100 Places To See In Your Lifetime-Heaven On Earth#59-Tallinn, Estonia-"The capital of Estonia, Tallinn sits on a bay in the Gulf of Finland. A settlement there was begun more that 2,000 years ago, but most of the interest today derives from the fairy-tale feeling fostered by its undeniably medieval atmosphere. It is a delight to stroll the cobblestone streets laid inside the old city walls, with all the red-tiled roofs and pewter-coloured steeples."










Japanese Favourite Stories-The Robe Of Feathers "Once there was a fisherman who lived all alone on a tiny island in Japan. He was very poor and very lonely. Early one morning he started toward his boat; there had been a bad storm the night before, but now the sun was shining brightly. As he walked along, he saw something hanging on a branch of one of the pine trees along the beach. It was beautiful and shining. He took it down from the branch and found that it was a wonderful robe made of feathers. The feathers were of all different colours, as lovely and soft as the rainbow; and they shined and sparkled in the sunlight like jewels. It was the most beautiful thing the fisherman had ever seen in his life. "Oh what a beautiful robe!" he said. "Its certainly a priceless treasure. There's no one else on my island so it can't belong to anyone. I'll take it home and keep it always. Then my poor home will be beautiful and I can look at the robe whenever I'm lonely." Holding the robe very carefully in his rough hands, he turned and started to carry it home. Just then a beautiful woman came running after him. "Mr. Fisherman, Mr. Fisherman," she called, "that's my robe of feathers that you're taking away. Please give it back to me. "She went on to explain that she was an Angel from heaven and that the robe of feathers was actually her wings. While she was flying through the sky, the storm had come and wet her wings so that she could not fly. So she had waited on this island until the sun came out and then had hung her wings out to dry on a pine tree, where the fisherman had found them. "So, you see, she finished, "if you don't give my wings back to me I"ll never be able to fly back to my home in heaven again." Then the woman began to weep The fisherman felt very sad for her. "Please don't cry," he said. "Of course I"ll give you your robe of feathers. If I'd known it belonged to anyone, I would never had touched it. "And he knelt down before her and handed her the robe. The Angel began at last to smile and her face was shining with happiness. "Oh thank you very much Mr. Fisherman." she said. "You're such a good mand that I'm going to dance the Angel's dance for you." Then the Angel put on the robe of many-coloured feathers and began to dance there before the fisherman. It was certainly the most beautiful dance the fisherman had ever seen, and probably the most beautiful dance that had ever been danced anywhere on this earth, since Angels usually dance their Angel's dance high up in the heavens. The air was filled with heavenly music, and the feathered robe sparkled in the sunlight until the entire island was wrapped in rainbows. As the Angel danced, she rose slowly in the air, higher and higer, until finally she disappered far up in the blue sky. The fisherman stood watching the sky and remembering the beautiful dance he'd seen. He knew that he'd never be lonely or poor again-not with such a beautiful memory to carry always in his heart."

9 Of The Most Polluted Cities In The World#5- Dzerzhinsk,Russia-"Between 1930 and 1998, Dzerzhinsk was the dumping site for 300,000 tons of improperly disposed of chemical waste. 300,000 people are affected by the city's chemical and toxic byproduct pollution, such as sarin and VX gas. The pollution is a result of Cold War-era manufacturing of chemical weapons. According to Mother Nature Network, in 2003, the city’s death rate surpassed its birth rate by 260 percent."