St Pancras station in London

St Pancras station is now the terminal for the high-speed train from London over to France. Here is a view of the station, walking over from Kings Cross station:



Closer:




The high ceiling, clock and lighting, creates an awe-inspiring effect:



It is somewhat weird to see bilingual French/English signs at the St Pancras underground station. I am used to seeing bilingual Irish/English signs in Ireland, or English/Spanish signs in the US, but seeing French/English signs in London was a bit strange.

A sign you'll only ever see in Britain

With all due respect to British people, I don't think you'll see a sign like this anywhere else in the world :-)



(Photographed in Soho, London last month)

High heels on a wooden floor

Seen in a hotel in Reading, England last week. I don't wear high heels for my nightly Irish step-dancing rehearsals, nor do I wear high heels while I practice basketball dribbling techniques in the early hours of the morning, so this sign doesn't apply to me :-)

The Corpus Clock in Cambridge, UK

The new Corpus Clock was unveiled last month on the corner of the new library building of Corpus Christi college in Cambridge. As the clock's YouTube page explains, the clock operates through the motions of a mechanical "chronophage" creature (a "time eater") which sits atop the clock. Very clever, and expensive (it cost 1 million pounds, and features a gold-plated dial).

At night, it is lit up in blue, which was when I saw it and photographed it. Well worth seeing if you're in Cambridge.

The chronophage:



And the entire clock:

Harry Potter's Platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross Station

Photographed today at King's Cross Station in London, the Platform 9 3/4 sign from the Harry Potter books. This sign is round the back of the large station announcement board, near platforms 9 and 10.

A good use of a cameraphone

I use my cameraphone to take (blurry) pictures of car park location identifiers. That way, I usually find my car again. Much easier than writing the information on a piece of paper.

Halal car insurance

Spotted near London, a bus shelter advertisement for Halal car insurance from Salaam Halal Insurance.

From their website: "Salaam Halal insurance is the UK’s first dedicated Islamic insurance provider set up to provide Islamic insurance based on the Shariah principle of Takaful. So now you can have great value insurance, without compromising the principles of your faith."

Cat packing

I think my cat is trying to tell me something here. I wouldn't advise her to sit in the bag like that at 4am when I'm hastily throwing together some clothes for an early morning flight, though.

The Burj Dubai, tallest building in the world

The Burj Dubai is the world's tallest building, located just inland from Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai. It is still under construction, but will include offices, apartments, and a Giorgio Armani hotel.



Just to show that the Burj Dubai is by no means the only tall building in Dubai, here is a video of a drive down Sheikh Zayed Road, ending looking right at the Burj Dubai. You can see the new railway under construction (on the white concrete platforms, by large yellow track-laying machines which you see intermittently):

"Antlers or horns are accepted as checked baggage only"

I flew with Air Canada today, and was surprised when their check-in terminal asked was I carrying any antlers or horns.

It turns out that Air Canada has all sorts of regulations for transporting antlers, horns, "bounty", and guns.

I note that "Latitude and Executive fare customers are entitled to check their antlers or horns (one piece per passenger) at no charge for travel within Canada and the 50 United States."

I guess that Air Canada Latitude and Executive fare passengers must really stand out from the crowd in an airport (unless they have checked their antlers or horns, that is).