Ich hab selber schon mal beim Magistrat nachgefragt, ob nicht ein Lückenschluß beim Naschmarkt geplant ist, mir wurde aber ausweichend geantwortet, dass noch keine Lösung für die verlorengehenden Parkplätze gefunden wurde. Nun, meiner Meinung nach sind fahrende Räder besser als stehende Autos. Gegenmeinungen? Ich würde mich in den Kommentaren über eine Diskussion freuen.

Wie auch immer, ich möchte Euch hiermit aufrufen, Euch an der Petition zu beteiligen und Eure Namen dafür herzugeben.

http://prezi.com/cpjkflxqcoou/openstreetmap-mash-ups-open-data/

After all those winter pictures, I want to indulge you with some sunny pictures :)
In 2007 I went with some friends to Barcelona in Spain for a short holiday in the middle of April, because we got some cheap tickets with SkyEurope.
One day we spent in the new development area “Parc Diagonal Mar” which is near the North-Eastern end of Avinguda Diagonal, a road which runs all through Barcelona diagonally. It’s an area near the seaside and was used by former textile industry, which went down during the last century.
Now it’s a very modern area for housing, with a big green area, lakes and some modern art, looking like a roller coaster track.

The weather situation did not improve, on the third day, the snow cover was pretty impressive. We had to go ‘deep snow sightseeing’ :) Remember: Usually Ohrid doesn’t have snow at all.
Anyway, Ohrid was a really nice place, we just regretted the weather situation. Go there during the warmer periods of the year.

This is a statue of Ohrid’s most important inhabitant, Saint Clement of Ohrid. He lived from about 840 to 916 AC and was a pupil of Saint Cyril and Saint Methodius, who are said to have invented Cyrillic script (although some discussion is going on that topic, it might have been Saint Clement himself).
Anyway, as Bulgaria’s first archbishop he reformed the Slavic church by introducing the Cyrillic script and the Slavic language, as form of independence from the Byzantine empire (church language was still Greek). Ohrid became a religious centre, and even nowadays there are many churches (although many were converted to mosques during Ottoman time).
Travelling in Eastern Europe, esp. Bulgaria and Macedonia, you see his name everywhere (at least if you are able to read Cyrillic script), e.g. the ‘main’ university in Sofia is named after him and Bulgaria’s scientific base on Antarctica too (though you will not find in Eastern Europe).

Later that day (January 3rd, 2009) we met a CouchSurfer from Skopje with her friends, at whose place we wanted to surf, but she herself spent new year in Ohrid. We used the opportunity to learn from some locals about Ohrid’s long history and see some places, like the the Ancient amphitheatre you can see in the picture.
And a long history it is, a first town was Lychnidos, founded in the 7th century BC. It’s nationality changed several times (Illyrinans, Ancient Macedonians, Romans) until it was destroyed in 526 AC by an earthquake. Later refounded as Ohrid, it continued to be conquered every couple of centuries (Bulgarians, Albanians, Serbs and the Ottoman Empire). Independence of the Ottoman Empire came in 1912 by Serbs, during the world wars it was ruled by Bulgarians and finally it became part of Yugoslavia. After independence in 1991 it is now part of Republic of Macedonia (FYROM).

For quite some time now I enjoy reading the blog “Copenhagenize” of Mikael Colville-Andersen, dedicated to promote cycling as a safe and healthy way of transportation. Copenhagen has a very high modal split for cycling, more than 30% of all ways are done by cycling. Vienna has about 5% and is already proud about it (no way to be proud about 5%). If you are interested what he has to say about cycling, you might want to check out this interview.

Check out his blogs:

• Copenhagenize, dedicated to promoting Cycling internationally, with many examples and discussions how and how not cycling is promoted in Denmark and elsewhere
• Copenhagen Cycle Chic, a blog about Cycling and Fashion
• Slow Bicycle Movement, a blog to promote cycling as a enjoyable way of transportation