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Modes of Transportation

I got to Europe, how else, by airplane. The worst ecological footprint imaginable.

What I found in Holland, of course, were bikes. All kinds, all colors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vienna, on the other hand, had one of the most efficient and well organized public transportation system one could want – busses, a tram, and a subway that was utterly modern behind its art deco station doors.

 

 

 

 

Unless you looked at the wiring, which was exposed and looking suspect….

Italians not only love their scooters, but depend on them, given the absence of parking spaces in narrow streets.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They also repair them, cursing under their breath…..

Ljublijana has opted for traffic free streets in the center and a network of buses for the rest of town. It also sports a railroad museum that is a fascinating place to visit.

Trains arrived in Slovenia in 1846 and have played a large economic part since then. The museum started to present a permanent exhibit of old steam locomotives and artifacts at a roundhouse depot in 1996, improved with new additions in 2004. The collection comprises some 60 locomotives and 50 other vehicles – not all on display, though.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slovenian_Railway_Museum

 

 

 

 

 

The site was completely devoid of people when I photographed even though it was a Sunday afternoon, giving it an eerie feel.  So much decrepit beauty….

 

I continue to rely on my feet, back home.

Heuer & Co. on the Road

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Last year I flew to LA and rented a car for a road trip back to Portland. Quite the adventure in that little tin box on the back roads from Palm Springs to Joshua Tree National Park to Death Valley and eventually the Steen Mountains. Made a note to be less cheap next time and get something that has reliable air conditioning and fewer intermittently lit, indecipherable warning signals on the dashboard. Great trip, though.

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It will come as no surprise that I am a fan of road movies, old and modern ones, so I will list a few of my favorites.

The only actual video, though, will be at the bottom, showing how roads are (re)made – do yourself a favor and watch it – it’s short and really fun and gets you vicariously to Moscow.

In no particular order: Ida Lupino’s The Hitchhiker (1953) hitch-hiker-the-1953-001-three-men-in-the-car-00m-egs

Riley Scott’s  Thelma & Louise (1991)

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Five Easy Pieces by Rafelson (1970) with a young Jack Nicholson….

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My Own Private Idaho by Gus van Sant (1991)

UnknownScarecrow (1971) with Al Pacino and Gene Hackman

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and finally Y tu mama tambien (2001)

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And here is what allows them all to roll smoothly…..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIJQYDvQZEw   Roadwork in Russia.

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Car Talk

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In addition to gardening, my mother was most passionate about driving. Or should we say racing? She liked to compare herself to “Caracciola in the Norther Curve” – an allusion to one of the most famous German racers at the most dangerous spot of the Avus, the Berlin city ring where races were sometimes held.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_Caracciola

440px-Bundesarchiv_Bild_102-12094,_Berlin,_Avus,_Internationales_Autorennen

 

During my childhood she drove a white and black Mercedes Convertible, with red leather seats and teak wood armatures. The whole car reeked of smoke, she was a chain smoker. In fact this might be one of the few existing photos of her without Gauloise in hand. (And note the bandaid falling off my knee – not a day in Heuerland without scrapes and bruises from exploring.)

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I am convinced that the number of her guardian angels was only slightly lower than that of her speeding tickets. Despite her attachment to this boat of a car, called lovingly, to my eternal embarrassment, Jeannette, she promptly exchanged it for a small ecologically more acceptable car the minute she realized what gas guzzling did to the planet – in the late 70s.

So this week I am going to look at some issues associated with driving, or just at the beauty of some cars, without trembling in a seatbelt-less passenger seat while doing 180 km/hr on the Autobahn.

IMG_2975Austin, TX.