Nice people thread part 6 - thrice by twice as nice :)

purch

vivatifosi wrote: »

My particular thing is bridges:o.

I knew we had a lot in common.

The Millau Viaduct is my all time #1 fav, so far just ahead of the Golden Gate Bridge.

HID can never fathom my fascination, she was most upset when I made her walk all the way up to the Olympic Stadium on Montjuic in Barcelona in 40 degree heat this summer, "Just to have a look"

zagubov

Generali wrote: »

The US economy is amazing: it is almost a quarter of the world's economy (using the GDP at purchasing power parity measurement) and it uses more than half the oil sold each year (yeah I know). It is home to 4 of the world's top 10 biggest companies, produces most of the top grossing films and music each year and almost all of the world's biggest charities started in the USA.

I was a student back when the Iran/Iraq war started, and in those days the US had several aricraft carrier groups in the Med. Each group had a bigger supply of aircraft than the air force of any country on the Med coast.

More impressively, the US National Guard's air arm was the third biggest airforce in the world.

I think the US economy was about 9-10 times bigger than the UK economy

dinofabio

purch wrote: »

Yes...

1. Michigan Stadium (The Big House) of the Michigan Wolverines

I've just googled this as I've never heard of this staduim.

Some of the stats are incredible.

eg the last time the MW had an attendence of LESS than 100,000 was in 1975. In 2006 they celebrated the 200th consecutive crowd of over 100,000.

vivatifosi

purch wrote: »

I knew we had a lot in common.

The Millau Viaduct is my all time #1 fav, so far just ahead of the Golden Gate Bridge.

HID can never fathom my fascination, she was most upset when I made her walk all the way up to the Olympic Stadium on Montjuic in Barcelona in 40 degree heat this summer, "Just to have a look"

I would love to go to the Millau Viaduct! I just can't get my head round how tall it must be. I really enjoyed the Golden Gate too, as well as of course the Sydney coathanger. My current favourite is the Oresund bridge between Denmark and Sweden. Any bridge that squiggles is ok by me. However I am fickle on the bridge front, so that may get knocked off the number one spot.

In Barcelona, the best view is from the Olympic Diving pool, which is locked shut most of the time, but you can climb round the side if you are careful. Fantastic view if you don't have the Barca haze. That has to be the most iconic Olympic diving contest ever.
http://designaspolitics.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/barcelonamodel1.jpg

dinofabio

vivatifosi wrote: »

In Barcelona, the best view is from the Olympic Diving pool, which is locked shut most of the time, but you can climb round the side if you are careful. Fantastic view if you don't have the Barca haze. That has to be the most iconic Olympic diving contest ever.

Agree. I went there many years ago, and the views of Barca are amazing.

Yes, that Barca Olympic diving contest was very special.

purch

vivatifosi wrote: »

My current favourite is the Oresund bridge between Denmark and Sweden.

Well that's my next trip decided.

Now just need to think of a way to convince HID that Malmo is the shopping capital of Northern Europe :eek:

zagubov

purch wrote: »

Well that's my next trip decided.

Now just need to think of a way to convince HID that Malmo is the shopping capital of Northern Europe :eek:

I'd leave your wallet at home if I went there. The entire population of Iceland used to shop in Glasgow. In Scandinavia, booze was so expensive that my mate whose team was playing in a footie tournament there flew into Germany first got all their alcohol there and drove it in their hire car across into Denmark where the tournament was being held.

Their goalie got ill and a goalie from a local team who'd been eliminated offered to step in. In return he asked to use thier booze allowances for a shoppng trip back across the border to Germany ( he wanted to stock up for a family wedding).

They were happy to do this, drove their car back across into Germany and filled their trolleys with good cheap German booze. After paying they returned to their car, opened the boot and,to their horror, found it was still almost full as they'd forgotten to offload their original beers while they were in Denmark.

They couldn't think of any way around it and added their new booze to their original allowance and chanced their luck. Had to pay an enormous fine at the border as the customs men were very vigilant. Turns out its not just the Germans who're efficent.:eek:

If you do go, try jam or liqueurs made from cloudberries, if you can get it. Utterly gorgeous.

Generali

zagubov wrote: »

[blah]cloudberries[blah]

Is it just me or do cloudberries sound like the most wonderful food in the world ever?

It's like a family of birds I found out about in Aus last w/e called the Fairy Wrens, examples of which include the Splendid Fairy Wren and the Superb Fairy Wren.

This is a Splendid Fairy Wren:



There's been no funny business with the colour either, that's what they actually look like.

lostinrates

I agree gen.

I love cloudberries too (I have Scandinavian family so these are familiar to me) but I love the name more than the actuality.

I want splendid fairy wrens flying around my house, they are beautiful, thank you for the picture.

zagubov

Generali wrote: »

Is it just me or do cloudberries sound like the most wonderful food in the world ever?
Even better, in (admittedly sweetened) foods and drinks they taste like the most wonderful food in the world ever!
It's like a family of birds I found out about in Aus last w/e called the Fairy Wrens, examples of which include the Splendid Fairy Wren and the Superb Fairy Wren.

This is a Splendid Fairy Wren:



There's been no funny business with the colour either, that's what they actually look like.

So, I'm betting that's the male of the species right?;) Is the female a bright pink colour?:D