The top of the world

Himalaya Mountains, Nepal, shot from airplane

Measured by height above sea level, the Himalaya Mountains are the highest in the world. Everest, its summit measuring 8,850 meters (29,035 feet) ASL, is the highest of them all — though I’m fairly sure it’s not in this photo, given that we were flying west from Kathmandu to Pokhara. This region is often called “the roof of the world”, which I am shamelessly morphing into “top of the world”.

Becky is back with her squares, and for April the theme is “top“.

Stormlight

Threatening skies over a small island in New Caledonia

hmm, is stormlight a word? 😉

Posted as part of January Squares, the theme for which is words ending in light.

Dragon in the night

This is one of a pair of winged dragons by Henri Alfred Jacquemart on the Fontaine Saint-Michel in Paris. Not as cute and cuddly as the last dragon sculpture I posted!

Posted as part of Sculpture Saturday

Stand behind the yellow line

You can make out “stand behind” and the yellow line on the platform behind the black bulk of steam engine 6029 as it eases into Bowral station.

What is it with yellow lines and train stations?

This cute little stream train is the Bally Hooley Railway in Queensland. The yellow line is almost eclipsed by the bright yellow train!

Not so much a line as a fence! But it’s yellow. Grand Canyon Railway, Williams, Arizona.

Kuranda Scenic Railway at the station in Cairns. I strongly recommend this trip (first class, of course) if you’re in Cairns.

A very thick yellow line keeps you away from the Southwest Chieftain at Lamy, New Mexico.

Who could take their eyes off the magnificence of The Ghan to spot that yellow line at Alice Springs station?

Mind the gap! Stand behind the yellow Line! Tube train at Earl’s Court station, London.

The vintage Pullman carriages almost match the yellow line at Victoria Station, London.

Posted as part of October Squares Lines&Squares.

Tree Line

A view from Grindelwald, near Interlaken, Switzerland.

The tree line is the edge of the habitat at which trees are capable of growing. It is found at high elevations and high latitudes. Beyond the tree line, trees cannot tolerate the environmental conditions (usually cold temperatures or associated lack of available moisture). (source) This particular tree line is in the Swiss Alps.

Posted as part of October Squares Lines&Squares

Astride the four hemispheres

One foot in the west, one foot in the east. Prime Meridian, Greenwich.

East and West
In the photo above, my friend has one foot in the eastern hemisphere and one in the western. (This is my friend’s photo, not mine — though it would need quite a contortion for me to take this!)

North and South
When I moved from England to Australia in 1999, I fit in a 2-month overland trek from Rio de Janiero (Brazil) to Quito (Ecuador) plus the Galapagos Islands. The photo below was taken near Quito and the thin line in the middle marks the Equator. On the left are the people in the group who lived in the southern hemisphere; northern dwellers are on the right. And I am stepping across the Equator to signify my move from one hemisphere to the other. (Faces blurred because these people, who I have not seen in 20 years, might not want their youthful likenesses floating around the internet.)

One small step for a woman …

Posted as part of October Squares Lines&Squares

Concentric lines

Umbrellas at a bar in Port Douglas, Australia.

Posted as part of October Squares Lines&Squares

The Nazca Lines

The Monkey — about 190 ft (58 m) tall and 330 ft (100 m) long.

Becky’s back with a new month of squares, and the theme is Lines.

These three animal outlines are part of the collection of very large geometric patterns and animal shapes formed in the earth and known collectively as The Nazca Lines. They are in Peru, near the town of Nazca (Nasca). Theories abound regarding the lines’ age, origin, purpose, method of creation — even aliens get a mention. You can read more about the lines here and here.

The Whale

The Hummingbird — about 300 ft (91 m) long

Posted as part of October Squares Lines&Squares

These photos are dreadful quality — taken in 1999 from a small plane with dirty windows using a cheap film camera — but I thought these particular ‘lines’ were an interesting interpretation with which to kick off the month.

Wordless Wednesday: Sunset at Sea

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Memories of Notre Dame

Sadly, memories and photos are all the world will have of the French Gothic glory that was Notre-Dame de Paris — at least for quite some time. Restoration and rebuilding will take many years in the wake of the catastrophic fire of 15 April. At this point, it appears that firefighters were able to save the main building, although the roof and spire are gone. These photos were taken last August and the building’s exterior looked magnificent, the details of its ancient stonework clear to see after the recent cleaning.

Rear view showing the spire, now gone.

Front view with the two towers.

The west rose window, dating to around 1255.