The Pied Piper of Hamelin, actually city tourism employee Michael Boyer, leads local children dressed as rats through a quiet street on November 19, 2012 in Hameln, Germany. The Pied Piper (in German: Der Rattenfaenger), is one of the many stories featured in the collection of fairy tales collected by the Grimm brothers, and the 200th anniversary of the first publication of the stories will take place this coming December 20th. Boyer, a U.S. citizen who has lived in Hameln for 15 years, and city children regularly perform a reenactment of the Pied Piper tale throughout the summer months. The Grimm brothers collected their stories from oral traditions in the region between Frankfurt and Bremen in the early 19th century, and the works include such global classics as Sleeping Beauty, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, Cinderella and Hansel and Gretel. (Photo by Sean Gallup)

“These eerie formations in the sky may look like alien ships. But as the Daily Mail points out, they’re actually a natural occurrence called lenticular clouds”. – Claudine Zap. Photo: Lenticular clouds hover of the mountains of the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia. (Photos by Denis Budkov/Caters News)

Passengers watch as The Waverley, the world's last remaining seagoing passenger paddle steamer arrives at Clevedon Pier on June 10, 2011 in Clevedon, England. Built in 1946, the trust which owns and operates the Waverley, is warning that this could be the last season for the vessel and is appealling for more public funding saying it is struggling to make ends meet in the current financial climate due in part to rising fuel costs. Restored in 1973 after service on Loch Long in Scotland, since 2003, Waverley has been listed in the British National Register of Historic Ships core collection as 'a vessel of pre-eminent national importance'. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

A customer shops at an Alibaba rural service centre in Jinjia Village, Tonglu, Zhejiang province, China, July 20, 2015. E-commerce growth in the countryside now outpaces that in major cities, though fewer than one tenth of online purchases made on Alibaba platforms were shipped to rural areas in the first quarter of this year. Alibaba estimates the potential market at 460 billion yuan ($74 billion) by next year. (Photo by Aly Song/Reuters)

One of only three active female blimp pilots in the world, Kristen Arambula guides her passengers towards the Goodyear blimp “Spirit of America” in Carson, California August 5, 2015. Christened in 2002, the air ship is being retired after 8,000 flights and replaced with a newer more modern version named the “Spirit of Innovation” in September. (Photo by Mike Blake/Reuters)

Senji Nakajima sleeps with his Love Doll “Saori” at Love Hotel on June 4, 2016 in Nagano, Japan. Senji Nakajima, 61 years old, lives with his life-size “love doll” named “Saori” in his apartment in Tokyo, Japan. Nakajima, married with two children, who lives away from home for work, first started his life with Saori six years ago. (Photo by Taro Karibe/Getty Images)

Tami Varma, right, and her brother Robin, the grandchildren of Devendra Varma, a scholar of English gothic tales and an expert in vampire lore, pose in coffins at the Bran Castle, in Bran, Romania, Monday, October 31, 2016. A Canadian brother and sister are passing Halloween night curled up in red velvet coffins in the Transylvanian castle that inspired the Dracula legend, the first time in 70 years anyone has spent the night in the gothic fortress, after they bested 88,000 people who entered a competition hosted by Airbnb to get the chance to dine and sleep at the castle in Romania. A portrait of medieval prince Vlad the Impaler is placed on the wall. (Photo by Vadim Ghirda/AP Photo)

Highly commended, mammals: Gelada after the storm – Marco Gaiotti (Italy). “Gelada baboons are the only monkey species in the world that feed on grasses. They are native to the tableland of Ethiopia. Every morning large family groups wander from their sleeping places in the steep rock face, up to 1,000 metres high, to the feeding grounds at the tablelands. This image clearly depicts their feeding strategy: they pull out bunches of grass, sort the stalks and then lift them to their mouth. This shot was taken towards the end of the rainy season after a heavy storm”. (Photo by Marco Gaiotti/2019 GDT European Wildlife Photographer of the Year)