GlobalHawkeye: 2009

23 December 2009

Christmas Tree Fun

The snowy weather delayed fetching the Christmas Tree this year; not quite sure what the hitchhiker is doing in the truck!

19 December 2009

Kastrup airport was full of posters related to the COP15 climate change conference in Copenhagen. The bitingly cold temperatures and snow blizzards may not have added to the sense of urgency to reach an agreement.

17 December 2009

Lilla Fiskaregatan

This is one of the main shopping streets in Lund. I thought that traffic was limited to cycles and set my tripod up in the middle of the street; however, I soon found out that taxis use it as well!

The Grand Hotel

Lund experienced an unseasonally early snowfall last night. This is the Grand Hotel looking very grand.

16 December 2009

Climate Change Chaos

Travelled via Copenhagen airport to Sweden today. Copenhagen is dominated by the Climate Change Conference this week; several large posters at the airport of various prematurely aged world leaders, all saying 'sorry' - if only.

Greenpeace propaganda at its best.
Then greeted by some pleasant Santa-esses in green costumes (rather than red) handing out green badges. After that it all went downhill - with utter chaos on the rail system - probably caused by the protests in central Copenhagen. Even the locals were confused - what chance did I stand?! Got to my destination eventually.

11 December 2009

Hotel Concorde La Fayette

The Hotel Concorde La Fayette is one of the largest in Paris and stands in glorious high-rise isolation in the 17th arrondissement.

La Defense

The high rise buildings in Paris are clustered outside the Boulevard Périphérique in a business area know as La Defense. In this picture the towers glisten in the early morning sun and crisp winter air.

9 December 2009

Broadcasting House - French Style

Another view across the Seine from my Executive Suite at the Paris Novotel (got a free upgrade - it always pays to complain...!). This building is the 'Maison de Radio France' - the French equivalent of BBC Broadcasting House - only much bigger, rounder and with a better view.

Statuette of Liberty

You can see a long way from my hotel room in the Paris Novotel tower - all the way to New York. Not really; this is the 1/3 scale model of the Statue of Liberty on the Île des Cygnes in the middle of the Seine that was used as a model for the real thing. Rather a grainy photo, but you get the idea.

La Tour Eiffel en Glace

A slightly unexpected sight at St Pancras last night - ice sculpting the Tour Eiffel with a Black and Decker. Obligatory woolly hat and gloves. The next project is an iceberg. Not!

29 November 2009

Lightning at Twilight

This is an English Electric Lightning - an old RAF jet from the 1960s and a veteran of the cold war. Although no longer airworthy, the Lightning is kept in running condition by a team of enthusiasts at Bruntingthorpe, Leicestershire. This event was a twilight run - to see those spectacular afteburners to best effect. Technical troubles (flat battery) meant that the aircraft took longer to get started than planned, so the 'twilight run' became an 'almost in the dark run'. This is the first of two runs - the noise was amazing.

26 November 2009

The Great Wall of China

Freezing conditions at the Great Wall made for very slippery surfaces in some sections.

25 November 2009

Costumes of Ethnic Minority Groups in China

China

is a multi-ethnic country consisting of 56 different ethnic groups. Each group has its own traditional style of costume with distinct characteristics, due to the influence of culture, traditions, and geography.

24 November 2009

Heroes of The Republic

On the surface China appears to be like any other bustling capitalist economy, but there are still emblems of the past - and possibly the future - dotted around Beijing. I read that some European economies have a greater proportion of state ownership than China. So what exactly makes for a state-controlled economy these days?

Shanghai World Expo mascot hijacks Father Christmas

The World Expo will be held in Shanghai next year starting May 1st - but the location is still one massive building site. This blue thing is the mascot called Haibao - and for some reason he seems to have hijacked Father Christmas. Which is ironic really given that Santa Claus has hijacked Christmas.