Ilyushin Il-76 in Umm Al Quwain, United Arab Emirates. The aircraft was built in 1975 in Uzbekistan, part of the Soviet Union. In the early Eighties it flew as a Soviet military transport plane under the registration CCCP-86715. After the collapse of the Soviet Union it flew for the Russian air force with the registration RA-86715 and then in the early Nineties it was sold to the Sharjah-based airline "Air Cess", a company formed by Sergei Bout, the brother of notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout, who was the inspiration for an arms dealer character played by Nicolas Cage in the 2005 film "Lord of War". The Il-76 landed at the airfield in Umm Al Quwain in 1999
Sunset over Rotenhagen, Westphalia a region in northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. View is towards the west overlooking the Teutoburg Forest a range of low, forested hills in the states of Lower Saxony and North Rhine Westphalia. In 9 AD, this region was the site of the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, when an alliance of Germanic tribes ambushed and decisively destroyed three Roman legions and their auxiliaries, led by Publius Quinctilius Varus
St. Isaac's Cathedral, St. Petersburg, Russia. Saint Isaac's Cathedral or Isaakievskiy Sobor is the largest orthodox basilica and the fourth largest cathedral in the world. It is dedicated to Saint Isaac of Dalmatia, a patron saint of Peter the Great, who had been born on the feast day of that saint. The cathedral's main dome rises 101.5 metres and is plated with pure gold. The dome is decorated with twelve statues of angels by Josef Hermann. These angels were likely the first large sculptures produced by the then novel process of electrotyping, which was an alternative to traditional bronze casting of sculptures. Montferrand's design of the dome is based on a supporting cast iron structure. It was the third historical instance of cast iron cupola after the Leaning Tower of Nevyansk (1732) and Mainz Cathedral (1826)
Sunset of the Mosque at 20 A Street, Al Satwa District, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Al Satwa (السطوة) is a community comprising high-density retail outlets and private residential dwellings. It is located southwest of Bur Dubai and adjacent to Sheikh Zayed Road. Originally, its residents were mainly of the Bloushi tribe. As the government provided better houses for emaratis staying here, only few Arabs are found residing here. Al Satwa is known for its large South Asian community, especially Filipino Nationals. It is often referred to as mini-Manila by Filipino community
Kremlin clock tower on Red Square in Moscow, Russia. The Kremlin Clock (Кремлёвские часы) or Kremlin Chimes, also known colloquially in the West as Moscow Clock Tower, is a historic clock on the Spasskaya Tower of Moscow Kremlin. The clock dial is above the main gates to Red Square. For decades, the chimes have rung on the quarter-hour, with bells tolling for each full hour
The Eiffel Tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France is a wrought iron lattice tower. The tower is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower from 1887–89 as the entrance to the 1889 World's Fair. It become a global cultural icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world. The Eiffel Tower is the most-visited monument in the world with over 6.91 million people/year. The tower is 324 meters (1,063 ft) tall, about the same height as an 81-storey building, and the tallest structure in Paris. Its base is square, measuring 125 meters (410 ft) on each side
Last catch of the day at the beach of La Teste-de-Buch, a commune in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. It is located on the south shore of Arcachon Bay, lying in the southwestern part of Gironde. La Teste-de-Buch is famous for the Dune du Pilat, the highest sand dune in Europe. It is also the site of a fictional battle during the Napoleonic wars depicted in Sharpe's Siege by Bernard Cornwell
Imamzadeh Saleh is one of many Imamzadeh mosques in Iran. The mosque is located at Tajrish Square in Tehran's northern Shemiran district. The mosque entombs the remains of Saleh, a son of the Twelver Shia Imam, Musa al-Kadhim, and is one of the most popular Shia shrines in Iran
"Crossing" at The Dune of Pilat (Dune du Pilat,), the tallest sand dune in Europe. It is located in La Teste-de-Buch in the Arcachon Bay area, France, 60 km from Bordeaux. The dune has a volume of about 60,000,000 m³, measuring around 500 m wide from east to west and 2.7 km in length from north to south. Its height is currently 110 meters above sea level
The Desert at view Qasr Al Sarab Located in the Liwa Oasis, the large oasis area in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The Liwa Oasis is about 97.6 km south of the Persian Gulf coast and 150 km SSW of the city of Abu Dhabi in the Al Gharbia (Western) Region, on the northern edge of Rub' al Khali desert. It is centered around 23°08′N 53°46′E and stretches about 100 km east-west, along an arch curved to the north. It consists of some 50 villages. The geographic and economic center of the oasis is Muzayri, where the highway from Abu Dhabi enters the oasis and then divides to the east (65 km to the easternmost village, Mahdar Bin Usayyan and 45 km to the westernmost village, Aradah)
"WInter in Dubai" - Flowers at the Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Blvd, Downtown Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Christmas has arrives at the Lazinser Alm, Moso In Passiria, Italy. The Lazinser Alm is located close to Pfelders (Plan) in South Tyrol (or Alto Adige), a province in northeast of Italy. The Pfelderer Valley is a tributary valley of the widespread Passeier valley, at an altitude of 1860 m. The area is surrounded by the National Park of Texel Hights, at the foothill of the Seelenkogels- (3426 m) and Hochwilden-Mountain (3482 m)
"Fly Emirates" - Emirates Airlines Boeing 777-31HER - Registration A6-ENU - First flight date 04/09/2014 - Engines 2 x GE GE90-115B - Manufacturer Serial Number (MSN) 41367 - Line Number 1236 on short final to Dubai on 22 November 2014
Garden view at the Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte, a baroque French château located in Maincy, near Melun, 55 kilometres (34 mi) southeast of Paris in the Seine-et-Marne département of France. Constructed from 1658 to 1661 for Nicolas Fouquet, Marquis de Belle Île, Viscount of Melun and Vaux, the superintendent of finances of Louis XIV, the château was an influential work of architecture in mid-17th-century Europe. At Vaux-le-Vicomte, the architect Louis Le Vau, the landscape architect André le Nôtre, and the painter-decorator Charles Le Brun worked together on a large-scale project for the first time. Their collaboration marked the beginning of the "Louis XIV style" combining architecture, interior design and landscape design. The garden's pronounced visual axis is an example of this style. The house and its grounds were used as the Californian home of the main villain Hugo Drax (Michael Lonsdale) in the 1979 James Bond film Moonraker
The Dune of Pilat (Dune du Pilat,), the tallest sand dune in Europe. It is located in La Teste-de-Buch in the Arcachon Bay area, France, 60 km from Bordeaux. The dune has a volume of about 60,000,000 m³, measuring around 500 m wide from east to west and 2.7 km in length from north to south. Its height is currently 110 meters above sea level
Monsoon at Yangon International Airport, Yangon, Myanmar. The airport is located in Mingaladon, 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) north of central Yangon (the airport is also colloquially known as Mingaladon Airport due to its location). During World War II, the airfield was called RAF Mingaladon and served as an operating base for fighter aircraft. After World War II, Yangon Airport was built on the former RAF Mingaladon in 1947 by the Calcutta Metropolitan Airports Authority. Once regarded as the best in Southeast Asia and the primary airport serving that region, the airport fell into disrepair and remained that way for decades. Currently, there are plans to build a completely new and larger airport, Hanthawaddy International Airport, on a much larger site and somewhat away from Yangon
The World or The World Islands (Juzur al-Ālam) is an artificial archipelago of various small islands constructed in the rough shape of a world map, located in the waters of the Persian Gulf, 4.0 kilometres (2.5 mi) off the coast of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The World islands are composed mainly of sand dredged from Dubai's shallow coastal waters, and are one of several artificial island developments in Dubai
"The arrow", 3 of the 12 Apostles on the rooftop of Notre-Dame de Paris ("Our Lady of Paris"), also known as Notre-Dame Cathedral or simply Notre-Dame, a medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité in the fourth arrondissement of Paris, France. The cathedral is widely considered to be one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture, and it is among the largest and best-known church buildings in the Catholic Church in France, and in the world. Part of the roof is setup as arrow. A first arrow was built above the crossroads of the transept around 1250
"Heading South" over the Andaman Sea, a marginal sea of the eastern Indian Ocean separated from the Bay of Bengal (to its west) by the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and touching Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, and the Malay Peninsula
Jockey at the Camel Racetrack in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
"Catwalk", Downtown Hanoi, Vietnam
Tajrish Bazaar, close to Tajrish Square in Tehran's northern Shemiran district. Tajrish bazaar includes a roofed passageway through which thousands of people pass en route to paying pilgrimage to Emamzadeh Saleh. The Tajrish neighbourhood is located along the northern edge of Tehran. This neighbourhood is one of the oldest parts of Tehran and during the last few decades, has become popular with the wealthy by virtue of the low levels of pollution, in turn created by the area's favorable location along Tehran's northern hills
Rape Fields in full swing, close to Langwieder River, outskirts of Munich, Germany
Climb out of Yangon, Myanmar view to the West over the flooding area of Yangon River reaching the Gulf of Martaban, part of the Andaman Sea.
The Yangon River (also known as the Rangoon River or Hlaing River) is formed by the confluence of the Pegu and Myitmaka rivers. The Twante Canal connects the Yangon River with the Irrawaddy Delta, once known as 'the rice bowl of Asia'. It consists of 3,000 km2 of lush teak plantations and mangrove swamps, many of which have now been cleared for rice production
Dhow Wharfage, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Located alongside the Dubai creek, the Dhow Wharfage was home to commercial vessels, docking at the Dubai Creek for more than a century. It was in the 1960s that the wharfage came to life after the then ruler Shaikh Rashid Bin Saaed Al Maktoum ordered dredging of the creek. Since 2018 Dhows will subsequently move away from Dubai Creek to a new wharfage opposite the Hyatt Regency Hotel, a three-kilometre-long wharfage that will allow more than 450 dhows to berth at a time, in an area which was earlier called Deira Corniche, opposite Hyatt Regency Hotel, stretching all the way to Deira Island (the former Palm Deira)
Schleißheim Palace, Oberschleißheim, Germany. The Schleißheim palace complex was founded by Duke Wilhelm V of Bavaria (1548-1626), who in 1597 purchased the isolated moorland farm of Schleißheim with its St Margaret's Chapel for a large sum of money from the Freising Cathedral chapter. The picture captures part of the "new Palace". Elector Max Emanuel, who was hoping to become the next emperor, had the New Palace built as his future residence. Originally planned as a four-wing complex, it was begun in the winter of 1700/01 under the well-known court architect Henrico Zuccalli
The Streets of Yogyakarta, Java, Indonesia. Also known as Jogja or Jogjakarta is renowned as a centre of education (Kota Pelajar), classical Javanese fine art and culture such as batik, ballet, drama, music, poetry and puppet shows. Yogyakarta is the capital of the Yogyakarta Special Region and was the Indonesian capital during the Indonesian National Revolution from 1945 to 1949, with Gedung Agung as the president's office. One of the districts in Yogyakarta, Kotagede, was the capital of the Mataram Sultanate between 1575 and 1640
Bo Soon Pat Street, Yangon, Myanmar. Yangon (formerly known as Rangoon, literally "End of Strife") was the capital of the Yangon Region of Myanmar, also known as Burma. Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government relocated the capital to the purpose-built city of Naypyidaw in central Myanmar. With over 7 million people, Yangon is Myanmar's largest city and its most important commercial centre. Yangon boasts the largest number of colonial-era buildings in Southeast Asia, and has a unique colonial-era urban core that is remarkably intact. The colonial-era commercial core is centred around the Sule Pagoda, which is reputed to be over 2,000 years old. The city is also home to the gilded Shwedagon Pagoda – Myanmar's most sacred Buddhist pagoda
A sculpture of a traditional Gulf couple in Downtown Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The white marble and black granite figures of a man in a khandoura and a woman in an abaya, called "Together", have been placed on Emaar Boulevard, close to the entrance of the Burj Khalifa. The 4.25 metre statues were designed by the Syrian artist Lutfi Romhein: "Man and woman - they stand for the origin of life, as well as the door of life," ... "They stand for strength and tenderness. They are different, yet so similar"
The Bay of Biscay, is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. It lies along the western coast of France from Point Penmarc'h to the Spanish border, and the northern coast of Spain west to Cape Ortegal. The south area of the Bay of Biscay washes the northern coast of Spain and is known as the Cantabrian Sea. The average depth is 1,744 metres (5,722 ft) and the greatest depth is 4,735 metres (15,535 ft)
Persian Gazelle or Rhim Gazelle (Gazella leptoceros) close to Bab Al Shams, United Arab Emirates. Also known as the slender-horned gazelle, sand gazelle or Loder's gazelle, is a pale-coated gazelle with long slender horns and well adapted to desert life. It is considered an endangered species because fewer than 2500 are left in the wild. These gazelles are found in Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Libya, United Arab Emirates and Sudan
A walk in the Park of the Nymphenburg Palace. It is a Baroque palace in Munich, Bavaria, southern Germany. The palace was the main summer residence of the former rulers of Bavaria of the House of Wittelsbach. The palace was commissioned by the prince-electoral couple Ferdinand Maria and Henriette Adelaide of Savoy to the designs of the Italian architect Agostino Barelli in 1664 after the birth of their son Maximilian II Emanuel. The central pavilion was completed in 1675. As a building material, it utilised limestone from Kelheim. The castle was gradually expanded
The Burj Khalifa, also known as the Burj Dubai before its inauguration in 2010, is a skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. With a total height of 829.8 m (2,722 ft) and a roof height (excluding the antenna) of 828 m (2,717 ft), Burj Khalifa has been the tallest structure in the world since its topping out in late 2008
Mayakovskaya Station of the Moscow Metro. The Moscow Metro is a rapid transit system serving Moscow, Russia and the neighbouring Moscow Oblast cities of Krasnogorsk, Reutov, Lyubertsy and Kotelniki. Opened in 1935 with one 11-kilometre line and 13 stations, it was the first underground railway system in the Soviet Union. As of 2018, the Moscow Metro excluding the Moscow Central Circle and Moscow Monorail has 214 stations and its route length is 364.9 km, making it the seventh longest in the world. The system is mostly underground, with the deepest section 84 metres underground at the Park Pobedy station, the world's deepest metro station
"Garden View" in Merano, a town and comune in South Tyrol, northern Italy. Generally best known for its spa resorts, it is located within a basin, surrounded by mountains standing up to 3,335 metres (10,942 feet) above sea level, at the entrance to the Passeier Valley and the Vinschgau. Picture is taken to the south, from the Ottmanngut towards uphill Via Galileo Galilei in Meran
Burj al Salam (far right), and its neighbours, Sama Tower (far left) and XXX Tower. Burj al Salam is a mixed use 56 floor tower along Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The construction of the tower was started in 2007 and was completed in 2013
The Palace of Fontainebleau or Château de Fontainebleau, located 55 kilometres (34 miles) southeast of the center of Paris, in the commune of Fontainebleau, is one of the largest French royal châteaux. The medieval castle and subsequent palace served as a residence for the French monarchs from Louis VII to Napoleon III. It is now a national museum and a UNESCO World Heritage Site
The Tsar Bell (Tsarsky Kolokol) on the grounds of the Moscow Kremlin, Moscow, Russia. The bell is the largest bell in the world, with a weighing of 201,924 kilograms (the broken piece weighs 11,500 kilograms), 6.14-metre tall, and 6.6-metre in diameter. The bell was commissioned by Empress Anna Ivanovna, niece of Peter the Great. The Tsar Bell is located between the Ivan the Great Bell Tower and the Kremlin Wall. Made of bronze, the bell cracked during a fire after being completed and has never been rung
The State Kremlin Palace, Kremlin, Moscow, Russia. The building was built at the initiative of Nikita Khrushchev as a modern arena for Communist Party meetings. Building work started in 1959 and was opened along with the 22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union on October 17, 1961. The building is a modern glass and concrete design, with nearly half of it (about 17 metres) submerged underground. The main hall is able to hold six thousand people and its acoustics was considered to be the most advanced at the time. It is the venue of the Kremlin ballet group. The State Kremlin Palace is a UNESCO World Heritage Site
GUM Icecream (display mock-up) at the GUM, Moscow, Russia. The most sought after Soviet ice cream in Russia is from Moscow’s main department store, GUM. Originally it came in crème brûlée, chocolate, or vanilla flavor and was served in a waffle cup. Many tourists who visited the Russian capital made stopping off at the store’s ice cream counter a priority. After all, it is close to Red Square, the Kremlin, Lenin’s Mausoleum, and St. Basil’s Cathedral. Its recipe is still kept a secret - even today - and remains very popular among Muscovites and travelers
Gorky Park (Gorky Central Park of Culture and Leisure) is a central park in Moscow, named after Maxim Gorky. Gorky Park, located at Krymsky Val and situated just across the Moskva River from Park Kultury Metro station, opened in 1928 and is covering and area of about 1,9 ha
The Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Russia, originally designed by architect Joseph Bové, which holds ballet and opera performances. The Bolshoi Ballet and Bolshoi Opera are amongst the oldest and most renowned ballet and opera companies in the world. It is by far the world's biggest ballet company, with more than 200 dancers. The theatre is the parent company of The Bolshoi Ballet Academy, a world-famous leading school of ballet.
The GUM (Glávnyj Universáľnyj Magazín) in Moscow, Russia is the cities main department store. It is the large store in the Kitai-gorod part of Moscow facing Red Square. Prior to the 1920s, the location was known as the Upper Trading Rows. With the façade extending for 794 ft (242 m) along the eastern side of Red Square, the Upper Trading Rows were built between 1890 and 1893 by Alexander Pomerantsev (responsible for architecture) and Vladimir Shukhov (responsible for engineering). The trapezoidal building features a combination of elements of Russian medieval architecture and a steel framework and glass roof, a similar style to the great 19th-century railway stations of London. William Craft Brumfield described the GUM building as "a tribute both to Shukhov's design and to the technical proficiency of Russian architecture toward the end of the 19th century
The lucky dog at Ploshchad Revolyutsii Staion (Metro), Moscow, Russia, one of the most famous stations of the Metro Stations, in the Tverskoy District of central Moscow. The bronze sculpture of a border guard with a (K-9) dog is probably one of the most popular statues of Moscow metro. There is a belief that rubbing dog's nose brings good luck with exams, which explains why the noses of all four dogs have been rubbed until they shine
Al Fursan ("The Knights") (here on display at the Skydive World-Championships in 2015) is the aerobatics demonstration team of the United Arab Emirates Air Force. It was formed in 2010 with Italian-built Aermacchi MB-339NAT jet aircraft. The team has a total of seven aircraft, all seven of which are used for performances
AeroSuperBatics Ltd is a British aerobatics and wingwalking team. As of 2011, they perform as the Breitling Wingwalkers (here on display at the Skydive World-Championships in 2016) following a sponsorship agreement with the Swiss watch manufacturer Breitling. They previously performed as Team Guinot, the Utterly Butterly Wing-walking Display Team and the Crunchie Wing-walking Display Team according to their sponsors at the time. AeroSuperBatics was founded in 1989 by Vic Norman, a veteran aerobatics pilot. It operates four Boeing-Stearman Model 75 biplanes and employs five pilots. The team's shows consist of two or four planes performing aerobatic manoeuvres while female athletes, attached to a post above the wings, engage in acrobatics
