h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Forget the clock and the cathedral, the Russian tourists would love a pic of this to take home! Great photo.

The Church may be rather conservative, but here, at least, they've taken a left turn.

You are in the mood to scream, but you just don't. (but only just)

Like the photo.

If the cross is being cautious, why is'n't it hiding under the shelter?

If you shouldn't hide your light under a bushel, I suppose you shouldn't hide your cross under a shelter...?

Surprisingly yesterday Salisbury was declared the UK's best city in 2019
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-47919536
Well, I suppose the Russians haven't killed anyone here in 2019, only 2018…

<BB<

Cleaning up after the Russian spy incident was hard, but in Salisbury there was a lot at steak.

Ah, I looked it up and apparently Salisbury Steak is an American dish. I get it now.

<BB<

'Salisbury steak' is named for Dr James Salisbury, a food nut. He was a doctor during the Civil War.

The reason the term became popular was, er, the 'freedom fries' phenomenon. During the First World War, people in the US were afraid to be seen as pro-German by mentioning 'Hamburg(er) steak'.

Alas, the world has one less tourist attraction. Notre Dame in Paris is on fire, and seems doomed.

Yes. The Core Team has been following events on live feeds. It's devastating.

Quasimodo and Esmeralda homeless. Who would have thought?

It appears that the stone structure survived. The French President said they will rebuild it and some rich people already stated they will donate huge amounts of money for that.

Maybe Quasimodo will now get his own bedroom(?).

Luckily, a load of copper statues had already been taken off for restauration and are thus saved.

Rebuilding / restauration will be a huge project. I was just checking what kind of building techniques they used, as that will influence the extent of the rebuilding. Stacked stones are virtually fire proof, but mortar decays when overheated.

I expect that the rebuilding will be quicker than the original build (that took 178 years).

Although on a much smaller scale, the Windsor Castle fire has since been repaired so there is hope for the future. One day this incident will be a footnote in the middle of the Notre Dame's history.

<BB<

i bet there were some tourists who were looking at other landmarks, but they rushed to Notre Dame because of the fire.

So, it was a tourist *distraction*

Well done BB