Rostral Columns of Saint Petersburg

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Rostral column, is a type of victory column erected to commemorate a naval military victory.

These two red brick Rostral Columns installed in 1727 on the banks of Neha River in Saint Petersburg, were not only dedicated to the naval victories of the Russian Empire but were also used as lighthouses to guide the ship to the port which existed here until the middle of the nineteenth century.

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These columns have winding staircases inside which leads to the platform on top where bowl-shaped lamps are fixed on metal tripods. Originally there were oil braziers which were lit in the night. The braziers were later replaced with gas lamps which are now lit on ceremonial occasions.

Two seated marble figures decorate the base of each column and represent four major rivers of Russia. Two on the northern column (shown above) represent the Volga and Dnieper, while seated figures in the other column represent Neva and Volkhov.

Source of info and more info: Wikipedia / Saint-petersburg-russia.org

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Osborne Bull - Spain's Unofficial National Symbol

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The Osborne Bull, a black bull, is the corporate symbol of Osborne Group - one of the oldest private firm of Spain, mainly dealing in brandies, sherries and meat products. From 1956 onwards they used large silhouetted bull shaped billboards to advertise their products along many highways in Spain.

Subsequently due to enactment in 1994 of certain laws barring such advertisements, most of billboards were ordered to be removed. However by then the Bull had become very popular and an unofficial symbol of Spain. Ultimately the Spanish courts allowed these to remain on the grounds that it had become a part of the landscape and had "aesthetic or cultural significance". The name of the products/firm however was ordered to be blacked out to comply with the legal requirement of ban on advertisements.

The silhouetted bull shown above is 14 metres high and is located in El Puerto de Santa María, where the Osborne headquarters is situated. No information about the Spanish guitarist seen nearby is available. It is located on a mound other than the Bull's mound so it could be just another unrelated advertisement.

Source of info and more info: Wikipedia

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Sphinx In St Petersburg, Russia

Google Street View

Google Street View

These two large sculptures of sphinx adorn the embankment of the River Neha, near the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

These are original Egyptian sphinxes which, about 3500 years, had guarded the tomb of Pharaoh Amenhotep III in Thebes, the ancient capital Egypt and were dug out intact during excavation of the area in early nineteenth century. Imperial Russia bought these around 1830 and installed these in 1834 on the quay.

In addition to these two well preserved granite sculptures, many more sphinxes decorate the city of St. Petersburg (Ref: geolines.ru). Shown below is another one. Four such sphinxes (two on each bank) adorn the nearby bridge known as "Egyptian Bridge". These four sphinxes which were installed in early 19th-century are not of Egyptian origin but were made locally from cast iron.

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Incidentally the sphinxes in St. Petersburg are the northern most sphinxes in the World.

Source of info and more info: Wikipedia

Huge Arch Gate Made From Twigs

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Google have recently released the Street Views of Moscow and while roaming these streets one of the  first unusual objects which I saw was this huge arch gate made from twigs and sticks. It may not have the architectural beauty associated with arch gates or memorials but it is definitely eye-catching.

Located at the entrance to Joy or Delight Park (Парк Отрада) in the Otradnoye (Отрадное) township in North Moscow. Отрадное means "welcome" so in a way it could be the welcome gate to the Welcome town.

Florence Y'all Water Tower

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The Florence Y'all Water Tower is large water tower in the city of Florence, Kentucky, USA.

The strange name "Y'all" has a curious history. The tower was originally painted with the large letters - "FLORENCE MALL" to advertise the nearby mall. This raised the issue of legality of using city property to advertise a private business and also violated the state laws for size of advertising on the highways.

To overcome these issue the then (1974) mayor of the town, came out with an inexpensive and easy solution of changing the "M" to a "Y" with an apostrophe.

The tower with the curious name has now become an icon of the city.

More information: Wikipedia

Update:
For all those who are wondering about the meaning of Y'all I am reproducing below part of the comments received from  Diane9247, who is  an active member and Moderator in Google Earth Community.

.... it's a contraction of "you all" and used almost exclusively in the southern states of the US. An example of its use is in a greeting, such as "Hey, y'all!" and a reflection of the extra -friendly nature of southerners. By contrast, the slightly more formal northerners would say "Hi, everyone."

Thank you Diane for this info.

Mickey Mouse Shaped Transmission Tower

Google Street View

This Mickey Mouse shaped transmission tower can be seen on I-4 near the town of Celebration, Florida. The town is close to the Walt Disney World Resort and this Steel Mickey, which is illuminated at night is a big landmark.

Source of info and more info: hiddenmickeys.org

North Cape - Northernmost Point Of Europe

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North Cape Hall (Nordkapphallen) the tourist centre cum exhibition hall at Nordkapp, Norway, which is the northernmost tip of Europe, often called the final frontier at the arctic sea.

Source of info: nordkapp.no