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Leon Mika

Software Developer and occasional writer of music. Based in Melbourne, Australia.

Photos

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    I know Venice is known for its canals, and they’re certainly something to behold, but this single rail tram-line blew me away.

    A red tram approaching tram-stop with the track consisting of a single rail.

    Edit: it occurred to me that these “trams” are running on regular tiers, and use this rail for the return current. That means they can get away with using just one overhead wire instead of two. I guess they can also use the rail for guiding the vehicle around curves as well? Seems like a bit of a disadvantage over other trolly-bus systems with trolly polls that can move around traffic.

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    Venice in the morning.

    The grand canal of Venice with two boats and a Bastille in the background, with a slightly cloudy sky.
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    I was wondering what to do for my second day in Bologna until something told me that Florence was less than an hour away. So I decided to take a day trip.

    Florence skyline, with the dome of the cathedral, and buildings alongside the river.
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    Spent a bit of time in the small but lovely university botanical gardens in Bologna this morning. Walking around a new city, I’ve found myself being attracted to parks and gardens. A bit more serene than the hussle and bussle one finds at buildings or squares.

    Under the shade of green trees of various species.
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    Breakfast in Parma. Naturally parmesan cheese is on the menu.

    Plate on a place-mat with a wholemeal dinner roll, some parmesan cheese, slice of Jarlsberg cheese, and prosciutto. A silver knife and fork are beside it.
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    Front of the Palazzo del Governatore, in Parma, on a warm and lazy Sunday afternoon. The street was closed off for an event but most of the other streets were just as quiet.

    Front of the Palazzo del Governatore, a two story palace made of yellow stone, with a clock tower in the center. The front consists of umbrellas for outdoor dining of the cafe. In front of that is a street made of cobblestones, surrounded by bollards, and with trolly-bus overhead wires. The sky was sunny and cloudless.
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    On the shore of lake Como. Plenty of boat activity on the water today. For myself, I was happy to stay on dry land.

    Lake Como, a large body of water with some small waves, with a fountain in the middle distance, with green mountains in the background, with a slightly cloudy sky
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    View from the top of Torre Castello San Vigilto, in Bergamo.

    Houses near the terracotta tiled roofs near the top of a hill, in the near distance, with mountains in the background
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    A day of site-seeing around Milan. Going through the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II on our way to Duomo di Milano, the cathedral.

    The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, an open air mall with four spokes eminating from a central point. Around three stories up is a glass ceiling with a dome at the central spot. This was taken from one of the longer spokes, facing the dome and the opposite long spoke that opens out to the plaza.

    Another sunning building, the Duomo di Milano. A lot more “traditional” than the Sagrada Família but still very impressive.

    Inside the Duomo di Milano, the cathedral. Looking through the stone pillers and valted ceiling towards the alter and stain glass window at the back of the cathedral.
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    Arrived in Milan. It could just be the trams, but this feels like the closest city to Melbourne that I’ve visited so far. Of course, Melbourne doesn’t have buildings like the Castello Sforzesco.

    Front of Castello Sforzesco, a castle, with a large tower above the front gate, with a slightly cloudy sky
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    This safe uses a curious choice of font for the keypad. I’d guess they wanted to go with something more interesting than boring Helvetica? But they didn’t go all in with maintaining the allusion, breaking it for the B, which would normally be shown in lower-case on a real seven segment display.

    A numerical keypad on a safe with digits 0-9 and the letters A and B on either side of the zero in a seven segment display font. The left side of the B is a solid line, used to distinguish it from the loops of the B which are represented as they would appear on a seven segmented display. To the left is the safe's breading, which is a T in a circle.
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    Genova’s got this fun little lift near where I’m staying. It travels along rails to the end of the corridor, then goes around the bend to a transfer station, where it transitions to a traditional lift that rises to the street level at the top of the hill. Such a unique little thing.

    Empty lift car showing red fold-up seats and hand-loops on the ceiling. There are windows on all three sides of the inside of the car showing the corridor.The horizontal section of the lift, which is a corridor with rails heading into the hill and fluorescent lights on the right wall.

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    Walking part of the Cinque Terre trail today. It was hard work — lots of steep runs of stairs going up and down — but it was great to be able to get out into nature for a bit of a hike.

    Shot of the coastline along the Gulf of Genova, on a slightly cloudy day, with large hills descending down to the Ligurian Sea. Photo shot through branches of nearby trees.
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    Brief stop at Saintes Maries de la Mer today to look for some wild flamingoes. It was just a chance encounter that we found this small flock of them.

    Flamingo wading in a swamp with its beak in the water looking for food.
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    Paging Alanis Morissette

    A positive COVID-19 RAT test
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    Gare Aix en Provence, and the first railway line in France I’ve seen that is not electrified.

    Railway station Aix en Provence showing empty platforms
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    Visiting the Dalí Theatre and Museum, in Figueres this afternoon. I’ve seen Dalí work before but I knew nothing about him before this visit. Some really evocative pieces in this collection.

    The maroon wall and tower of the Dalí Theatre and Museum building.
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    Mercado de La Boqueria, and the location of our Covid-safe celebration lunch for my friend’s recent marriage.

    An open air shelted market with stalks selling produce and meats with a large number of visitors.
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    Visited Sagrada Família this afternoon. Absolutely stunning cathedral. Photos don’t do it justice, especially from cameras with dirty lenses (sorry for all the lens-flares).

    Looking up and across the nave of the cathedral revealing the high archways and stained glass windows near the left side.
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    Making this my first photo of Barcelonia: the lift in our hotel has two doors at 90° of each other. First instance of seeing this.

    Inside of lift cart with two silver doors next to each other.
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