Bridges

The other day, I was thinking about some of the travelling we have done in the past 7 or 8 years. I thought about Australia, New Zealand, Denmark, Prince Edward Island, and other exciting locations and I realized that everywhere we have been, there have been the most memorable bridges! Because I love architecture, I always photograph structures wherever I go, and bridges are front and centre.
Of course, certain icons - such as the Sydney Harbour Bridge - stand out simply because they ARE icons, but then there are the less well-known structures, like, for instance, the Auckland Harbour Bridge in New Zealand, which was structurally designed by my cousin, Thomas Wyatt. I always knew, growing up, that "Tom" (as he was affectionately known in our family) was a bit of an "egg head". He was a structural engineer and became renowned world-wide by his small group of peers, as a font of wisdom and knowledge in his field of bridge structure and engineering.
Last year, on a visit to the UK to celebrate my Mother's 90th birthday, I arranged to meet up with Thomas and his wife, Eileen, at a hotel in Arundel. By chance, my other first cousin, Meriel and her husband Lance, were visiting from Australia, where they had settled after a life abroad in the diplomatic service. It was a family reunion of the miniscule kind! There were only 3 of us there who were related via the Baker/Milward families, but it was a noteworthy meeting of family, since we were all either celebrating or had just celebrated our entry into the "60's" decade - although I have to admit that cousin Thomas was likely just entering his 70's at the time!
But I digress - other bridges - yes, the wonderful bridge between Copenhagen, Denmark and Malmo, Sweden, which crosses the water from one country to the other and then, suddenly - disappears under water! Flying into Copenhagen airport and looking out the window one sees this extraordinary sight...a bridge that disappears under water! Of course, we decided that we had to cross over to Sweden to be able to drive through this amazing piece of engineering. It is entered just outside the Copenhagen Airport - and it goes underground for a fairly long distance - i.e. it is a tunnel! Then...no warning, it climbs above the water and becomes a bridge! What a novelty. It is somewhat akin to the Confederation Bridge from PEI to New Brunswick in that it is extremely long and crosses a large expanse of water, howerver the Confederation Bridge, although a modern marvel of at least 9 miles in length, stays above the water at all times!
Other bridges I have photographed, and have no time to describe, include the Firth of Forth Bridge near Edinburgh Scotland, the Sunshine Bridge, St. Petersburg Florida, the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco California, the Lion's Gate Bridge, Vancouver BC, the Pont Neuf Bridge in Paris, the Tower Bridge in London, the Charles Bridge, Prague Czech Republic, the Chain Bridge in Budapest, Pons Aelius spanning the River Tiber in Rome, and many others. Perhaps my next project should be a collage of bridges of the world...but not before I have finished all my photo albums, and I am currently about 2 years behind!