One of the greatest mapping achievements was the 1769 map of the Country of Tyrol.

The government of the Habsburg Empire ordered that a new map of the country be made, and that no data from old maps would be used. Now the Tyrol is in the Alps - it was country full of glaciers and mountains and thousands of villages tucked into hidden valleys. Distant villages inhabited by suspicious peasants who habitually attacked outsiders.

Given this extraordinary challenge, it is amazing that every single village and valley in the entire country was mapped by two men in only three years, using surveying tools they built themselves. Their finished work is beautiful in detail, and epic in scope. Thousands of villages, mountains, glaciers, castles, bridges, rivers, and farms were personally visited and plotted.

The shaded area is the size of the area shown in the previous map.

I’m in love.

You can download the whole map here: Atlas Tyrolensis (jpg, 53mb).

When I last posted on this blog, it was just my wife and I. Now we’ve got two kids and a third on the way. This is Lydia.

The Photoblog

A selection of belts at a thrift store in Rock Hill. I was photographing the store for a friend.

Breakfast

House decorated with Gatorade bottles, along our 50 minute bus ride into Hamilton.

Telephone company

We found a shop with many great notebooks. The small 3x5 notebook on the right was $153. It was made in Italy with leather and old paper wonderful to touch. I didn’t buy any of them. But I did admire much.

The famous Horseshoe Bay. Too crowed for us, so we got back on a bus, and went a mile further to Church Bay.

Bus stop, Church Bay.

We rented snorkel stuff here for $20.

LB is happy. The reefs were only forty feet off shore. No lack of fish or coral.

Wierd rock things.

Traveling back to the ship through Hamilton.

Our ship.

I loved the stillness.

This small fort fired a cannon as we sailed through the cut into St George, Bermuda.

Kids waving.

There is a hidden house on this island in the bay.

We docked in St. George.

A rusty ship with a pirate flag.

The airport was on the other side of the harbor.

Life boat practice for the crew.

LB orders lunch.

Much happiness to Carol and Micah!