And now for something completely... beautiful! Look at this, then tell me - what's the loveliest place you've ever visited?

Probably this place in Manitoba called Gimli, which is a place for camping and all, but it’s also a Viking landing site. There’s a huge lake and it’s really pretty.

Lundar was another similar place, but way less civilized and in total wilderness. For that alone it was really awesome.

Even the outhouses ruled.

The Austrian Alps were beautiful, both outside and inside – if you ever have a chance, you should visit the Eisriensenwelt ice caves near Salzburg. Here is a picture of me by Mondsee Lake.

Here. This is the same place, just a larger view, and from a helicopter.

here for me… loved it.

I once dove in some cenotes in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico. Without a doubt, it was the most amazing dive I have ever done, and was one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.

In case you were wondering what a cenote is.

@FishGutsDale Those mountains are unreal! So cool.

@tragiclikebowie Thank you! It was the perfect day for it up there. Tallest mountain in Europe, Switzerland.

Also, Sunset in Santorini was amazing.

@FishGutsDale You’re welcome :)
@jeffgoldblumsprivatefacilities Are cenotes also known as “blue holes”?

The pics I posted are of a volcano.

The loveliest place I’ve been is probably Panther Falls, VA.
It was SO gorgeous there. Plus you could see the stars. What more could you want?
@FishGutsDale FRIEND REQUEST. Because I’m a creep.

@tragiclikebowie I don’t think so. In my understanding, blue holes are primarily vertical caverns that aren’t always associated with oceanic waters (I know of one in New Mexico). Cenotes run horizontal to the land surface, are fed by a freshwater source, and usually open into an ocean. The mix of fresh and saltwater is often what makes for a unique assortment of aquatic creatures.

@rangerr hahaha ADD ME!

Watts in Southern California.

@davidbetterman pictures please

Here and here

These are all awesome pictures, everyone. Some of these places I really want to visit now.

I have been to many places around the world, but one of my absolute favorites is the rocky shores of Lake Tahoe, Nevada.

Just look at the color of the water and the rocks. It’s beautiful.

@DominicX wow, great pictures.

@FishGutsDale

I didn’t take them, for the record. :( I just found it easier to post them from my PB because some of the links were messing up. But it really is beautiful and next time I go during the summer (which will be this summer!) I am going to take many pictures, along with a ton on my mountain biking adventures in the area.

My family has a home on the shore of the lake on the Nevada side. It’s the closest there is to paradise, in my opinion. :)

Either Scotland, Sweden, or Saint Croix All the places were radiantly beautiful.

@ChaosCross – I really want to visit Scotland, because my grandmother was born there. I also want to visit Ireland and Italy (where my other grandparents were born)

Yosemite National Park

@davidbetterman Thanks for the pics – to each his own, I guess.

Are you being serious? Is this a joke question?

This view is my favorite because when I see this I know that in a few minutes I will be sitting on a sun covered deck looking out over the Gulf of Mexico with a margarita, my wife and sis-in-law telling naughty jokes, getting pleasantly hammered and eating grilled grouper.

Guilin, China
@Zen_Again that looks like the fortress of solitude!

Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park in the UP of Michigan. Click on the photo contest winners and you’ll see what I’m talking about. this place is heaven to me.

The Canadian Rockies are beautiful, as is pretty much any part of Kuaui. But Yosemite is the most breathtaking place I’ve ever been. It’s just… well, breathtaking.

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

Found in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Beautiful.

edit: Kauai. Not Kuaui.

When i lived in Germany i went to the black foret and the castle there is amazing.

@suncatnin Aren’t the stars just mind blowing? The first night I was there we (my mom and I) were on the beach just staring at them for hours with the little ghost crabs keeping us company. I was freaking out for a good 15 minutes because I just couldn’t believe it.

@jonsblond @J0E Huh, who knew Michigan was so pretty?

@tragiclikebowie It’s our little secret. Don’t tell anyone! ;)

@YARNLADY You mean you never vacationed in beautiful Watts, California?

@davidbetterman- The first picture you linked reminds me of the Templo Expiatorio de la Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. But the last pic is my favorite. It has a mail truck in it.

@AstroChuck I prefer ice cream trucks to mail trucks, but down in Watts, the ice cream trucks only sell heroin, cocaine and angel dust…
I wonder if the Watts Towers is/are a copy of those in Barcelona?!

(Because Picasa didn’t do what I thought it was going to do, I’m reposting this with link alterations. Thanks to the mods for a head’s up on my dumb.)

@tragiclikebowie Went to Maui in 2006 and went horseback riding down into the Haleakala crater. It was so surreal! Maui in general is absolutely gorgeous though, especially the sunsets. We went to the Big Island back in August (which also has nice sunsets ) which wins for the most variety of beauty from green sand beaches to Mauna Kea at sunset, and volcanic craters (I’d link to the active lava flow, but it doesn’t capture well in pictures), massive waterfalls, and, of course, honu (sea turtles. I was zooming way in with my camera for this one, I promise!). The most amazing thing I saw though was the Milky Way from 9300 ft elevation up Mauna Kea during Perseid meteor shower. I’ve never seen so many stars in my entire life!

@filmfann You so right!

@davidbetterman I lived within ear shot of the Watts riots in the 1965. We put up plywood across the front of our house, and hid in the back rooms in case the shooting spread.

@YARNLADY LOL…everyone was so scared that the riot would overflow out of the ghetto into the more affluent parts of the city…like what happened in one of the riots in the 80s…or maybe 90s!

@davidbetterman And even the less affluent places like I lived in with my young son and student husband. – 1992

@YARNLADY I was out of the city by then, having moved to the Midwest…My friend called me during the riot of ‘92, complaining that the police weren’t going in after the rioters. He felt that the police should just mow them down, kill them all. I told him that the police were afraid because the rioters had better weapons than did the police. Turns out I was right!

That’s what we have the whisper for – off topic conversations. :-)

It’s too dang hard to read.

TRUE.

The reason people wait for sundown at Yosemite Falls.

Northern Idaho.