HMS Belfast, London

This is close-up photo of HMS Belfast, a museum ship, operated by the Imperial War Museum, permanently moored in London on the River Thames. She was originally a Royal Navy light cruiser and served during both the Second World War and Korean War.

See also Official HMS Belfast website.

One Nation Under CCTV, April 2008, Banksy, London

These are two photos of famous Banksy's "One Nation Under CCTV", taken above a Post Office yard at the junction of Eastcastle and Newman streets in London W1, near Oxford Circus , London.
The Westminster City Council stated in October 2008 that the work "One Nation Under CCTV", painted in April 2008 will be painted over as it is graffiti. The council says it will remove any graffiti, regardless of the reputation of its creator, and specifically stated that Banksy has no more right to paint graffiti than a child. The work was painted over in April 2009.
Read more in this interesting Daily Mail's article.

Every Monday Night, Kreuzberg, Berlin

This is a photo of a poster, taken in the Kreuzberg borough of Berlin, Germany.

Street Portrait

The Eagles, Chrysler Building, Manhattan, New York City

This is a closeup photo of the Chrysler Building, an Art Deco skyscraper in New York City, located on the east side of Manhattan in the Turtle Bay area at the intersection of 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue. Standing at 319 metres, it was the world's tallest building for 11 months before it was surpassed by the Empire State Building in 1931. After the destruction of the World Trade Center, it was again the second-tallest building in New York City until December 2007, when the spire was raised on the 365.8-metre Bank of America Tower, pushing the Chrysler Building into third position.
The Chrysler Building is a classic example of Art Deco architecture and considered by many contemporary architects to be one of the finest buildings in New York City.
The Chrysler Building was designed by architect William Van Alen to house the Chrysler Corporation. The distinctive ornamentation of the building based on features that were then being used on Chrysler automobiles. The corners of the 61st floor are graced with eagles, replicas of the 1929 Chrysler hood ornaments; on the 31st floor, the corner ornamentation are replicas of the 1929 Chrysler radiator caps. The building is constructed of masonry, with a steel frame, and metal cladding. In total, the building currently contains 3,862 windows on its facade and 4 banks of 8 elevators.

You can refer also to a previous post on Chrysler Building and or on the New York folder.

Alms Giving Ceremony, Luang Prabang, Laos

This photo was taken in Luang Prabang in Laos, and shows a scene of the very picturesque Alms giving ceremony : monks at dawn, collecting alms of rice from kneeling villagers.

Border Marker Pole (Barber Pole), Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR), German Democratic Republic (GDR), Berlin, Germany

This is a photo of an old Border Marker Pole, to mark the Inner German border (innerdeutsche Grenze or deutsch–deutsche Grenze, initially also Zonengrenze), the frontier between the

German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) and the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG, West Germany) from 1949 to 1990. Not including the similar but physically separate Berlin Wall, the border was 1,381 kilometres long and ran from the Baltic Sea to Czechoslovakia.

The actual line between West and East Germany was located on the far side of the outer strip. It was marked by granite stones (Grenzsteine) with the letters "DDR" carved on the west-facing edge. Around 2,600 distinctive East German concrete "barber pole" (Grenzsäule or Grenzpfähle) markers were installed just behind the border line at intervals of about 500 metres. A metal East German coat of arms, the Staatsemblem, was fixed to the side of the marker that faced West Germany.

On the West German side, there were no fortifications of any kind, nor even any patrol roads in most areas. Warning signs (Grenzschilder) with messages such as Achtung! Zonengrenze! ("Danger! Zonal border!") or Halt! Hier Zonengrenze ("Stop! The zonal border is here") notified visitors of the presence of the border. Foreign military personnel were restricted from approaching the border to avoid clashes or other unwanted incidents. Signs in English and German provided notifications of the distance to the border to discourage accidental crossings. No such restriction applied to Western civilians, who were free to go up to the border line, and there were no physical obstacles to stop their crossing it .

Iguana Hat, Quai de Seine, Paris, France

M Hotel, Manhattan, New York City

You can also have a look at the New York folder.

Sainte-Anne-la-Palud Beach, Brittany, France

This photo was taken on the beach of Sainte-Anne-la-Palud, situated in the Baie de Douarnenez, Brittany, France, a bay in Finistère, between the Crozon peninsula to the north and the cap Sizun to the south. It is formed of a vast semi-circular basin over 16 km wide and 20 km deep. Although half-closed-off to the west by Cap de la Chèvre, it opens out again to a width of 9 km on the side of the Mer d'Iroise.

Street Portrait

Namib Desert, Namib-Naukluft National Park, Namibia

This photo was taken close to Sandwich Harbour, in the Namib Desert, Namibia, the oldest desert in the world. The word Namib means place of emptiness...

Street Portrait, Laos

This photo was taken in Laos, in a small village on the bank of the Mekong river, between Huay Xai (Thai-Lao border) and Pak Beng.

Flatiron Building (Fuller Building), Manhattan, New York

This is a photo of the Flatiron Building (or Fuller Building as it was originally called), located at 175 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. It is considered to be one of the first skyscrapers ever built. Upon completion in 1902 it was one of the tallest buildings in New York City. The building sits on a triangular island block at 23rd Street, Fifth Avenue, and Broadway, anchoring the south (downtown) end of Madison Square. The Flatiron Building was designed by Chicago's Daniel Burnham in the Beaux-Arts style. Like a classical Greek column, its limestone and glazed terra-cotta façade is divided into a base, shaft and capital.

Hartmann's Mountain Zebra, Etosha National Park, Namibia

This photo was taken in Etosha National Park, Namibia, and does show Mountain Zebras, a threatened species of zebra native to south-western Angola, Namibia and South Africa. It has two subspecies, the Cape Mountain Zebra and Hartmann's Mountain Zebra, though it has been suggested these should be considered separate species. Like all zebras, it is boldly striped in black and white and no two individuals look exactly alike. The stripe can be black and white or dark brown and white.

La Contrebasse, Portrait

Cliché, Red Telephone Boxes (Sir Giles Gilbert Scott), London

This is a photo of Red Telephone Boxes, some public telephone kiosks designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, which are a familiar sight on the streets of the United Kingdom, Malta, Bermuda and Gibraltar.

Old Grimsby Beach, Tresco, Isles of Scilly

This is a photo taken in, Tresco, Isles of Scilly, Cornwall, England.

A variety of scenery is found on the island, including rugged granite outcrops, heathland of the exposed north coast and mainly shell beaches in the east and south.

Belfry (Beffroi, "Ch’Bédouf"), Amiens, France

This is a photo of the Belfry of Amiens, France. The city's belfry symbolises the independence and freedom of the municipality.

The belfry had various functions down to the ages : meeting place, watchtower, prison, and so on. In the spire, the bell used to ring for big events.

The lower part was built between 1406 and 1410, and the Baroque clock tower dates from 1749. The belfry suffered fire in the 16th and 18th centuries, and during World War II, but the restoration took place in the 1990s and the dome was reconstructed. A carillon with 30 bells was installed in 2001 (playing between 9am and 7pm, an air from Aristide Bruant "Â Belleville", adapted by "Chés Cabotans d’Amiens").

The belfry is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site since July 2005, as part of a group of 23 Belfries of Belgium and France : they are highly significant tokens of the winning of civil liberties. While Italian, German and English towns mainly opted to build town halls, in part of north-western Europe, greater emphasis was placed on building belfries. Compared with the keep (symbol of the seigneurs) and the bell-tower (symbol of the Church), the belfry, the third tower in the urban landscape, symbolizes the power of the aldermen. Over the centuries, they came to represent the influence and wealth of the towns.

Tower 42, NatWest Tower, London

This is a photo of Tower 42, which is the tallest skyscraper in the City of London and the fifth tallest in London as a whole. It was originally built for the National Westminster Bank (NatWest), hence its former name, the NatWest Tower. Seen from above, the tower closely resembles the NatWest logo (three chevrons in a hexagonal arrangement). The tower, designed by Richard Seifert, is located at 25 Old Broad Street. It was built between 1971 and 1979, and opened in 1980. It is 183 metres (600 ft) high, which made it the tallest building in the UK until the topping-out of One Canada Square in Docklands in 1990.
On 24 April 1993 it was damaged in the Bishopsgate bombing, a Provisional Irish Replublican Army truck bombing in the Bishopsgate area of the City of London. The bomb extensively damaged the tower and many other buildings in the vicinity. The tower suffered severe damage and had to be entirely reclad and internally refurbished (demolition was considered, but would have been too difficult and expensive). After refurbishment, NatWest decided not to re-occupy and renamed the building the International Financial Centre, then sold it. The new owners, UK property company Greycoat, renamed it Tower 42, in reference to its 42 floors. It is now a general-purpose office building occupied by a variety of companies.
See Tower 42 official website.
Tower 42 contains two restaurants: Rhodes Twenty Four, which is situated on the 24th floor and operated by renowned chef Gary Rhodes; and Vertigo 42, a champagne and seafood bar located on the 42nd floor.

Lao Smiles, Muang La, Northern Province of Oudom Xai, Laos

Central Park & Upper West side from the Rockefeller Center Observatory, New York

This is a photo of the UppUpper West Side and Central Park as seen from the Rockefeller Center observation deck. In the distance is the Hudson River and George Washington Bridge.

Tide Pool (Natural Swimming Pool) & Fort Du Petit Bé, Saint Malo, Brittany, France

This is a photo showing the tide pool and the fort du Petit Bé (at the back ground), in Saint Malo, Brittany, France.

The fort on Petit Bé was built in the 17th century. It was part of the defense belt designed by Vauban to protect the city of Saint-Malo from British and Dutch fleets.

Dr. Martens - Doc Martens

This photo was taken in Camden Town, London,

Klaus Märtens was a doctor in the German army during World War II. While on leave in 1945, he injured his ankle while skiing in the Bavarian Alps. He found that his standard-issue army boots were too uncomfortable on his injured foot. While recuperating, he designed improvements to the boots, with soft leather, and air-padded soles. When the war ended and some Germans looted valuables from their own cities, Märtens took leather from a cobbler's shop. With that leather he made himself a pair of boots with air-cushioned soles.
Märtens didn't have much luck selling his shoes until he met up with an old university friend, Dr. Herbert Funck, in Munich in 1947. Funck was intrigued by the new shoe design, and the two went into business that year in Seeshaupt, Germany, using discarded rubber from Luftwaffe airfields. The comfortable and durable soles were a big hit with housewives, with 80% of sales in the first decade going to women over the age of 40.
Sales had grown so much by 1952 that they opened a factory in Munich. In 1959, the company had grown large enough that Märtens and Funck looked at marketing the footwear internationally. Almost immediately, British shoe manufacturer R. Griggs Group Ltd. bought patent rights to manufacture the shoes in the United Kingdom. Griggs anglicized the name, slightly re-shaped the heel to make them fit better, added the trademark yellow stitching, and trademarked the soles as AirWair.
The first Doc Martens (Dr. Martens) boots in the United Kingdom came out on 1 April, 1960 (hence known as style 1460 and still in production today) with an eight-eyelet, cherry-red, Nappa leather design. Originally Dr. Martens were made by a number of shoe manufacturers in the Northamptonshire area, as long as they passed quality standards. They were popular among workers such as postmen, police officers and factory workers. By the late 1960s, skinheads started wearing Dr. Martens boots. By the late 1970s, Dr. Martens boots were popular among some British punk rock and New Wave musicians, and soon many punk fans were wearing them. The boots and shoes then became popular among other youth subcultures.

On 1 April 2003, under pressure from declining sales, the Dr. Martens company ceased all production in the United Kingdom, with production moved to China and Thailand. With this change also came the end of the company's vegan-friendly non-leather products, which were produced since January, 2000. In 2007, the company began producing footwear again in England, in the Cobbs Lane Factory in Wollaston. These products, the "Vintage" line which the company advertises as being made to the original specs, can be purchased at the Dr. Martens USA website or the Dr. Martens UK website.

Muro Alto beach, Ipojuca, Pernambuco, Brazil

This is a photo of Muro Alto beach (Ipojuca, Pernambuco, Brazil), named because of the typical huge sand dunes of the region which are full of coconut trees.
Muro Alto is situated in the region of Porto de Galinhas, Nordeste, Brazil. Porto de Galinhas boasts more than 10 miles of white sandy beaches with clear warm water and coconut palms. There are 7 linked beaches from Camboa to Maracaípe and its beautiful “Pontal”, taking in Muro Alto, Cupe and Porto de Galinhas beach (see map and official website of the area).
For the seventh consecutive year, Porto de Galinhas has been voted the best beach destination in Brazil by the magazine Viagem e Turismo (Edition 133, 01/11/2007).

The Mountain House

West Pier, Brighton, England

This is a photo (taken back in 2005) of the West Pier, a pier in Brighton, England. It was built in 1866 by Eugenius Birch and has been closed and deteriorating since 1975, awaiting renovation.

The West Pier had been cut off from the shore (partly deliberately, for safety reasons) since 1975, but the West Pier trust offered regular tours of it until the structure suffered a serious partial collapse during a storm on December 29, 2002, when a walkway connecting the concert hall and pavilion fell into the sea. On January 20, 2003 a further collapse saw the destruction of the concert hall in the middle of the pier. On 28 March, 2003 the pavilion at the end of the pier caught fire. Firefighters were unable to save the building from destruction because the collapsed walkway prevented them from reaching it. The cause of the fire remains unknown. On May 11, 2003, another fire broke out, consuming most of what was left of the concert hall. The Fire re-ignited on May 12. Arson was suspected: the West Pier Trust refers to the fires as the work of "professional arsonists". On June 23, 2004 high winds caused the middle of the pier to collapse completely.

Portrait, Laos

Wat Saket Ratcha Wora Maha Wihan (วัดสระเกศราชวรมหาวิหาร), Pom Prap Sattru Phai district, Bangkok, Thailand

This photo was taken in Bangkok, Thailand, and does show Wat Saket Ratcha Wora Maha Wihan (วัดสระเกศราชวรมหาวิหาร), a Buddhist temple in Pom Prap Sattru Phai district.

The temple dates back to Ayutthaya era, when it was called Wat Sakae. King Rama I renovated the temple and renamed it to Wat Saket.

Phu Khao Thong (Golden mountain, ภูเขาทอง) is a steep hill inside the Wat Saket compound. It is not a natural outcrop, but an artificial hill.
During the reign of King Rama III (1787 – 1851) the decision was made to build a Chedi of huge dimensions to add to the Wat Saket temple. However, the large Chedi collapsed during the construction process because the soft soil beneath would not support it. The resulting mud-and-brick hillock was left alone for about half a century, taking the shape of a natural hill and becoming overgrown with weeds. Since then it looked like a natural small mountain it received its name of "Phu Khao" (ภูเขา) at that time.
Finally under King Rama IV, a small Chedi was built on the hilltop. This smaller structure was finished under King Rama V (1853– 1910), when a Buddha relic from India was housed in the Chedi. In the 1940s the surrounding concrete walls were built to prevent the hill from eroding. There is an important festival at Wat Saket every November that includes a beautiful candlelight procession up Phu Khao Thong.
Phu Khao Thong has become a popular tourist attraction in Bangkok, but the rest of the Wat Saket temple area is much less visited.

Bridge & Canal, Amsterdam

Apple In Big Apple, Apple Store Manhattan New York

This is a photo of the Apple Store at Fifth Avenue New York.
The store in itself is all underground except for the entrance, a 32-foot glass cube, housing a cylindrical elevator and a spiral staircase that leads into the actual store.

It is located right in front of the General Motors building opposite the Plaza Hotel and Bergdorf Goodman on 767 Fifth Avenue.
With this incredible entrance Apple has created what is becoming a new New York Landmark located at a very prominent location on Manhattan.

Lao Sung, Akha Hill Tribe Woman, Laos

This photo was taken in an Akha hill tribe village in Nothern Laos.

The Akha are hill tribe of subsistence farmers known for their artistry. The ethnic group may have originated in Mongolia around 1500 years ago. Most of the remaining Akha people are now distributed in small villages among the mountains of China, Laos (where they are considered Lao Sung), Myanmar (Burma), and northern Thailand.

The Akha generally live in bamboo houses raised on low wooden stilts in hilly areas. These huts are divided by gender - one side is for the women, and the other side, occupied by the men, is used as a more public area. The Akha subsist through an often destructive form of slash and burn agriculture which can result in elimination of old growth forest, native animal species and serious soil runoff problems. They are expert farmers who focus on mountain rice, corn, and soybeans that are planted in seasonal shifts. The Akha are also very efficient hunters, though their prey sometimes includes endangered species.

The Akha put a particularly heavy emphasis on genealogy - they are taught their family history at a very early age, and their culture has a strong focus on honouring ancestors and their parents, though they dispute that this represents a form of ancestor worship. A better description of Akha religion would be animism, as they believe in a world filled with spirits, both good and bad, that have a definite physical impact on the world. They believe in a natural cycle of balance that, if disrupted, can result in illness, hardship, or even death.

Street Art, London

This is a photo of a "street art" poster I saw in London a few month ago. Anyone knows about who's the artist ? I could not find much trying to google the signature in the lower right corner...

Snowdonia, Wales

This photo was taken in Snowdonia, Wales.

Please drink responsibly - A consommer avec modération

Happy New Year ! Eiffel Tower At Night, Paris

These are two photos of the Eiffel Tower panoramic view, taken at night from the top platform of the Tour Montparnasse.
If you want to see more about history of illumination of the tower (and photos), I suggest you check at the Eiffel Tower official website.

100$ Note Will Be Back & Times Square Ball, New York

This photo was taken in Times Square, in New York.
Times Square is the site of the annual New Year's Eve ball drop, where a time ball made of crystal and electric lights is raised to the top of a pole on the One Times Square building and then lowered to mark the coming of the New Year. The Times Square Ball descends 23 m over the course of a minute, coming to rest at the bottom of its pole at 12:00 am. Toshiba's Times Square billboard directly below the Ball counts down to midnight as well.
Every year up to one million people gather in Times Square to watch the Ball drop, and an estimated 1 billion watch video of the event, 100 million of them in the United States.
The flag pole on the top of One Times Square that the ball is hoisted atop was rebuilt and enlarged to accommodate the ball. When raised it is now placed 145 m above Times Square. As of January 6, 2009, the ball also now remains mid-way atop the pole in Times Square as a permanent fixture.

For the ones of you wondering what the "I'll be back" means, I guess this is linked to a redesigned $100 bill which is in the works, receiving design changes analogous to the current $20 bill, $50 bill, $10 bill and $5 bill. The new $100 bills had been expected to be released in late 2008, but as December 2009, no new designs have been announced. New design $100 bill is on printing production process since 2008/2009 fiscal year. To fulfill huge demand for this note and redistribution process and huge costs to banks in each state, time of official presentation is end of 2009 or first quarter of 2010. Although the redesign has been publicized as routine, North Korean counterfeiting operations are a major concern. The new bills will most likely contain a Crane & Co. security feature called Motion, containing up to 650,000 microlenses embedded in the printing which will allow for the image to shift when the bill is moved. This was used for the first time ever on the Swedish 1,000-kronor note issued on March 15, 2006.

Akha (Lao Sung) Hill Tribe Boy, Laos

This photo was taken in the north of Laos , in a small Akha village.

The Akha are hill tribe of subsistence farmers known for their artistry. The ethnic group may have originated in Mongolia around 1500 years ago. Most of the remaining Akha people are now distributed in small villages among the mountains of China, Laos (where they are considered Lao Sung), Myanmar (Burma), and northern Thailand.

Lao Sung (or more commonly Lao Soung) is an official Laos PDR designation for highland dwelling peoples in Laos (the others being the Lao Loum and the Lao Theung). The ones in Laos, the actual Lao Soung, make up 9% of the Laotian population. The Lao Soung aren't actually one single ethnic group but are made up of (H)Mong (the main group), Yao, Akha, Phu Noi and other people who live in the Laotian mountaintops. All these groups are related. Their main religions are animism, Buddhism, and Chinese folk religions.

Canal House, Amsterdam

The Singer, Stencil, Street Art