Cordoba, the City of Flowers

17 Magical Pics Of Japan’s Cherry Blossom By National Geographic

by James Gould-Bourn

 Few places in the world do spring like Japan does spring. The vibrant and delicate cherry blossom is, after all, one of earth’s most majestic natural wonders, and there’s nothing quite like strolling beneath those ephemeral petals and marveling at how amazing mother nature can be.

To celebrate the arrival of Japan’s most magical season, National Geographic invited community members to send in their best photographs of the country’s famous cherry blossom. Take a look at the pictures below to see for yourself the stunning submissions they received.

the Japanese take their cherry blossom very seriously. The Meteorological Agency even provides a dedicated forecast for cherry blossom season. The blossom moves north in what’s known as a “sakura zensen”, and people keenly track the progress of this cherry blossom front as it makes its way up-country.

More info: National Geographic

Sakura River

Image credits: Danilo Dungo

White Wall

Image credits:  Masayuki Yamashita

Land of mist

Image credits: Yoshiki Fujiwara

Evening cherry blossoms

Image credits: Aurora Simionescu

Japan’s Cherry Blossom Festival

Image credits: Ryan WH

Pink sakura and pink line

Image credits: Masayuki Yamashita

Sakura Reverie

Image credits: S. Ohtani

A train passing by in spring

Image credits:  Janvika Shah

Cherry Blossom

Image credits:  Jessica W. / Carmen Măduța

The color of the cultivation in spring

Image credits: Hiroki Inoue

Old couple

Image credits: Joe Ishikawa

After fall of Sakura

Image credits: Danilo Dungo

Tunnel of cherry blossoms

Image credits: Jessie Meyer

Spring evening

Image credits: Sho Shibata

Sakura blizzard

Image credits: Joydeep Dasgupta

Chidorigafuchi

 

 

 

 

 

19 Incredibly Intricate Pieces of Paper Art

The intricacy of this art, simply cut out of paper, left me completely stunned at the amount of patience and effort that went into creating something so small, yet so beautiful. It is the work of Indian artist Parth Kothekar, who began creating her little wonders following a period of experimentation with graffiti stencils.

A thought occurred to her - what if she could create stencils, but in an inverse fashion? That thought was the catalyst for the artwork to come into being, and following further encouragement from her friends and family, she went professional and began to create her unique paper artwork for a living. 

She says she is intrigued by the fact that she never quite knows what the final output is going to be - she can only make a calculated assumption of how a piece of art might look. Take a look for yourself:

See more of Parth Kothekar's paper art here.

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

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Cordoba, the City of Flowers

Cordoba is an ancient city in the south of Spain, the capital of Moorish Spain. The city is a virtual maze of winding streets, modern and antique merchandise, dotted by colorful coffee shops, which, at night, move to the spontaneous beat of flamenco dancing. Here visitors can find the 'Calleja de las Flores' - the street of flowers!

The city is located on the banks of the Guadalquivir river, and its easy access to the mining resources of the Sierra Morena (coal, lead, zinc) satisfies the population’s needs.

During the 10th century, it was the second richest city in the Muslim empire (after Baghdad), to which learned men from all Europe came to study during the 11th and 12th centuries.

The city eventually declined,  especially during Renaissance times. In the 18th century it was reduced to just 20,000 inhabitants. The population and economy started to increase only in the early 20th century.

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