On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
Good Morning All,
This weekday feature is for Juicers who are are on the road, traveling, or just want to share a little bit of their world via stories and pictures. So many of us rise each morning, eager for something beautiful, inspiring, amazing, subtle, of note, and our community delivers – a view into their world, whether they’re far away or close to home – pictures with a story, with context, with meaning, sometimes just beauty. By concentrating travel updates and tips here, it’s easier for all of us to keep up or find them later.
So please, speak up and share some of your adventures and travel news here, and submit your pictures using our speedy, secure form. You can submit up to 7 pictures at a time, with an overall description and one for each picture.
You can, of course, send an email with pictures if the form gives you trouble, or if you are trying to submit something special, like a zipped archive or a movie. If your pictures are already hosted online, then please email the links with your descriptions.
For each picture, it’s best to provide your commenter screenname, description, where it was taken, and date. It’s tough to keep everyone’s email address and screenname straight, so don’t assume that I remember it “from last time”. More and more, the first photo before the fold will be from a commenter, so making it easy to locate the screenname when I’ve found a compelling photo is crucial.
Have a wonderful day, and enjoy the pictures!
It’s good to be back, though I’m still overwhelmed with duties and to-do’s. I’m glad to end the week with the return of…. otmar!
Have a great weekend, everybody! I hope to get some home repairs, etc. done and (finally) do some cooking, one activity that dropped off 100% since my mom died. The funeral/reception food leftovers are finally frozen, done, or disposed of, and I’m looking forward to having some produce and ingredients in the fridge instead of cooked/manufactured food.
Today, pictures from valued commenter otmar.
I spent the first Sunday of November with the kids on a sport-club team-building outing in Gars am Kamp. We left Vienna by train, switched to a diesel-powered rail-bus in the middle of nowhere to reach Gars after a total of 1.5 h travel time. Somehow it felt like we weren’t 90 mins into the future, but 100 years into the past.
Gars in located in the Waldviertel, a hilly part of lower Austria, on the Kamp river. It was pretty popular as a summer get-away during the Hapsburg times, and this still is visible in the architecture of the villas in the town.
View from the train station
On the hill there are the ruin of an old castle plus a church. We’re going up.
War memorial
On the way up, we’re passing a war memorial.
It’s been interesting to me how America is dealing with the civil war memorials, so here is a picture how a typical Austrian one looks like. First of all, the wreaths were probably from Nov 2nd, which is the yearly day to commemorate the dead in Austria. Secondly, this monument was obviously errected for the WW-I dead, and later adapted to also include the WW-II dead as well. The cap on top is WWI-era style.
The inscription says: “Remember the dead who had to die in a war!”. IMHO, this is a good one. It doesn’t glorify the dead, it just states neutrally who died from this village during the last two major wars.
Looking up from the cementary around the church towars the ruins of the castle.
View down towards Gars.
Crossing the Kamp.
Thank you so much otmar, do send us more when you can.
Travel safely everybody, and do share some stories in the comments, even if you’re joining the conversation late. Many folks confide that they go back and read old threads, one reason these are available on the Quick Links menu.
One again, to submit pictures: Use the Form or Send an Email
Mary G
I like the wording on the war memorial. Beautiful old buildings, too. Thanks otmar and Alain.
rikyrah
Good Morning, and thanks for the pictures ?
Anne Laurie
Missed my chance to say this yesterday, Alain — I’m *very* glad to see your posts again!
To quote Joe Biden’s favorite proverb: May the thought of her soon bring a smile to your lips before it brings a tear to your eyes…
satby
Very nice pictures Otmar! Thanks for them.
Ben Cisco
Glad you’re back, Alain. Time heals.
Otmar – great pics.
SiubhanDuinne
@Ben Cisco:
It does my heart good to know that you’re healing.
NobodySpecial
Just wanted to pop in after the rush yesterday and offer my condolences.
Amir Khalid
Grüße, Otmar! Deine Photos sind sehr schön!
Barbecue Swinger
My sympathies to you, Alain, and I wish you peace.
I usually don’t catch this thread till later, but I’m up early because it’s SNOWING in Houston! The school district robocalled at 4:30 am to tell us school is on, and while I was grumpy at first for being woken up, the wake-up call allowed us to watch the snow and play in it before it all melts when the sun comes up. BTW, it was 80 degrees just a few days ago.
Barbecue Swinger
And thank you for the pics, otmar.
Central Planning
I’m traveling for work today to virtually bring Santa to sick kids in a hospital. We get a little info about the kids for our Santa and then call him with an iPad
The joy on the kids’ faces will more than make up for the barely lukewarm water in the hotel shower and cold cheese on my breakfast sandwich
SiubhanDuinne
@Barbecue Swinger:
Snow and wintry mix in the ATL too.
Steve in the ATL
@SiubhanDuinne: I have been getting travel alerts from Delta about possible flight delays. I assumed they were about the wildfires here in LA, then my wife called and told me about the snow in Atlanta. I was all WTF? And she was all I know right?
Quinerly
??❤
Sab
@Steve in the ATL: Be comforted in knowing that our govt assures us that there is no global warming. Those Eurps and Chinese have no idea what they are talking about.
satby
Not going to be hanging around much, but in response to a query from Notmax, here’s the special holiday discount for the jackal family: it’s coupon code JACKALS to get free shipping on orders over $10.00 (sorry, domestic US only).
Or you can get 20% off your total order over $10.00 using GREENBALLOONS if that works out to be the better deal.
Only one coupon per transaction, and they both will expire on December 18, because that’s the shipping cut off for Christmas. Feel free to pass them on. Current open orders are getting the free shipping code applied today.
SiubhanDuinne
@Steve in the ATL:
Safe travels to you, however delayed they may be. I don’t think anything’s going to stick, but it promises to be cold and raw and nasty all day.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Steve in the ATL: Hope you enjoyed your visit to our little town.
Steve in the ATL
@Quinerly: where is Soulard relative to Maryland Heights?
Steve in the ATL
@?BillinGlendaleCA: it’s been nice. Wish I hadn’t spent most of the time locked in a room full of union thugs and could have met more juicers. Had a good dinner at Frida’s last night and yes, I enjoyed the “snow”, especially after I realized it wasn’t ash.
Steve in the ATL
@SiubhanDuinne: hopefully it will have cleared by the time my plane lands at midnight. Keep your phone handy in case I need a ride!
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Steve in the ATL: Did you see the “snow” at 7 or 8? I was there for the 8pm “show”.
MomSense
Thanks for the beautiful photos Otmar and Alain.
Houston and Atlanta have snow before Maine????
HeleninEire
Once again Alain, welcome back. I’m very much looking forward to your post about your mother.
Sab
@Mary G: Thanks otmar and Alain.
Re: the war memorial: So many names for a village!
I am so glad the 20th century is over.
HeleninEire
@satby: I love that you give us Jackals discounts.
Quinerly
@Steve in the ATL: Soulard is in the city…actually south city. My little neighborhood is a historic district, dating back to the 1800’s. US Grant actually had a home here at one time. The largest brewery in the world is here. We boast 32 bars, Blues and Jazz clubs, and restaurants.? We also host the second largest Mardi Gras celebration in the country and the largest pet parade in the country. Maryland Heights is about 28 miles from my little world. Would love to have you drop by. I can pick a spot for drinks. Maybe we can get some others in the area to join in.
satby
@HeleninEire: ?
Quinerly
@satby: So sweet. Been meaning to order from you. Now I have a deadline.?
A Ghost to Most
@Quinerly:
That’s interesting. Coors claims their brewery in Golden is the biggest in the world.
Quinerly
@A Ghost to Most: Anheuser Bush has always touted that here in St. Louis. Maybe something has changed since the In Bev buyout and merger. My home is 4 blocks from the brewery. Huge operation. Haven’t been in the welcome center or taken the tour in years, though. Love the smell of hops in the morning and Poco loves when we walk that way and he can see and smell the Clydesdales.? I actually quit drinking AB products after the merger. Maybe that had something to do with losing it’s #1 status, if true?. But, I digress.
A Ghost to Most
@Quinerly:
The smell of hops, yes. The Coors water treatment plant, not so much.
I lived in Hershey, PA for a spell, and even the smell of chocolate gets old on a hot summer day.
satby
@Quinerly:??
Sab
@Quinerly: I stopped drinking Bud when they “retired” the Clydesdales. Hope they were actually retired and not “sent to the farm” like generations of family dogs.
My browsers’ autocorrect is eccentric.
Quinerly
@A Ghost to Most: Probably should look up the stats. Moved to St. Louis in 1982, to Soulard neighborhood in 1984. When I was first out of law school (mid ’80’s) worked for a firm that did solely AB workers’ comp defense work. In and out of the brewery and corporate offices on a weekly basis covering depositions and equipment inspections. “Largest brewery in the world” was a big thing. AB does have quite a history. In its original location, survived Prohibition, and refused to relocate from Soulard when the neighborhood declined through the 1950’s-1960’s. Hops smell pretty strong this AM. Some say it smells like money.?
Quinerly
@Sab: Not retired. Will see a couple this AM on our walk. There’s a small stable on the grounds a few blocks away. If we are lucky we might see Annie….one of the Dalmatians. The stables are beautifully decorated this time of year.
Quinerly
@Sab: Here you go….with a shout out to the beautiful stable practically in Poco’s backyard: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budweiser_Clydesdales
MomSense
@Sab:
Before trump my autocorrect used to change fucking to ducking. Now it looks like this FUCKING. It’s evolving.
Quinerly
@MomSense: “Is our autocorrect learning?”?
Barbara
Love those pictures. I went to Austria for the first time last summer and I will try to post a few of my pics as well.
WaterGirl
@satby: Thanks for doing this for us!
@MomSense: No snow here, either, but we’re definitely not Maine. Did you ever find the email about the calendar? I can re-send if needed. edit: The smashing cookie game was good for calming me down yesterday.
MomSense
@WaterGirl:
I’m going to download it today and smash cookies!!
J R in WV
Thanks, Alain.
Great stuff, Otmar, keep up the good work!
Miss Bianca
@Central Planning: oh, that’s so sweet!
WaterGirl
@MomSense: I typically keep my volume pretty low, but the smashing is more satisfying with the volume turned up. :-)
Central Planning
@Miss Bianca: It is awesome. The look on their faces is priceless. One little girl was all decked out in Christmas regalia today. Love it!
stinger
Great pics of Austria, great thread. I’m fascinated by the info on Clydesdales and Dalmatians — and I don’t even drink beer!
Sab
@Quinerly: This thread is long dead, so you probably won’t see my reply but you just made my week. I think I’ll text my horsey sister.