Popular among artists for obvious reasons, this northern Italian island gets its multicolored streets thanks to a system stemming from the golden age of the area’s development. In other words, if you want to paint your home here, you must send a request to the government who will respond by making notice of the permitted colors on that specific lot.

When thinking of Capri, no doubt one of the first things that comes to mind is the three spurs of rock shooting up from the sea. In spite of their imposing signs, residents have still tried to humanize them. The three rocks all have names, being Stella, Mezzo and Scopolo, respectively.

Source: National Geographic, http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/photo-contest/2010/entries/gallery/places-week-10/#/19916

Nestled just below Italy’s Gran Sasso d’Italia mountain range is Lake Compotosto, frozen over in February.