FF2: Filling in the Suburbs

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Drive Safely
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27 May 2024 11:46

Wow there are a lot of excellent screenshots in this topic. I like that you include your comments on it too :)
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krigl
Posts: 1088
Joined: 19 Oct 2015 18:46

28 May 2024 07:22

<< Wow there are a lot of excellent screenshots in this topic. I like that you include your comments on it too >>

Hey, thanks a lot for saying so, I appreciate it!!

If you like them, you might want to check out Page 1, which has links to my two previous threads, and then there's my current MidAmerica thread hovering somewhere nearby this one, too.

It's nice to know I'm not the only one looking at my pics, chuckling at my own old ''jokes'', etc...

Have a good day!

krigl
Posts: 1088
Joined: 19 Oct 2015 18:46

28 May 2024 07:47

Today we take a look at Genoa, a northwest coastal port city just inside the borders of the Italy DLC.

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Approaching...

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A nice line up. If you look closely you can see the repetition a bit, but they've tried to space them out cleverly so it isn't noticeable.

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I'm curious about the Greece DLC, which has 150 new building models, I think the SCS blog said. Having been to Athens myself, I can say that all those white boxy buildings do tend to look rather samey. Will they manage to get the balance right between realism and avoiding boredom? They're getting very good at it. Just finishing off 'cruising Nebraska' and I think they got the balance right again there. Some boring, repetitive aspects, some beautiful parts... both are needed. Nebraska should be boring. But the variety is there to stop it from actually becoming 'I don't like it' boring - there's always something new, and oftentimes something pretty, or large and ugly to see. Looking forward to touring it in the Mid America thread, hopefully before the end of the year.

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Nice!!

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No, Genoa.

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Actually, we were good friends at some point, but she soured on me after a certain party. I'd rather not talk about it.

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Enough of the frivolity, got a delivery to make.

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Genoa is a cool place. I like it that you drive through a lot of it in order to get to the jobsite. Reminiscent of Trieste, which of course it should be.

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Dropped it off. Genoa is a non-functional port, so I couldn't take it across the sea even if I wanted to.

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SCS had come a long way by 2017, but there are still spots where 'the mask slips'.

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Genoa is far better than the travesty that is 2018's Helsinki, though. Feels like a real place.

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Anyhow, it's time to take our leave of this city for now. We'll probably be back once more.

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These concrete slabs are heading for the Spinelli plant in a northwestern suburb of Milan.

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Is this the replacement for the bridge that collapsed? Maybe. We're about to take that winding road upwards.

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Wheeeee!!

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Livorno? Not today. Heading back north into Vanillaland.

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We're done with Turin, though.

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The road to Milan was vanilla and quite boring so...

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...here we are at Milan already. We'll tour most of it next time.
Cheers! Krigl

krigl
Posts: 1088
Joined: 19 Oct 2015 18:46

28 May 2024 14:13

Thoroughly checking out Milan this time...

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This city used to be a standard ETS 2 launch city from 2012, but SCS updated it in 2017 as a freebie/advert to sit alongside their sparkling new DLC.

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In other words, it's one of their earliest rebuilds, built to around the same quality as Bella Italia.

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Certainly, any trip through vanilla Europe ending in Milan back in 2017 was an eye-opener - look, it's the new SCS style. Very hard to resist buying that DLC once you'd seen Milan. And all the screenshots in the blog, of course. And all the videos and excitement. It was the harbinger of even better things to come.

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Today it still holds up pretty well alongside all the new DLCs and the reworks.

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Arriving at Spinelli to the NW of Milan.

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Sir, the concrete slabs have arrived.
Good, good, show them in.

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Continuing our journey to the 'civilian' part of the city now.

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Following the autostrada (probably) eastwards to the north of the city.

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Now turning southwards.

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Suburbs of Milan lie on the right.

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Offices and flats in this part of town.

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Nice police car.

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Where the locals live.

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Trams - the first, or one of the first, appearances of such vehicles in the game.

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And we've found our next cargo. The destination is Piacenza, just a short hop to the south. We'll go there next time, and have our last whiff of vanillin with a repeat drive from Venice to Trieste - this time the SCS version.
Cheers! Krigl

krigl
Posts: 1088
Joined: 19 Oct 2015 18:46

29 May 2024 07:07

This time - Milan - Piacenza, then Venice - Trieste.

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Leaving the industrial estate in 'central' Milan with a cargo for Piacenza. Office Paper, maybe.

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Heading southwards back towards DLC country.

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Milan was nice, but...

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...comparing it to 'cookie cutter with landmarks and a few embellishments' Verona...

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...I'm not sure which one gave me a greater sense of being 'there'.

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What was there about Milan that tells someone who's never been there that they've arrived in Milan? Not a lot.

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For small towns, perhaps, it doesn't really matter so much, but for major cities in a game like this you really need both custom layouts AND recognisable landmarks - or at least landmarks you easily recognise when you see them again, so you say 'Ah, we've reached Milan'. Verona, despite being similar in layout to a hundred other 2012 era towns, gives you that moment when you see the towers of the old cathedrals and churches. Milan, despite being much nicer than Verona, could be anywhere in Italy... Perhaps when the SCS team revamp northern Italy, they might spare a moment just to insert a couple of things on the skyline, at least - the CBD with its skyscrapers, perhaps the roof of the mammoth cathedral in the distance.

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Anyhow, talking of small towns, we've reached Piacenza.

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It's marked on the map, it wasn't on the original map for the DLC, and PM is not installed right now, so it seems this place was added by lelux.

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He's definitely progressed far beyond merely putting a few things on the horizon. A very nice little place!!

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Chaotic and realistic, nice work!

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Delivery time. And now it's time for one last foray into Vanillaland, and a repeated one at that.

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Leaving Venice again with some Flatpack Furniture or something, destination once again Trieste.

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Just a final couple of reminders of the 'state of the art' in this region. Praying SCS will do something about it soon.

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And it's just here, under the Hideous Blue Eye of my most hated dated asset, that the new wall indicates the addition of a new SCS city in the region - Trieste.

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From here things much improve, whether you take a left to fully refurbished Austria, or the right turn to Trieste, and beyond it, the brand new West Balkans.

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The journey to Trieste involves some tunnels and some uninspiring countryside. Probably just like in real life.

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It's quite a long and winding route. Nothing special, but it does the job.

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The city in the distance. I decided to revisit Trieste because right now there's a window of opportunity to see what SCS have made before PM releases their new version, which seems very likely to contain an expanded/improved or even replaced version of Trieste. Maybe it won't of course, and if it doesn't, the new version from SCS is pretty nice. Just smaller than the PM one.

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We'll check out Trieste next time, before definitively getting started on the main body of the Italia DLC.
Cheers! Krigl

krigl
Posts: 1088
Joined: 19 Oct 2015 18:46

29 May 2024 09:30

This time we're ending Part 1A of the Italy tour - the 'border region' where the 2017 DLC meets the 2012 base map - by checking out SCS's new 2024 version of Trieste.

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Approaching the city.

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SCS's version feels very familiar, which is logical - the key aspects of the city are going to be similar whether PM or SCS make it, I guess. Well, in this case, the key aspects of the port area and the route to it from the edge of the city.

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There are some nice convoluted roads and plenty of cool details.

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Memorable custom buildings, too.

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You can see improvements on how they represent... stuff... over 2017's Genoa.

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Yes, she's the one Dana and I play doubles with on Thursdays.

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Alright, let's drop this off here, I guess. The trailer doesn't look quite the same as what they're loading on that ship, but they'll manage.

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Tralala, off we go.

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Let's have a quick look at the other part of Trieste.

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We need to go over there, which means making a U-Turn in a moment. Not exactly convenient for people wanting to drop off something at one part and take another job at the other part but... I coped.

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Look at all those solar panels!!

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Ahhhh....just starting to get... ...the kind of feeling that... I perhaps would have done better to leave the trailer here, and not at the container port. Oh well. Unfamiliar with the area, you know?

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Yeah, so that's SCS's new Trieste. Looks very good, and judging by photos pretty true to life as well. A perfectly fine destination/pick-up point for cargo. However, it's just the port area, more or less, and missing the residential/town centre areas that ProMods' very large and complex effort had. I suspect that if PM do upgrade Trieste, they'll leave the port as it is and add the other stuff elsewhere. We'll have to see. If PM don't make any changes, well what's here is more than good enough, I'd say. But PM regulars will miss the old city, I'm sure. I certainly will.

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And now we're back in SE Bologna, with slightly better light conditions than the last occasion we were here. It's time to get stuck in to the main body of the DLC itself, without any more forays into old sections of the map.

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Our first trip sees us ferrying concrete stairs to Parma, but not by the motorway route this time - we'll be taking smaller roads for much of it.

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Off we go, then. Part 1B of the Italy Tour (northern and central Italy) awaits!
Cheers, Krigl

krigl
Posts: 1088
Joined: 19 Oct 2015 18:46

30 May 2024 16:10

Taking some concrete stairs through north Italian countryside from Bologna to Parma today.

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A not-overly-prepossessing start soon gives way to...

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...a pleasant and interesting route with quite a few turns and junctions.

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I don't get how IKEA can be different in different countries. It's like if you went to Italy and found Microsoft was called Mikromorbido or something.

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Now these are a local landmark. We'll take a closer look at one of those bridges in a mo.

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Passing the Exomar hub with the Slinky Spring station in the background. Everything is crammed in really close together, but artfully, so you get the feeling of the heavily urbanised north even in the more countrified parts, I dig it.

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Cool bridge, especially the way the cables cross.

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Had to take another... We'll be back here once more before we definitively take our leave of the region

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What... is that?

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Still shaking my head in puzzlement as we arrive in Parma.

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Seems a nice place to me... certainly not a ham-fisted attempt.

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Dropped off the stairs at TE Logistics.

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For our next job we're going to drive south through the hills to one of the many highlights of the DLC, the Carrara marble quarry, and pick up something to take to Livorno. Thought we'd better fuel up first.

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We soon meet our first village, Castelnovo Ne' Monti.

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The trip to Carrara will continue in the next set.
Cheers! Krigl

krigl
Posts: 1088
Joined: 19 Oct 2015 18:46

31 May 2024 15:31

This time we continue the trip from Bologna down to Carrara marble quarry.

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Passing through the village of Castelnovo Ne' Monti.

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Much of Italy is hilly and it seems we're already out of the northern plain.

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Another village, this time Monteduro. Hard Mountain is the direct translation. Perhaps a Karak of the Italian Dawi?

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The time spent passing through the settlement was certainly short.

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Did someone say SHORT?? That's going in the book.

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Looks like a port over there, not sure which. Perhaps La Spezia.

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This place may be Carrara.

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There are certainly some bits of marble lying around in people's back yards.

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Maybe some light-fingered quarry workers sneaked them out at the end of their shift, or something.

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Learned a few things connected with Carrara just briefly skimming the internet.

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For example, its famous extremely fine white marble was used in many monuments and statures, including Michaelangelo's David. However, all the good stuff has run out, and they now quarry lower quality stuff. The Romans called the local marble Luna (moon) marble. I can just imagine the sign on some marble selling boutique in ancient Rome - translated from the Latin:

LN LNTCS - WR JST CRZY BT MRBL
ND F SSN SL - 50% FF - VRYTHNG MST G!!

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Another tunnel takes us into the quarry proper.

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Eeee... flashbacks to ProMod's Centre of the Earth maze back on Svalbard.

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But no - here we are. I also read that at the end of the 19th century Carrara was full of fugitives from the law and anarchists. And that even today working conditions here are supposed to be very bad - i.e. dangerous. And that in 2014 Osama bin Laden's family, which has considerable investments in the construction business, bought a majority stake in the quarry...

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Some great details at this place, glad I visited.

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The locals were very hospitable and invited me to try out the quarry restaurant, so I headed there for lunch.
More from the quarry, and then the journey to Livorno, next time. Probably Sunday or Monday.
Cheers! Krigl

krigl
Posts: 1088
Joined: 19 Oct 2015 18:46

03 Jun 2024 14:53

Driving from the Carrara marble quarry down to Livorno today.

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A couple of pics from the viewpoint vid. The 'press escape to leave video' message didn't appear on the screenshots this time, which is nice. Not sure if it's just unique to this vid, or to ETS2, or if SCS has changed it.

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Looking at the view. We're going down there in a minute.

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Was hoping to carry one of those lovely marble slabs, but all they had for me was rock dust.

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Time to descend the hillside.

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Hey! There's a tour?! If I'd known, I'd have stayed longer.

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Down we go. Careful with the brakes.

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Maybe this is Carrara, or somewhere else. It's quite a built-up area here by the sea.

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Arriving at Livorno, which is dominated by this large refinery, or whatever it is.

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It's a (non-useable) port. This rock dust is for export.

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Very industrial vibe, I like it.

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Shielding my eyes from the glare as we pull into the hotel car park. Hope I get a chimney view.

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Soooo tall! The next day we had a trip lined up from Livorno north to Genoa.

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Yes, we... - shut up, Krigl!!

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In that container we have Motor Oil - a product of the refinery, maybe.
Genoa will need to wait till next time.
Cheers! Krigl

krigl
Posts: 1088
Joined: 19 Oct 2015 18:46

03 Jun 2024 15:29

The journey from Livorno to Genoa this time.

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No, and I didn't last time, either.

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Just stop it, Krigl. It wasn't funny even the first time. The 20th time? Definitely not.

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Alright, alright, I'll try. But I can't promise anything.

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So, a trip northwestwards up the coast today.

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Not that you really can tell it's the coast, of course. There's no sea to be seen. Just at Genoa.

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At Genoa.

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Good, I'm cured. Maybe.

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Several tunnels on this route.

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Bridges with views too.

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And here's Genoa.

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Some fine panoramas on the way to the delivery point.

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Alright, we're done. One last shot from Genoa.

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Of course! You were the one who introduced us, remember?

Damn. It's stronger than I am. Back in Livorno now, at the garage.

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A couple more from this industrial town...

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Have to say I'm not overly enamoured with the new 'darking' system in 1.50. Maybe I should consider turning off distant shadows, if you even can. Things are looking too dark, too often. Might be that it's the fault of Brutal Weather, though...

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Alright then, off to nearby Pontedera to pick up a trailer for a short hop to Florence - next time.
Cheers! Krigl



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