Monday, December 12, 2011

Places to go, people to see....

When not checking out Falcon handlers or confident foxes, I like to pop on my dog walking jacket - which makes me resemble a stocky rainwater tank in a sleeping bag - sip my second coffee out on our balcony and enjoy the view of the distant Jura, the sky and the city.















It was mid-afternoon and the sun was already starting to set when these pictures were taken, but the new winter snow was still visible on top of the mountains.

However I realised that the sky has a lot of vapor trails in it.















Facing towards Saleve, I counted over ten separate trails created by planes flying over us, coming in to land or departing.















These white lines in the sky made me realise just how much air traffic Europe has and how Switzerland, being a fairly small splodge in the middle of the continent, sees a lot of planes passing overhead.















The following morning it dawned blue, cold and crisp and, when out walking with Milly, I counted fifteen different trails leaving lines on the sky. I once read that at any given time there is around 260,000 people up there; or the entire population of Orlando, Florida.

That's a lot of rock-hard bread rolls, miniscule bottles of water and sugar sachets.....

15 comments:

Elephant's Child said...

Glorious photos. And not all that many bread rolls - I am sure they are recycled time and time again. And code sharing airlines also code share their bread rolls.

Kath Lockett said...

Fair point, EC. Maybe they're actually made of rubber, confident in the knowledge that whilst they do a good job of filling up a 'snack' tray, no-one in their right mind would attempt to eat one.

River said...

Not to mention a lot of "blue ice".

So many jetstreams are rarely seen here in Aus. as you might remember. If I see even two at once I get excited.

Kath Lockett said...

Exactly, River. It's quite a change to see so many travel patterns in the sky - some days it looks like a cloud-lined version of tartan!

Nicole said...

They look amazing - although probably not an environmentally friendly art form.

Cathy said...

Tiny packets of stale peanuts...plastic knives...unopenable pots of milk...disgusting miniature toothpaste tubes...I love air travel!
Hey Kath - I've finally worked out how to comment on your blog. No more anonymous lurking from the north west of France!

Kath Lockett said...

You'd be utterly correct, Nicole. Then again, I'm guilty for thinking (far too often, after being without one for four months) about how grateful I am we have a car....

G'day Cathy!!!! (waves enthusiastically from cyberspace). I forgot about the toothpaste given on long distance flights - reminds me of No More Gaps with a hint of mint....

Plastic Mancunian said...

Nice photos Kath.

I love a good sunset/sunrise and sometimes vapour trails make them a little bit special.

:0)

Cheers

PM

Pandora Behr said...

One of my favorite parts of flying is watching the jetstream trails. great photos.

Kath Lockett said...

Thanks Plas and Pand xo

ropcorn said...

Gorgeous photos Kath! I can't believe how many people that actually are in the sky, cool. I wonder how many birds are up there at the same time? :p

Vanessa said...

Oh I wish I was blazing a trail over a foreign country...

Kath Lockett said...

Ropcorn, I remember seeing one of your lovely Swedish photos and noticing how many vapor trails were in the sky, too.

As for birds - I have no idea - not so many around our particular building now that the falcon has been here!

Me too, Vanessa. Sapphire's medical bills have made a huge dent in the finances, so once we're back from four days of Christmas in the snow, it'll be day trips in the car. Still, France is only 5km away :)

Cinema Minima said...

Whoah Toto, we aint in Kansas anymore! Been a while since I got on blogspot so I'm looking forward to catching up. Sorry to hear about Sapphire, hope shes well soon.

Kath Lockett said...

Hello there Mr Pub - long time no see - welcome back!