There was a dream that was Rome...

15 ancient wonders of the Eternal City 🧵

1. Trajan's Column

This stunning triumphal column was built in AD 113 to commemorate Emperor Trajan's Dacian Wars.

About 30 meters tall, it was likely constructed under the supervision of the architect Apollodorus of Damascus.

15 mountain views that don’t look real 🧵

1. A 360° view from the top of Mt. Everest

2. Sunset in the Dolomites

15 places where nature doesn’t look real 🧵

1. Grindelwald, Switzerland

2. Avenue of the Baobabs, Madagascar

The beauty of trompe-l'œil - a thread 🧵

1. The 3D ceiling of Galleria Borghese

2. This is not a real veil, it's marble.

The Veiled Virgin by Giovanni Strazza, 1850s.

15 Mediterranean villages that don’t look real 🧵

1. Positano, Italy

2. Èze, France

Between December 1883 and April 1884, Friedrich Nietzsche stayed in Èze on the French Riviera, drawing inspiration for the third section of Thus Spoke Zarathustra.

Today, the path he often walked is called "Nietzsche’s Path."

The beauty of the Eternal City - a thread 🧵

1. Sunset in Rome 2. The Roman Forum, developed in the late 8th to early 7th century BC, was the center of Roman political, religious, and commercial life.

It remained active for over 1,000 years, and declined into disuse by the 8th century AD.

Statues you (probably) didn't know existed🧵

1. In Istanbul, Turkey, they made a sculpture to honor the famous stray cat (Tombili) that used to sit in this position and watch the passers by. 2. The statue of Neptune in Gran Canaria

Places on Earth that don't look real - thread 🧵

1. Basilica Cistern, Istanbul 2. There's a place in Iceland where green fields, a yellow river, a black beach and the ocean meet.

15 cafes that look too beautiful to be real 🧵

1. New York Café, Budapest 2. Café im Kunsthistorischen Museum, Vienna

It’s hard to find the right words to describe the Café-Restaurant in the museum’s Cupola Hall... it’s just that beautiful.

Robin Williams would’ve turned 74 today

This thread will brighten up your day 🧵

1. His improvised scene in Good Will Hunting made the cameraman laugh so hard the camera started shaking. Matt Damon's reaction is authentic. 2. Robin Williams was among the first to visit Christopher Reeve in the hospital after the accident that left him paralyzed.

Disguised as a doctor and speaking in a thick accent, he announced he was there to perform a rectal exam, causing Reeve to laugh for the first time.

Vincent Van Gogh’s paintings come to life 🧵

1. Café Terrace at Night, 1888 2.  Seascape near Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, 1888

15 bridges that don’t look real 🧵

1. The ‘reverse bridge’ in the Netherlands

2. The Golden Bridge, Vietnam

This 150-metre-long (490 ft) pedestrian bridge, located in the almost otherworldly Da Nang’s Hòa Vang district, is supported by two giant hands that appear to lift it into the sky.

What we do in life, echoes in eternity.

15 architectural marvels that have withstood the test of time - a thread 🧵

1. The Colosseum, Rome

2. The Pyramids of Egypt

Built from stones weighing 2.5 to 70 tons each, the Great Pyramid remained the tallest man-made structure for thousands of years.

Of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, it is the oldest and the only one still standing.

Beautiful things from the past - a thread🧵

1. Axe with heart-shaped holes, Japan, 1300s 2. Art Nouveau door handle, 1905

As William Morris once said during a lecture in 1880:

"Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."

The genius of the ancient Greeks 🧵

1. Carl Sagan explains how Eratosthenes knew the Earth was round and calculated its circumference over 2,000 years ago. 2. The Antikythera Mechanism, history's first analogue computer.

It could calculate the positions of the sun, moon, and planets, and even predict eclipses.

Experts are puzzled by how such advanced knowledge existed so early and then seemed to vanish for over a thousand years.

The beauty of nature’s perfection 🧵

1. This is what happens when a bubble freezes 2. Sunflowers consist of hundreds of tiny flowers arranged in nearly perfect symmetry

15 villages that seem too beautiful to exist

A thread🧵

1. Imerovigli, Santorini

2. This is a real place...

Gásadalur is a small village located on the west side of Vágar in the Faroe Islands.

Its population peaked at 23 in 2010 but had dropped to just 11 by 2020.

15 streets that don’t look real 🧵

1. Hanoi Train Street, Vietnam

2. Lomanstraat, Amsterdam

This street is framed by a unique archway of leaning London plane trees that create a tunnel-like shape.

It feels like something out of a dream.

15 castles that look too magical to be real🧵

1. Neuschwanstein Castle

2. Eltz Castle, Germany

This stunning medieval castle, perched above the Moselle River between Koblenz and Trier, has been owned by the Eltz family since the 12th century.

15 beaches you won’t believe are real 🧵

1. Ipanema beach looks like it’s not even Earth

2. Cala Mariolu, Sardinia

Last year, this breathtaking slice of paradise was named the most beautiful beach in Europe and the second most beautiful beach in the world.

15 Greek islands that don’t look real 🧵

1. Mykonos

2. Zakynthos

The Italian poet Ugo Foscolo was born on this otherworldly gem of the Ionian Sea, inspiring him to compose the sonnet "A Zacinto" as a tribute to the island:

"Never will I touch your sacred shore again..."