During the rainy season (December to April), a thin layer of water covering the salt transforms the area into a giant mirror that reflects the beautiful Bolivian skies. If you're driving across the surface at such times, it can appear as though you are navigating through a highway of clouds.

Salar de Uyuni contains more than just a pinch of salt; there's an estimated 11 billion tons of it here, with about 25,000 tons extracted annually. Local salt gatherers—'saleros'—scoop the raw mineral into mounds to let it dry under the sun before it's transported to the nearby village of Colchani, where it's processed and turned into table salt, which is then sold in Bolivia and other countries. But the real treasure is buried beneath the salt crust: Just below the crystalline surface lies the world's largest untapped lithium reserve that could one day power the batteries in our smartphones, laptops, and electric cars.

盐的世界

这片闪闪发光的白色区域很容易被误认为是南极洲。但我们所看到的不是冰雪，而是玻利维亚西南部安第斯山脉的一片超现实的盐碱地。乌尤尼盐湖位于海拔约12000英尺的高空，是世界上最大的盐滩（或盐田），占地面积仅4000多平方英里。它是在史前湖泊干涸几个世纪后形成的，留下了一片从太空可以看到的亮白色盐沙漠。在雨季（12月至4月），覆盖在盐层上的一层薄薄的水将该地区变成一面巨大的镜子，反射玻利维亚美丽的天空。如果您在这样的时间驾驶车辆穿越地表，它可能看起来就像您正在穿越一条云层高速公路。

乌尤尼沙拉不仅仅含有一撮盐；这里估计有110亿吨石油，每年开采约25000吨。当地的盐业采集者“saleros”用铲子将未加工的矿物铲成土堆，在阳光下晾干，然后将其运到附近的科尔查尼村，在那里加工成食盐，然后在玻利维亚和其他国家出售。但真正的宝藏埋藏在盐壳之下：就在水晶表面之下，有世界上最大的尚未开发的锂储量，有朝一日可以为我们的智能手机、笔记本电脑和电动汽车的电池供电。

从索尔兹伯里的峭壁上俯瞰爱丁堡，苏格兰荷里路德公园 Salisbury Crags in Holyrood Park overlooking Edinburgh, Scotland (© Andrew Merry/Getty Images)

Looking down upon 'The Athens of the North'

We're kicking off festival season in Edinburgh, Scotland, with this view of the capital city from Salisbury Crags in Holyrood Park. Throughout the month of August, the city is hosting a staggering number of music, theater, opera, dance, and other types of performances as part of the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, which is the world's largest international arts festival.

Located less than a half-mile southeast from Edinburgh's main shopping street, Holyrood Park provides a welcome respite from the festival hubbub. Hike up here to take in views of Edinburgh and its famous landmarks, including Edinburgh Castle, the Scottish Parliament, Holyrood Palace, the City Centre, and the New Town, which stretches out toward the sea. Formed by glaciers and volcanic activity millions of years ago, these craggy outcroppings are among the best examples of a geological sill in Europe. We're lucky that they're still here for our hiking pleasure. For two centuries, the hard dolerite was mined, broken up and shipped off throughout the UK for use as cobblestoned streets. The locals put a stop to the mining and now we can stand here to take in the views—and during festival season if we listen closely, we may hear strains of music coming from somewhere down below.

俯瞰“北方的雅典”

我们将在苏格兰爱丁堡拉开节日的序幕，从Holyrood公园的索尔兹伯里峭壁上俯瞰首都。整个8月份，该市举办了数量惊人的音乐、戏剧、歌剧、舞蹈和其他类型的表演，作为爱丁堡国际艺术节和爱丁堡边缘艺术节的一部分，这是世界上最大的国际艺术节。

Holyrood公园位于爱丁堡主要购物街东南方向不到半英里的地方，为人们提供了一个从节日喧嚣中解脱出来的好去处。徒步来到这里，可以欣赏爱丁堡及其著名的地标性建筑，包括爱丁堡城堡、苏格兰议会、霍利罗德宫、市中心和伸向大海的新城。由数百万年前的冰川和火山活动形成，这些崎岖的露头是欧洲地质岩床的最好例子之一。我们很幸运，他们还在这里是为了我们的徒步旅行。两个世纪以来，硬辉绿岩被开采、破碎并运往英国各地，用作鹅卵石街道。当地人停止了采矿，现在我们可以站在这里欣赏风景。在节日期间，如果我们仔细聆听，我们可能会听到下面某处传来的音乐。

大使馆花园的空中游泳池, 英国伦敦 The Sky Pool at Embassy Gardens in London, England (© Xinhua News Agency/Getty Images)

A swim in the sky

A lap in this 'sky pool' may have you holding your breath, and not just because you're underwater. With the streets of London looming 10 stories down, the view through the pool's clear bottom is a bit freaky to all but the fearless. But swimming here is a one-of-a-kind experience, and for some lucky residents of these twin apartment blocks near the US Embassy, a convenient way to pop in on neighbors the next building over.

The pool is suspended 115 feet in the air, but its origin is even loftier: It was manufactured at 4,600 feet in the good ol' USA—Grand Junction, Colorado, to be precise—then shipped across the pond to its new home in sea-level London.

在空中游泳

在这个“空中游泳池”里跑一圈可能会让你屏住呼吸，而不仅仅是因为你在水下。随着10层楼高的伦敦街道隐约可见，游泳池清澈见底的景色对于除了无所畏惧的人以外的所有人来说都有点怪异。但在这里游泳是一种独一无二的体验，对于美国大使馆附近这两栋公寓楼的一些幸运居民来说，这是一种方便的方式，可以顺便拜访隔壁的邻居。

游泳池悬挂在115英尺的空中，但它的起源更为崇高：它是在4600英尺高的科罗拉多州的古德奥美大枢纽（good ol’USA Grand Junction）制造的，准确地说，然后穿过游泳池运到它位于海平面伦敦的新家。

波白克岛的小尖塔岩石，英格兰多塞特 (© James Osmond/Alamy)

蒙特城堡，意大利普利亚大区 Castel del Monte, Apulia, Italy (© Toni Spagone/Alamy)

An octagonal architectural treasure

Built in the 1240s by the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in southeast Italy, Castel del Monte (Castle of the Mount) features an unusual octagonal design. Eight stone walls stretch between eight octagonal towers and enclose an octagonal courtyard. Each of the two floors also has eight trapezoidal rooms. Acclaimed and protected as a World Heritage Site in 1966, the castle symbolically reflects a harmonious integration of classical Roman, Arabic, and medieval architecture and design—and to some, its octagonal symmetry suggests a connection between heaven and earth.

Its original purpose is unclear. Without a drawbridge, moat, or curtain wall to protect it, it was clearly not a defensive fortress, and its lack of stables call into question its function as a hunting lodge. Over the centuries it has served as a prison and as a refuge from the plague. But whatever the emperor's intention, he left a captivating monument that still enchants today.

八角形建筑瑰宝

蒙特城堡（山上城堡）建于1240年代，由神圣罗马皇帝腓特烈二世在意大利东南部建造，具有不同寻常的八角形设计。八堵石墙在八座八角形塔楼之间延伸，围绕着一个八角形庭院。两层楼各有八个梯形房间。1966年，这座城堡被誉为世界遗产，并受到保护。它象征性地反映了古典罗马、阿拉伯和中世纪建筑与设计的和谐结合，对某些人来说，它的八角对称性暗示着天地之间的联系。

其最初目的尚不清楚。由于没有吊桥、护城河或幕墙的保护，它显然不是一个防御堡垒，而且它没有马厩，这使它作为狩猎小屋的功能受到质疑。几个世纪以来，它一直被用作监狱和躲避瘟疫的避难所。但不管皇帝的意图是什么，他留下了一座迷人的纪念碑，至今仍令人着迷。

This 'reef' is nowhere near the sea…

…nor the US Capitol building it's named for. Utah's Capitol Reef National Park—first established as a national monument this day in 1937—is named for its massive rock domes that reminded explorers of that famous rotunda back in Washington, DC. Why Capitol 'Reef,' though? Because the imposing formations were a major obstacle to travelers through the region, the same way a coral reef is an obstacle to sailors.

This section of the park, Cathedral Valley, is dotted with monoliths that differ from the namesake domes, instead featuring sheer, jagged walls. While most of the park rests on a steeply warped section of Earth's crust, Cathedral Valley is relatively flat—so rather than carving out gently sloping domes, water erosion here has tended to cut deep, narrow recesses down the rock faces.

这个“暗礁”离海很远…

…也不是以它命名的美国国会大厦。犹他州国会珊瑚礁国家公园于1937年作为国家纪念碑首次建立，以其巨大的岩石圆顶命名，使探险家们想起了华盛顿特区著名的圆形大厅。但为什么国会大厦是“暗礁”？因为壮观的地形是旅行者穿越该地区的主要障碍，就像珊瑚礁是海员的障碍一样。

公园的这一部分，即大教堂谷，点缀着不同于同名圆顶的巨石，取而代之的是陡峭、参差不齐的墙壁。虽然公园的大部分都坐落在地壳急剧弯曲的部分，但大教堂山谷相对平坦，因此这里的水侵蚀倾向于沿着岩石表面切割出深而窄的凹坑，而不是雕刻出缓倾斜的圆顶。

Welcome to Scotland's garden

Today, we're in the 'Garden of Scotland,' better known as the East Lothian region, to pay homage to the area's agricultural roots on Lammas Day. Also known as Loaf Mass Day, it's an observance that marks the beginning of the harvest season and is traditionally celebrated on August 1. The holiday is descended from the ancient British tradition known during the Middle Ages as the Gule of August and was gradually incorporated into the Christian liturgy celebrating Holy Communion. It gets its name from loaves of bread baked from the first harvested grain of the season each year.

Traditionally, Lammastide festivals would mean up to 10 days of raucous eating, drinking, and general merriment. Scottish couples could also take advantage of another common practice during a Lammas fair: a trial marriage, or 'handfast,' where a young couple could live together for a trial period that could last as long as the Lammas festival itself, or even up to a full year. If at the end of the trial the couple decided to call things off, the woman could return to her family with all of her possessions. If a child was born from this union, it would go live with the father without stigma. And while this arrangement seems awfully modern, it was likely just a consequence of a lack of priests—handfasts allowed a single traveling priest to perform all the town's weddings in one day.

欢迎来到苏格兰花园

今天，我们来到了“苏格兰花园”，更著名的是东洛锡安地区，在南丫岛日向该地区的农业根源致敬。也被称为面包弥撒日，这是一个标志着收获季节开始的节日，传统上在8月1日庆祝。这个节日起源于中世纪英国古老的传统，被称为八月红色，并逐渐融入基督教庆祝圣餐的礼拜仪式中。它的名字来源于每年收获的第一批谷物烘焙的面包。

传统上，Lammatide节日将意味着长达10天的喧闹的饮食和一般的欢乐。苏格兰夫妇还可以利用拉玛节期间的另一种常见做法：试婚，或“禁手”，年轻夫妇可以在一起生活一段试婚期，这段试婚期可能与拉玛节本身一样长，甚至长达一整年。如果在庭审结束时，这对夫妇决定取消婚约，这名妇女可以带着她所有的财产回到家中。如果一个孩子是从这种结合中出生的，那么他将与父亲生活在一起，没有任何耻辱感。虽然这种安排看起来非常现代，但很可能只是因为缺少牧师的手铐，一个旅行的牧师可以在一天内完成镇上所有的婚礼。

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