Fallen off
I fell of my bike, Sir St. James. My fault. I wanted to cross the street, with a whole queue of cars on the other side. I wanted to ride alongside them and then use a space and flip over to the left side of the road. Unfortunately, I got caught in the tram tracks. […] Read More
Lost in Tlalpan
Tlalpan is one of these once independent towns in the outskirts of Mexico City that have long been swallowed up by the ever-growing metropolis. Like San Angel or Coyoacán, it finds itself in the middle of the city. However, they all preserved their small town character, with small houses, tiny cobble stone streets, and little […] Read More
Feeling safe
I know I do live in a special bubble in Tel Aviv. This city is not representative for Israel, and the country around is different. At least that’s what I hear, besides the trip to Jerusalem I have not seen anything, so I must rely on what my friends tell me. With its young, somewhat […] Read More
Underground (and over water)
Istanbul’s public transport system is developing faster than they can print the maps. My books are useless when it comes to the metro/tram system. The otherwise greatly informative and amusing Gebrauchsanweisung Istanbul (Istanbul Manual) published in 2010 lists one (!) metro line in operation…. The maps in several apps for my phone are helplessly out of […] Read More
Auckland Transport
Auckland is a car city. They pretty much built it on, around and for the car. While the CBD now has a couple of pedestrian zones, the main means of transport for Aucklanders are their four wheels. First time you realize that, is when you have to wait for green on any crossing. I seems […] Read More
Meet St. James
I have a bike! It’s called St. James. My friend Colin has a foldable bike that he does not use at the moment, so he was so generous to lend it to me for my time here in Melbourne. Colin is a man with many talents – he’s the one who got us into Shandong […] Read More
Riding the Metro
First thing I thought when coming into the Santiago Metro was: Paris! This smells like the Paris Metro. I don’t know if anyone has noticed, but I feel every city has a distinct smell in its public transport system – and I don’t refer to a potential pee problem. The smells are hard, or impossible […] Read More
Subte
Public transport systems fascinate me. I like to study maps and metro lines, and the history of them. I think they’re an expression of civilization. And a certain idea of community and the state providing a good service for its citizens (not just let the rich have a car…). I have staples of books and […] Read More
Mobile me
Keeping a city of 20 Million people mobile and out of traffic jams must be a logistic nightmare…. I can hardly imagine the number of buses, depots, trains, cars… Well, I have one figure: there are 7 Million registered cars in São Paulo alone. However, I have to say the system seems to work, for me. […] Read More