Historical regatta in Venice, Italy (© SIME/eStock Photo)

Historical regatta in Venice, Italy (© SIME/eStock Photo)

comments,

• In a city where gondoliers typically glide at a leisurely pace…""They welcome the opportunity to open it up once a year
• After working up an appetite, these guys may wish to indulge…""In some local delicacies
• What kind of city would ban cars?""A city where it\s all canals, all the time
• For centuries, gondoliers and other rowers have raced here on the first Sunday of September.""In a city awash in history, it\s a chance to honor the past, with style

The pearl monument in the Corniche neighborhood of Doha, Qatar, illuminated at night with the new high-rises of West Bay in the background (© Jon Hicks/Corbis)

The pearl monument in the Corniche neighborhood of Doha, Qatar, illuminated at night with the new high-rises of West Bay in the background (© Jon Hicks/Corbis)

comments,

• Standing about 40 feet high, this fountain is a grand reminder that this glitzy Middle Eastern capital…""Was once a center for pearl diving
• This glittering monument welcomes visitors to a country that fashions itself \"The Pearl of the Gulf.\"""From the air, you might even say it looks like a pearl \"in\" the Gulf
• Once a British protectorate, this country gained its independence 40 years ago today. It\s now one of the wealthiest nations in the region.""And in 2022, it will be the first Arab nation to host the World Cup
• This flourishing metropolis has seen its population double…""In just ten years

Dead trees in Dead Vlei, Namib-Naukluft Park, Namibia -- Frank Krahmer/Corbis

Dead trees in Dead Vlei, Namib-Naukluft Park, Namibia -- Frank Krahmer/Corbis

comments,

• These trees grew here hundreds of years ago, after a very rare flood made the area briefly fertile.""When the area dried up, their skeletons remained
• These trees have been dead for centuries, but it\s so dry here that they don\t decay.""See how this kind of tree looks when it\s alive
• These skeletons of trees share their home with some of the highest sand dunes in the world.""They\re even visible from high in the sky
• When we age, we humans go gray. When these sand dunes age, they go orange. It\s because iron in the sand oxidizes over time.""The older the dune, the brighter the color

Aerial view of rice fields in Yunnan Province, China -- Jialiang Gao/Getty Images

Aerial view of rice fields in Yunnan Province, China -- Jialiang Gao/Getty Images

comments,

• The steep hills of this region forced locals to become freeform farmers.""Who says farming can\t be an art form?
• Much of the rice grown in these fields is used to make a common regional dish.""Its poetic name is anything but common
• The people who built these thousand-year-old terraces keep track of the past through an oral history.""Tribe members can name 50 generations of ancestors
• Because it\s sheltered by the high slopes of the Tibetan Plateau…""This region was given a name that literally means “south of the clouds”