(Photo: Alan Dreamworks / Flickr)

In the opening bars of Bedřich Smetana’s symphonic poem “The Moldau,” the music reflects the sound of a small spring gently growing until it becomes the majestic Vltava River (The Moldau), flowing some 270 miles from the Czech/German border in the north to its southern extremity, where it joins the Elbe, near the Czech city of Mĕlník.

In 1302 a settlement that would be known as Český Krumlov grew on a bend in the Vltava, an important trade route, and work began on a castle for the House of Rosenberg. Throughout the ensuing ages, the conflicts and floods, the little city and castle (left) have remained intact.

This photo of Český Krumlov was captured by Alan Tsai.

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Dubrovnik, Croatia, also known as King's Landing. (Photo: Dubrovnik Tourist Board)

Where do Westeros and Essos fall on the map exactly? They don’t. These are the mythical lands where the HBO series “Game of Thrones” takes place. The fact that they don’t exist … that isn’t stopping fans from booking visits.

Indeed, locations where the show films, including Iceland, Morocco and Croatia, are getting an influx of travelers hoping to capture the spirit of the epic fantasy.

Do TV series affect tourism? Christopher Doherty, the mayor of Cranston, Penn., thinks so. Since the NBC sitcom “The Office” hit the air, Scranton, the town where the fictional series is set, has had a flurry of tourism.

Ouarzazate, Morocco, featured in "Game of Thrones." (Photo: Morocco National Tourist Office)Tours of locations featured on the sitcom are conducted in Scranton each Saturday. On May 4, a record 10,000 people turned up in the 75,995-population city for the show’s wrap party, which was featured in Thursday’s series finale.

So it wasn’t surprising that when GoT’s third season kicked off March 31, tourism to its shooting locations spiked.

Playing on their GoT ties, Iceland Naturally

(Photo: Victoria.....a secas.)

There is a house in Benalmádena that is filled with beautiful, multicolored fairies. Located in the Spanish coastal province of Malaga, it is the home of the largest collection of living butterflies in Europe. Mariposario de Benalmádena (Butterflies of Benalmádena) is a “Butterfly Heaven” filled with all the plants that butterflies love, is climate controlled to their favorite temperature and humidity.

Photographer Victoria Rivas was intrigued with this beautiful Malachite (Siproeta stelenes), which seems to be equally intrigued with her. A native of Central and northern South America, Malachite butterflies are sometimes seen in Florida and Cuba.

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(Photo: Greg Keraghosian)

The best way I can compliment the Morris M52 yacht, for all her aesthetic and functional assets, is probably this: I was able to operate her with ease, and I’d never steered a sailboat in my life.

No, the 52-foot beauty wasn’t mine to keep – I’m still saving up the $1.3 million required to buy one. But last week, the second M52 ever built took a sail around San Francisco Bay for her christening, and Morris invited me aboard. I was rewarded with the nautical equivalent of a weekend ride in a Mercedes S-Class. I’m told that sailing is usually more difficult than this.

(Photo: Courtesy of Morris Yachts)Like a luxury sedan, the M52 is designed for comfort and easy handling – easy enough for a crew of one to do the work and entertain passengers. She looks vintage on the outside, but she’s all high tech on the inside, with a self-tacking jib, electric winches to set or stow the sail, and hydraulic-assisted furling. The helm is all the way aft and all control lines lead from below deck to arm’s reach. Short of sailing with

(Photo: klavier_girl / Flickr)

The lovely medieval city of Cahors (Ka’or) is steeped in history, not all of it peaceful. First settled by Celts before the Roman invasion of Gaul – later to be known as France – Cahors saw much conflict during the Hundred Years War as well as during the Wars of Religion.

Located on a beautiful bend of the River Lot, Cahors was infamous during the Middle Ages for bankers who charged high interest on loans. In fact, so bad was its reputation that the writer Dante mentions Cahors along side Sodom as wicked cities in his “Inferno/Divine Comedy.”

Today Cahors, captured here by klavier_girl, is a popular tourist destination more famous for its rich Malbec wine than dirty-rotten bankers.

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(Photo: Cotten4 / Flickr)

Every night, from early winter to spring, earnest photographers will pray for a clear sky when they rise early – very early, almost two hours before sunrise – to drive from a motel in Moab, Utah to Canyonlands National Park. They will hike 30 minutes, through the pre-dawn gloom to the edge of a 500-foot-deep vertical cliff to catch the sun as it rises through Mesa Arch.

During the winter months, the 50-foot-wide arch spans the part of the sky where the sun will rise and set, providing a unique look for each month. Texas-based photographer Jerry Cotton captured this image in April 2012.

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The Flight of the Hippogriff coaster in Orlando. (Photo: 2013 Universal Orlando Resort)

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter-Hogsmeade (WWHP) is expanding, not only at its original home base of Universal Orlando Resort, but at Universal’s theme parks in Hollywood and Japan as well.

Targeted for a 2014 opening in Universal Studios Florida is Diagon Alley, named after the magical London shopping district initially mentioned in “Harry Potter & the Sorcerer’s Stone,” the first installment in J.K. Rowling’s book series.

Diagon Alley joins WWHP, which was established at neighboring Universal Islands of Adventure in 2010. Visitor enthusiasm for The Wizarding World of Harry Potter immediately resulted in double-digit attendance increases. “We quickly realized we had so many more stories to tell, so many more experiences to create for our guests,” Tom Schroder, VP of corporate communications for Universal Orlando Resort, told Yahoo! Travel. “An expansion seemed so natural for us.”

Potter immersion at WWHP has occurred via tours of Hogwarts castle with stops to Dumbledore’s office, the

(Photo: Roy Cheung Photography / Flickr)

In this well-timed photograph by Roy Cheung, a young man cleans his supply boat on the shore of Lake Arthur Hill. Among the many things the British did during their years occupying India was their introduction of modern engineering and infrastructure to the subcontinent. Take for instance the huge dam they built across the Pravara River, near Bhandaradara.

Built at a site discovered by Arthur Hill in 1903, taking 16 years to build, the 270-foot-tall structure opened on Dec. 10, 1926 and was the highest dam in Asia at that time. Today its reservoir, Lake Arthur Hill, is still an invaluable resource for capturing monsoon rains for useful purposes.

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