JulietJFall

JulietJFall, 8 months ago

@jon Enjoy the ferry!

JulietJFall, 10 months ago

@greenback @gpollara @jsadow @danaujoks @koen @academicchatter Is Calckery an instance or an app? Mastodon not having an efficient search function is one reason several of my academic colleagues have given me for not joining. The other is lack of engagement of other academics— which is of course the fundamental vicious circle.

JulietJFall, 1 year ago

Fabulous nuraghe of Genna Maria near Villanovaforru in Sardinia that I visited a few weeks ago on my way to UniCa, blissfully free of crowds - or of anyone, really! The central tower was built sometime in the Middle Bronze Age (about 1350BC), with more recent additions of a village during the Iron Age. Super simple & clever glass panel showing what it might have looked like, that you can gaze through & photograph. Mesmerizing.
#StandingStoneSunday #Sardegna #Sardinia #nuraghe #bronzeage

Another view through a door, with a large black basalt rock across the top of the entrance. The stone roof appears to have collapsed. Each rock is carved to a large brick shape and is absolutely massive.
View of the nuraghe positioned on top of a hill, like a fortress, castle or watchtower. These are ruins of a formerly higher structure. The photo is taken through a pane of glass with a simple artist’s outline of what the site might have looked like when complete, from that precise viewpoint.
General view across the green rolling landscape, in early Spring, before the heat of summer dries everything up. Large rock structures are visible in the foreground.

JulietJFall, 1 year ago

Great 1st practical session today at the Uni degli Studi di Cagliari, having a go at drawing movement, organizing space on the page & thinking about framing & focus. Hurray for the students!

I am doing all this teaching in Italian & it reminds me of how lucky I am to usually not have to work in a 2nd or 3rd language, unlike many in academia. 😩😅🤪
#comics #geography #creativeMethods #culturalGeography #visualMethods @academicchatter @geography

JulietJFall, 1 year ago

Back home & I have now posted the students’s work to the blog. Their brief was to create & submit a 1-page comic narrating 1 person & 1 place. Emphasis placed on “having a go” rather than stressing about artistic skills! My task was then to group, connect & contrast the pieces & publish online. (Shared with permission, about 1/3 more produced)

https://urbanmosaic.blog/
@academicchatter @geography #comics #creativeMethods #geography

JulietJFall, 1 year ago

In today’s walk, started out along part of the 1815 border (Treaty of Paris), then along a stretch moved in 1897, and finished on a part redefined in 1963, part of the territories exchanged between 🇨🇭🇫🇷 to allow the extension of Geneva airport’s runway. Lines of history, in a couple of hours of a very cold walk. #BorderWalk #geography #walkingMethodology #Borders #BoundaryStudies

Border stone by a path, with a sprinkle of snow, and the dates 1818 carved on one sign, and the new date 1897 carved below it.
A new granite border stone laid next to a stream, with the date 1963 carved on one side. The engraving of the direction of the border on the top of the stone (wiggly line) indicates that, from the point on, the international Franco-Swiss border follows the stream.

JulietJFall, 1 year ago

In sunny cold, today we walked from 🇨🇭🇫🇷border stones 41 to 64, from rural Geneva through urban Ferney-Voltaire and along fence of Genève Cointrin international airport. From the sublime… to the very smelly, with a special mention to the appalling odor around the back of Carrefour car park! #BorderWalk #borders #geography

Border stone no 44 by a small river, with leafless treese. Two more stones are visible in the field behind.
A border passage post is visible in the background. In the foreground, a large French sign says ‘Service Fiscal’ and there is a sign showing that here begins the Département de l’Ain
Border stone 62 next to a high fence topped with barbed wire. The airport runway is visible behind the fence.

JulietJFall, 1 year ago

This stretch of border includes sections moved in 1963, with France gaining territory to build its Lycée International & sporting equipment, while Switzerland could increase the length of its airport runway to take larger planes. Their noise above, taking off every few minutes, is at times unbearable. We catch glimpses of the Alps in the distance, across the runway. #BorderWalk 🇨🇭🇫🇷

There is more fencing & security surveillance to get into the school than across the international border. This photo shows a sign saying that the Region is investing in safety for school children.
Chain link fence, with a watch tower, inside the airport. A border stone is visible at the bottom right, along the fence.
A screenshot from an app showing all the Alpine peaks visible in the distance from that point.

JulietJFall, 1 year ago

Today we went back to connect two 🇨🇭🇫🇷 border stretches because we realized that we’d missed a small section of the right bank along the Allondon river as the path was roped off a few months ago. 16C, walking in a T-shirt in February. Bafflingly scary climate crisis, but unexpectedly delightful if you can block off the fear. #BorderWalk #geography #walkingMethodology #geneva #borderline

The author in a floppy sunhat facing the camera standing with her arms resting on border stone number 137, in the woods. No leaves on the trees and sunshine.
The other side of the stone from the previous picture, with the date 1818 carved on one side and the letter G for the Canton of Geneva.
The top of the stone shows that the border does not follow the little river but marks out an odd shape.

JulietJFall, 1 year ago

Most of our walk followed the Allondon river that was used to define this stretch of 🇨🇭🇫🇷 border, a beautifully wild valley with sunny dry prairies and woods. There was fabulous moss and lichen all around, glistening in the sun.
The second 1818 border stone we encountered was incongruously in the middle of a Swiss campsite, no. 136. A few caravans were occupied, with families enjoying sunny picnics, perhaps just there for the day.
#BorderWalk #Geography #Mosstodon #lichensubscribe

Border stone 136, in the middle of a campsite with ramshackle caravans behind it.
Moss on a tree trunk
Moss and lichen on a twig in the sunshine.

JulietJFall, 1 year ago

In a howling north-east wind (“la bise” but not the kissing kind!) we continued our erratic multi-day ramble along the🇨🇭🇫🇷 border, from border stone 123 down to 99, in Meyrin, starting near the CERN (European nuclear research centre). Only dog walkers and keen runners were out, braving the near-freezing sudden return of winter temperatures. We’ll need to gain access to the closed cross-border CERN campus if we want to walk along that stretch.
#BorderWalk #Geography #borders #Geneva

Border stone 120 on the right, with a path between fields and sparse forest. The landscape is wintery, with no leaves yet on the trees.
A waist-high border stone, with number 108, with a large G on one side, carved on the broadest side, next to a wooded path. There is spray-painted graffiti on the lower part of the stone showing a bright pink heart and some faded letters, including an N.
A border stone with the date 1818 lies next to a field, with bare trees next to it. The sky is blue with a few clouds. The photo doesn’t accurately show how incredibly cold it is.

JulietJFall, 1 year ago

This Treaty of Paris 1818 🇨🇭🇫🇷 border stretch followed historical field & parish lines, leading to a convoluted boundary with many stones demarcating the changes of direction. Lichen-encrusted border signs were slowly going feral; border stones stood to attention covered in beautiful moss, others restored & scrubbed clean: standing stones for modern political rituals not ancient religions, yet imbued with curious magic. #BorderWalk #mosstodon #lichensubscribe #StandingStoneSunday

A French border in a field sign reads “Attention douane passage interdit” but is covered in a multitude of clumps of lichen. Perhaps it looks as though vibrant nature is replacing stark human politics?
A border stone covered in moss, with 1818 on one side and a French fleur-de-lys on another, in a wooded location next to a path.
Three moss-covered border stones stand guard along the edge of a field. The date 1818 is just visible on the side of the closest one. The furthest one is barely visible.

JulietJFall, 1 year ago

A different border, close by, built of fear, determination and some hubris. Now mostly associated with a chocolate bar: the line of toblerones near Gland, built during WWII to slow down a feared but hypothetical foreign attack. Now preserved as heritage. Look closely at the Maison Bleue — the blue house. It’s not a real home but a fortified and camouflaged gun position. Borders disguised as rural idyll. Somehow chilling. #borders #mosstodon #geography #walkingMethodology #borderWalk

The same location as the previous photo, framed so the onlooker can glimpse between two blocks onto a green field beyond
The same location as the previous two images, framed to show the line of blocks on the edge of a woodland, on the right. A green field is to the left of the image.
image/jpeg

JulietJFall, 8 months ago

Back to border-hopping after a long summer of heat and travel further afield. Yay for restarting mini-adventures close by, hopping back and forth in time with many archival photos stored on my phone! We haven’t walked all the way round the Canton of Geneva yet: endless little treasures to find, and new places to explore. #borderWalk #walkingMethodologies #geneve #swissBorder #FrenchBorder #geography #history

A sign banning dogs from a square, across the border in France.
A sepia photo of the Swiss border post house, with old-style cars in front.
The same building as the previous photo, today. The building has been extended on both ends. An ugly covered portico covers the road, providing cover for the Swiss border guards. The photo is taken from the French side.

JulietJFall, 8 months ago

It’s surprising to me how many border stones are carved erroneously. It’s almost embarrassing — but perfectly delightful too! — how much time and money must have been invested to lay this one with an S (for 🇫🇷 Savoie) carved backwards (🇨🇭was G for Geneva on that one). Or maybe it was done on purpose as a subtle insult?
(One advantage of my mini-border-crossing adventures is that I get to visit French boulangeries. For research purposes, obviously.)
#BorderWalk #borders #visualMethods #geography

The other side of the same border stone, with a large G carved in it.
A field, blue sky and the silhouette of the Salève mountain, with a flock of pigeons in the sky. They must have been picking over the freshly-harvested wheat field. The back of the field is actually the border.
The author’s bike on a messy street dug up by roadworks, but the photo is taken sitting on a pleasant wooden table in front of a boulangerie in France, with two baguettes steaming hot peeking out of a shopping bag.

JulietJFall, 8 months ago

Landscape as archive: find the old Caserne des Douaniers in Perly. #VisualMethods #QualitativeMethods #Archives #History #geography

An archive sepia picture of the Caserne des Douaniers in Perly, near Geneva, dating from before 1914. The road is broad with old houses two-story houses. The Caserne was built to house border guards, in a distinct three-storey style with decorative gabling applied below the roof.