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.
If you haven’t yet heard about the Google Maps street view launched yesterday, then make sure to check it out.
Although currently only available in 5 U.S. cities, there’s loads to see on the panorama images and it’s all wrapped up in a very fluid interface.
The first great find is Google employees posing outside their office. Zoom in and you’ll see that many are wielding garden tools and orange flags?
This is Barra Airport, located on the hebridean island of Barra.
Now, I know what you’re thinking, it’s something along the lines of “No, you idiot, that’s a beach!“.
You’re exactly right: Barra airport is the beach. In fact, it’s the only airport in the world where scheduled flights land on a beach.
Of course, that schedule has to change regularly, as the airport’s three runways all become completely unusable during high-tide.
The beach is open to the public, and supposedly good for cockle picking, all you have to do is check at the control tower to see if the airport is currently operational.
More info and ground level pictures here and on Wikipedia
Thanks: Adam Rus & nikitakou
