Not Around Preston

This is just a set of photos of canals with nice reflections. The Munttoren from Halvemaansbrug. Zuiderker, taken from Staalmeestersbrug. The old dock, with NEMO, the science museum, on the left. Scharrebiersluis on Herengracht. Latyesbrug over Herengracht. Another canal... there were lots, I cannot remember which this one is! Geldersekade, with the Nieuwmarkt in the background, taken from Bantammerbrug. The Montelbaanstoren.

Pride Week in Amsterdam culminated in a parade, and, as its Amsterdam, this was some sixty barges on the canals. The route is from the east dock along Herengracht to the Amstel River, then upriver to Prinsengracht, and from there to the west dock. This was the 6th of August 2022, and a very hot day. We met the parade at the point where it turns in to Prinsengracht, and gradually made our way almost to the east dock. I do not have much to say about it, besides it was packed and everyone was having fun! Here are a selection of photos. And one video...

Berlin has several transit systems: the underground, or U-Bahn; the suburban railway, or S-Bahn; the trams; and the buses. We purchased a three day ticket at a U-Bahn station. It had to be validated before we first used it, but there after we could just use any train, tram or bus. No one looked at our tickets. Medical masks were compulsory on public transport, though not the stations, when I was there (August '22), and over 90% of people were complying. U-Bahn The U-Bahn was opened in 1902, and is the biggest in Germany. It is standard gauge, with power pickup from a third rail. Unlike the London Underground, the power rail is covered, with units collecting power from underneath the rail. There are ten lines, denoted U1 to U10. Many of the stations are simple island platforms, with steps straight down on to the platform, from the middle of the road. This is a larger, and more modern, station, Bundestag. I did not great images of the trains, but you can see two distinct styles; the

 I have been writing my " Around Preston " blog for around a year now. The only problem with it is... sometimes I visit places that are not around Preston. This blog, then, is for those places. While my other blog I try to write up pretty much as soon as I do the walk - at worst within a couple of days - this is likely to be more done retrospectively, at least at first, as I catch up with places I have visited some time ago. For larger places, I plan to break it into separate pages, so a recent visit to Berlin is likely to see one page just about the transit systems, for example. I hope you enjoy it...