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Københavns Rådhus' clock tower
Today’s photo of the Copenhagen City Hall clock tower was taken from an open window within the city hall building itself. On a different day I went up in the clock tower on a tour which was pretty cool.
While wandering around Amsterdam I found myself looking for a restroom in the Magna Plaza, a shopping mall of sorts. Finding a restroom wasn’t as easy as a mall in the USA, but the Magna Plaza was far more visually interesting than the vast majority of shopping centers in the USA so I didn’t mind. If you look closely you can see a store called “America Today”. I found it a bit ironic that you’d find a store wanting to show of its “Americaness” in a shopping center so much nicer than those in America.
Today is the long-awaited opening of the Tokyo Skytree. With the high demand to check out Tokyo from the top, you would have had to have won a lottery months ago to ascend the Skytree this week. Supposedly, you can get a ticket a bit easier beginning in mid-July. In any case, admission isn’t cheap. Look to pay between 2,000 and 3,500 yen (> $40 US) to check out the view from the Tokyo Skytree.
I took today’s photo a couple years before the Skytree was completed from the Rainbow Bridge. You can see the under-construction Skytree to the far right in this pic.
The scene on Nob Hill, in front of the Mark Hopkins, is usually one of chaos. However, before 7 a.m. on a Sunday morning the little brick driveway, frequently crammed with taxis and limos trying to get in and out, seems rather tranquil and calm. I took today’s photo (with my ultra-wide 11mm lens) on our trip to San Francisco earlier this week.
You can live on your boat in an Amsterdam canal. People have taken this one step further and set up abodes on the water that aren’t even boats. If you click on this image for a larger view you can see some of these top-of-the-water dwellings.
While on an Amsterdam canal cruise tour I took today’s top photo of some Dutch buildings. I think the tour guide was describing the details at the top of each building. The building on the right, by the way, is a “Coffeeshop.” I’m not sure if you can really buy coffee there or not. The main item on the menus in Amsterdam’s coffee shops is marijuana–all perfectly legal.
Anyway, back to the tops of these buildings…
At the top of Amsterdam’s houses you will notice hooks suspended near the top called hijsbalk. With the use of a rope and pulley the Dutch can hoist large, heavy items in and out of their homes rather than have to try and haul them up their steep, narrow staircases.
While scanning the buildings to find examples of this system I came across this one…
