# Are there any interesting landmarks where you live?



## Fsharpmajor

...either natural or man-made ones? Post a picture in this thread. Here is Oxford's Headington shark house:









It's famous enough that there was an article in the Times about it a couple of years ago.

Here's its Wikipedia article:

*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Headington_Shark*


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## Kopachris

There were, until I moved. They were all natural, though--mostly cliff faces and hills, in fact.


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## emiellucifuge

Well...I live inside a World Heritage Site.


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## Weston

There is a large sculpture called "Musica" in the Music Circle roundabout of Nashville. I often see it on my way to work. It's a lovely, joyous piece comprising nine nude figures 38 feet tall at its highest point. It is allegedly the largest statue of a group of figures in the USA (I guess Mt. Rushmore is not considered a statue or figures), though to me it doesn't look all that big.

Predictably there was controversy when it was "unveiled" due to the nudity. Ridiculous philistines! As if a child is going to be scarred for life by seeing 15 foot stylized nude green people. Anyway in honor of the prudes among us I won't post a picture, but here is a link:
http://thefuntimesguide.com/images/blogs/musica statue2.jpg


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## Ukko

I considered posting a picture of my home, but the street is rather narrow. The star watchers and paparazzi would block traffic.


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## Art Rock

The Wave, an architectural landmark in Almere NL (my shot):

The wave (Almere) by Art Rock (Hennie), on Flickr


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## TxllxT

*De Slufter on the Isle of Texel*










'De Slufter' is an extensive nature reserve on Texel, where the North Sea can flow freely in and out. Everywhere else the Dutch along their coastline have made a sea defense with huge ***** and rows of high dunes. Only on Texel they encountered with so much trouble to close 'De Slufter' estuary, that they let it be in nature's hand from 1851 onwards. Very nice for wandering through.


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## Meaghan

The Columbia River Gorge, with its many beautiful waterfalls.


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## kv466

Everglades National Park


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## mamascarlatti

Rangitoto Island, one of the fifty-odd volcanoes that Auckland is built on. You can see another in the foreground. More are expected to form in the future.


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## Almaviva

Sorry guys, I feel sorry for popping your bubble but my neighborhood landmark is a lot better than all of yours put together.

Here is what it is:










This celebrity chef has just won the most prestigious culinary award in the country; her restaurant is a national landmark, and it is located just a short ride from my home.

Don't read me wrong, I think this is much better than the natural landscapes that you guys have posted, but this is no indication that I don't like nature.

No sir, no madam, much the opposite, I love nature!

It's just that I love nature when it is well cooked and lays on my plate.:devil:


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## kv466

I like my nature nice and rare...and seriously, have you ever eaten in Miami...the world itself is a culinary hotspot these days and celebrity or not, wonderful food can and will be found on just about every corner of the globe...oh, yes, i've eaten all over this fine Earth and while there are award-winning chefs throughout the world, true landmarks don't have the option to move to another restaurant in another place...they just are. I hope this restaurant has a caveat emptor: enjoy my wonderful food but know that there are thousands just as great throughout the world.


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## Almaviva

mcamacho said:


> I like my nature nice and rare...and seriously, have you ever eaten in Miami...the world itself is a culinary hotspot these days and celebrity or not, wonderful food can and will be found on just about every corner of the globe...oh, yes, i've eaten all over this fine Earth and while there are award-winning chefs throughout the world, true landmarks don't have the option to move to another restaurant in another place...they just are. I hope this restaurant has a caveat emptor: enjoy my wonderful food but know that there are thousands just as great throughout the world.


Yes, I have, and I like some of my nature rare as well. Sure, there are wonderful restaurants all over the world, but it is nice nevertheless to have one of the country's best really nearby. I've eaten there multiple times, it's always amazing, and I've followed her slow rise to fame, and got culinary lessons from her (I mean, real ones, in a professional kitchen). Now she became a celebrity chef with major cookbook, TV appearances, several gourmet magazines quoting her and publishing multi-paged articles about her restaurant, and so forth, and now this major award. It's kind of exciting to see a local kid become this good and be this successful. The only downside is that her once affordable food is becoming pricey.

I just hope she doesn't fly away to bigger/brighter grounds now that she is under the national spotlight. It just happened with the other spectacular restaurant in town (I was also in friendly terms with the chef and his sommelier wife and also got culinary lessons from him); they closed down and are moving to New York City (dangerous move, the competition there is fierce).

The chef of the other one also got into the semifinals for the award (amazing, two from the same small town among the final four) but she won it. He's gone already, but we hope we can keep her in town, so more power to her. I hope we (the people of this town) can continue to patronize her place and keep it sold out every night in spite of her well deserved higher price policy.

But my post was a bit humoristic, not really a serious one. On the other hand, when I thought about the most notable feature in my neighborhood, no kidding, I immediately thought of her restaurant. It is truly wonderful, and is even nicer because when I go there, I get treated like royalty; she comes to the table, chats with me (I get recognized as one of her faithful customers from the time when she wasn't famous yet), sends me email in advance when she is planning to have my favorite dish (Alaskan black cod) as one of the specials.

If she leaves, I'll experience it as a big loss, really. Last time we chatted she said she isn't going anywhere, has developed too much of a relationship with local farmers, relies on local produce for her recipes, her husband and kids are doing well here, and she thinks that if she upsizes she will lose control. I keep my fingers crossed.


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## Air

Apple Headquarters - Cupertino, CA










A landmark just as much as the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz Island are.


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## Kopachris

In case anyone was wondering (I'm narcissistic, aren't I?)...
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/46885899
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/46885391
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/46885389
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/46884837
The Red Mountain (as the locals (me included) call it) is the most prominent landmark where I used to live. All of the pictures were taken by me on a phone camera (so please excuse the poor quality). The last one is the view up close from the front. It's basically a big mesa made of layered red sandstone. Just a hop, skip, and a jump away are a couple cliffs with "DIXIE" and "D" painted in white on them.


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## Air

Here's another obscure one from the California Bay Area.










Mount Diablo ("Devil") is an extinct volcano near Walnut Creek, California which is visible from where I live. Though the mountain is only a couple thousand feet tall and receives snow but a few days each year, it is distinguished for having one of the largest vistas in the world - once though to be the the second largest only behind Kilimanjaro in Africa (this myth has recently been "busted" though).

From the top of the summit, it's easy to see the Sierra Nevada Mountains on the other side of the California Central Valley and Mount Lassen all the way up in the Cascades (Mount Shasta is not visible though). Estimates say that about half of the state of California is visible from our beloved local peak.

We kind of think of it as our Vesuvius, though let's hope that the devil doesn't wake up from his sleep anytime soon and wreak havoc in our neighborhoods.


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## Weston

mamascarlatti said:


> Rangitoto Island, one of the fifty-odd volcanoes that Auckland is built on. You can see another in the foreground. More are expected to form in the future.


From the pictures I have seen, there can't be a more other-worldly place than New Zealand, at least compared to my part of the world. It's just awe inspiring.


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## science

Not far from my home, the DMZ - one of the largest (unintentional) nature reserves in the world!


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## emiellucifuge

Here you can see the incredible, 17th century canals which are now a world heritage site.










I live along the thicker stretch of water going towards the bottom right corner. And along that same stretch, going towards the center you see a big White, round building - thats the opera house. The concertgebouw is just out of sight on the bottom left.


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## science

That's a beautiful view of it!


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## sospiro

mamascarlatti said:


> Rangitoto Island, one of the fifty-odd volcanoes that Auckland is built on. You can see another in the foreground. More are expected to form in the future.


Just as stunning as I remember it.


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## sospiro

emiellucifuge said:


> Here you can see the incredible, 17th century canals which are now a world heritage site.
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> I live along the thicker stretch of water going towards the bottom right corner. And along that same stretch, going towards the center you see a big White, round building - thats the opera house. The concertgebouw is just out of sight on the bottom left.


Visiting your beautiful city in June with some non opera loving friends. Will try to check out the opera house while I'm there because I want to see Don Carlo there next May.


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## emiellucifuge

In june you might be lucky enough to catch Jevgeny Onegin with the RCO/Jansons


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## Meaghan

emiellucifuge said:


> Here you can see the incredible, 17th century canals which are now a world heritage site.
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> I live along the thicker stretch of water going towards the bottom right corner. And along that same stretch, going towards the center you see a big White, round building - thats the opera house. The concertgebouw is just out of sight on the bottom left.


Emiel, you are so lucky!


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