postcard – Nouvelles du Monde

CP BHV trees

Heidi_Wood — Wed, 18 Dec 2019 07:25:27 +0000

Paris, FRANCE

People like seeing trees in big cities like Paris. There is not much land available so sometimes plants grow on walls. Looking after a garden like this is complicated!

CP gilets jaunes

Heidi_Wood — Wed, 12 Dec 2018 08:38:07 +0000

Paris, FRANCE

This is a demonstration of yellow vest protesters one Saturday morning. It is the day all the museums in Paris were closed because of fears of violence. They seemed peaceful, maybe a little bored. That night, I saw riot police firing tear gas on Place de la République. The next day I saw four shops with broken windows.

CP Karlsruhe

Heidi_Wood — Mon, 29 May 2017 15:44:42 +0000

Karlsruhe, GERMANY

Karlsruhe was the first city to develop a vast tram network that connects the centre to all the towns in the region. It was so successful that too many people use it and the trams are very slow on the main street. 5 years ago, they decided to put the trams underground. This is the construction site next to the town hall. Work will finish in 2022 (they hope).

CP London

Heidi_Wood — Thu, 18 May 2017 06:12:15 +0000

London, GREAT BRITAIN

This is the Millennium Bridge across the Thames River in London. It opened in the year 2000. But when too many people walked on it, the bridge moved from side to side. Everyone called it the wobbly bridge. So they closed it for a year and fixed the problem. The bridge closed again for a few days in 2007 but this time it was because of a dangerous storm.

Heidi_Wood — Sat, 06 May 2017 20:55:19 +0000

Covici, CROATIA

I visited some friends in a Croatian village called Covici. The war between Serbs and Croatians ended in 1995 but there are still landmines in some of the fields here. Signs tell you not to enter. If you walk on a landmine, you lose your legs or you die. Experts are demining all of Croatia and Serbia but it is slow.

CP Ljubljana

Heidi_Wood — Sat, 06 May 2017 20:14:17 +0000

Ljubljana, SLOVENIA

Every year in May, Ljubljana has a running race. Three people have to run together for 12.5 km. They want the runners to help each other. The team’s result is the time of the last member to finish.

Ruhr CP

Heidi_Wood — Mon, 24 Apr 2017 07:10:19 +0000

Ruhr, GERMANY

The Ruhr region in the west of Germany was once a centre of heavy industry, like the Lorraine district in the east of France. There are still factories everywhere but many of them are now closed. You can visit the different sites on the Industrial Heritage Trail. Some buildings are now museums or restaurants.

Florange cp

Heidi_Wood — Wed, 12 Apr 2017 07:30:46 +0000

Florange, FRANCE

I was taking photos of the Arcelor-Mittal factory in Florange when a security guard stopped me. I had to erase all the photos, show my identity card and sign a declaration. They worry about terrorist attacks, angry unions, industrial espionage and environmental activists.

Longwy golf cp

Heidi_Wood — Wed, 12 Apr 2017 07:14:06 +0000

Longwy, FRANCE

Longwy was once the centre of the most important industrial zone in France. For centuries, most of its population worked in the steel industry. Senelle, the biggest factory, closed in 1987 and the site became a golf course. This piece from the blast furnace is the only trace left.

Budapest sculptures CP

Heidi_Wood — Fri, 31 Mar 2017 11:27:21 +0000

Budapest, HUNGARY

Most people in Hungary were not happy under communist rule, so when they became independent in 1989, they did not want to see communist era sculptures anymore. All the Soviet sculptures were removed from the streets of Budapest and put in a suburban park. I met a Hungarian man who thought it was a good way of dealing with the past. He said, “You get divorced. You don’t kill your wife.”