Archive for July, 2005

Google Sightseeing takes you on tour of the world as seen from satellite, using the free Google Earth program, or Google Maps in your web browser. Each weekday your guides James and Alex present new weird and wonderful sights as suggested by readers.

The editors: James & Alex

Coca-Cola

Sunday, 31st July 2005 by James

Two factories of the Coca-Cola company. The first is in St. Petersburg, Russia and the other is somewhere in Germany.

Thanks: Max & Bilbo

Rajpath, India

by James

Please note that some or all of the objects mentioned in this post are no longer visable on Google Earth or Google Maps.

Updated Post

The Rashtrapati Bhavan is the Official residence of the President of India. At the back of the building you can see the 13 acre gardens with Mughal style canals and fountains.

To the east is the Rajpath (’Kings Way’). Along the Rajpath there is the Republic Day Parade, an annual celebration of the adoption of the Constitution in 1950. As there is not much crowed along the road this could be the dress rehearsal of the parade which is held on the 24th of January each year. The parade starts here and you can follow it all the way along to the India Gate, a memorial built in commemoration of Indian soldiers who died in World War I and the Afghan Wars.

As the procession continues past the India Gate you can see an aeroplane on the north-west side of the roundabout, and on the north-east side the large cylindrical object is apparently a AGNI-II, an intermediate range ballistic missile.

Thanks: Sathish, Bill Kendrick, Manoj Govindan, donald, Ashutosh Rajekar, Ananya Gupta, Sarathy, Clint, Ashok M & DDA

Hungaroring Formula 1

by James

Hungaroring is the Hungarian Formula-1 Grand Prix race track, where the 20th Hungarian GP is currently being raced.

Thanks: ilves, Zoltan Marton, Kertész Attila, Rickard Jensen & Mario Sarno

The World’s Largest Gantry Crane

Saturday, 30th July 2005 by James

The 7,560 tonne world’s largest gantry crane at Kockums AB shipyard in Malmö, Sweden also has the world’s largest lifting capacity of 1,500 tonnes. If you’re in Sweden don’t bother trying to go and see it though as in 2002 the crane was sold to Hyundai Heavy Industries who dismantled it, painted it orange and shipped it off to their Offshore Fabrication Yard in Ulsan, South Korea.

The yellow floating crane to the northwest took part in the dismantling process, which you can see from the ground in these numerous photos. You can also see the Kockums crane at its new South Korean home in this photo.

And while we’re on a roll with the big cranes scroll a few screens east for the largest floating crane in the world.

Many thanks to Lars Persson & Rickard Jensen

Giant Dead Lego Cowboy

Friday, 29th July 2005 by James

Off the Gold Coast in Queensland Australia there looks to be a Giant Dead Lego Cowboy. No need to call the cops though, it’s just an inflatable waterplay feature.

Thanks: Ricardo Russon, Alex & woowoowoo

Whales!

by Alex

What do you guys think, could this really be two whales off the coast of California? Looks pretty convincing to me!

Whales

Thanks to Tara Wells. (Very sneaky Tara, but it worked! ;-) )

Waw An Namus

by Alex

This is Waw an Namus, a 1200 metre extinct volcano in the Sahara desert, Libya. The volcano itself is surrounded by a huge area of deposited ash which stands out strikingly against the desert sands. Zoom in closer to see some spectacular colours.

Waw An Namus Waw An Namus

You can really see which way the prevailing wind blows around here, huh?

A couple of hundred kilometres to the north you can see an absolutely vast basaltic lava flow field, known as Djebel Haroudj. If you take a broader look at the area, I think you can still make out the path the lava took from the volcano to it’s final destination.

Djebel

I couldn’t find an entry for this in Wikipedia, but this page has some good stuff.

Thanks: Leonard Richardson, Mikhail, Adriaan Bos, Manny Mouse, Mike S, pfly and Lauri Kangas.

Iowa University Football

Thursday, 28th July 2005 by James

A corn maze announcing the annual Iowa - Iowa State football game just East of Ames, Iowa. The image is on its side but you should be able to see the University of Iowa’s ‘Herky the Hawk’ to the right and Iowa State University’s ‘Cy’ tornado-thing to the left. Below is the date of the game - Sept 13, 2003.

Thanks: Adam Sachs, Brian Messenger & Marc Armstrong