Lake Minnewanka in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada. (Wayne Simpson) Photographer Wayne Simpson has taken photos in some of the harshest weather conditions in Canada, but according to the Ontario-based photographer, it is those treacherous environments that produce some of his best photos. “In some of these photos the weather was really miserable,” Simpson told Weather.com. “I often find that the more uncomfortable I am, the more original the image, because no one else is crazy enough to be out...

In this June 29, 2013 photo, tourists look at the Forbidden City on a hazy day in Beijing, China. China’s latest tourism slogan 'Beautiful China' has been derided as particularly inept at a time when smog has drawn attention to the environmental costs of China’s industrialization. (AP Photo/Alexander F. Yuan) BEIJING — Forget all the headlines about eye-watering pollution in Beijing and Shanghai — the Middle Kingdom's latest tourism slogan invites visitors to "Beautiful China." Adorning buses and trains in...

Technicians walk the Acqua Vergine aqueduct, one of 11 Roman aqueducts that supply the fountains of Rome, including the Trevi Fountain. Speleologists are completing the first-ever mapping of the aqueducts that supplied ancient Rome and still run underground and along viaducts. (ANDREAS SOLARO/AFP/Getty Images) Rome is dotted with thousands of fountains, many known for its historical and artistic significance. While tourists flock to these magnificent structures, including the famous Trevi Fountain, less is known about the vast network of hidden...

Snakes in a spa? TheBali Heritage Reflexology and Spa in Jakarta, Indonesia is offering a unique massage treatment which involves placing pythons on a client's body. The "snake massage" is said to alleviate stress. The spa claims that the movement of the snakes and the adrenaline triggered by fear have a , according to CBS News. (MORE:) Some are skeptical about the spa's claims. When faced with a stressful situation, such as being covered in snakes, the , among other...

(Lionel Bonaventure/AFP/Getty Images) Airline passengers soon will be able to use devices such as tablets and e-readers throughout flights, the Federal Aviation Administration announced Thursday. The agency will be loosening , allowing the use of tablets, e-readers, DVD players and video game consoles during these critical phases of flight, according to NBC News. Connecting to the Internet remains prohibited when the plane is less than 10,000 feet in the air. during the entire flight, under a Federal Communications Commission rule,...

Only one-third of the Caves of Nerja in Andalusia, Spain can be visited, but the Plymouth Caving Club went on an expedition to enter previously unexplored passages in the cavern and captured some unbelievable photos. “We had to take a grueling two-and-a-half hour hike with a lot of gear to reach a new cave called Chupadora in which I pushed some new previously unexplored passage,” caver Josh Bratchley from Gunnislake, England told Caters News Agency. (MORE: 10 Spectacular Caves of...

A 'coven of witches' line up for a Halloween portrait dressed in festive witch's hats and improvised costumes circa 1910. (Tanscendental Graphics/Getty Images) The crisp autumn air means it's time to pick out a pumpkin, don a costume and get ready to trick or treat. And it's been that way for a long time. The history of Halloween goes back a long way - about 2000 years - with its roots as deep as the pre-Christian, pagan past of Europe,...

A rendering of how San Biagio island in Venice will look like as a theme park. The $110 million project, planned by Alberto Zamperla of Zamperla, will transform this abandoned island that once housed an incinerator. (AP Photo/Zamperla Press Office, HO) VENICE, Italy — An Italian company that built Coney Island's latest attractions and an amusement park in a never-activated nuclear plant in Germany on Wednesday unveiled plans to invest 80 million euros ($110 million) for a theme park in...

With 16 linked lakes, dozens of waterfalls, brilliantly green forests and dark caves, the Plitvice Lakes National Park in Croatia is one of the most breathtaking destinations in the world. Named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1979, the park attracts naturalists and hikers from across the globe. According to the park's website, the lakes have been attracting people to their shores since prehistoric times. The land has been admired and built on by Romans, Turks, and eventually Croatian farmers....

The 54-story Ponte City Apartments in Johannesburg, South Africa is one of the country's most iconic skyscrapers. Once known as one of the poshest addresses in the country, the cylindrical tower has been in a state of disrepair and decay due to years of neglect. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) With its 54-story cylindrical tower dominating the Johannesburg skyline, the Ponte City Apartments (or Ponte Tower) is the tallest residential building in Africa. It is also crowned by the largest sign in...

Transportation Security Administration personal checks traveler's identification at Chicago O'Hare International Airport on Friday, Nov. 1, 2013. A gunman armed opened fire at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday, killing a TSA employee. Flights were disrupted nationwide. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh) Thousands of fliers across the U.S. were delayed Friday after a shooting at Los Angeles International Airport closed parts of the airport. A prolonged shutdown at the nation's third largest airport will be particularly troublesome for those hoping to...

Hidden away in rural Poland is a small village with a dark secret. Czermna is home to the Kaplica Czaszek, also known as the Skull Chapel. Built in 1776 by local priest Father Waclaw Tomaszek, the chapel is decorated with 3,000 human bones and skulls, while another 20,000 bone fragments lie below the chapel in a crypt. Father Tomaszek was inspired by the Capuchin cemetery while on a pilgrimage to Rome, says the Polish National Tourist Office. With the assistance...