Amazing Photos 2012: The Best Pictures Of The Year, So Far

One of the many interesting places on this extraordinary planet:

Chefchaouen or Chaouen (Arabic: شفشاون/الشاون‎,Spanish: Chauen, lit. "horns") is a city in northwest Morocco. It is the chief town of the province of the same name, and is noted for its buildings in shades of blue.

Chefchaouen is situated in the Rif Mountains, just inland from Tangier and Tetouan. The city was founded in 1471,^[1] as a small fortress which still exists to this day, byMoorish exiles from Spain led by Moulay Ali Ben Moussa Ben Rached El Alami to fight the Portuguese invasions of northern Morocco.^[2] It was known as one of the main concentrations of Moriscos and Jews who sought refuge in this mountainous city after the Spanish Reconquista in medieval times.^[3] In 1920, the Spanish seized Chefchaouen to form part of Spanish Morocco. Spanish troops imprisoned Abd el-Krimin the kasbah from 1916 to 1917, after he talked with the German consul Dr. Walter Zechlin (1879–1962). (After defeating him with the help of the French force Abd el-Krim was deported to Réunion in 1926). Spain returned the city after the independence of Morocco in 1956.

Via a wonderful collection of photographs: Голубой город Шефшауен : НОВОСТИ В ФОТОГРАФИЯХ

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Tiny Kitten Takes On Big Doberman

Kitten loves her sleeping spot!

Kids creatively strutting their stuff while they exercise.

Street workout in Russia

Without any strutting. A little girl of extraordinary strength, grace, agility

A Hindu image: "MATSYA (Fish) Avatar: (Satya Yuga). During the deluge before the latest re-creation of the universe, the four Vedas
(the holy scriptures) which were required by Brahma for the re-creation, were drowned deep in the waters.Vishnu took the form of a fish to retrieve the sacred scriptures. Another legend has it that Vishnu in his Matsya Avatarinstructed Manu (the progenitor of mankind in each creation) to build a huge boat and gather samples of all species in it. The Matsya then pulled the ark to safety through the deluge and floods to enable Brahma to start the work of re-creation."

A yummy summer salad: watermelon, mango, tomatoes, greens, onions, feta and balsamic dressing