Dream Wallpapers: building

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Torcross, South Devon, England

Torcross, South Devon, England

(© Sebastian Wasek/age fotostock)

Torcross, on the Devon coast of southwest England, is just about the dictionary definition of an English seaside town. This fishing village on the English Channel has a freshwater lake called Slapton Ley on the west side and a nice stretch of beach called Slapton Sands facing the channel to the east.

Recent storms, especially the Valentine’s Day storm of 2014, have given Torcross and nearby villages a real beating. But Torcross soldiers on, with summer holiday visitors enjoying Slapton Sands and perhaps stopping in one of the local pubs for authentic fish and chips and a pint. Who’s ready to make the trek?

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Ronda in Málaga Province, Spain

Ronda in Málaga Province, Spain

(© Marcp_dmoz on Flickr/Getty Images)

Ancient civilizations used this mountain perch in the south of Spain as a strategic location for fortified settlements, with Romans, Moors, and Visigoths each contributing to the modern-day city we now call Ronda.

Puente Nuevo is the bridge we see on the right side of this picture. It’s one of three bridges that straddle El Tajo canyon, the gap that separates Ronda’s two halves. At the base of El Tajo runs the Guadalevín River, supplying Ronda with water and, these days, another breathtaking scene to delight visitors to the city.

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Reykjavik, Iceland

Reykjavik, Iceland

(© Arctic-Images/Getty Images)

Like the wild variations of the landscape elsewhere in the country, Reykjavik is a city of contrasts. The population isn’t much more than 100,000, but the city has the feel of a bigger urban setting and is well known for its nightlife. Check any good travel guide and you’ll see that many music venues and bars in Reykjavik don’t fill up until midnight on weekends and then rage on into the early morning hours. But it’s not just a party town – museums, natural wonders, unique landmarks, and many stunning works of modern architecture all draw a steady stream of visitors to the world’s northernmost national capital.

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Hoover Dam

Hoover Dam, on the border between Arizona and Nevada

© George Steinmetz/Corbis)

Happy birthday, Hoover Dam! President Franklin Roosevelt dedicated this engineering marvel 80 years ago today, and it still stands as a testament to the ingenuity, perseverance, and sheer hard work of the thousands who labored in harsh conditions for over five years to tame the flow of the mighty Colorado River and turn it into hydroelectric power.

When it was completed, Hoover Dam was the largest dam in the world. It required nearly 88 million cubic feet of concrete, which made it the first single structure to use more masonry than the Great Pyramid of Giza. All that concrete was poured into individual, rectangular-shaped sections that were then cured using over 582 miles of cooling pipes. If the concrete had been poured in a single, continuous pour—and left to cool naturally—it would still be settling today.

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Lightning over Kowloon, Hong Kong

Lightning over Kowloon, Hong Kong

(© Daniel Chui/Moment/Getty Images)

The skyline of Kowloon may be the most recognizable part of Hong Kong. Perhaps tonight lightning from Mother Nature will outdo the lights of the city. Still, Kowloon – a region of Hong Kong, but nearly a city of its own – will put up a good fight. Every night its skyscrapers are lit up in sync with music, as part of "A Symphony of Lights," a spectacular multimedia light and sound show that illuminates the Hong Kong waterfront.

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