Things to Do in Washington Dc

Vienna was the home of the Liechtenstein Princely Family for generations until the Anschluss (annexing of Austria into Nazi Germany) of 1938 forced them back to their tiny mountain principality between Switzerland and Austria. The family left behind not one but two palaces full of treasures.

After decades of gathering dust, Prince Hans-Adam II's private collection of artwork, showcasing masterpieces from the 16th to the 19th centuries, was transferred back to Vienna and installed into the fabulously ornate Garden Palace.

The Princely Collections make up one of the most valuable and important private art collections on earth. Highlights include the highly elaborate and inlaid 16th-century Badminton Cabinet and a number of Renaissance and Baroque works, including no less than 30 paintings by Flemish artist Pieter Paul Rubens. You'll also find pieces by Franz Hals, Anthony Van Dyck, Rembrandt, and Raphael. An ornate carriage, gilded and adorned with painted side-panels of cherubim painted in the workshops of Boucher, was made by Parisian craftsman Nicholas Pineau in 1738, and is a rare survivor of the French Revolution.

From the height of ancient Greece and Egypt, into the Iron and Islamic Ages and through much of the 17th century, the frankincense trade thrived throughout the Arab Peninsula, North Africa, the Mediterranean, India and China. Caravans, or traveling groups of traders, would walk the Silk Road throughout these areas and form makeshift settlements close to their most valuable products; few were more lucrative to trade than frankincense.

An aromatic resin used as incense in religious ceremonies and private homes, frankincense is harvested by peeling the bark from its hardy namesake tree (also known as Boswellia sacra), which can grow just about anywhere "“ even out of solid rock. Technically called olibanum, and especially sacred to Jews for its appearance in the Torah, the resin was given its more common name when Frankish Crusaders brought it back with them to Europe.

In the Dhofar province of southern Oman, the World Heritage Site is composed of the ancient frankincense trees at Wadi Dawkah, the remains of the caravan settlement of Shisr and Wubar, and the trade ports of Khor Rori and Al-Baleed, bordering the Arabian Sea. This area is one of the world's greatest sources of evidence of the culturally influential frankincense trade, and offers well-preserved examples of medieval-era Arabian architecture.

These days, frankincense remains big business in Oman, and can be purchased from dedicated tradesmen in markets all over the country.

Named after the Egyptian President who started the process, Lake Nasser is a result of the construction of the Aswan High Dam which effectively modernised Egypt, doubling its electic supply and significantly increasing the amount of agricultural land. Between 1958 and 1970, the Nile River was dammed, causing much controversy, and forming Lake Nasser (83% of which is in Egypt, the rest lying in Sudan and called Lake Nubia). The lake is 340 miles (550 km) long, and 22 miles (35 km) across at its widest point.

The lake covers the entire area which once housed Nubain villages containing hundreds of thousands of people. They were relocated to new areas and the Sudanese port and railway town of Wadi Halfa rebuilt. Today ferries cross the lake from Aswan to Wadi Halfa and this is the only connection between the two countries: there is no paved road link. The alternative is to fly. The lake is popular for Nile perch fishing and boating.

The palm tree-lined sand and turquoise-blue water await you in Lemon Lagoon Bay. Known for dreamy water , beautiful coastline and one of the best beaches in all of the Domincan Republic, Lemon Lagoon Bay is a paradisiacal escape into the virgin sun. Underwater coral reefs house abundant tropical wildlife and so Lemon Lagoon Bay is a popular place to spend the day snorkeling, kayaking, lounging by the beach, or even romping through the sand on a bumbling dune buggy exploring the beautiful coast.

Laudat is a tiny village of about 300 people in the interior of Dominica. Because it sits just at the edge of the boundary of the Morne Trois Pitons National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site, Laudat is considered the gateway to the park, and it is the jumping off point for many tours and attractions in and around the park, including the boiling lake, Titou Gorge, the Valley of Desolation, Middleham Falls and much more. At 1,200 feet above sea level, Laudat is one of the island's wettest areas, getting about 350 inches of rain per year. It has a cool, misty atmosphere, nestled deep into the Dominican rainforest.