Travel observations and new developments of other cities and countries

[archilove]

On 7/19/2019 at 4:15 PM, dmillsphoto said:

Lyon, France from July 2nd.

 

I like the way the old quarter of European towns are a harmony of red roofs, unlike Nashville,  where every building clashes with every other building. Although we are starting now to get a sort of harmony of glass. Love France, love Italy!

Edited July 25, 2019 by archilove

[Mr_Bond]

3 hours ago, archilove said:

I like the way the old quarter of European towns are a harmony of red roofs, unlike Nashville,  where every building clashes with every other building. Although we are starting now to get a sort of harmony of glass. Love France, love Italy!

This is the third year that my wife and I have recorded all the stages of the Tour de France.  We're not big cycling enthusiasts, we just love seeing the countryside, the churches, and the beauty of the towns.  We turn it on in the evening and weekends, turn the sound down, and enjoy the scenery.

[dmillsphoto]

Ah yes, the red roofs are fun. As are the cacophony of antennas that adorn them... the view from Vieux, Lyon, FR.

 

[CenterHill]

22 hours ago, Mr_Bond said:

This is the third year that my wife and I have recorded all the stages of the Tour de France.  We're not big cycling enthusiasts, we just love seeing the countryside, the churches, and the beauty of the towns.  We turn it on in the evening and weekends, turn the sound down, and enjoy the scenery.

Ha!  My wife and I do the same (except with sound on - we love Phil Liggett!).         We should have a viewing party!  

[markhollin]

View of midtown Manhattan from Newark International Airport about 3 miles to the NE:

 

[Mr_Bond]

On 7/26/2019 at 3:47 PM, CenterHill said:

Ha!  My wife and I do the same (except with sound on - we love Phil Liggett!).         We should have a viewing party!  

Phil is so pleasant to listen to.  This year, we've turned the sound up a little and are really enjoying him.  Just finished Stage 14 last night so no spoilers, please!

[markhollin]

Visited Lome, Togo (capital city) for the 2nd time this week.  Around 1.25 million in the metro for this bustling port city along the Atlantic Ocean.  As with so many countries in Africa, the Chinese are investing quite heavily in construction of roads, structures, and the new 50,000 capacity soccer stadium.

 

[jmtunafish]

^^Wonderful pictures!  I recently met a family from Lomé in Mount Juliet.  While they love living in the US, they are fiercely proud of their Togolais heritage and still speak French in their home.  Not many Americans have ever been to Togo, much less even heard of it.  What took you there?

[markhollin]

9 hours ago, jmtunafish said:

^^Wonderful pictures!   Not many Americans have ever been to Togo, much less even heard of it.  What took you there?

Thanks.  My work with Compassion International, where I am a Manager in the Radio Marketing Dept. , takes me oversees regularly. We work in 25 developing nations with a sponsorship program for desperately poor children around the globe, and several times a year I take broadcasters to see our work first hand. Then they (hopefully) get excited about what they see and tell their listeners how they can help in a one-to-one way stopping the downward cycle of poverty.

By the way, here are a couple other Lome structures I saw and forget to post yesterday:

 

[markhollin]

From today's New York Times:

 

[smeagolsfree]

I here they are going to turn the Flatiron into a boutique Hotel, which would be a very cool place to stay in NYC.

[memphian]

Found this beauty in Hounslow just outside London (near Heathrow). I think it is a local government building. Would be cool to see something like this in Nashville.

[Binbin98]

Some photos I took while walking around London last night. Every city in the world can learn something from London about city infrastructure, public transportation and successfully mixing cultures together, especially Nashville. The skyline of London also is amazing, with old buildings standing in front of newer shiny skyscrapers up to 1000 feet tall, and while these skyscrapers might not be the world’s tallest, their designs are incredible. One of the best decisions in my life was to leave Nashville for London for university, and I’m happy to say that I will be living here indefinitely after school. This is my favorite city in the world for sure.

[markhollin]

To go along with Binbin98's post, here are some pics a buddy of mine shot in the last few days in London:

 

[markhollin]

Connected thru Philadelphia yesterday.

Downtown continues to grow. At least five new 40+ story towers in last decade. 

The sportsplex on south side:

[NashvilleObserver]

On 9/24/2019 at 5:51 AM, Binbin98 said:

Some photos I took while walking around London last night. Every city in the world can learn something from London about city infrastructure, public transportation and successfully mixing cultures together, especially Nashville. The skyline of London also is amazing, with old buildings standing in front of newer shiny skyscrapers up to 1000 feet tall, and while these skyscrapers might not be the world’s tallest, their designs are incredible. One of the best decisions in my life was to leave Nashville for London for university, and I’m happy to say that I will be living here indefinitely after school. This is my favorite city in the world for sure.

Like Nashville, London is booming! The skyline has changed a lot since i was studying there just 5 years ago. 

It's a perfect city for everyone, especially young people. I enjoyed every part of it. Especially the efficient mass transit.

[Nathan_in_DC]

22 minutes ago, NashvilleObserver said:

Like Nashville, London is booming! The skyline has changed a lot since i was studying there just 5 years ago. 

It's a perfect city for everyone, especially young people. I enjoyed every part of it. Especially the efficient mass transit.

Indeed! I'm in town once a month or so and it seems like there's something new going up every time. And the transit is hard to beat, equaled only perhaps by New York. 

[markhollin]

Spent several days in Manchester, NH last week.  The metro area population that is just north of the border from Massachusetts (about an hour from  Boston) is 415,000.  

Massive mills (cotton,  shoes, paper, cigars, sewing machines, textiles, locomotives) along the Merrimack River were the primary source of employment for tens of thousands from the 1870s until 1930s, when most of them went out of business.  Dozens of them have have been converted into residential, university space, and offices.

They have a AA baseball franchise (the New Hampshire Fisher Cats) that plays in the 7,500 capacity Northeast Delta Dental Stadium that was built in 2006.  They have an 11,000 seat arena built in 2001 that is home to the Manchester Monarchs (ECHL) and Southern New Hampshire Univ. basketball and hockey teams.  It also hosts many concerts and family shows.
 

 

[donNdonelson2]

I was unsure where else appropriate to post this tragic story out of New Orleans.

https://www.nola.com/news/article_1df7303e-ecfe-11e9-88d2-cb66b5309a90.html

[memphian]

Here’s a street view of the Apple store in downtown Portland. The Nashville store may look similar. I’d suspect Microsoft to follow as they’re both in downtown PDX.

[donNdonelson2]

I’m sitting at Boston Logan airport’s newly renovated terminal B, after a whirlwind trip up to see the world premiere production of Dolly Parton’s Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol at the beautiful historic Emerson Colonial Theatre. I love Boston and am envious of their collection of historic performance venues, and am honored to have worked in three of those grand old palaces! Photos of my trip include a couple of the airport terminal and design features that I think would work well at BNA.

[Bos2Nash]

Logan has been undergoing some really great renovations and the ones that I have been seeing come across the local development forum there seem to improve it even better. Southwest just relocated all flights into Terminal B as things have been shifting around. I will say though, Terminal B is probably the worst terminal at Logan.

[Bos2Nash]

Recently spent a week in Las Vegas for a software/A/E/C convention and took some self-guided tours around the strip. It is absolutely crazy when money isn't a real or all the money is spent to keep people indoors. Overall, was a good experience and am happy to say that I have been to Vegas, not really a place I would find myself visiting often though. So many better cities out there. One building I did not get to see really was the new Raiders stadium. Looks pretty cool so far and from what I heard is going to have some really cool amenities (including an exclusive club that will have something like a 10K cover charge), but it is still shameful how much money the Vegas residents will have to fork over for it.

Inside the Grand Canal Shoppes of the Venetian. Shopping mall with a canal running through (this is on the second floor FYI).

 

The night I walked the northern portion of the strip was one of the rainiest nights in recent history....

Linq Promenade and its massive Ferris Wheel

 

Cool restaurant seating area in the shoppes that were attached to the Aria Hotel

 

Vegas is definitely not pedestrian friendly in terms of street level world. Pedestrian bridges are almost mandatory to get over the 8 to 12  lane roadways including the wide expanse of the strip

FIVE Tower Cranes and a single crawler crane around the new Resorts World Casino (looks alot like the Wynn Casinos)

Stopped my southern strip tour at the Wynn properties and walked back before playing black jack for 30 minutes prior to leaving for the airport.

Edited December 6, 2019 by Bos2Nash

[chris holman]

Hudson yards New York City

[Dale]

On 9/24/2019 at 6:51 AM, Binbin98 said:

Some photos I took while walking around London last night. Every city in the world can learn something from London about city infrastructure, public transportation and successfully mixing cultures together, especially Nashville. The skyline of London also is amazing, with old buildings standing in front of newer shiny skyscrapers up to 1000 feet tall, and while these skyscrapers might not be the world’s tallest, their designs are incredible. One of the best decisions in my life was to leave Nashville for London for university, and I’m happy to say that I will be living here indefinitely after school. This is my favorite city in the world for sure.

My grandmama was born in Ealing, London