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Check out Andrea’s portfolio here.

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Featuring 14 carriages, two fine dining rooms, a bar and lounge, ornate and sumptuous interiors, as well as a vibrant exterior design, the Maharajas’ Express luxury train must be the fanciest and most exciting way to see quite a bit of India. The tour packages map out “journeys” for train guests, so you won’t have to do much planning. The 7-night “Royal Sojourn” package offers tours starting from Delhi and continuing on to Jaipur, Kota, Ranthambore, Agra, and back. Besides conveniently seeing many parts of this vast and majestic country, simply being a passenger within the Maharaj Express is a magical experience in itself. The Maharaja is unarguably reminiscent of a different era – with decadent upholstery, dark cherry-wood furniture, exotic plants and gilded turban sporting staff. If traveling by train was the only form of transportation as it was once long ago, something tells us we would not complain if all the trains were like the Maharajas’ Express.

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We don’t usually feature yachts here, but we just couldn’t pass up The Red Dragon – a 52-meter sailing yacht with ultra-luxurious, contemporary interiors. Constructed by Alloy Yachts and designed by Wilmotte & Associates, the epic yacht is as sturdy as it is beautiful, with the ability of “fast passages” and “long periods of autonomy,” according to Alloy’s website. It was deemed a finalist in the 2008 Boat International World Super Yacht Awards, but surely anyone that catches a glimpse of this yacht on the water would find themselves in awe of its beauty.

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Brazilian architect Fernanda Marques thrills us again with this spectacular home set in Rio de Janeiro’s coastline. Located in the posh Laranjeiras neighborhood of Rio, this picture perfect paradise looks more like a resort than anything else. The floor to ceiling glass panels and the open layout help the house make best use of the views it is blessed with. That clean flow between the interiors and exteriors shouldn’t really surprise you if you have seen Fernanda’s work before. Just check out these gorgeous images.

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In this March 24, 2011 aerial photo taken by small unmanned drone and released AIR PHOTO SERVICE, the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant seen in Okumamachi, Fukushima prefecture, northern Japan. From top to, Unit 1 through Unit 4.(Air Photo Service Co. Ltd., Japan)


24 March 2011

In this March 24, 2011 aerial photo taken by a small unmanned drone and released AIR PHOTO SERVICE, damaged Unit 3, left, and Unit 4 of the crippled Fukushima-ichi nuclear power plant are seen in Okumamachi, Fukushima prefecture, Japan. (Air Photo Service Co. Ltd., Japan)


24 March 2011

In this March 24, 2011 aerial photo taken by a small unmanned drone and released AIR PHOTO SERVICE, Unit 4, left, and Unit 3 of the crippled Fukushima-ichi nuclear power plant are seen in Okumamachi, Fukushima prefecture, Japan. (Air Photo Service Co. Ltd., Japan)


24 March 2011

In this March 24, 2011 aerial photo taken by a small unmanned drone and released AIR PHOTO SERVICE, damaged Unit 3 of the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant is seen in Okumamachi, Fukushima prefecture, northern Japan. Photo Service Co. Ltd., Japan)


24 March 2011

This March 24, 2011 aerial photo taken by a small unmanned drone and released AIR PHOTO SERVICE shows damaged Unit 3 of the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant in Okumamachi, Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan. Photo Service Co. Ltd., Japan)


24 March 2011

This March 24, 2011 aerial photo taken by a small unmanned drone and released AIR PHOTO SERVICE shows damaged Unit 4 of the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant in Okumamachi, Fukushima prefecture, northern Japan. Photo Service Co. Ltd., Japan)


20 March 2011

In this March 20, 2011 aerial photo taken by a small unmanned drone and released AIR PHOTO SERVICE, the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant seen in Okumamachi, Fukushima prefecture, northern Japan. From top to: Unit 1, Unit 2, Unit 3 and Unit 4. (Air Photo Service Co. Ltd., Japan)


20 March 2011

In this March 20, 2011 aerial photo taken by a small unmanned drone and released AIR PHOTO SERVICE, damaged Unit 4, left, and Unit 3 of the crippled Fukushima-ichi nuclear power plant are seen in Okumamachi, Fukushima prefecture, Japan. (Air Photo Service Co. Ltd., Japan)


20 March 2011

In this March 20, 2011 aerial photo taken by a small unmanned drone and released AIR PHOTO SERVICE, the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant seen in Okumamachi, Fukushima prefecture, northern Japan. From left: 1, partially seen; Unit 2, Unit 3 and Unit 4. (Air Photo Service Co.., Japan)


20 March 2011

In this March 20, 2011 aerial photo taken by a small unmanned drone and released AIR PHOTO SERVICE, the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant seen in Okumamachi, Fukushima prefecture, northern Japan. From right to: Unit 1, Unit 2 and Unit 3. (Air Photo Service Co. Ltd., Japan)


20 March 2011

In this March 20, 2011 aerial photo taken by a small unmanned drone and released AIR PHOTO SERVICE, the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant seen in Okumamachi, Fukushima prefecture, northern Japan. From right to: Unit 1, Unit2, Unit 3 and Unit 4. (Air Photo Service Co. Ltd., Japan)

In this Saturday, April 2, 2011 photo released by Tokyo Electric Power Co.), leaking radioactive contaminated water drain through crack of a pit, right, into the sea, near the Unit 2 reactor of Fukushima-ichi nuclear nuclear power plant in Okumamachi, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. (Tokyo Electric Power Co.)

In this Saturday, April 2, 2011 photo released by Tokyo Electric Power Co.), the inside view of the maintenance pit of Unit 2 reactor, where radioactive water spilled into the sea through a crack, is photographed pouring concrete into it to keep from further leas, at Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant in Okumamachi, Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan. Electric Power Co.)

In this Saturday, April 2, 2011 photo released by Tokyo Electric Power Co.), the maintenance pit of Unit 2 reactor, where highly radioactive spilled into the sea through a crack, is photographed after pouring concrete into it to keep from further leak, at Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Okumamachi, Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan. Electric Power Co.)

In this Friday, April 1, 2011 photo released by Tokyo Electric Power Co.), a TEPCO employee points at a crack newly discovered in a maintenance on the edge of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear nuclear power plant in, Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan. The crack was apparently by the March 11 earthquake and may have been leaking since then, said company’s spokesman Osamu Yokokura. (Tokyo Electric Power Co.)

In this Friday, April 1, 2011, photo released by Tokyo Electric Power Co., for the company experimentally spray adhesive synthetic resin over ground at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Okumamachi, Japan. TEPCO expects the resin spraying to prevent dust exposed radiation materials from spreading out of the premises. (Tokyo Electric Co.)

In this photo taken on Thursday, March 31, 2011 by Japan Maritime Self-Defense and released by Japan Defense Ministry Friday, April 1, JMSDF personnel in protective suits are aboard a tugboat towing a U.S. military barge pure water towards the quay of the tsunami-stricken Fukushima Dai-ichi complex in Okumamachi, Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan. Defense Ministry)

In this photo taken on Thursday, March 31, 2011 by Japan Maritime Self-Defense and released by Japan Defense Ministry Friday, April 1, Top parts of-damaged reactors from left, Unit 4, Unit 3, Unit 2 and Unit 1 of tsunami-stricken Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear complex are seen with ravaged facilities in Okumamachi, Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan. Defense Ministry)

In this photo taken on Thursday, March 31, 2011 by Japan Maritime Self-Defense and released by Japan Defense Ministry Friday, April 1, Unit 1, center, Unit 2, left, of the tsunami-stricken Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear complex seen with damaged waterfront facilities in Okumamachi, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. (Japan Defense Ministry)

In this photo taken on Thursday, March 31, 2011 by Japan Maritime Self-Defense and released by Japan Defense Ministry Friday, April 1, JMSDF personnel in protective suits spray water to clean a tugboat that towed a U.S. barge carrying pure water to the quay of the tsunami-stricken Fukushima-ichi nuclear complex in Okumamachi, Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern. (Japan Defense Ministry)

In this Thursday, March 24, 2011, photo available Friday, April 1, 2011,
inside of the Unit 4 at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant is seen Okumamachi, northeastern Japan. Steam comes out of debris by a crane device, green, at the unit, Kyodo reports. The March 11 earthquake off Japan’s coast triggered a tsunami that barreled onshore and disabled the Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. (Tokyo Electric Power Co.)

[Same area shown in following image.]

This image released by Japan Ground Self-Defense Force via Kyodo News shows inside of Unit 4 at the stricken Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant Okumamachi, Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan, Sunday, March 27,. (Japan Ground Self-Defense Force)

This image released by Japan Ground Self-Defense Force via Kyodo News shows 4 at the stricken Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Okumamachi, Prefecture, northeastern Japan, Sunday, March 27, 2011. (Japan Self-Defense Force)

In this image released by Japan Ground Self-Defense Force via Kyodo News, billows from Unit 3 at the stricken Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power in Okumamachi, Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan, Sunday, March, 2011. (Japan Ground Self-Defense Force)

In this photo released by Tokyo Electric Power Co. via Kyodo News, lighting available on Saturday, March 26, 2011 in the control room of Unit reactor at the stricken Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Okumamachi, prefecture, Japan. (Tokyo Electric Power Co.)

Small trucks drive through a road with a backdrop of Fukushima nuclear power, within near 30 kilometers’ (18 miles’) area from the crippled Fukushima-Ichi power plant in Minamisoma, Fukushima Prefecture, northern Japan,, March 30, 2011. (Kyodo News)

Only Unit 2 is covered with white concrete housing, seen on left of an iron on right, at the stricken Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in, Fukushima prefecture, Japan, on Tuesday, March 29, 2011. Other units, Unit 1 on right of the tower, Unit 4 and Unit 3, on left and respectively of another iron tower at second from left among the three, stand with only iron frames. (Unknown source)

In this Oct. 3, 2008 file photo, box-shaped six reactors of the Fukushima-Ichi nuclear power plant stand in line intact in Okumamachi in Fukushima (state), northeastern Japan. The operator of the stricken nuclear plant said Wednesday morning, March 16, 2011, a fire has broken out at its No. 4 reactor unit, bottom left. (Kyodo News)

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All Photos © Carsten Peter/National Geographic. Above: The lava at Nyiragongo is made of an alkali-rich volcanic rock; its unusual composition may be a factor in the lava’s fluidity.

Photographer Carsten Peter descended into the fiery center of Nyiragongo—an active volcano towering over a city of one million people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo—for the April issue of National Geographic magazine. See Carsten and his team explore the depths of Nyiragongo in Man vs. Volcano on the National Geographic channel. To see more of Carsten Peter’s work click here.

 

A member of the expedition walks on the caldera’s cooled lava floor, turned red by the reflected glow of the lake. “Down here you feel the volcano,” says photographer Carsten Peter. “It’s a low-frequency rumbling that pulses through your body – like being inside a giant subwoofer.”

Traders ferry logs and charcoal 12 miles from the forests around Nyiragongo to Goma, which continues to swell with refugees fleeing the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s war-torn east. The plume rising from the mountain reminds residents of yet another threat: eruption.

Many of the porters were local women, who huddled in the cold at the crater rim.

Rising gas bubbles explode, splattering lava up to 60 feet in the air over Nyiragongo’s fiery lake.

Constant bubbling sends waves of lava lapping over the rim. Scientists aren’t sure of the lake’s depth, though recent lava samples indicate the magma originated in the Earth’s mantle more than 46 miles below.

Photographer Carsten Peter tests the thermal suit that Sims used to get close to the lava lake. “It can protect you from the radiant heat, but if you get hit with a lava splatter, the force will likely kill you,” he says. For 30 years Peter has explored volcanoes around the world. “Seeing at close range the primal forces that shaped the planet can be hypnotic. You cannot allow yourself to fall under a volcano’s spell, especially one as unpredictable as Nyiragongo. That can be a fatal mistake.”

Tags: Carsten Peter, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Man vs. Volcano, National Geographic, Nyiragongo

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This property, made famous by the movie ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’, was designed by architects A. James Speyer and David Haid in 1953, and has recently been put on the market for $1.65 million. If storing your cars in style is high on your list of priorities then this may be the house for you. With a capacity for six cars this garage appears more like a showroom.

Formally known as the Ben Rose Home, it features open plan living and lots of it-this home is 5300sq ft! Uncluttered with clean lines the glass walled exterior brings the outside in. Sitting on approximately 1 acre of woods there are fabulous views from every floor to ceiling window. Comprising two steel and glass buildings cantilevered over a ravine this home is a truly unique piece of architectural history. Maybe car fanatics aren’t that interested in preparing feasts. Not quite a million dollar kitchen-but you do have a choice of two, and this galley kitchen retains a modern appeal with its white gloss cabinetry and stone top. One of the four bathrooms. And finally if you really can’t bear to be parted from your beloved car, bring it inside-there is probably even room for two! (Don’t say you haven’t seen this before )

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The wire services regularly send images to their member papers that feature the phrase „daily life.“ They send them from such places as India, Thailand, Japan, China, the Philippines, Syria, Nepal, Britain, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. With the exception of just a couple, the images in this post feature daily life in Pakistan by Associated Press photographer Muhammed Muheisen. The images document what we might call in newspaper terminology, „slice of life“ photography – ordinary daily scenes that give us a glimpse of something that we might not ordinarily be able to experience. The images, again with a few exceptions, focus on children. They are generally from Islamabad, Pakistan, or from a slum on the outskirts of the city. There wasn’t much information or details supplied for captions. In this case, the adage „A picture is worth a thousand words“ might just be the most apropos phrase. — Paula Nelson

Pakistani Mamouna Qamar, 4, holds her brothers’ hands, Shazaib, 6, and Zaman, 7, as they wait for their parents to cross a street in a neighborhood in Islamabad. (Muhammed Muheisen/Associated Press)

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A Pakistani girl held by her mother follow a man down an alley of a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad, the nation’s capital. (Muhammed Muheisen/Associated Press) #

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Pakistani children gather by a vendor on a bicycle selling balloons on the outskirts of Islamabad. (Muhammed Muheisen/Associated Press) #

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A Pakistani boy eats fresh corn and holds a balloon while standing in an alley of a poor neighborhood near Islamabad. (Muhammed Muheisen/Associated Press) #

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Pakistani children play in a wooden cart in a slum area on the outskirts of Islamabad. (Muhammed Muheisen/Associated Press) #

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An Afghan refugee adjusts her head scarf as she stands with other girls in an alley of a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad. (Muhammed Muheisen/Associated Press) #

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A Pakistani school girl writes on a blackboard during an English class in an outdoor school in a slum near Islamabad. (Muhammed Muheisen/Associated Press) #

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A pair of performers — a trained monkey and his owner — await customers on a roadside in Islamabad. (Muhammed Muheisen/Associated Press) #

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An Afghan refugee girl walks through an alley of a slum heading back home on the outskirts of Islamabad. (Muhammed Muheisen/Associated Press) #

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Pakistani girl Aysha Gulfeyaz, 3, drinks water from a hand pump near Islamabad. (Muhammed Muheisen/Associated Press) #

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A Pakistani girl laughs with another while carrying wood in a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad. (Muhammed Muheisen/Associated Press) #

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Two Afghan refugee sisters and a Pakistani girl attend a daily class to learn how to read verses of the Koran, at a mosque in a slum area on the outskirts of Islamabad. (Muhammed Muheisen/Associated Press) #

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Pakistani boys attend a Koran class in a mosque near Islamabad. (Muhammed Muheisen/Associated Press) #

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Afghan refugee girls sit behind a wooden cart in a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad. (Muhammed Muheisen/Associated Press) #

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A Pakistani boy enjoys an amusement ride on a wheel near Islamabad. The cart reads in Urdu, „Happy Eid, from London to America“. Eid is a festival that marks the end of the Ramadan holiday month. (Muhammed Muheisen/Associated Press) #

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Pakistani girls arrange bricks while working in a brick factory on the outskirts of Islamabad. (Muhammed Muheisen/Associated Press) #

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Pakistani Christian boys play games in a basement of their neighborhood, a slum near Islamabad. (B.K.Bangash/Associated Press) #

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Boys gather by a vendor selling tropical fish on his bicycle on the outskirts of Islamabad. (Muhammed Muheisen/Associated Press) #

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Mohammed Ali, 5, stands next to his mother while they queue with other women and children for rations of rice during a donated food distribution, at the Beri Iman, a shrine of the famous Sufi Saint Beri Imam, in Islamabad. (Muhammed Muheisen/Associated Press) #

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A laborer transports the front portion of a van through his handcart on a road in Rawalpindi, a city near Islamabad. (Anjum Naveed/Associated Press) #

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An Afghan refugee girl stands with others in an alley of a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad. (Muhammed Muheisen/Associated Press) #

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Pakistani children walk on a hill on the outskirts of Islamabad. (Muhammed Muheisen/Associated Press) #

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A street barber (right) gives a haircut to a customer, reflected in a mirror, in Gujranwala, near Lahore, the nation’s second-largest city and a center of culture. (Muhammed Muheisen/Associated Press) #

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Pakistani children cross over a stream using an aerial ferry in Rawalpindi. (Muhammed Muheisen/Associated Press) #

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Children, seen from inside a rickshaw, gathering in a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad. (Muhammed Muheisen/Associated Press) #

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A young girl waits next to her mother as she and others queue for a ration of rice during a donated food distribution at the Beri Iman, a shrine of famous Sufi Saint Beri Imam, in Islamabad. (Muhammed Muheisen/Associated Press) #

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A girl walks a horse in an alley of a slum area on the outskirts of Islamabad. (Muhammed Muheisen/Associated Press) #

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Pakistani youngsters, who sell shopping bags for a living, fight each other at a market in Islamabad. (Anjum Naveed/Associated Press) #

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Two Afghan refugee girls wash their laundry in a stream in a slum area on the outskirts of Islamabad. (Muhammed Muheisen/Associated Press) #

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Children play as the sun sets in a slum in Lahore. (K.M. Chaudary/Associated Press)

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