Fuji, Japan

HEAVEN IS A PLACE ON EARTH

It is true, heaven is a place on Earth. There are actually 18 'heavens on Earth'...and I live in one of them :) I was browsing through the website Fantastic View Point and found some pretty interesting articles.
If you are work currently like I am, here is the list and a few pictures to get you through the next few hours:

1. Laguna Beach, California

2. Matterhorn, Switzerland

3. Mount Fiji, Japan

4. Gullfoss, Iceland

5. Florianópolis, South Brazil

6. Honolulu, Hawaii

7. Prague, Czech Republic

8. Nirwana Bali Golf Club, Indonesia

9. Lake Garda- Alpine Region, Italy

10. Tahiti

11. Baku, Azerbaijan

12. Cenote Ik Kil, Mexico

13. Lake Moraine- Banff National Park, Canada

14. Portofino Resort- Ambergris Caye, Belize

15. Vermillion Lake, Banff National Park, Canada

16. Yoho National Park, Lake O'Hara, Canada

17. Palawan, Philippines

18. Hallstat, Austria

I'm dreaming of these places...can summer come sooner so I can travel?! Only about 3 or 4 more weeks now. Seems almost too far away. 

The girls and I have decided to make our fall break trip to St. Petersburg, Russia. We have to of course buy plane tickets and get the visas sorted out but we are really looking forward to going! Fingers crossed! 

Back to work and writing the Italy post (I made an oopsie at the end of yesterday's post).

Travel on wanderlusters!

A Full Plate

Again, I have been MIA...apologies, apologies! 

This semester of uni with a side of a big girl job, an internship, reporter for student newspaper, new gym commitment, friends and the need of sleep has my plate almost as full as a Thanksgiving dinner plate...maybe even a little more filled. I find myself super exhausted and in the few moments I have to myself in a week I catch up on my TV shows or have True Blood and Sex and the City marathons in my bed with a hot cup of peppermint tea. Being sick on top of everything has also been the cherry on top.

So, that's why I have been MIA. I have been meaning to write a post but I always end up passing out face down on my key board when I get home from uni or work. I'm starting to get into the routine of things again so more posts will be coming again. I never wrote my Berlin post....ahhh! Still need to do that and I will...soon....

It's such a beautiful, warm-ish, sunny day in Prague but I am stuck inside doing uni work and a research paper. The only good thing is that I am also applying to my dream internship (other than the one I currently have) which is at the National Geographic headquarters this summer. So excited and my fingers are triple crossed! I also applied for a spring 2014 study abroad in Seoul, South Korea; Montevideo, Uruguay and in California. I should find out if I was accepted in the next week or two. 

I'm trying to set up some travel plans with friends and so far we have a list of places we WILL go before 2013 ends: Thailand, Hong Kong or China, St. Petersburg in Russia and Egypt. Still in the works though. Looking at the time between August and December since I have university and work until the end of May then my best friend from the States is coming for a 3-4 week 'euro-trip' as I mentioned in previous posts. Can it be the end of May already? Oh!! We are also looking at attending the World Cup in Brazil next summer- about 95% that we are going, just need to buy the plane tickets and find somewhere to stay.

Have any of you wanderlusters been to Brazil? I've always wanted to go and especially to Rio de Janeiro. 

Happy Tuesday and travel on wanderlusters!

P.S. I found this on Pinterest the other morning, I thought it was so cute and relatable! 

Just One of Those...

Nights where you can't sleep no matter what you do? Yeah...that was my night last night after tossing and turning for a few hours I decided to watch catch up on some Homeland and Vampire Diaries and I instantly passed out. Well, for only about 4 hours but something is better than nothing right?

I'm staring outside as I type and it's really yucky and depressing out. I miss the sunshine and warm weather...never thought I would say I miss the warm weather because I am definitely a cold weather type of person. Hmph, I blame it on Europe! Haha.

Well, I promised my friend I would take him up to the Prague Castle, snow or no snow, today so that's what I'll be doing a majority of my day and I promised you wanderlusters that I would post some pictures of Prague in the snow! Bear in mind it will be some dreary, gray/dark pictures but you'll get the jist of Prague winter beauty :) Despite how beautiful Prague is in the winter, I am dreaming of Thailand...only 2 more months until Bangkok and Phuket Bay beaches.

P.S. I started my internship with CollegeFashionista.com, for those of you who haven't heard about it, CHECK IT OUT! But my first post went live and my wanderlusters should check out the fashion-loving side of my writing! I convinced my best friend to do a mini photo-shoot for me in my backyard and now she's the face of my first CF article! http://www.collegefashionista.com/shelleahpedersen/style-advice-of-the-week-these-boots-were-made-for-spikes/

P.S.S. ONE WEEK UNTIL ROME!!

Travel on wanderlusters!

Spotted: Tom Cruise

On the Charles Bridge yesterday afternoon! Now where is little Suri?!

Today, on the walk to the National Library, we were stopped in our tracks when we saw they were filming a movie right outside of the library. So, of course we stopped and stared, waiting patiently for some A-list celebrity to come running in the scene. We left minutes after to the Christmas market then came back and right when we came back they were filming a scene...couldn't tell if it was Tom Cruise but it sure looked A LOT like him.

Whatever movie they are filming, they are trying to portray it being in the Netherlands, nope, it's in Prague. The fake street signs and Netherlands license plates were added to make it seem like it was in the Netherlands.

It's beaaaautiful and sunny today but I get to spend the entire, FREEZING, afternoon in the library studying for finals next week. I just looked up from typing this and realized an extremely creepy lady with a "I'm going to steal you and throw you in a cave" grin was staring at me from across the library. Okay, then.

Travel on wanderlusters!

Predictions: Japan sinking mysterious Atlantis - emerge?

The blast and radiation leaked from the nuclear power plant "Fukushima 1" is the worst tragedy in Japan. There are predictions that two earthquakes ... all Japanese islands will sink in water. And due to the change in the surface crust will rise found in the area of ​​the Bermuda Triangle mysterious sunken Atlantis.

For the first time mentions the mysterious Atlantis Plato almost 2,500 years. While official science to believe Atlantis just a beautiful legend there is evidence that this was a real civilization - and - of planetary scale. This tells Alexander Voronin, President of the Russian Society of studying the problems of Atlantis.
Lunopodobni
Plato is not the only ancient author who mentions some island nations in the Atlantic. Feopomp historian who lived in the fourth century BC, tells of a huge continent, where she lived a race of giants. Marcellus geographer mentions ten island, dedicated to god. In XVII century the German A. Kircher first published map of Atlantis. Thus began the era of the demand side of the legendary Atlantis.
I still argue what was actually Atlantis - a geographic point, several distribution centers of civilization, or a certain stage in the development of intelligent life on Earth? To date, her remains lie in America, Antarctica and the Arctic, in the northwestern parts of Europe and Africa in the Bermuda Triangle, near Cuba, Bahamas, Azorskipte and the Canary Islands, near Sicily, Malta, Cyprus and Crete.
Many researchers believe that the kingdom of Atlantis has not been a single array, and a huge number of islands. Therefore, the culture of different peoples inhabiting America, Africa and Eurasia, there are many similarities. For example - identical script to the ancient Mayans and Egyptians. Inscriptions and drawings discovered in South America partly reminiscent of ancient Egyptian, Sumerian, Phoenician, Greek and Cretan. In the myths and legends of almost all known civilizations mention any founders of their culture that came from the depths of the ocean or land somewhere far beyond the horizon. And that the homeland of these newcomers has experienced devastating cataclysm.
Especially impressive are the myths in New Zealand, where the natives have preserved the tradition of the people of the gods - pakahakeha. These people lived in the sea and were white. The language of the Maori "pakahakeha" means "lunopodoben" and also "skin-like in the moonlight." On one of the islands is preserved stepped pyramid terraces. Actually Maori, who arrived in New Zealand 700 years ago, never erected such facilities. Maybe this has ever lived and walked Atlanteans? ...


Cobblestone bottom
In recent years in different parts of the world - off the coast of Cuba, England, Spain, Morocco, India and Japan - were found submerged man-made stone structures whose age reaches 8,000 - 10,000 years. In May 2001 the Gulf Guanahasibibes in the western region of Cuba, the expedition led by Polina Zelitska found the remains of an underwater city which supposedly aged 6000 years. In March 2003 U.S. researchers - Litl spouses, announced the opening of a huge three-tiered stone platform 500 meters from Andros Island - Bahamas. Underwater facility stretches 450 and 45 meters in width, and rises to a height of 4.5 m from the seabed.
The platform is composed of large rectangular blocks of stone. All this has the appearance of an ancient mall adjacent ports. A platform north of them succeeded at the bottom of the sea to fix something like a port. There, the Bahamas were discovered three concentric circles reminiscent of the architectural image of Atlantis as described by Plato ever.
Ten years earlier American editions crept message that 250 miles from the Azores geologists who conducted research for the detection of oil at a depth of one kilometer, found half-destroyed temple with columns. And of course, you must remember the vast research on seamounts Ampere and Josephine in the waters of the Atlantic, which took place in 1970-1980, the then-Soviet Union. So were made hundreds of photographs that capture the manmade walls, masonry and stone vaults of some structures.
The study sample of basalt taken from the top of seamounts revealed: such rocks could have been formed 12,000 years ago, at that - only on land. So 12,000 years ago from the Azores to Giblartar stretched archipelago with some stone buildings.
Ezoteritsite believe that the culture of the Atlanteans was truly universal, planetary. And traces of their civilization that are embedded in the imperishable facilities - the pyramids. Today, well-known pyramids are not only in Egypt and Mexico, but also discovered pyramids in all parts of the world except Antarctica. In the Atlantic near Bermuda on the ocean floor found mysterious pyramids of unknown substance. But indeed, the Egyptian pyramids, as shown expeditions Fund "Third Millennium", developed over many ancient structures. In other words: the Egyptians built them over the works in which they have inherited from other civilizations.
The destruction of the civilization of Atlantis was rather in stages. The reason could be the asteroid, earthquake, resulting in one of the lithospheric plates slipped under another, referring to the depths of the ocean, islands and archipelagos .. Planetary cataclysms destroyed the network of Atlanta, and with it - and one of their power. Future generations and never failed due to fragmentation and degradation to restore the race of Atlanteans.

Car that can be invented only in Japan!

University of Hiroshima, in partnership with Humanix, behind the development of an electric car with three wheels called iSAVE YOU. That is totally covered with similar materials airbags idea to protect its occupants in an accident. Looks more like a golf cart car worth 10,000 dollars. "The car will be perfect for our one furious speeds aging society. Now have a hell lot of inquiries about the car from an elderly population, as well as by disabled people", told Japanese magazine Sponichi Annex president Humanix Professor Tsumotu. In addition to protects its passengers with its external airbags iSAVE YOU actually designed to protect and pedestrians. iSAVE YOU develop a speed of 30 km / h and can be recharged in a grid of every Japanese home. We recognize that the Japanese idea certainly sounds interesting on paper, but still it's hard to imagine how external airbags to protect occupants in a collision with oncoming SUV? iSAVE YOU in action now: