Grand Halls raised on three-tier marble terraces sit side-by-side with exquisitely designed temples. Red zhennan wood buildings with yellow roofs and golden filigree are spread out across enormous courtyards, large enough to hold more than 100,000 people. Today, its secrets have been unlocked but that doesn’t make it any less impressive. From 1429 to 1911, successive emperors ruled their kingdom from inside these walls and it was forbidden to so much as peer inside. But for centuries almost no one was allowed to see it. Located in the heart of Beijing, this enormous city within a city houses some 980 buildings and close to 10,000 individual rooms, each adorned with priceless treasures, and is the largest palace complex in the world. This winter all eyes will be on Beijing as the host of the XXIV Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games – and, despite the recent controversy, one thing is indisputable: this ancient palace complex is one of the most beautiful pieces of architecture ever conceived. See it: Pura Aventura has a 15-night Galapagos Cruise & Island Stay that includes 10 days on a luxury catamaran holding just 16 passengers and a stay on San Cristobel Island. This is more than just a wildlife experience this is a glimpse of the world untainted by human touch. Darwin’s Finches perch on your shoulder, sea lions waddle over to play it’s possible to walk through enormous breeding grounds of waved albatross as invisible as the breeze. As a result, this is the only place on Earth where we are not seen as alpha predators. Isolated for millions of years, the creatures of the Galapagos have evolved with almost zero human contact. But what’s truly remarkable is that they are unafraid. Located 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador, this tiny archipelago has the highest level of endemism anywhere on the planet, and birds, reptiles and amphibians that exist here and nowhere else. In November 2021, the Ecuadorian government expanded the protected Marine Reserve of the Galapagos Islands by more than 23,000 square miles meaning there is now more of this wonderland to explore than ever before. The greatest wildlife show on Earth just got a little better. See it: For more information, please visit nps.gov/yell Sapphire pools circled in lines of bright red and orange, like fallen rainbows, bubble from the ground, thermal jets shaped like beehives hiss steam in the air, and in the centre of it all is Old Faithful, erupting a column of superheated water 180 feet into the air every 90 minutes, like clockwork. Its true wonder is its geyser basin, the largest on Earth, and home to some 10,000 hydrothermal features, including more than 300 active geysers, and the densest concentration of steam vents, mud pots and hot springs found anywhere in the world. These days, Yellowstone is one of the last truly wild landscapes of the American West, a place where Grizzly bears, wolves and herds of bison still roam free. But for thousands of years before this, indigenous people hunted and gathered here, making use of the thermal waters. In 1872, it became the world’s first national park, and celebrates its 150th anniversary as such in 2022 – which makes it a great time to visit. In the early 19th century, fur trappers working the far reaches of America’s then Wild West returned with stories of a magical land where the earth bubbled like cooking pots and spumes of boiling water erupted from the ground. Wonder is more than just a good feeling it is a seed from which our greatest treasures grow.Įxplore, dream and feed your spirit well. Socrates said: 'Wisdom begins in wonder.' Studies show that the awe induces deeper levels of cognitive processing it boosts empathy and helps us connect with the world around us in meaningful ways. We are the only animal on earth, as far as we know, that can be moved to tears by a sunset, that marvels at the stars at night, that feels awe, and humility, at the achievements of our past. Because the real magic of wonder is not in the thing itself, but in the fact that the more you look for wonder in the world the more the wonder of the world becomes a part of you. Which also means they can be seen firsthand. They are the Acropolis of our day, the Stonehenge of now. These, instead, are seven new wonders for our time. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Lighthouse of Alexandria, the Temple of Artemis, the Colossus of Rhodes, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia and the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus have all faded to dust and memory. Of the original Seven Wonders of the World, only one - the Great Pyramids of Giza - still exists.
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