#2015-01

[merpmonde]

Out of service: the Trieste-Opicina tramway

While the reopening of Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris is making big news, and while I'm in a bit of a tram phase on the blogs, spare a thought for the tram line between Trieste and Opicina, closed following an accident in 2016. And it's a real pity, because it was a wacky one.

Trieste is a city by the Adriatic Sea, surrounded by steep hills - and I mean steep. Opicina is 300 m higher, and the tram line features gradients as steep as 26% - link to the Hohentwiel hike for scale. Steel wheels on rails weren't going to be enough...

Initially, the steepest section was built as a rack-and-pinion railway, but in the late 1920s, it was replaced by a funicular system. Cable tractors would be coupled to the streetcars to push them up the hill, and control their descent on the way down - that's the curious boat-like vehicle in the photos (at least I'm getting boat vibes from it). The picture below shows just how steep the climb is.

In the later years of operation, these cable tractors were remotely controlled from the tram. The streetcars themselves date back to 1935, with wooden doors and fittings, making the Trieste-Opicina tramway a charming and technically unique heritage system.

Sadly, the line is not running. Two streetcars collided in 2016, they were repaired, but service has not resumed. One vehicle, coupled to the cable tractor, remains stationary at the foot of the climb, near where the second photo was taken. A look on Google Street View shows that cars are now habitually parked on the disused tracks. The number 2 tram route between Trieste and Opicina is currently served by the number 2/ bus.

[merpmonde]

The things people write on clocks...

Craignez la dernière - Eglise Notre-Dame de Croaz-Batz, Roscoff

Literally, this means "fear the last". OK, but the last what? Well, you're looking at the sundial for the time, which here, in French, would be "12 heures", so the full saying is inferred to be "craignez la dernière heure" - "fear thy final hour". Reminding people of their own mortality was an important part of medieval-Renaissance Christian discourse, as we saw with the ages of Man passing before Death among the automatons on the Astronomical Clock in Strasbourg Cathedral, built around the same time as this church in Roscoff.

Die Zeit eilt, Die Zeit heilt - Rathaus St. Johann, Saarbrücken

I've only got a close-up of one, but the tower of the historic town hall in Saarbrücken has at least two clocks, each with a message. The meaning of "die Zeit eilt" is similar to "time flies", and could be linked to what we saw above: be aware of what time you may have left. The second clock cleverly adds one letter to that to make "die Zeit heilt": "time heals".

"How to use this sundial" - Piazza della Borsa, Trieste

In the ground in front of the Chamber of Commerce in Trieste is a sundial, but conspicuously, the hand is missing. That is because you are the hand! Taking astronomy into account, one should stand in a slightly different place depending on the season, and apply corrections to the minutes to get official time. It was cloudy when I saw this, so I'm afraid I don't have a nice picture of the sundial in action. The instructions are in Italian on the left side of the base.

[merpmonde]

I know that a Doge is something else in Venetian history, and I knew it back in 2015 too (though I didn't look into what it was exactly).

But at the time, the meme was in full swing, and I couldn't resist picturing this sign. I don't know if it's a good hotel though, the reviews aren't rave...

ありがとうかぼす！

[yong-hae-sook]

Yong Hae Sook, Lying Grass, concrete, wood, water, video-loop 3:16, variable installation, 2015. 용해숙, 눕는 풀, 시멘트, 나무, 물, 비디오-루프 3:16, 가변설치, 2015년.

[hellomagmoe]

米津玄師/米津玄师 3rd 单曲CD Flowerwall 通常盘 - [卖萌]

发售时间：2015年1月14日 收录曲 Flowerwall　　※ニコン D5500 TV-CMソング 懺悔の街 ペトリコール 点我带回家

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#201501, #米津玄师

#萌玩具

米津玄師/米津玄师 3rd 单曲CD Flowerwall 通常盘

[hellomagmoe]

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#201501, #第一宇宙速度

#萌玩具

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[hellomagmoe]

少女与战车 安乔碧 手办欣赏 - [卖萌]

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#201501, #少女与战车

#萌玩具

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[hellomagmoe]

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#201501, #KILLLaKILL

#萌玩具

KILL LA KILL 鬼龙院皐月 神衣纯洁Ver.手办欣赏