Constant reminder of the ravages of war

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Remembering the ravages of war

The Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church is a singularly unique site in western Berlin.
The older church spire is what remains of the original church, heavily damaged during the Second World War. It has since been restored and its ground floor is a memorial hall spotlighting its namesake monarch, the church’s past, and what it and nearby areas endured during wartime bombing raids.
The spire is surrounded by modern buildings that make up the functional church.
Pictured above are the two belfries, as they appeared on an early autumn evening this September.

Berlin’s Museum Island

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No filter

This beautiful, striking colonnade straddles the Spree River on the east side of Museum Island in Berlin. This view was seen my visit there this past September.

Finding happiness on the streets of Calgary

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What made you smile?

From time to time, interactive message boards like this one appear on one of the posting walls in Calgary’s Kensington neighbourhood. Two thumbs up to whoever conceived of this engaging piece of interactive art — and the same to all who left a part of themselves behind in the form of a sticky note. These messages were posted back in the spring.

Melting in Paris

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Melting building

This visually curious piece of public art keeps the crowd entertained outside the Gare du Nord train station in Paris. Snapped this image on a layover back in September.

Friday night outside the National Gallery

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National Gallery

The National Gallery in London was about to wind down its day on this Friday night back in September but Trafalgar Square would continue to bustle for hours to come.

London’s Tate Modern: Now with a sweeping city view

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St. Paul

The previous time I visited London’s Tate Modern museum of international modern and contemporary art, the view you see pictured above wasn’t possible. That’s because the museum only recently opened a building to provide more room for exhibitions, more spaces for other uses, a restaurant and an observation deck allowing for sweeping, 360-degree views of London. (If you plan to go, bring a sweater, as it can get gusty up there.)

Couscous complex

Back inside, warm and cosy, I wandered into an exhibition called Living Cities, which explores how urban dwellers live. It uses photographs, paintings, interactive art and such displays as the construction you see above — a scale model city made of couscous. (I wondered what it was made of when I smelled it. I was surprised to learn my guess was correct.)

Shot through imperfect glass

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Through imperfect glass

The photo apps on your phone come with fancy filters — not unlike what you see here, from the Hipstamatic app.
But sometime, real-life objects do the job just fine — again, not unlike what you see here, a photo shot through an imperfect airplane window on my way to Europe back in September.
This was snapped from aboard Air Canada 850 (YYC-LHR).

Ancient duck face preserved at British Museum in London

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Ancient duck face

This figure from Easter Island inside the British Museum in London is thought to have been carved between 1000 and 1200 A.D. Notice how it was rocking the duck face long before it was cool.

Sir Isaac at the British Library

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This is art outside the British Library in London memorializing Sir Isaac Newton.
The British Library isn’t the most obvious tourist attraction but there are a few noteworthy things to see in the parts of its permanent collection that don’t require a membership.
On the ground floor is a huge room containing dozens of historical documents, including a copy of the Magna Carta, ancient bibles and Qur’ans, books containing the first-known copies of beloved works of fiction, and manuscripts from celebrated classical music composers.
For the philately-minded among you, there is a collection of century-old stamps built into the walls of the ground floor, toward the back of the building.
And of course, there’s a revolving roster of temporary exhibitions. I visited too early to catch this forthcoming exhibition on cartography, which runs from Friday, Nov. 2, 2016 until Monday, March 1, 2017.
There is a lot of seating for reading and studying, as you would imagine.
And if none of those things interest you, you might consider popping in anyway: the facility has a cafeteria/café and there is public wifi (naturally).

Jewels of London

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Eye

A view overlooking the Thames, with the London Eye and the Palace of Westminster in the distance, captured on my visit there this September.