What a wonderful world we live in

I received a lovely email today, with lots of gorgeous photos from around the world.
How I wish I could see these places with my own eyes. Far off destinations with incredible natural features that capture the imagination. Of course there are the man-made creations as well, that baffle the mind.
Here are a few that I liked.

 The breathtaking Melissani Cave in Greece

This beautiful cave, which was discovered in 1951 and is surrounded by forests, features in Greek mythology as the cave of the nymphs.

 Grotta Palazzese, a restaurant located inside an ancient limestone cave facing the Adriatic Sea.

Situated in the medieval town of Polignano a Mare in southern Italy

 World's biggest cave found in Vietnam

 Vietnam's Son Doong cave, Earth's largest known cave passage.

  Giant Crystal Cave

Mexico's Cueva de los Cristales (Cave of Crystals) contains some of the world's largest known natural crystals—translucent beams of gypsum as long as 36 feet (11 meters).

Can you tell that I love caves?  At school on a Geography expedition, we explored Coles Cave, part of an underground cave system here on the island. I thoroughly enjoyed it.  If my mum would have allowed it, I would have become a caver at that point.

 The gap between Europe and the United States is widening by one inch a year.

This photo shows the vast gap between the two tectonic plates, as seen by a British scuba diver.

Alex Mustard dived 80 feet into the crevice between North America and Eurasia to reveal the stunning landscape. The area, near Iceland is riddled with faults, valleys, volcanoes and hot springs, caused by the plates pulling apart.

Haven't you always wondered what these tectonic plates looked like that cause so much earthquake damage?  I have.

 To Sua Ocean Trench - Upolu Island, Western Samoa

 In Samoa you can find this natural gigantic swimming hole in the village of Lotofaga. 

  It is believed  that lava field blow holes making these tide pools and walking paths along the shore and near the ocean’s edge. It is about 30 meters down from the ground level, one must climb down a long ladder to the natural pool. One can then swim through the massive cave within To Sua Ocean Trench.

 

 The pink and lovely..."Hiller Lake" (Western Australia)

Its startling colour remains a mystery and while scientists have proven it's not due to the presence of algae, unlike the other salt lakes down under, they still can't explain why it's bubble gum pink.

 

 "Niagara waterfall - The edge"

 I have visited Niagara Falls, and I sure would do it again.

 Frozen waterfall  Slovenia

This looks like fun, since I would enjoy rock climbing.

 The Fly Geyser - Wonder of Nature.
Nevada, US.

Located on private property within the million-acre Black Rock Desert, Fly Geyser is not a natural phenomenon. It was created accidentally back in 1916, when a shaft was drilled in hopes of striking water to turn part of this desert area into farmland. A geothermal pocket of water was struck resulting in a geyser of boiling water which turned the area into a desert wetland. Decades later in the 60's, the underground boiling water found a weak spot in the ground and a natural geyser was born. 
 The scalding water has erupted from the well since then, leaving calcium carbonate deposits growing at the rate of several inches per year. The brilliant red and green coloring on the mounds is from thermophilic algae thriving in the extreme micro-climate of the geysers.
Recently, yet another new geyser has formed attesting to the ever-changing forces below the earth's surface. For unknown reasons, the original geyser no longer spouts. 

 Meteora  Monasteries Greece

A view of the Varlaam Monastery at Meteora, central Greece

The view from this mountain top monastery must be incredible

"Suspended in the air" (the meaning of Meteora in Greek), these monasteries represent a unique artistic achievement. In this region of almost inaccessible sandstone peaks, monks settled on these 'columns of the sky' from the 11th century onwards.
Although 24 monasteries were built, each containing a church or two, monks’ cells, and a refectory, only 6 remain: Great Metéoron, Varlaám (also called All Saints [Áyioi Pándes]), Roussanou, St. Nikolas (Áyios Nikolaos), Holy Trinity (Áyia Triada), and St. Stephen (Áyios Stéfanos). Some still serve a religious function, though they are now only sparsely populated by monks and nuns, but mainly serve as tourist attractions.

The Botanical Gardens of Phuket,Thailand

Mountain-side farming in the province of Bolzano (Bozen) in Italy.

The Crooked Forest

Poland's mysterious crooked forest

In a tiny corner of western Poland a forest of about 400 pine trees grow with a 90 degree bend at the base of their trunks - all bent northward. Surrounded by a larger forest of straight growing pine trees this collection of curved trees, or "Crooked Forest," is a mystery.

Cuban land snail - Priotrochatella stellata

 If our snails here on the island were this cute, I would want them living in my garden

 "Turning Torso" is the tallest skyscraper in Sweden.

It consists of nine cubes of five stories each on top of each other, gradually twisting up to 90 degrees on their way up, symbolizing a man twisting his torso to behold the world.

The first two cubes are made up of commercial office space with the remaining cubes allocated to 147 residential apartments.
Window cleaning on the outside is included in the rent for the apartments.

Piano Violin House

This unusual Piano and Violin shaped building built in 2007 serves as showroom for exhibiting the plans for newly created district of Shannan in Huainan City, China. Inside the violin is the escalator to the building.
Tourists can admire the king and queen of musical instruments, which stand proudly in a classic contrast of black and white. 

There are so many amazing wonders in the world, and so many have only been discovered recently.....I am looking forward to more and more new discoveries.