La batte

La batte is the Sunday market in Liege. It's one of the biggest Sunday markets in Europe and you can buy anything from rare italian cheeses and live ostriches to imitation designerware and second (third, fourth etc) hand romance novels. This photo shows only the start of the market. It snakes down all along the riverside.

Rainbow

Coming back from Bouillon to Liege on Sunday we got caught in a rainstorm. At some point the sun came out and we saw a rainbow. It didn't come out very bright in the picture, but looking for it is fun.

La passerelle

Looking up at the Passerelle, the footbridge across the Meuse.

The machine that does nothing

I spotted this in somebody's back yard and took a picture of it because I think it is quite an astonishing artifact. I don't believe it has any utility whatsoever. Please let me know if you think otherwise.

The sunmoon

This photo is so badly over-exposed that the moon looks like the sun.

Turkey in the quarter finals

Yesterday Turkey got through to the quarter finals of Euro 2008 (note to non-Europeans: that's the European championship in a game we call football and some of you call soccer, you know who you are; it's a big deal over here). The entire Turkish community of Liege went out to celebrate until the early morning hours. Their cars were adorned with flags and their horns were loud, but it was a good party.

Place de l'Opera

Sunset at the Place de l'Opera. You can't see the Opera but you can see the Ibis Hotel, a couple of travel agencies on the Boulevard de la Sauveniere and a giant poster for holidays in Greece. And the crane that features in most of my sunset photos.

Downhill

A view down the Montagne de Bueren.

Charlemagne and Tchanches

The twin pillars of the Liege identity: Charlemagne and Tchanches. Charlemagne is the most famous person to be born within 50km of the Place St Lambert. Of course Liege didn't really exist at the time but he's the only King of the Franks, Imperator Augustus and founder of the royal lines of France, Germany and the Holy Roman Empire who was ever born around here so he's been appropriated. Tchanches is a traditional puppet, representative of the rowdy drunken spirit of the Liegois. He's mostly famous for drinking a lot of Peket, the local high-octane alcoholic beverage.

Sculpture

This is a very bad sculpture on the riverside but it does make a striking image with the sun behind it so here it is.

Feline wisdom

I think that this must be the most serious and wise cat there's ever been. Something like a feline version of Yoda but without the funny face.

Liege, space city

Liege is a significant contributor to the European space program, through the activities of several public and private organizations, such as the Centre Spatial Liegois. Liege is also a member of the Community of Ariane Cities, a community of cities that assist in the activities of the European Space Agency. This giant inflatable astronaut is part of a drive by the European Space Agency to raise awareness of the work being carried out in such cities.

Another window

Let's face it, I like windows. I never knew this about myself before I started taking pictures for this blog. I have now accepted the fact that I am a window spotter and I feel much more at ease with myself.

Shop window

A busy shop window somewhere on the Rue Saint Laurent. Spot the photographer.

Return of the sun

It was not the end of the world after all. The sun returned and graced us with this rather nice sunset.

Stormy weather

Last week we had a great big storm in Liege which caused a lot of flooding and damage etc. I was at work, so I didn't get the chance to take any photos, which is a pity because it was a unique experience; at 9am the sky was pitch black. Anyway, today we had another storm, milder in comparison but still quite powerful. This time it happened after work, so here's a couple of pictures.

The power of the dark side

Today is the last day of the braderie and Darth Vader himself graced us with his presence. He brought with him a couple of stormtroopers, a Jawa, a Tusken raider, a Sith and ... a jedi (probably already under the influence of the dark side).

There were also a few unseasonal reindeer.