Wednesday 24 June 2015

Cars, Trains, Bikes ... and a Tank



I was looking through some recent photographs and I noticed that I had taken quite a few pictures of various modes of transport.

I’m not really interested in cars, trains and motorbikes to be honest, but when I see an interesting vehicle, I do feel compelled to take a photo of it.

I thought I would share a few with you, dear reader in the hope that you find them as interesting as I did when I captured them, starting with the car above, which I saw at a classic car show in Manchester.

I spotted the car below in a multistory car park in Bordeaux. I think it's meant to serve as a warning to drivers to be careful when driving around corners.



The truck below was parked outside a James Dean themed restaurant in Prague, in the Czech Republic. It was a great advert for a very enjoyable place.


In Collioure, in the south of France, they also use a car to advertise a restaurant.


Regular readers will know that I love the city of Hong Kong and the double-decker trams in that wonderful city are iconic - and cheap too.


In Europe, we rarely see bikes as beautiful as the one below. We have to go across the pond to Boston to catch a glimpse.


Below is another couple of classic cars I spotted at a show in Manchester.



Back across the Atlantic Ocean in Alaska, there is a very enjoyable way to tour Skagway.


In Canada, in the past, a rather special vehicle was required to take tourists onto a glacier. 


These days, the Canadians have replaced it with a monster bus whose wheels are almost as tall as I am.


In a warmer climate, its obvious that there are people in Monte Carlo have a little more disposable income than the rest of us.


And a few kilometres away, in the French city of Cannes, the story is the same. Here is a random car I discovered parked outside the shops.


Before the wall came down in Berlin, East Germans drove around in tiny little cars called Trabants. These days, they also use them to advertise shops.


In Japan, you can travel the length and breadth of the country in super fast Shinkansen bullet trains. They roar through train stations at such high velocities that if you are standing on a platform it is actually almost a scary experience. The picture below was my fourth attempt at capturing this magnificent train. 


Japan is the only place in the world where you will find a neon tank. It is probably the most wonderful place I have ever visited and probably the strangest too. Only in Japan would you experience the Robot Restaurant and find yourself face to face with the tank below while eating your meal and witnessing what I can only describe as the weirdest but most entertaining show I have ever seen.


I will tell you more about the Robot Restaurant in a future post.

The tank was one of the more sensible parts of the show. 

I'll bet you can't wait to hear about it.

10 comments:

River said...

You're right, I can't wait to hear about the tank and show.
I LOVE that Skagway bus!!

Plastic Mancunian said...

Hi RIver,

Me too. Sadly we didn't have time to take a trip on it. However, Skagway is so small that we were fine walking around.

:o)

Cheers

PM

Dale Brown said...

Great pics, PM.

I'd love a ride in one of those glacier-tour buses. And you have me intrigued about the Robot Restaurant.

Plastic Mancunian said...

Hi Big D.

It was a fun experience - not as good as the Robot Restaurant but certainly worth it.

:o)

Cheers

PM

JahTeh said...

That food laden French car, I mean the food looked so good I probably be through half the real car before I realized. And would I love to drive round town in that Canadian bus. I would have it converted just for me (think 'The Donald' and his plane) with all the comforts of food and booze and blacked out windows for staring at the peasants.

Plastic Mancunian said...

Hi JT,

That bus is too big to drive around a normal town. A compressed version of it should work though.

:o)

Cheers

PM

Jackie K said...

Great photos PM! I love a good car photo. Would love to do that Alaska tour.

Plastic Mancunian said...

Hi Jackie,

Alaska is beautiful (from what little I saw of it).

:o)

Cheers

PM

drv said...

Certainly an interesting collection of vehicles! Thank you for sharing.

Plastic Mancunian said...

Hi drv,

A pleasure.

:o)

Cheers

PM