Marina Beach, Chennai, India

Marina Beach is an urban beach in the city of Chennai, India, along the Bay of Bengal, part of the Indian Ocean. The beach runs from near Fort St. George in the north to Besant Nagar in the south, a distance of 13 km (8.1 mi), making it the longest natural urban beach in the country and the world's second longest. The Marina is primarily sandy, unlike the short, rocky formations that make up the Juhu Beach in Mumbai. The average width of the beach is 300 m (980 ft), and the width at the widest stretch is 437 m (1,434 ft). Bathing and swimming at the Marina Beach are legally prohibited because of the dangers, as the undercurrent is very turbulent. It is the most crowded beach in the country and attracts about 30,000 visitors a day during weekdays and 50,000 visitors a day during the weekends and on holidays. During summer months, about 15,000 to 20,000 people visit the beach daily.





Marina beach is a major tourist attraction of the city. People visiting Chennai make a point to visit the beach. It is also the main place for the local people to escape from the summer heat. The beach is popular for its shops and food stalls run by about 500 shops run by about 1,212 vendors. The memorials and statues, morning walk, joggers' track, lovers' spot, aquarium, and the like make it a hangout for people of all ages. Kite flying and beach cricket are common sports at the beach, and there are also facilities for pony rides. Beach cricket at the Marina dates back several decades. However, Chennai City Police has banned it at different points due to its interference with traffic and beach walkers. The sea is generally rough and waves are strong. There are fishermen colonies present at both ends of the beach. There are also joyrides, merry-go-rounds and mini giant wheels along the stretch, although they are installed without permission from any government agency.







Transportation

Kamarajar Salai, a six-lane road and one of the arterial roads of Chennai City, runs alongside the beach providing a sea view starting from the Victoria War Memorial near the Cooum River delta till the lighthouse to the south. The road extends further south beyond the lighthouse where it is known as the 'Santhome High Road', running away from the sea but parallel to the beach tillSanthome. The Metropolitan Transport Corporation has a terminus called the 'Anna Square' terminus at the northern end of the beach, Triplicane Terminus near Kannagi statue/Pycrofts Road, Vivekananda House (Ice House) Terminus and Foreshore Estate terminus. Railway stations alongside the beach include the Chepauk, the Tiruvallikeni and the Lighthouse MRTS railway stations.

There was a plan to build a 9.7-km elevated road along the beach connecting the lighthouse with the East Coast Road in the south at a cost of  10,000 million. However, the plan was dropped due to opposition from the public such as the 'Save Chennai Beaches' campaign.



 

Autostadt, Wolfsburg, Germany

The Autostadt is a visitor attraction adjacent to the Volkswagen factory inWolfsburg, Germany, with a prime focus on automobiles. It features a museum, feature pavilions for the principal automobile brands in theVolkswagen Group, a customer centre where customers can pick up new cars, and take a tour through the enormous factory, a guide to the evolution of roads, and cinema in a large sphere. It is also home to the largest glass doors in the world and the longest printed line. The line starts from outside Wolfsburg and travels through Autostadt to a point on a farm. It is about 4 miles (6.4 km) long.



The idea for Autostadt was started in 1994 when the concept of documenting the stages of production of Volkswagen vehicles and how the company's operations were showcased at Expo 2000 in Hanover, Germany. In 1998, Autostadt, which is German for "Car City", broke ground on the former site of a fuel company bordering Volkswagen's Wolfsburg production plant. Like the adjacent car plant, the site of Autostadt is on the north bank of the Mittellandkanal which appears to have inspired considerable creativity in the projects' designers. The resulting complex is the work of more than 400 architects, created as a new urban center, close to downtown Wolfsburg.

The main pavilion opened in May 2000, providing an opportunity to present famous cars hitherto locked in crates to be shown to the public. By that time it was reported that Volkswagen had invested approximately 850 Million Marks (€435 Million) in the project Autostadt is located next to Volkswagen's main factory which is also an attraction. Every Volkswagen model is available giving the opportunity for the public to choose what they want. Volkswagen then manufactures the car specified according to the purchaser's requirements.



Autostadt attracts around 2 million visitors a year. It is very popular because of the ultra modern architecture it features in each building. Extensive use is made of water and vegetation between the pavilions and mounds of earth covered in grass are located in the grounds. Modern design is not just incorporated into the pavilions but also into the furniture such as benches and chairs.

It has a small track for the off-road Volkswagen Touareg underneath the bridge which leads from the main town to the Autostadt which is located above the main canal cutting through the city, the Mittelland Canal. Visitors must be able to show driver's licenses before being able to drive the vehicles. First, the guide drives the car around the track showing the features of the vehicle and giving information of the vehicle's capabilities. After driving around the track, the visitor can then drive around the track under the surveillance of the guide who sits in the passenger seat. Any other passengers sit in the back. Features of the track include a 21 degree angled hill, another hill which is angled on the side, a water tank, a sand pit which is located under a road bridge, a log road and a numerous small mounds which allow one wheel to be raised off the ground. The price of this runs at about €25 (2005 prices).



There is a mini track for children where they can drive small electric cars in the form of Volkswagen Beetles.

Autostadt has a large variety of multimedia activities and devices which include car design software. There is a room exhibiting the advantages and disadvantages different fuels have on the performance of cars. There are twocinemas which show small films in German. One of these cinemas is located in its own purpose built buildings and is in a large sphere.

Major attractions are some famous cars, such as the first petrol vehicle produced, and the Beetle.



There are two 60 meter/200 ft tall glass silos used as storage for new Volkswagens. The two towers are connected to the Volkswagen factory by a 700 metre underground tunnel. When cars arrive at the towers they are carried up at a speed of 1.5 metres per second. The render for the Autostadt shows 6 towers. When purchasing a car from Volkswagen (the main brand only, not the sub-brands) in select European countries, it is optional if the customer wants it delivered to the dealership where it was bought or if the customer wants to travel to Autostadt to pick it up. If the latter is chosen, the Autostadt supplies the customer with free entrance, meal tickets and a variety of events building up to the point where the customer can follow on screen as the automatic elevator picks up the selected car in one of the silos. The car is then transported out to the customer without having driven a single meter, and the odometer is thus on "0".



There is also a room with interactive devices which provide information on the design of cars using Audi as an example. Computer software allows visitors to design their own cars using features from Audi cars and send them to an email address and get them printed at the printer located in the centre of the room.



[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=rAQ0ewhZWs4]

Eternal Flame Falls, Chestnut Ridge Park, New York

The Eternal Flame Falls is a small waterfall in the Shale Creek Preserve, a section of theChestnut Ridge Park in New York. A small grotto at the waterfall's base emits natural gas, which can be lit to produce a small flame.

Giant's Causeway, Northern Ireland

The Giant's Causeway is an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic eruption. It is located in County Antrim on the northeast coast of Northern Ireland, about three miles (4.8 km) northeast of the town of Bushmills. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986, and a National Nature Reserve in 1987 by the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland. In a 2005 poll of Radio Times readers, the Giant's Causeway was named as the fourth greatest natural wonder in the United Kingdom. The tops of the columns form stepping stones that lead from the cliff foot and disappear under the sea. Most of the columns are hexagonal, although there are also some with four, five, seven or eight sides. The tallest are about 12 metres (39 ft) high, and the solidified lava in the cliffs is 28 metres thick in places.
The Giant's Causeway is today owned and managed by the National Trust and it is the most popular tourist attraction in Northern Ireland.

City Hall, London, United Kingdom

City Hall is the headquarters of the Greater London Authority (GLA) which comprises the Mayor of London and the London Assembly. It is located in Southwark, on the south bank of the River Thames near Tower Bridge.



The building has an unusual, bulbous shape, purportedly intended to reduce its surface area and thus improve energy efficiency, although energy use measurements have shown this building to be fairly inefficient in terms of energy use, with a 2012 Display Energy Perforance Certificate rating of "D". It has been compared variously to Darth Vader's helmet, a misshapen egg, a woodlouse and a motorcycle helmet. Former mayor Ken Livingstone referred to it as a "glass testicle", while the present mayor, Boris Johnson, has referred to it as "The Glass Gonad" and more politely as "The Onion". Its designers reportedly saw the building as a giant sphere hanging over the Thames, but opted for a more conventionally rooted building instead. It has no front or back in conventional terms but derives its shape from a modified sphere.



A 500-metre (1,640 ft) helical walkway, reminiscent of that in New York's Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, ascends the full height of the building. At the top of the ten-story building is an exhibition and meeting space called "London's Living Room", with an open viewing deck which is occasionally open to the public. The walkway provides views of the interior of the building, and is intended to symbolise transparency; a similar device was used by Foster in his design for the rebuilt Reichstag (parliament) in Germany. In 2006 it was announced that solar photovoltaic cells would be fitted to the building by the London Climate Change Agency.

Wagah border ceremony

The Wagah border closing 'lowering of the flags' ceremony is a daily military practice that the security forces of India (Border Security Force) and Pakistan (Pakistan Rangers) have jointly followed since 1959. This ceremony takes place every evening before sunset at the Wagah border, which as part of the Grand Trunk Road was the only road link between these two countries before the opening of the Aman Setu in Kashmir in 1999. The ceremony starts with a blustering parade by the soldiers from both the sides, and ends up in the perfectly coordinated lowering of the two nations' flags.^[2] It is called the beating retreat border ceremony on the international level. One infantryman (Jawan) stands at attention on each side of the gate. As the sun sets, the iron gates at the border are opened and the two flags are lowered simultaneously. The flags are folded and the ceremony ends with a retreat that involves a brusque handshake between soldiers from either side, followed by the closing of the gates again. The spectacle of the ceremony attracts many visitors from both sides of the border, as well as international tourists.

Crooked House (Krzywy Domek), Poland

The Krzywy Domek is an irregularly-shaped building in Sopot, Poland. Its name translates in to English as the Crooked House.  The Krzywy Domek was built in 2004. It is approximately 4,000 square meters in size and is part of the Rezydent shopping center.

It was designed by Szotyńscy & Zaleski who were inspired by the fairytale illustrations and drawings of Jan Marcin Szancer and Per Dahlberg. It can be entered from either Monte Cassino or Morska Streets.