Bike Shares of the World

This is a new set that I created on flickr to highlight my signature photos of bike share docking stations full of bicycles.  The long line of bikes has a picturesque perspective and vanishing point.  I hope to add to this set as I encounter other bike share arrangements.  I'll have to get back to Washington, DC, some time soon to get a picture of the Capital Bikeshare, although I used it every day I was there in June last year, I didn't get a picture.  That was possibly due to the fact that I had trouble finding a bike, a lot of the docking stations were empty, at least near the hotel that I was staying at on K Street.




bixi (Montréal)




Hubway (Boston)




Melbourne Bike Share (Melbourne)

Vive le Québec (libre)!

Nicole and I were reunited in Montréal, and from there we travelled to Québec City and back on VIA Rail before heading south to the USA aboard Amtrak (but more on that later). Language aside, you could easily think you were in a different country compared to the rest of Canada, and especially compared to BC. Completely different landscapes, buildings, city layouts and of course (post-European) ages. It has been said so often that Montréal is a very European city, and Québec City rivals many of the finest examples of preserved Vieux Ville of old Europe. But then you come across a four-lane freeway running through the city or a giant SUV or pickup, just to remind you that you're still in North America.

To the photos!




Giant chess is a popular pastime in Place Émilie-Gamelin.




The Bixi bike sharing operation is both stylish and functional.




This guy was very focused on his camera.




Québec City streetscape with gloomy sky.




One of the many statues around Québec City.




An ode to blue.




Statue commemorating the Boer War. The inscription reads: "To those sons of Quebec who gave their lives in South Africa while fighting for the Empire AD 1899-1902." The graffiti reads: "Québec libre" (see here for the history of the slogan).