Christmas Eve Quotes

All around the world Christmas Eve is celebrated and on Internet Christmas Eve quotes are the top search because people want to send sentimental words of appreciation for Christmas Holiday. 

Here I had collected the quotes for Christmas, some of these collected quotes are written by famous writers and some quotes writers are unknown.

Enjoy Christmas and share these quotes to your loved ones.

Here are the Christmas Eve quotes:

• “The grate had been removed from the wide overwhelming fireplace, to make way for a fire of wood, in the midst of which was an enormous log glowing and blazing, and sending forth a vast volume of light and heat; this I understood was the Yule-log, which the Squire was particular in having brought in and illumined on a Christmas eve, according to ancient custom.” Washington Irving
• “There’s nothing sadder in this world than to awake Christmas morning and not to be a child.” Erma Bombeck
• “Unless we make Christmas an occasion to share our blessings, all the snow in Alaska won’t make it ‘white’.” Bing Crosby
• “He who had not Christmas in his heart will never find it under a tree.” Roy L. Smith
• “I have always thought of Christmas time, when it had come around, as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys.” Charles Dickens
• “Even as an adult I find it difficult to sleep on Christmas Eve. Yuletide excitement is a potent caffeine, no matter your age.” Carrie Latet
• “ May the spirit of Christmas bring you peace, the gladness of Christmas give you hope, and the warmth of Christmas grant you love.” Author Unknown
• “Christ bless you with all His blessings on this Christmas” Author Unknown

Share all these quotes with your loved ones because as I know Christmas is name of sharing and caring for loved ones and closer ones.

The Statue of Zeus at Olympia

This is the statue of god in whose honor 1^st ever-Olympic games were held in the history of mankind. This statue of Zeus was located on the land name Olympia which given its very name to Olympics.

Its located on the west coast of modern Greece in the ancient town of Olympia almost 150km west of Athens.

 

There is opinion that the ancient Greek calendar starts in 776 BC the year in which Olympic games were started. The splendid temple of Zeus was built around 450BC and the architect Libon designed it and the Athenian sculptor Pheidias made statue of Zeus. He started working on the statue of Zeus around 440 BC. In making of statue wooden frames, metal sheets and ivory was used.

The beauty of temple attracted the people and worshippers from all over the world for years. The statue was repaired in 2 BC skillfully. In the first century AD the Roman emperor Caligula tried to shift the statue to Rome but he failed to shift it because the scaffolding built by workmen was collapsed. The emperor Theodosius I banned the Olympic games in AD 391 as Pagan practices and also the temple of Zeus was ordered closed. Later on Olympia faced the natural disasters like earthquake, landslides and floods, and the temple was damaged by fire in the 5^th AD. The rich Greeks transported the statue to Constantinople but it was destroyed in 462AD by massive fire.

Pheidias started working on the statue around 440BC and years earlier he developed a technique to build large size statues of gold and ivory. The workshop of Pheidias still exists in Olympia that can be a co incident that it’s so much identical in size and orientation to the temple of Zeus.

The base of statue was about 6.5 m (20 ft) wide and 1.0 (3 ft) high aside from its base the statue’s height was 13 m (40 ft) according to modern building heights its equal to a 4 story 4- story building.

The Lighthouse of Alexandria

Well out of all ancient Wonders only The Lighthouse of Alexandria had a practical use aside from its architectural significance. From centuries it ensured safe return to Harbor for Sailors. If we look at the structure of this ancient building even architects will agree that it was the tallest building on Earth. It was having great fascination for scientists because of its mysterious mirror. The mirror’s reflection can be seen more than 50km (35 miles) offshore.

This Great Lighthouse is located on the ancient island of Pharos now it’s within the city of Alexandria, Egypt.

After the death of Alexander the Great his commander Ptolemy Soter gained the power in Egypt and he established his capital in Alexandria. There was a small island off of the city’s coast called Pharos, it is said that Pharos is variation of Pharaoh’s Island. The island was connected to mainland through the means of a dike, which gave the city a double harbor. Because of flat coastline and dangerous sailing conditions that’s why a lighthouse on coast was needed.

Ptolemy Soter initiated the project in 290BC but his son Ptolemy Philadelphus completed it after his death. Its architect was Sostratus who belongs to same era of Euclid but details about its structure and accessories are carried out in Alexandria Library. The monument was dedicated to Savior Gods Ptolemy Soter and his wife Berenice. For centuries the Lighthouse of Alexandria had guided the sailors and ships to have a safe voyage   to harbor.

Later Egypt was conquered by the Arabs and in their writings and travelers accounts the Lighthouse is mentioned also. But new Arab rulers moved their capital to Cairo. The mirror of the Lighthouse was taken down mistakenly and it was not restored back into its place.

In 956 AD there was a destructive earthquake in Alexandria that caused some damage to the Lighthouse also. The earthquakes in 1303 and 1323 destroyed it almost completely as its mentioned by famous Arab traveler Ibn Battuta that when he visited Alexandria in 1349 he could not enter the ruinous monument or even climb to its doorway.

The final marks in history about the Lighthouse came in AD 1480, that time Egyptian Mamelouk Sultan Qaitbay decided to strengthen the Alexandria’s defense. He built a fort on the same location where the Lighthouse once standing, and in building of fort Lighthouse fallen marble and stones were used also.

From six vanished Wonders of the World the Lighthouse of Alexandria was the last one. Though there is sufficient accurate knowledge about its exact location as its described in ancient accounts such as those by Strabo and Pliny the Elder give the brief description of the Lighthouse that it was having a mysterious mirror could reflect the light tens of kilometers away and its also said that mirror was used to burn off the enemy ships.

There is detailed information about the Lighthouse given by an Arab traveler Abu Haggag Al-Andaloussi he visited there in 1166 AD. His description about the Lighthouse helped a lot the modern archeologists for reconstruction of the monument. The Lighthouse was composed of 3 stages the lowest square, 55.9 (183.4 ft) high with a cylindrical core; the middle octagonal with a side length of 18.30 m (60 ft) and a height of 27.45 m (90.1 ft); and 3^rd circular 7.30m (24 ft) high. The total height of the Lighthouse building including its foundation was 117 m (384 ft) that’s equal to a 40-story modern building. From inside the internal core was used as shaft to lift up the fuel needed for fire. The fuel for fire was used in night and in day the mirror was used for reflection of the light.

Though the Lighthouse of Alexandria won’t exist now but it had left great influence in different aspects for archeologists.

Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa

Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa is located in Alexandria, Egypt.

Alexandria was having different blends of culture in the late first century. It was having Roman and Greek traditions and Christianity was also flourishing despite from all that changes in culture ancient Egypt’s great kingdoms were still not forgotten. This place was having unique impact that people combine their talents rather than destroying cultures.

The evocative reminders of a culture that existed 1,900 years: Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa, “ Mounds of Shards”. Three levels burrow into the ground its carved out of solid rock near the sites of the ancient stadium and the long vanished temple of Serapis, a Greek and Egyptian god. Many such catacombs once filigreed Alexandria’s underground but earthquakes and construction projects destroyed them.

Kom el Shoqafa was not find out by any human that’s interesting also in 1900 when it was re discovered after centuries that was by a donkey which accidentally fell through a hole in the ground, and that time it was seen the animal had made an extraordinary archeological find.

Kom el Shoqafa was an active burial site in the late second century. There is ancient circular staircase leads down into the catacombs. The bodies were lowered by rope down the well formed by the spiraling stairs. At the end of the staircase there are two benches are carved into wall inches overhead by the cockleshell motif found in classical designs.

A circular building through a six-pillared central shaft opens off the vestibule. On the left there is triclinium, that’s the funeral banquet hall where friends and family gather on stone couches covered with cushions. It is believed by the scholars that the catacombs at 1^st may be were only for one family but latterly they were expanded into a mass burial site, and its assumed that was administrated by a corporation with dues paying members.

Down through staircase to second level there is an area eerily alive with sculpture. In the lobby of the building two pillars are topped by the papyrus, lotus, and acanthus leaves of ancient Egypt, two falcons flanking a winged sun decorate the frieze. In the walls there are carved figures of man and a woman probably can be figures of the tomb’s original occupants. The man’s body in figure is having stiff hieratic pose as its found in ancient Egyptian sculpture while his head is in the lifelike manner of the classic Hellenes and the woman’s figure is also rigid but it sports the Roman hairstyle.

Three huge stone coffins with non-removable covers along the sides of the chamber. It’s assumed that bodies were inserted in them from behind using a passageway that runs around the outside of the funeral chamber. There is a hallway with 91 wall inches in the central tomb chamber and each one providing burial space for three mummies.

The visitors can reach the first level through a breach in the rotunda wall that way probably was not used by the original builders. This way leads to the Hall of Caracalla, in this hall the bones of horses and humans were found. The hall name is on the name of Emperor Caracalla who massacred the Alexandrian youth in 215 AD.

Underwater River In Mexico

If you think that nature have limits about its wonders then in my view that will be a false thought. Still there are so many sights and wonders, which are waiting for any discovery by humans.

Beauty lies in the eyes of beholder well that’s correct. There are so many beautiful and amazing places on planet earth that we can’t see all of them in single sight. Beautiful beaches, islands, valleys and oceans always attract humans.

Thousands of people who love diving around the world they would never seen such beauty underwater that I am going to mention, yes if you are a professional diver then you should visit Cenote Angelita, Mexico.

In picture you can see underwater river. This place is Cenote Angelita, Mexico. When you go deeper than 30 meters the water is fresh, deeper than 60 meters its salty, there under beneath you can see a river with trees and leaves.

Though its not a real river but it looks like river. In fact that’s only a layer of hydrogen sulphide. But to be honest this is really amazing.

Most Mysterious Places Of the World

According to experts mysterious sites around the world were created by ancient civilization with the help of advanced knowledge and technology and that possibly can be more advanced than our current one.  Some do not believe that there was any so much advanced ancient civilization on earth and ancient astronauts who came down from heaven handed all of the superb knowledge down to us.

Most of scientists do not believe on up stated ideas they try to explain ancient enigmas on the ground of religion and ritual.

According to Discovery Channel there are 3 places, which are the Most Enigmatic Places in the World. But aside from that there are so many other places around the world that capture our imagination because they seem to be so mysterious.

Stonehenge

Stonehenge is one of the most popular mysterious places in the world.

It’s a megalithic monument on the Salisbury Plain in Southern England. It’s composed of 30 upright stones, which are called sarsens, each stone is ten feet tall with more 45 tons weight; they are aligned in a circle with 30 lintels (each lintel weight is 6 tons) perched horizontally atop the sarsens in a continious circle. Inside the outer circle there another circle composed of similar stones and constructed in same fashion.

There are so many great monuments around the world now question is that what is so special about Stonehenge? Who built this? Is it was an astronomical observatory, a religious site or something supernatural?  There are no exact answers for these questions.

According to some experts Druids built Stonehenge, but they can’t tell about the builders. It was constructed between 5,000 and 3,000 years ago, from that it’s easy to know that it was built before that the first metal tools were invented.

Apart from that who built this stone monument, but that anyone can understand that in its construction thousands of people were involved. Dragging huge stones from Marlborough Downs, 30 Km to the south of Stonehenge that is remarkable achievement and amazing feat of engineering.

Stonehenge is even mentioned in Arthurian legend that names Merlin as the engineer.

Another interesting thing is that Stonehenge is built on such angle that the sun rising over the horizon appears to be perfectly placed between gaps in the megaliths.

Nazca Lines

Nazca Lines the excellent group of geolyphs in the world located in Nazca Desert, between the towns of Nazca and Palpa on the Pampas de Jumana in Peru. Engraved on the surface of the desert pampa sand about 300 figures made of straight lines, geometric shapes and pictures of animals and birds. All these engraved drawn images on the desert can be seen only from the air.

There are three mysterious features about Nazca Plateau:

·        The straight lines in the pattern of crossing lines in all directions are many kilometers long.

·        Many of lines form geometric shapes like angles, triangles, bunches, spirals, rectangles, wavy lines, etc.

·        Those lines form animal patterns also.

It is believed that the people called Nasca drew these lines but how they created this wonder of the world no one had explained. As the Nazca lines cannot be viewed except from the air it is assumed that the Nazca people had never seen their work from this vantage point.

Easter Island

Easter Island, which is called Rapa Nui in local language, is located in the southeastern Pacific Ocean and it’s under control of Chile government.

It is small, hilly, treeless island of volcanic origin.  It is one of most isolated inhabited territory on earth but this aspect is cause of its fame, the thing which makes it apart from any other place on earth is its hundreds of megalithic human like statues that face inland from the shore. These statues are called moai.

Approximately all moais are carved out of compressed, easily worked volcanic ash. In these moais largest ones weight is 165 tons and its height is almost 22 meters.

It really looks mysterious that on a barren island how these mega statues were carved? Who built these and why? And how such gigantic statues were carved?

Scholars are unable to answer these questions some suggest that Easter Island inhabitants, the Rapanui who were came from Polynesia.

Easter Island is also known as Te-Pito-O-Te-Henua, meaning “The Navel of the World” and as Mata-Ki-Te-Rani, meaning “ Eyes Looking at Heaven”.

Highway from Hell (Lena Highway)

As there is a saying that a picture is worth a thousand words. So before watching pictures down read few words before also so that you can know what is that muddy way? Where it’s located?

This is Russian Federal Highway and it is between capital city Moscow and Siberian city Yahutsk. This muddy swamp road is called Lena Highway and its 600 miles long. This road is parallel to the Lena River on the final leg to Yakutsk.

Though it is federal Highway, but it’s not the Highway, as u can see from pictures as you haves, in my opinion it called highway because it makes people’s BP high and vehicle down in mud.

Its not like that Russian Government is so poor to make a concrete road there, there in pictures you can see its dirt road, and naturally its on such surface that concrete road cant be made on that. In winters it gets frozen and makes and excellent surface, those vehicles can run on it at speed of 70 Km/h. But in summers with any significant rain it becomes a mud swamp, which often swallows the whole small vehicles.

It is said that this road melts down to 1 meter every summer from 2 to 3 months mostly in July and August and that makes it impossible to build a usual concrete or asphalt road. Though Russian Government had tried but cant succeeded.

But this is true that Siberian city Yakutsk is always cut off from world in much time of summer. Yakutsk is only accessible through boat or plane. Though we are in 21^st century but still Yakutsk is far from world. People there living is poor and suffering and this road makes their sufferings more in summer because they cant afford a plane to fly out and back in summers. I read that in a story about flood caused by Lena River it is said in that Yakutsk even don’t haves railroad. That means in summers Yakutsk is almost inaccessible except boat of plane.

Once a car was trapped on that boggy road for days, as witnesses told hunger and lack of fuel is big problem on this road even a woman given a birth to a child in a public bus, she was riding in that because no ambulance possibly could get to her. Because of hard conditions people are afraid to come for rescue. There is a report of construction teams who refused to go on site because on their last visit the people who were stuck there for days beat them. Lawlessness is common on that road usually people break the locks on the trucks to get food, warm clothes.

On Lena Highway to drive safe fuel, food, firearms and steel tow-line cables are needed mostly during the rainy days.

Though Russia is infamous for bad roads but this Highway can be called easily HIGHWAY FROM HELL.

The Deep Sea Vents

A volcano erupts in the black dark night on a remote part of the Planet. Thick plumes like black smoke are coming out from it. The terrain temperatures rise to 600o F while it comes out from the magma blankets; deep cracks formed around the volcano and superheated water seeps from them.

Though the magma is deadly for the local habitat but they don’t evacuate the area. The water is hot but thousands are able to thrive in a seemingly hellish habitat.

This volcanic eruption that has been going on for weeks is not the typical volcanic activity. It’s happening at the deep-sea vent more than 8,000 feet below the surface of the ocean.

Deep-sea vents are given different names such as deepwater seeps, deep-sea springs, and hydrothermal vents. These vents are usually found at the bottom of the ocean and are created by volcanic and tectonic activity in the areas where huge hostile plates are converging or spreading apart. Magma ejects lava along the margins of these plates most of time slowly but some times with such ferocity that it creates instant lava lakes. The thick black smoke in fact is a plume of metal rich, superheated water billowing out of the silt and sediment covered gray and white under water volcano chimney.

The seawater gradually seeps into the vents under thousands of pounds of pressure per square inch, before returning to ocean it is superheated and filled with manganese and other minerals. This discovery helped the scientists to theorize that each drop of seawater circulates through the earth’s crust, by way of the vents, every 10 to 20 million years. The discovery of the vents revealed that only the rivers did not drop all of the minerals in the sea.

The vents in Deep Ocean first were discovered in 1977 at Galapagos rift. The vents were found in the depth of the ocean where sunlight doesn’t reach, these vents are only visible in the floodlights of a manned submersible such as Alvin. This is three-person submarine that can descend 12,800 feet below sea level.

Though the creatures found near the vents are not the most beautiful but according to scientific perspective those are the most fascinating of all the world’s underwater wonders. Marine biologists have an opportunity to study a food chain that functions without sunlight at the geothermal vents. Before that most biologists believed that only sunlight through photosynthesis could support life on Earth. But at the vents life begins with bacteria that metabolize hydrogen sulfide and in turn bacteria becomes food for the other animals in the vent community.

Almost 300 species of life are found near the vents from them the best documented life forms are the red tipped tubeworms, which are the 12-foot tall creatures whose 300,000 tentacles strain food from the water. While on other hand the shallow ocean tubeworms have only dozen or so tentacles and grow only a few inches long.

In other species at vents there are blind crabs and shrimp, which don’t need to in a lightless world, live among octopuses that eat crabs and mussels.  The other attractive residents include pink vent fish, sea cucumbers, sponges, and brittle stars, flowerlike animals that use their fine appendages to anchor themselves to rocks.

In Pacific and Atlantic Oceans several vents had been discovered and so many are hidden a mile or more below sea surface. Scientists believes that studying the life near the vents specially about the bacteria can give clue about the beginning of the life on the planet Earth millions of years ago.

World’s Best Places to Live

According to  “Quality of Living Survey” which was conducted by Mercer Consultings world’s top 10 places for living were ranked .The rankings are based on point index established by Mercer Consultings, Cities are compared with New York as the base city with an index score of 100.

The survey also highlights those cities with the highest personal safety ranking based on internal stability, crime, effectiveness of law enforcement, and relationships with other countries.

Here are the world’s top ten places to live:

1. Vienna, Austria

Vienna is ranked number one in 2009 survey while it was on second number in 2008. Total population of the city is 1,664,146 and country’s total population is 8,210,281. The average age of people or life expectancy is 79.5 and GDP is $325 billion.

2. Zurich, Switzerland

In 2008 Zurich was on top but this drop to second place. The population of city is 1,307,567 and country’s total population is 7,604,467. GDP is 309.9 billion and life expectancy is 80.85.

3. Geneva, Switzerland

Last year Geneva was on second place this year on third. Total population of the city is 438,177 and country’s population is 7,604,467.  According to official figures life expectancy is 80.85 and GDP of country is $309.9 billion.

4. Vancouver, Canada

In 2008 Vancouver was on 4^th place still consistent on 4^th. The population of city is 2,285,900 and country’s total population is 33,487,208 with GDP of $1.3 trillion. Life expectancy is 81.2 years.

5. Auckland, New Zealand

Auckland is largest and most populous urban area in New Zealand. In ranking its on 5^th place. The population of the city is 1,303,068 and country’s population is 4,213,418. GDP of country is $116.6 billion and life expectancy is 80.36 years.

6. Dusseldorf, Germany

Dusseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. This city is still consistent at No.6 ranking as compare to last year.  Population of the city is 581,858 and Germany’s total population is 82,329,758. GDP of the country is $2.86 trillion and life expectancy is 79.2 years.

7. Munich, Germany

Munich is the capital city of Bavaria in Germany, its located on the river Isar north of the Bavarian Alps. Munich is ranked at 7^th place as best place in world for living. Total population of Munich is 1,300,000 with life expectancy of 79.2 years.

8. Frankfurt, Germany

Frankfurt is largest city in the German state of Hesse and 5^th largest city in Germany but in survey ranking it’s on 8^th number.

Total population of the city is 662,000 with life expectancy of 79.2 years.

9. Bern, Switzerland

Bern is capital city of Switzerland. Its population is 962,983 while country’s total population is 7,604,467. In survey ranking it is on 9^th place as best place to live. Total GDP of country is $309.9 billion and life expectancy is 80.85 years.

10. Sydney, Australia

Sydney is largest city of Australia and state capital of New South Wales. In ranking it is on 10^th place. Total population of Sydney is 4,336,374 and Australia’s population is 21,262,641. GDP of country is $800.5 billion and life expectancy is 81.6 years.

According to survey Europe again dominated the list of best living places in the world. The U.S. cities Honolulu and San Francisco hardly made into top 30.