Places that feed the traveling soul

1In the domain of angry Poseidon “When you set out on your journey to Ithaca, ask that the road be long, full of adventures, full of experiences.

Do not be afraid of the Laystrygians or the Cyclops, or the angry Poseidon… ”.

The fierce god of the sea from the first verses of 'Ithaca', by the Greek poet Konstantinos Kavafis (1863-1933), inspired the work 'Poseidon' (in the photo), by Christophe Charbonnel, one of the first 10 statues Underwater Museum of Marseille (MSM; musee-subaquatique.com), inaugurated on September 24 on the French beach of Les Catalans, 100 meters from the shore and 5 meters deep.

The project, similar to other underwater sculpture parks such as the Atlantic Museum in Lanzarote or the Underwater Museum of Art (MUSA) in Cancun, Mexico, seeks to create an artificial reef that attracts divers and increases marine biomass.

G. RUOPPOLO WALLIS (MSM)

2An infinite library The historic Dujiangyan Dam, located between Mount Qingcheng, the cradle of Taoism, and the Chengdu Plain, in the interior of China, articulates the oldest irrigation system in the world: it has been in operation since 256 BC.

Its original structure, with a semicircular tip, which divided the mighty river Min into channels, now inspires the shelves of the new Dujiangyan Zhongshuge library, designed by the X + Living studio in Chengdu.

Truffled with arches and attached staircases, they rise from the glossy black tile floor to the ceiling lined with mirrors, making the 973 square meters of this surreal space for books, in the eyes of the visitor, extend to infinity as one of the impossible structures of the master MC Escher.

Feng Shao

3The Pyramid of the Tasman Sea The distance has a name: Lord Howe, a tiny Australian island (11 kilometers long and 3 wide) lost in the Tasman Sea that National Geographic has included in its recent 'Best in the World' list with the 25 best destinations for 2021, which also includes the city of Vitoria (the only Spanish enclave of its bet).

Lord Howe remained uninhabited until the 18th century.

Even today, it only allows 400 tourists to stay at the same time, few more than its 300 inhabitants.

The objective is to protect its rich ecosystem, a UNESCO world heritage site since 1982, with one of the southernmost coral reefs, 207 species of birds (130 of them endemic) and 1,600 species of arthropods, including the black stick insect, in Danger of extinction.

In the image, the Ball Pyramid, one of its islets.

Southern Lightscapes GETTY images

4On the island of the nymph Calypso Gavdos, a tiny piece of land south of Crete, is the southernmost island in Greece and, as indicated in English in the giant chair in the photo, the southernmost point in Europe.

It would also be, according to tradition, the mythical Ogygia, the island of the nymph Calypso, who seduced and held the cunning hero of the Odyssey for more than seven years: "Retreating to the bottom of the concave grotto they enjoyed the treatment, sleeping together", Homer writes in the 'canto V'.

According to legend, before Zeus forced the nymph to let Ulysses leave to return to Ithaca with his wife, four children were born from that carnal relationship - Latinos, Nafsizos, Nafsinos and Afson - from whom their current inhabitants would descend ( just 45 people).

Today Gavdos is a peaceful place that can only be accessed from April to the end of August by ferries leaving from Paleojóra and Jóra Sfakion, southwest of Crete.

Virgin beaches such as Potamos or Agios Ioannis await here, in a landscape of dunes and fragrant thyme and threads.

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5Red theater in the city of silk China has become a test bed for architects such as those of the London firm SCA (Steven Chilton Architects), in front of surprising buildings such as the Wuxi theater, near Shanghai, which resembles a forest made of bamboo, or Wuhan's red lantern-shaped performance hall.

His latest project, the Guangzhou Grand Theater (pictured), in the southeast of the country, is like a sinuous giant red silk scarf stamped with dragons, phoenixes and other motifs from Eastern mythology.

The reason is that, in addition to its Cantonese cuisine, the pulsing metropolis of the Pearl River Delta and China's third largest city is famous for its patterned or embroidered silks, a tradition that dates back to the emperors of the Han Dynasty, circa 206 BC.

At that time the Silk Road was born, the main route of communication by land between East and West, while Guangzhou, also known as Canton, was the main port of shipment of ideas and goods by sea.

Anciens HuanG

6 Overview of a 'new' beautiful town Several Spanish municipalities created in 2011 the National Network of the Most Beautiful Towns in Spain, an association that groups them under the same brand of tourism promotion.

The idea is inspired by similar projects that already existed in France (Les plus beaux villages) or Italy (I Borghi più belli).

Belonging to this exclusive club is not easy.

Among other requirements, applicants must have less than 15,000 inhabitants and a certified architectural or natural heritage.

They must also comply with quality standards in aspects such as “the care of their artistic and cultural heritage, the harmony of the municipality, the cleaning and conservation of the facades, as well as the care of green areas, their cultural activity or the attention to traditions. ", among others.

In 2021, 11 new towns will be added to the network, which will have 104 towns: Agulo (La Gomera), in the photo, Genalguacil (Málaga), Beget (Girona), Molinaseca (León), Baños de la Encina (Jaén) , Nuevo Baztán (Madrid), Valverde de la Vera (Cáceres), Roncal (Navarra), Garachico (Tenerife) and the Asturians Bulnes and Cudillero.

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7Star dust in Bilbao Olafur Eliasson's artistic dimension often transcends the limits imposed by a museum room.

A multidisciplinary creator, the Danish-Icelandic artist's work is open to interventions in public spaces and architectural projects.

Just take a spin around its rainbow ring on the roof of the ARoS museum in Aarhus, Denmark to experience it.

This practical application of his art, which includes solar lamps for communities without electricity or artistic workshops aimed at refugees - he was appointed UN ambassador in 2019 - articulates the retrospective 'Olafur Eliasson: in real life' at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao (until on April 11, 2021).

Some thirty pieces —from 1990 to the present— that challenge the viewer's perception.

For example, with the 'Stardust particle' (in the photo), made with crystals and apparently simple polyhedral figures, but whose projection by a beam of natural light creates a game of shapes, colors and reflections that show the true complexity of its composition.

Erika ede

8Oasis of Color in the Persian Gulf It is no coincidence that the Iranian island of Hormuz, a 42 square kilometer desert piece of land in the Persian Gulf Strait to which it gives its name, has been chosen by the ZAV architecture studio, based in Tehran, to illuminate its new project.

It is a vacation retreat of 200 vaulted buildings that are inspired by the reds, greens and yellows of the clayey mountains that dominate the rugged landscape of this island, hardly touched by tourism.

“You cannot renounce color in Hormuz, even its reddish sand beaches stain the sea.

It is the means of expression of its inhabitants, whether in their clothing, inside their houses or even in the food ”, the study assures.

The complex, which also houses cultural spaces, restaurants and shops, has been built using the superadobe technique, a cheap and ecological material that has allowed the involvement of the local population in an initiative that seeks to give visibility to a strategic area through which 30% of the world's oil transits.

T. Monzavi

9Colombian Mars Despite its barren appearance —a landscape of ocher and gray gullies dotted with cacti—, the Colombian desert of Tatacoa (after the name of a frequent snake in the area) is nothing but a tropical dry forest that in the Tertiary era it housed an orchard of trees and flowers.

In addition, it is one of the best places in the world to see the stars.

DANIEL BUITRAGO CH.

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10Pedaling through the lakes of Belgium 'Cycling through Water' is a cycle path more than 200 meters long that crosses one of the ponds of the De Wijers lake region, in Belgium, and not above the water surface, but by a path submerged in the water, the sides of which are at eye level.

Inaugurated in 2016 near the city of Bokrijk, about 100 kilometers northeast of Brussels, the route is one of the first cycling experiences launched in the Belgian province of Limburg to promote its natural spaces.

A project that also includes 'Cycling through the Trees', a journey through two overlapping rings with a diameter of 100 meters, camouflaged among the trees of the Bosland forest.

The walk totals 700 meters and reaches 10 meters in height.

The structure merges with a landscape dominated by conifers, planted in the early 20th century to produce wood for the mining industry.

Luc daelemans

11New Winds in Virginia In these harsh times of a pandemic, the United States finds relief and joy in projects like the new New River Gorge National Park.

Located southeast of West Virginia, it has also been declared a national reserve, a double recognition that until now only Alaska had.

The place was already known since the 1990s by lovers of adventure sports, which have 85 kilometers of rapids for rafting and sections of extreme difficulty such as the one called Lower New. The park is also frequented by climbers, attracted by its sandstone walls, or to practice BASE jumping - opening a parachute after a few seconds of free fall - from the vertiginous and iconic iron bridge that crosses the valley.

206 kilometers of routes have also been set up for walkers and cyclists.

In the image, the famous mill at Babcock State Park, within the new national park.

Dennis Govoni Getty

12Snow waves over the void In Chinese culture, a ruyi - a kind of ceremonial scepter - symbolizes power and good fortune since it was adopted as an imperial insignia in the Qing dynasty (17th to 20th centuries).

And it seems to inspire the shape of this bridge stretched over 140 meters high in the Shenxianju scenic area (pictured after a snowfall on December 15).

An area that unfolds a lush landscape embedded between narrow and deep valleys bordered by vertical rock cliffs in the province of Zhejiang (en.tourzj.com), in the southeast of the country, near the coast of the East China Sea.

Inaugurated last September, the bridge, about 100 meters long, is made up of three undulating walkways connected to each other and with various sections of transparent glass floor.

Its design is attributed to He Yunchang, an expert in steel structures who also participated in the construction of the Beijing Olympic Stadium, popularly known as the Bird's Nest.

W. Huabin GETTY images

13Swimming with giants Due to its isolation, more than 500 kilometers from the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, the uninhabited Isla del Coco is one of those pure biodiversity treasures that are still conserved on our planet.

A kind of natural laboratory due to the number of species (some of it endemic) that it treasures in its less than 25 square kilometers.

The high ecological value of this Costa Rican enclave is especially due to its underwater ecosystems, where more than 200 types of fish swim and considered one of the best places in the world to dive among hammerhead sharks, whale sharks (in the image) or tip reef sharks. white - excursions usually start from the city of Puntarenas.

Therefore, the waters that surround this lonely island will receive the first actions of the Blue Forever Fund project, a recent initiative of the Costa Rican Government - which has already banned single-use plastics in its natural reserves - whose objective is to protect 30% of its marine spaces before 2030. Getty Images

14New York City Revives an Icon At the dawn of the 20th century, when it opened, New York's Pennsylvania Station was considered a masterpiece of Beaux Arts architecture.

The majesty of its pinkish marble made it an icon of the city during the more than 50 years that it was in operation.

The railroad's decline led to its demolition in 1963 to make room for Madison Square Garden and a much more modest underground station.

Half a century later, and in the face of the increasing flow of passengers (half a million people go through it daily), this interchange of subway and intercity trains has been renovated with the purpose of “evoking the greatness of the original Penn Station”, explained the SOM studio, responsible for the project.

Nestled in the heart of Manhattan, the Moynihan Train Hall, open from January 1, reclaims the space that the old station occupied, the James A. Farley Post Office Building: 45,000 square meters of glassed-in corridors and waiting rooms that deserve for yes alone a visit.

Milo Hess alamy

15New airs for the old airfield Shanghai's Xuhui Runway Park has converted the last runway (operational until 2011) of the historic Longhua Airport - the city's only civil airfield until 1949 - into a linear garden almost two kilometers long that invites visitors to isolate yourself from the frenetic pace of the Chinese megalopolis.

Completed in April 2020, this award-winning urban revitalization project by international architecture and design firm Sasaki traces on the banks of the Huangpu River a connection between its recent past - retaining parts of the original airstrip pavement, including steering marks for airplanes — and the future of environmental sustainability to which the city aspires.

In addition to bike and pedestrian lanes, the park has a grove for bird watching, a garden-auditorium, an interactive fountain for children or various wildlife habitats (with plants native to the Yangtze River delta) that include an area wetland.

In total, it is home to 82 plant species and 2,227 trees that shade more than 68% of the extension of this long, green space for urban recreation.

Insaw Photography

16Tenerife, whale heritage The Canarian archipelago was a pioneer in the sighting of cetaceans in Spain and also the first to regulate the activity.

The best place to see them is La Traviesa, the channel that separates the islands of Tenerife and La Gomera.

This narrow strip, with abundant marine life and areas that reach 2,000 meters in depth, is the habitat chosen by a colony of about 250 pilot whales as permanent residence.

Like sperm whales, killer whales and dolphins, pilot whales are toothed cetaceans that hunt fish, squid and other cephalopods at night, descending to heights of up to 1,000 meters, and spend the day as a family near the surface, where it is easy to see them.

Last March, the World Cetacean Alliance (WCA) certified this stretch of the Tenerife coast between Punta de Teno and Punta de Rasca as a Whale Heritage Site - the first in Europe and the third in the world. -, which endorses the responsible and sustainable observation of dolphins and other cetaceans from small sailing or motor boats.

M. Veiga alamy

17The leap of the Maasai youth Members of the Maasai tribe of Kenya perform a traditional jumping ritual during one of the three age-passing ceremonies (Enkipaata, Eunoto, and Olng'esherr) that youths (moranes) must perform on their transition to adult life, near the city of Lemek, within the Maasai Mara National Reserve, on February 27.

Although the African country reopened its borders in August 2020, many local communities that depend on tourism income continue to suffer from the reduced flow of foreign travelers (negative PCR test is required to enter and, in the case of some countries, such as Spain, 14-day quarantine upon arrival).

This scarcity also affects the very conservation of the natural spaces they inhabit.

Around the Maasai Mara more than 100,000 people benefit as tenants, tour guides or rangers of the different private conservation areas who, in the absence of income, could dedicate these lands to other uses, putting at risk, for example, natural spectacles like the Great Serengeti Migration.

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18Brooklyn's Color Game 'Reflect' is a new art installation in Domino Park, a five-hectare public park that follows the East River in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York.

Created by American artist Jen Lewin, the work consists of three concentric rings with platforms made of interactive lights that respond to the footsteps of visitors, unleashing flashes of light that create an ever-changing composition.

"The installation will encourage New Yorkers to pause for a moment of reflection and discovery, and will inspire connection as the city enters a new era of hope and recovery," they explain from the park (dominopark.com).

Open from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. (until April 15), during the day its surface reflects the sky and the surroundings, and at night, the sculpture comes to life as spectators move through its panels creating a multicolored spectacle with the skyline of Manhattan across the river.

A way to have fun in Brooklyn outdoors and respecting safe distances.

A. Rosenfeld GETTY images

19Vegetable paradise in Cornwall When it opened on May 17, 2001, 'The Times' elevated it as 'the eighth wonder of the world'.

Two decades later, on May 17, the Eden Project, the largest greenhouse on the planet that occupies 50 hectares of a former kaolin quarry in the English county of Cornwall (edenproject.com), will reopen to the public after being closed for months for the pandemic.

Its two colossal geodesic domes are home to a rich variety of Mediterranean flora and the largest covered rainforest on the globe.

This plant microworld is home to more than two million plants, and for many it may end up being their last refuge.

It's also a lucrative theme park with a screening theater, café, and souvenir shop.

And, until the arrival of the covid, the Eden Sessions music festival was held every summer, with a massive influx.

A show idea that is now opposed by its creator, the Danish entrepreneur Tim Smit, appealing to society's growing ecological awareness: "We want Eden to be the best classroom on the planet."

T. Watson alamy

20The Magma Castle Until its appearance in the Wow Air in-flight magazine in 2017, few tourists knew of the existence of the Studlagil canyon in eastern Iceland and its imposing 30-meter-high basalt columns.

For millennia they remained hidden under water.

The construction of the Kárahnjúkar hydroelectric power station in 2006 exposed them by diverting part of the course of the glacial Jökla River, which runs down from the highlands to the Jökuldalur Valley, reducing its flow and the height of its channel.

The once mighty torrent that carved out the canyon now flows placid and blue between walls of magmatic rock.

Thanks to its difficult access, down a steep and slippery path, it remains one of the hidden wonders of the Nordic country.

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21The great art depot Rotterdam has a new architectural landmark: Art Depot.

Designed by the MVRDV studio, it will be the first art center in the world capable of exhibiting to the public all the objects (151,000) that make up the collections of a large museum: the Boijmans Van Beuningen, the most important in the city.

The transfer of the works has already begun and it is expected to open next autumn.

ROBIN UTRECHT GETTY images

22Night Among Elephants Bubble hotels are not just for spending the night under the stars.

This is demonstrated by the Anantara Golden Triangle Elephant Camp & Resort, an accommodation in Chiang Rai, in the middle of the jungle of northern Thailand with views of Myanmar and Laos.

Its bubble rooms, designed by the Spanish company Eye in The Sky, offer an attractive immersive experience to see elephants in their habitat.

Of course, at the moment there are only two of them, so reserving them is not easy (from 380 euros for two people).

Beyond luxury, here also awaits your camp of elephants rescued from the streets of the country.

238,000 steps later Those who climb the Buddhist complex of Mount Fanjing, in the Chinese province of Guizhou, and complete the staircase that leads to its Golden Summit of the Red Clouds (2,336 meters), enjoy the circular view of a natural environment declared world heritage for the amount of endemisms and rare species that it treasures.

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24 Sweet Dystopian A 30-foot-tall cream dessert on the brink of collapse, featuring a fly, icing and drone, rises until spring 2022 in London's Trafalgar Square.

Although 'The End' reflects the unsettling mood of its author, Heather Phillipson, in 2016, with Brexit and Donald Trump on the way to the White House, its dystopian air fits these times.

JOHN MICHAELS alamy

25Zaha Hadid Cubed The ME Dubai, opened in spring 2020 in the Burj Khalifa district, is the world's first hotel designed entirely by the Zaha Hadid studio.

Both the Opus building (a striking glass cube with a wavy hole in the center) and the interior design of the lobby and rooms are the work of Hadid and her team.

They began in 2007, when the famous architect was still alive.

The hotel also shines for its sustainable impulses: each guest receives a stainless steel bottle and has water dispensers throughout the building, and has removed the buffets to reduce food waste.

LAURIAN GHINITOIU