Vatican City, Rome, Italy

Vatican City or Vatican City State, is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. It has an area of approximately 44 hectares (110 acres), and a population of just over 800.

Vatican City was established in 1929 by the Lateran Treaty, signed by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Gasparri, on behalf of the Holy See and by Prime Minister Benito Mussolini on behalf of the Kingdom of Italy.

Vatican City State is distinct from the Holy See, which dates back to early Christianity and is the main episcopal see of 1.2 billion Latin and Eastern Catholic adherents around the globe.

Ordinances of Vatican City are published in Italian; official documents of the Holy See are issued mainly in Latin. The two entities even have distinct passports: the Holy See, not being a country, issues only diplomatic and service passports; Vatican City State issues normal passports. Very few passports are issued by either authority.

The Lateran Treaty in 1929, which brought the city-state into existence, spoke of it as a new creation (Preamble and Article III), not as a vestige of the much larger Papal States (756–1870) that had previously encompassed much of central Italy. Most of this territory was absorbed into the Kingdom of Italy in 1860, and the final portion, namely the city of Rome with Lazio, ten years later, in 1870.

Vatican City is an ecclesiastical or sacerdotal-monarchical state, ruled by the Bishop of Rome—the Pope. The highest state functionaries are all Catholic clergymen of various national origins. It is the sovereign territory of the Holy See (Sancta Sedes) and the location of the Pope's residence, referred to as the Apostolic Palace.

The Popes have generally resided in the area that in 1929 became Vatican City since the return from Avignon in 1377, but have also at times resided in the Quirinal Palace in Rome and elsewhere. Previously, they resided in the Lateran Palace on the Caelian Hill on the far side of Rome from the Vatican. Emperor Constantine gave this site to Pope Miltiades in 313. The signing of the agreements that established the new state took place in the latter building, giving rise to the name of Lateran Pacts, by which they are known.

Lake Bled Island, Slovakia

The lake is 2,120 m long and 1,380 m wide, with a maximum depth of 30.6 metres. The lake is situated in a picturesque environment, surrounded by mountains and forests.

A medieval castle stands above the lake on the north shore. The lake surrounds Bled Island, the only natural island in Slovenia.

The island has several buildings, the main one being the Pilgrimage Church of the Assumption of Mary, built in the 15th century, where weddings are held regularly.

The church has a 52-metre tower and there is a stairway with 99 steps leading up to the building.

The lake is also well known among rowers because it has very good conditions for the sport. It hosted the World Rowing Championships in 1966, 1979, and 1989. It will host the World Rowing Championship again in 2011.

The lake is 35 kilometers from the Ljubljana International Airport and 55 km from the capital city Ljubljana.

Sinaia, Transilvania, Romania

Sinaia; (population: 14,636) is a town and a mountain resort in Prahova County, Romania. The town was named after Sinaia Monastery, around which it was built; the monastery in turn is named after the Biblical Mount Sinai. King Carol I of Romania built his summer home, Peleş Castle, near the town.

Sinaia is about 60 km northwest of Ploieşti and 50 km south of Braşov, in a mountainous area on the Prahova River valley, just east of the Bucegi Mountains. The altitude varies between 767 m and 860 m.

The city is a popular destination for hiking and winter sports, especially downhill skiing. Among the tourist landmarks, the most important are Peleş Castle, Pelişor Castle, Sinaia Monastery, Sinaia Casino, Sinaia train station, and the Franz Joseph and Saint Anne Cliffs. Sinaia was also the summer residence of the Romanian composer George Enescu, who stayed at the Luminiş villa.

Aspen, Colorado, United States

The City of Aspen is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Pitkin County, Colorado, United States.

The United States Census Bureau estimates that the city population was 5,804 in 2005.

Founded as a mining camp in the Colorado Silver Boom and named because of the abundance of aspen trees in the area, the city is now a ski resort and an upscale tourist centre.

In the late 20th century the city developed as a popular destination for celebrities, attracting people like Charlie Sheen, Hunter S. Thompson, and John Denver, the latter having written several songs about the town, including "Aspenglow" and "Starwood in Aspen."

Las Ramblas, Barcelona, Spain

La Rambla is a street in central Barcelona, popular with both tourists and locals alike. A 1.2km long tree-lined pedestrian mall between Barri Gòtic and El Raval, it connects Plaça Catalunya in the centre with the Christopher Columbus monument at Port Vell.

La Rambla can be considered a series of shorter streets, each differently named, hence the plural form Las Ramblas. From the Plaça de Catalunya toward the harbour, the street is successively the Rambla de Canaletes, the Rambla dels Estudis, the Rambla de Sant Josep, the Rambla dels Caputxins, and the Rambla de Santa Monica.

Construction of the Maremàgnum in the early 1990s resulted in a continuation of La Rambla on a wooden walkway into the harbour, the Rambla de Mar.

La Rambla can be crowded, especially during prime time tourist season. Most of the time, there are many more tourists than locals occupying the Rambla, which has changed the shopping selection, as well as the character of the street in general.

For this reason also, it has become a prime target for pick pocketing.

Spanish poet Federico García Lorca once said that La Rambla was 'the only street in the world which I wish would never end'.

The name rambla refers to an intermittent water flow in both Catalan and Spanish, and is derived from the Arabic 'ramla' which means 'sandy riverbed'. The name of the city of Ramla, now in Israel, shares the same origin.

Some cultural sights you may like to see are:

Gran Teatre del Liceu, or simply Liceu, is Barcelona's renowned opera house. Opened in 1847, it is among the world's finest.

Centre d'Art Santa Mònica is a public museum of contemporary art located on the Raval side of Rambla de Santa Mònica, with regular exhibitions of international artists.

Mercat de la Boqueria (also known as Mercat de Sant Josep or just La Boqueria) is the city's most iconic street market.

Font de Canaletes is the city's most famous fountain and its most popular meeting point.

Palau de la Virreina, a Baroque palace, hosts museum exhibitions and cultural events.

Manhattan, New York

Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on Manhattan Island at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York.

The borough and county consist of Manhattan Island and several small adjacent islands: Roosevelt Island, Randall's Island, Wards Island, Governors Island, Liberty Island, part of Ellis Island, Mill Rock, and U Thant Island; as well as Marble Hill, a very small area on the mainland bordering the Bronx.

The original city of New York began at the southern end of Manhattan, expanded northwards, and then between 1874 and 1898, annexed land from surrounding counties.

The County of New York is the most densely populated county in the United States, and one of the most densely populated areas in the world, with a 2008 population of 1,634,795 living in a land area of 22.96 square miles (59.47 km²), or 71,201 residents per square mile (27,485/km²). It is also one of the wealthiest counties in the United States, with a 2005 personal income per capita above $100,000. Manhattan is the third-largest of New York's five boroughs in population, and its smallest borough in size.

Manhattan is a major commercial, financial, and cultural center of both the United States and the world. Anchored by Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City vies with the City of London as the financial capital of the world and is home of both the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ.

Many major radio, television, and telecommunications companies in the United States are based here, as well as many news, magazine, book, and other media publishers.

Manhattan has many famous landmarks, tourist attractions, museums, and universities. It is also home to the headquarters of the United Nations. It is the centre of New York City and the New York metropolitan region, hosting the seat of city government and a large portion of the area's employment, business, and entertainment activities. As a result, residents of New York City's other boroughs such as Brooklyn and Queens often refer to a trip to Manhattan as "going to the city", despite the comparable populations between those boroughs.

Villetta Barrea, L'Aquila Province, Italy

Villetta Barrea is a commune and town in the Province of L'Aquila in the Abruzzo region of Italy.

The Province of L'Aquila (Provincia dell'Aquila) is the largest, most mountainous and least densely populated province of the Abruzzo region of central Italy.

It comprises about half the landmass of Abruzzo and occupies the western part of the region. It has borders with the provinces of Teramo to the north, Pescara and Chieti to the east, Isernia (in Molise region) to the south and Frosinone, Rome and Rieti (in Lazio region) to the west.

Its capital is the city of L'Aquila.

The Province of L'Aquila includes the highest mountains of the Apennines (Gran Sasso, Maiella and Velino-Sirente), their highest peak, Corno Grande, the high plain of Campo Imperatore, and Europe's southernmost glacier, the Calderone.

The province's major rivers are the Aterno-Pescara, Sangro, Liri, Salto, and the Turano; its major lakes are Lago Scanno and Lago Barrea.

It once included the largest lake on the Italian peninsula, Lago Fucino, which was drained in one of the 19th century's largest engineering projects.

The lake basin is today a flourishing agricultural area and an important technological district.

Mount Cook, New Zealand

The alpine village of Mount Cook, located in Aoraki Mount Cook National Park, provides a range of accommodation from an international style hotel to small chalets like the one in the picture here. I wouldn't like to be given the task of shovelling the snow off the driveway!

At 3754 metres, New Zealand's highest mountain, Aoraki Mount Cook is dazzling, yet there are 27 other mountains in this alpine backbone which peak at over 3050 metres, and hundreds of others not far short of that – all making up the famous Southern Alps.

You can enjoy 4WD safaris, boating on the glacier lakes, horse treks, fishing, scenic flights with snow landings and numerous Walks and Hikes. During the winter guided ski experiences onto New Zealand's longest glacier, the Tasman, is a popular activity and a unique Mount Cook wedding location!