The Stelvio Pass is a mountain pass in northern Italy, at an elevation of 2,757 m above sea level. It is most dramatic mountain pass to drive and the highest paved mountain pass in the Eastern Alps, and the second highest in the Alps, just 13 m below France\’s Col de l\’Iseran (2,770 m). The Stelvio Pass was originally built to link the Austrian Province of Lombardia with the rest of Austria. More than 75 km of twisty windy-winding, uphill-downhill hairpin bends and steep climbs rising over 1871 metres, it is a drive that will take your steep hill, handbrake start, clutch-holding skills to the limit.

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Hearst Castle is located on California Highway 1, about halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles, near San Simeon, California, on a hill overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Driving time from either city is four to six hours. Hearst Castle featured 56 bedrooms, 61 bathrooms, 19 sitting rooms, 127 acres of gardens, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, tennis courts, a movie theater, an airfield, and the world’s largest private zoo. The Indoor pool appears to be styled after an ancient Roman bath such as the Baths of Caracalla in Rome c. 211-17 AD. The mosaic tiled patterns were inspired by mosaics found in the 5th Century Mausoleum of Galla Placidia in Ravenna, Italy.

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Owls are symbols of wisdom for some cultures, for the others they are harbingers of doom and death. Owls are the silent hunters of the night. They are active only at night. Large eyes collect all available light, even if it is only the light of the moon. Their sensitive ears can hear the tiniest scampering sound of prey and soft wings make them silent stalkers. Many kinds of owls have two tufts of feathers on the top of the head.

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