Liege City Daily Photo

Sky Watch

2012-01-27T23:26:00.002+01:00

For today's Skywatch, a building swimming in the big yellow sky.

Yellow sky

2012-01-24T23:03:00.002+01:00

Who said the sky can't be yellow?

Trees and sky

2012-01-22T10:39:00.002+01:00

Trees and sky indeed!

The bigger picture

2012-01-20T22:27:00.006+01:00

Today's Skywatch is a wider view of Wednesday's photo.

Failed Watery Wednesday

2012-01-18T23:14:00.002+01:00

I was going to post this photo as a Watery Wednesday contribution but there's not been one this week. Nevertheless, it's Wednesday and there's water in the photo.

Seagulls. Thousands of 'em.

2012-01-16T22:48:00.003+01:00

Well, maybe not thousands.

Skywatch Saturday

2012-01-14T12:39:00.002+01:00

How about another spot of skywatching today?

Wednesday Skywatch

2012-01-11T18:46:00.002+01:00

Is Skywatching only for Fridays?

Persistant Christmas

2012-01-08T13:56:00.002+01:00

Yet some Christmassy stuff is still around, for example the Christmas tree and glitter balls in the Place du Marché.

Dismantling the festive spirit, part 2

2012-01-07T17:19:00.004+01:00

Christmas tree carcasses awaiting to be collected from the Place Saint Lambert.

First Skywatch of 2012

2012-01-06T17:53:00.002+01:00

Skywatch!!!!!

Dismantling the festive spirit

2012-01-05T15:48:00.002+01:00

The Ferris wheel of the Christmas village striped of its cupolas and decorations. Liège is being de-Christmassed.

A higher state of ugliness?

2012-01-02T16:47:00.004+01:00

In a previous post I showed you a photo of the ongoing renovation works of the Royal Walloon Opera. Here's an update: the building is now mostly painted white and the nondescript wooden beam decoration of the add-on box has been finished. I think that they will probably install some kind of external lift where there's a break in the beams. I feel that the whole thing is becoming increasingly ugly but please let me know what you think.

Happy 2012

2012-01-01T20:34:00.001+01:00

My Avatar and I wish you all a very happy 2012!

Last Skywatch of 2011

2011-12-30T15:40:00.002+01:00

Here's my contribution to the year's last Skywatch. The Mont Saint Martin with sun and clouds.

Saint Martin in the sunset

2011-12-29T14:05:00.003+01:00

One more photo of St Martin, complete with sunset-induced reflection.

Belated...

2011-12-26T14:45:00.001+01:00

Merry belated Christmas!

Galeries Saint Lambert

2011-12-20T23:53:00.002+01:00

The Galeries Saint Lambert shopping centre seen from the Place Saint Lambert. Including the silhouette of the post-modern christmas tree.

Floral Tributes

2011-12-18T10:53:00.001+01:00

Floral tributes in the Place Saint Lambert.

Life goes on

2011-12-17T11:22:00.002+01:00

After Tuesday's horrible events, Place Saint Lambert is nearly back to normal. Life goes on.

Demo again

2011-12-12T21:36:00.002+01:00

Another couple of photos from Wednesday's demo. Front and rear!

Skywatch time

2011-12-09T19:18:00.003+01:00

It's Friday! It's Skywatch!!!

The aftermath

2011-12-08T18:33:00.002+01:00

This is what happened as soon as yesterday's demonstration finished. The skies opened up and water and hailstones and weather-related mayhem rained upon the empty city streets.

Solidarity

2011-12-07T11:24:00.002+01:00

Photos from today's demonstration protesting against Arcelor Mittal's decision to shut down part of the steel production in Liège.

Saint Hubert

2011-12-05T23:11:00.002+01:00

A statue of Saint Hubert from the Saint Jacques church.

B52

2011-11-30T22:11:00.003+01:00

One of the buildings of the Faculty of Applied Sciences of the University of Liège reflecting the sunset.

Deep twilight

2011-11-27T17:10:00.002+01:00

Darkening dusk, crepuscular afterlight, dimming eventide, late nightfall.

Liège in the 11th century

2011-11-23T23:02:00.003+01:00

Back in September I posted some photos of a model of Liège in 1730. Here's another model, this time of Liège in the 11th century. It is on exhibit in the Archeoforum, the archeological site under the Place Saint Lambert. Evidently the city progressed quite a bit between the 11th and 18th centuries!

Sunrise and Duchene

2011-11-18T23:05:00.002+01:00

If you want to see photos of sunrises without Duchene, visit the Skywatch blog.

It's Christmas!!!!

2011-11-17T20:31:00.004+01:00

First kitten-unrelated post this week. It's mid November but the Christmas lights are up, the Christmas market is being built and the christmas Ferris Wheel is ready.

Happy ending

2011-11-16T19:56:00.003+01:00

Well, the kitten story has a happy ending. They all found new homes! We placed an avert on chiens-chat.be and we were inundated by emails. Here's a couple of photos of the last kitten just before her new mom came to collect her.

Kitty update

2011-11-15T15:21:00.004+01:00

The four kittens we found on Sunday are still staying with us. They're in much better shape and are growing amazingly fast. We're trying to find homes for them.

Cuteness overload

2011-11-13T21:39:00.003+01:00

We found these four little bundles of joy abandoned in a cardboard box on the street. It's 4 degrees Celsius out there, we couldn't leave them. They're in our bathtub now, wrapped up in blankets and sleeping blissfully. Tomorrow we'll take them to the vet and then the refuge.

So the sun did rise today

2011-11-11T11:18:00.004+01:00

Despite all the prophecies of doom for this 11/11/11, the sun rose normally. Enjoy more sunrises and sunsets on the Skywatch blog. At least until December 21 2012.

Kennedy Tower

2011-11-09T23:31:00.003+01:00

The fifth tallest residential building in Belgium, second tallest in Liège. It's sooooo 70s.

Upside down and round and round

2011-11-07T20:56:00.002+01:00

One of the rides available at the October fair.

Liège from above

2011-11-05T17:41:00.003+01:00

Another panoramic view of Liège, from atop the Ferris wheel.

Fiery sunrisewatch

2011-11-04T21:37:00.002+01:00

A fiery sunrise over Liège city centre. Happy Skywatch!

St Jean Népomucène

2011-11-02T09:51:00.003+01:00

The statue of St John of Nepomuk from the church of St Denis.

Sunrise crane and church

2011-11-01T12:18:00.000+01:00

A new day dawns over Liège.

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T18:24:00.005+01:00

Our spooky Jack-o'-lantern wishes you a Happy Halloween. This also happens to be my 13th post this month. How scary is that?

Hôpital militaire Saint Laurent

2011-10-29T12:40:00.002+02:00

A view of the St Laurent military hospital from the top of the Ferris wheel. The building used to be a Benedictine Abbey, founded in 1026. It was abandoned by the monks after the French revolution and became a military complex for the French, Dutch and finally Belgian armies.

Up in the air

2011-10-26T22:10:00.003+02:00

Two views of Liège from the top of the Ferris wheel.

Ferris wheel

2011-10-25T22:28:00.003+02:00

Two views of the Ferris wheel, as we were going up. The sky was perfectly blue.

Lacquements

2011-10-24T23:16:00.002+02:00

Yesterday I wrote about lacquements, the local specialty that is very much on offer during the October Fair. Here are a couple of pictures of a lacquement. Notice the copious amounts of syrup covering them.

Foire d'Octobre

2011-10-23T14:33:00.003+02:00

A couple of views of the October Fair, seen from the top of the Ferris wheel. I love the fair, it's crowded and noisy but it's great fun. What's more, there's plenty of food and snacks on offer, including the lacquement, a local waffle variant that is totally sinful and exquisitely decadent.

Opera renovation

2011-10-19T22:04:00.004+02:00

The renovation of the Royal Walloon Opera building is becoming increasingly monstrous. After sticking a cube on top of the neoclassical roof, they now decorated said cube with randomly arranged horizontal wooden beams that make me think of pre-crisis interior design TV programmes. What next? a water feature?

Madone à l'enfant

2011-10-18T23:40:00.003+02:00

Another 16th century painting from the University of Liège collection, this one is entitled 'Madonna with child' and is by Girolamo Marchesi da Cotignola.

Les damnés précipités en enfer

2011-10-17T20:41:00.004+02:00

The damned hurled down to hell, 16th century oil painting by an anonymous flemish artist, from the University of Liège collection.

Relief

2011-10-14T18:39:00.004+02:00

Art Deco reliefs on a building opposite the Saint Jacques church. Not sure what they represent.

Saint Rita

2011-10-11T18:00:00.005+02:00

A statue of Saint Rita, the patron saint of lost causes. Dedicated to the 6th Belgian state reform.

Stormy weather

2011-10-05T20:36:00.003+02:00

It's official, the unseasonal sunny spell that graced northern Europe over the last couple of weeks has ended. The clouds are coming back. They can be pretty though!

Eglise Saint Jacques

2011-10-01T18:38:00.003+02:00

Three views of the interior of the Saint Jacques church. We zoom progressively towards the stained glass windows.

Construction works

2011-09-30T23:31:00.003+02:00

The city is currently an enormous construction site. Here's an example, the renovation works of the old building of the Société Libre d'Emulation, which will eventually become a theatre. In case you're wandering, a Société d'Emulation is a kind of learned society that was very popular in the 18th and 19th centuries. Happy Skywatch!

Abbaye des Bénédictines

2011-09-28T19:21:00.002+02:00

Two views of the Benedictine Abbey on a sunny day. There's been a lot of these over the last week!

More of Liège in 1730

2011-09-26T13:37:00.002+02:00

Thank you for the nice comments on my previous post. I took another three photos of the model so here they are.

Liège in 1730

2011-09-23T10:40:00.004+02:00

In the library of the University of Liège, you can view this model of Liège in the 18th century made by Gustave Ruhl-Hauzeur. It's an enormous, highly detailed model that took 10 years to complete. It was made in the very early 20th century so its historical accuracy is being questioned but it looks good!

Salle académique

2011-09-21T19:03:00.004+02:00

This is the ceiling of the Salle Académique, the original lecture hall of the University of Liège.

The latin writing is a commentary on the painting below. It reads something like 'This is how he personally crowns with laurels the hope of the sweet fatherland'. 'He' is King William I of the Netherlands, the guy in the centre of the painting. The text is a chronogram, if you add up the arithmetic values of the capital letters you get the date of completion of the Salle Académique, 1824. At the time Belgium was part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Il y a tout sauf la mer

2011-09-19T20:38:00.002+02:00

A shopping bag of the Province of Liège. The motto says 'There's everything except the sea'.

Change of subject

2011-09-17T18:08:00.003+02:00

It's time for a change of subject. Here's a photo of an impressive piece of graffiti next to the Bressoux train station.

The organ

2011-09-16T19:00:00.003+02:00

This is a view of the front of the organ of Saint Denis. Very impressive.

This is a view of the back. Much less impressive.

And this is the engine. Somebody had to work the pedals in order to pressurise air while the organist played. Sadly, the entire organ is not used any more, they have a small electric organ instead...

For whom the bell tolls

2011-09-15T18:44:00.002+02:00

That's the big bell at the top of Saint Denis. I rang it!

View from up top

2011-09-14T21:01:00.002+02:00

This is the view from the top of the Saint Denis tower. Only one of the windows was open but it was certainly worth climbing 156 steps for this.

The breast-shaped hills are pit heaps from the old coal pits.

Shadows on the wall

2011-09-13T23:53:00.002+02:00

More photos from inside the tower of Saint Denis. As you may have guessed, the shadow with the camera is mine!

From the inside

2011-09-12T18:35:00.006+02:00

First couple of photos from my trip up the tower of the Saint Denis church. The first shows the upper side of the roof of the original romanesque building. It features three domes that are now completely covered by the newer roof.

The second photo shows the wooden beams that make up the newer roof. It is not that new, one of these beams dates from 1028AD!

Saint Denis

2011-09-11T18:09:00.007+02:00

This weekend we had the Wallonia Heritage Days. Several buildings and monuments held a sort of open day, giving access to areas that are normally restricted. I went to several of these and took many photos. I'll start with the Saint Denis church, which gave us access to the tower. First a couple of photos of the church interior. Tomorrow I'll post some photos from the tower.

The stained glass is fantastic and the ceiling very imposing. When going up the tower we also got the opportunity to walk above the painting in the middle of the ceiling!

Back to work

2011-09-10T14:12:00.007+02:00

Well, I'm back, summer is gone and the holidays are but a memory. Having said that, the sun still comes out from time to time and there's still flowers on some trees. Here's proof!

Time for a holiday

2011-07-18T00:08:00.003+02:00

This is a photo of the Liège train station just before the arrival of the train that will take us to Cologne and from there to Greece for a well-deserved holiday. I wish you all a perfect summer (or winter if you're down under) and I'll be back at the end of August.

Big wisp of smoke

2011-07-10T22:58:00.005+02:00

This cloud of smoke Rose up behind the hills this afternoon. It probably came from the steelworks in Seraing.

Here's one more

2011-07-06T19:13:00.003+02:00

One more photo of the train station in the sunset. It's really easy to take nice pictures of it, you just point anywhere and shoot.

It's ...

2011-07-04T23:23:00.002+02:00

Calatrava's Guillemins train station. One more photo of it. It looks really nice in this light. But then again it looks really nice in all light.

Sunset behind the bridge

2011-07-02T11:21:00.002+02:00

The sun sets behind the bridge leading to the Guillemins train station.

WWI memorial and basilica

2011-06-30T18:46:00.003+02:00

The WWI memorial and basilica in the sunset against a backdrop of grey clouds.

Les Chiroux

2011-06-21T18:49:00.003+02:00

The central library of the Province of Liège and of the cultural centre Les Chiroux.

Indignados!

2011-06-20T19:42:00.002+02:00

The Liège Indignados (yes, we have them too, they're called the Indignés) held a demo yesterday. As you can see, indignation is a sport for the select few in this city. The coffin's a nice touch although I'm not sure who or what they're burying. Politics maybe?

Speech bubble

2011-06-19T15:50:00.002+02:00

A statue in front of the Musée de la Vie Wallonne.

The day when ice and water fell from the sky

2011-06-06T20:49:00.004+02:00

And there were floods aplenty and much humidity and basements got inundated and frantic phone calls were made to the emergency services. It was yesterday.

Bust of Jean Del Cour

2011-06-05T17:25:00.004+02:00

Jean Del Cour was the most famous sculptor from Liège. It's not often you see a statue of a statue-maker.

St Paul's from St Paul's

2011-06-04T22:34:00.002+02:00

St Paul's cathedral, seen from St Paul's square!

Reflected Palace

2011-05-30T23:25:00.002+02:00

The Palais des Princes Eveques reflected in a shop window.

Blvd Frère Orban

2011-05-28T22:17:00.002+02:00

A small park, a water feature and a nice old building. Just before you cross the Pont Albert.

Early Skywatch!

2011-05-26T21:02:00.004+02:00

The sky in this photo is not particularly interesting but I like the golden reflections on the buildings in the background. Happy early Skywatch!

Another night shot

2011-05-25T19:18:00.002+02:00

A bit more watery than yesterday's shot, therefore perfect for a Watery Wednesday!

700!

2011-05-24T20:38:00.002+02:00

This is my 700th post! Here's a colourful night photo of the Kennedy bridge to celebrate.

Cup win again

2011-05-22T21:08:00.003+02:00

More photos from yesterday's celebrations after the cup triumph of Standard de Liège.

Standard Liège: Belgian Cup winners 2011

2011-05-21T23:22:00.004+02:00

Tonight Standard Liège won the Belgian Cup final in Brussels. There was a stage and two giant screens on the Place Saint Lambert to show the game. Needless to say that the party is only just starting. In the four years I've been living here, Standard Liège have won two championships and a cup. The last time they won anything was 1993 so I must be bringing them good luck!

Water under the bridge

2011-05-16T23:42:00.000+02:00

Under the Pont des Arches more specifically.

Art Deco bridge

2011-05-15T21:05:00.000+02:00

One of the statues of the Pont des Arches.

Coal barge cross the Meuse

2011-05-10T23:30:00.001+02:00

There's coal barges sailing down the river all the time. I could probably post one a day if this was a coal barge spotting blog.

School boat

2011-05-09T23:33:00.002+02:00

First in a series of rivery photos, the Bateau Ecole. No, it's not a boat for going to school.

A princely window

2011-05-08T20:53:00.002+02:00

A window detail from the Palace of the Bishop Princes.

Fluffy and cottony

2011-05-06T22:08:00.002+02:00

A fluffy sky for a fluffy Skywatch!

Manhattan Gym

2011-05-05T20:43:00.001+02:00

I wander if there is a Liège Gym in Manhattan...

Cityview

2011-05-04T20:16:00.002+02:00

A general view of the Quai de la Batte, featuring the city administration building (horrible tall monstrosity with stain on the side), the Citadel Hospital (on top of the hill) and some cute older buildings.

The green green grass of Liège

2011-05-03T19:24:00.002+02:00

Spring, grass, green, extreme close up!

Kennedy Tower

2011-05-01T00:02:00.002+02:00

Two views of the Kennedy Tower, the tallest building in Liège. It's a bit grim.

Pont des Skywatch

2011-04-29T20:30:00.003+02:00

A view down the Meuse river from the Pont des Arches. Happy Skywatch.

Calatrava again

2011-04-28T22:54:00.003+02:00

It's been a while since I posted a photo of our new train station. It still amazes me every time I see it. The monument and basilica of Cointe can be seen on the hill in the background.

Watery photo

2011-04-27T19:09:00.002+02:00

My first Watery Wednesday post in a very long time. The Meuse, a barge and plenty of coal.

Albert I

2011-04-25T14:11:00.003+02:00

The statue of King Albert I next to the Albert Bridge. Tally ho!