Thursday 23 October 2014

Hyde Park London Animals - 23rd October 2014

Coot
Mute Swan
Great Crested Grebe
Magpie
Greylag Goose
Crane
Black-Headed Gull (Winter Plumage)
Coot
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Egyptian Goose
The Grey Squirrels are just nuts for nuts.

Sunday 19 October 2014

Geneva Switzerland - 19th October 2014

View from our Daughters apartment
EasyJet, Budget Airline over the Jura Mountains
Our Grandson 'Loïc' gets his first Caterpillar
Grandad re-learns the art of feeding.
Swiss Sand Lizard
Swiss turtle taking in a bit of sun

Junction of the Rhöne (left) and the Arve (right) rivers

Yvoire is a medieval walled city located on Lac Leman; Haute-Savoie in the region of the Rhône-Alpes in south-eastern FranceIt is well known for its medieval buildings and beautiful flower decorations during the summer season. It is also recognised as one of the "most beautiful villages of France".
The town was fortified by Amadeus V in the 14th century. And gained a strategic military importance. 






Family picture, one for the album


Happy Loic - He found something sticking out either side of his head (Ears)


Looks more like a boat to me!

Lunch time with Abuela

More feeding practice for grandad. He will be an expert soon.



First snow of the season on the Jura Mountains.

Thursday 16 October 2014

Greenwich London England - 16th October 2014


Greenwich is located in the Royal Borough of Greenwich and situated 5.5 miles (8.9 km) east south-east of Charing Cross.
Greenwich is famous for its maritime history and gives its name to the Greenwich Meridian (0° longitude) and Greenwich Mean Time.
Greenwich became the site of a royal palace, the Palace of Placentia from the 15th century, and was the birthplace of many Tudors, including Henry VIII and Elizabeth I.

Palace of Placentia
The Greenwich Meridian was established by Sir George Airy in 1851. By 1884, over two-thirds of all ships used it as the reference meridian on their charts and maps. In October of that year, at the behest of U.S. President Chester A. Arthur, 41 delegates from 25 nations met in Washington, D.C., USA, for the International Meridian Conference. This conference selected the meridian passing through Greenwich as the official prime meridian due to its popularity.
One foot in the East, and one foot in the West
First Shop in the World?
Well here's the confirmation
Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) originally referred to the mean solar time at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London, and later became adopted as a global time standard. It is a term commonly used in the United Kingdom and countries of the Commonwealth, including Australia, South Africa, India, Pakistan and Malaysia, and many other countries in the Eastern Hemisphere.
Before the introduction of UTC on 1 January 1972, Greenwich Mean Time (also known as Zulu time) was the same as Universal Time (UT), a standard astronomical concept used in many technical fields.

The Royal Observatory, Greenwich in London played a major role in the history of astronomy and navigation, and is best known as the location of the prime meridian. It is situated on a hill in Greenwich Park, overlooking the River Thames. 

The observatory was commissioned in 1675 by King Charles II, with the foundation stone being laid on 10 August. At that time the king also created the position of Astronomer Royal, to serve as the director of the observatory. John Flamsteed was appointed as the first AR.
Royal Observatory
Most Unusual Weather Vane?
The Cutty Sark is a British clipper ship. Built on the Clyde in 1869 for the Jock Willis Shipping Line, she was one of the last tea clippers to be built and one of the fastest, coming at the end of a long period of design development which halted as sailing ships gave way to steam propulsion.

Cutty Sark - Above Ground
Cutty Sark - Below Ground
Other Pictures of Interest

William IV


The Meridian is in fact a huge Sundial
Millennium Dome - You may have seen this in some recent films.