Folks,
I’m on vacation this week without computer and too busy/no downtime.
If I can, I’ll post later this week, but Monday and Tuesday, there will be nothing.
My apologies and have a great day!
by Alain Chamot (1971-2020)| 3 Comments
This post is in: On The Road
Folks,
I’m on vacation this week without computer and too busy/no downtime.
If I can, I’ll post later this week, but Monday and Tuesday, there will be nothing.
My apologies and have a great day!
by Alain Chamot (1971-2020)| 4 Comments
This post is in: On The Road, Open Threads, Readership Capture, Travel
Good Morning All,
Have a wonderful day and weekend – enjoy the pictures!
Today, pictures from valued commenter otmar.
These are five snaps from 2019/07/30.
No travel, no special routes, just whipping out the mobile phone to take a few pictures during the day.
In the morning I had a meeting at a ministry in the old center of Vienna. Scooting back to my office I passed by:
The Hofburg. Over the centuries, the Hapsburgs built up their city palace. There is no grand design behind the building, it just grew organically.
This is the portal of the complex towards the city center. The square is called Michaelerplatz and also features some excavations of Roman foundations.
Across the street is the courtyard of the imperial riding school. The white horses and their riders are quite famous. See https://www.srs.at/
Fun fact: the name “Lipizzaner” derives from the village “Lipica” which is located in Slovenia, which was part of the Hapsburg empire. At the end of WW1, Austria created a new home for those horses in Piber, which is in present-day Austria.
I posted some pictures from the inside here: https://balloon-juice.com/2018/02/09/on-the-road-and-in-your-backyard-105/
A bit later, I passed by the Vienna State Opera. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vienna_State_Opera
In the afternoon, I met up with my son, ran an errant and scootered home passing though the Augarten.
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
by Alain Chamot (1971-2020)| 37 Comments
This post is in: On The Road, Open Threads, Readership Capture, Travel
Good Morning All,
Have a wonderful day, and enjoy the pictures!
Happy First of August, Swiss National Day. As a Swiss-American, I am blessed to be able to celebrate July 4th and Aug 1st, very similar celebrations of liberty and brotherhood. Delicious sausages, cheese, fruit, kirsch, and wine await!
If things work out, I’ll be wandering around some high-altitude Colorado next week in pursuit of the much-sought-after boletus edulis. A fresh “king bolete”, sliced, and sauteed in butter, is one of the finer things in life, and it’s been 5 years since I last dashed around 11-12,000 feet mountain sides for a few hours digging up such edible gold. Like I said, if things work out….
Today, pictures from valued commenter Steve in the ATL.
Work travel
Golden Gate Canyon State Park, Colorado
If I’m going somewhere good for a Monday meeting, I like to go in on Sunday and go hiking. There is no way for a photographer of my caliber to capture the majesty of the Rocky Mountains with an iPhone camera. This was a nice hike near Boulder, though.
Taken on 2017-12-05 00:00:00
Glendale, California
I was bargaining in Glendale and had dinner with Ruckus one evening. This was supposedly smoke from one of the wildfires burning then, but I suspect it was coming from BillinGlendaleCA’s apartment as he and Mnemosyne watched a Cheech and Chong movie and binged on Doritos.
Manchester, Tennessee
Couldn’t resist the rebel flag in front of the Walmart sign. You’ll be unsurprised to learn that the driver was an old white man.
Cleveland, Ohio
Normally above-ground pools are super nice. Not sure what happened to this one….
Alameda, California
Stumbling out of a college friend’s house on Saturday morning, I saw this a couple of doors down. Il pretty sure we didn’t do that, but we did drink a lot of wine the night before….
Thank you so much Steve in the ATL, 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
by Alain Chamot (1971-2020)| 12 Comments
This post is in: On The Road, Open Threads, Readership Capture, Travel
Good Morning All,
Have a wonderful day, and enjoy the pictures!
Today, pictures from valued commenter ?BillinGlendaleCA.
Churches and City Halls
I believe I’ve mentioned El Aliso in my dispatches here, it was the large sycamore tree along the banks of the LA River that was the location of a Tongva village prior to the settlers arriving from Mission San Gabriel to found the City of Los Angeles. A few months ago a plaque was dedicated a few months ago, I thought I’d venture to downtown and get a picture. That part of my quest was unfulfilled, I was looking for an upright marker, and it’s embedded in the sidewalk. I’ve also been meaning to see this church in Pasadena with a tall tower that you can see from the 210. So I took the train into downtown LA and hopped the Gold Line to Pasadena. I took some infrared pictures of Pasadena City Hall(the last time I did this was before a Balloon Juice meetup in Old Town Pasadena). I’ve photographed Pasadena City Hall many times, but it’s been at night so I’ve not been able to shoot infrared pictures. While I was there I shot some pictures of both the exterior and interior of All Saints Episcopal Church which is right in back of city hall. Making my way back to the Gold Line station I stopped by Saint Andrew’s Catholic Church(my primary goal for the Pasadena leg of the journey. The interior is truly a special treat. So it was back on the Gold Line again for the return to DTLA. I searched for the El Aliso plaque(I think I know where it is now) and walked though the Civic Center up to the top of Grand Park for some IR pics looking towards LA City Hall.
Taken on 2019-07-19 00:00:00
Pasadena, CA
The Gold Line station is only a few blocks from Pasadena City Hall. Once I got up to ground level, I could see that they were setting up for some event in front of City Hall. While I did take some photos in front of City Hall, there were tables and a stage that was partially obscuring the building. I retreated to the back of the building and shot the building from the rear. This photo looks though the arches in back of the building below a walkway on the second floor.
Taken on 2019-07-19 00:00:00
Pasadena, CA
All Saints Episcopal Church is across the street from the back of City Hall. It’s a very attractive stone building. I thought It’s look good in IR, especially with the scattered clouds in the sky.
Taken on 2019-07-19 00:00:00
Pasadena, CA
I’ve been inside All Saints Church once before for a wedding of one of Madame’s co-workers back in the early 1990’s. It was nice to get inside and get a couple of shots of the really pretty interior.
Taken on 2019-07-19 00:00:00
Pasadena, CA
Having driven by Saint Andrews on the 210 freeway, I’d never really seen even any pictures of the interior. I saw a few pictures on Google Maps and I knew I had to see it for myself. I think it’s one of the prettiest churches here in the LA area, though I’d still give the edge to St. Sophia’s Cathedral.
Taken on 2019-07-19 00:00:00
Los Angeles, CA
While I have captured this exact photo in the past, I’ve changed the way I capture and process my IR photos. I take two photos: one with my IR camera and another with a visual camera and then use the IR layer for brightness and texture and the color layer for color. I’m able to retain some of the visual color that gets lost(reds) in traditional IR processing.
Thank you so much ?BillinGlendaleCA, 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
by Alain Chamot (1971-2020)| 16 Comments
This post is in: Albatrossity, On The Road, Open Threads, Readership Capture, Travel
Good Morning All,
Another old draft – my apologies, Albratrossity. Especially ironic considering how much I love lizards.
Have a wonderful day, and enjoy the pictures!
Today, pictures from valued commenter Albatrossity.
Last batch of pics from the Enchanted Isles
Taken on 2019-05-31 00:00:00
Española Island in the Galápagos
The Nazca Booby was formerly thought to be a subspecies of the more common Masked Booby found along the coast of South America, but was accorded full species status a couple of decades ago. It is a large and handsome booby, as you can see.
Taken on 2019-05-31 00:00:00
Española Island in the Galápagos
One of the prettiest gulls in the world (and another Galápagos endemic), the Swallow-tailed Gull. The red orbital around the eye indicates that this bird is in breeding condition, and it was perhaps choosing a rock for its nest somewhere else on the island.
Taken on 2019-05-31 00:00:00
Española Island in the Galápagos
Sometimes eggs are abandoned by the Waved Albatrosses, for unknown reasons, and this was one of those, according to the guides. Swiss Army knife for scale.
Española Island in the Galápagos
The lava lizards in the archipelago are another great example of species diversification, and the ones on Española are particularly beautiful. This one is a female.
Taken on 2019-05-31 00:00:00
Española Island in the Galápagos
Marine iguanas are one of the more bizarre species on the planet, and are another critter found only in the Galápagos. Again, they vary from island to island, and the ones on Española are known as the Christmas Tree iguanas because of their fabulous color scheme.
Thank you so much Albatrossity, 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
by Alain Chamot (1971-2020)| 12 Comments
This post is in: On The Road, Open Threads, Readership Capture, Travel
Good Morning All,
More clean-up this week, starting out STRONG.
Have a wonderful day and enjoy the pictures!
ETA: Just seeing the Gilroy shooting reports. Godsdammit.
Today, pictures from valued commenter James E Powell.
Photos of the marchers
Taken on 2019-07-12 00:00:00
San Ysidro CA – at the border
Marchers
Taken on 2019-07-12 00:00:00
San Ysidro CA – at the border
Marchers
Taken on July 12
San Ysidro CA – at the border
Marchers
Taken on 2019-07-12 00:00:00
San Ysidro CA – at the border
Me
Thank you so much James E Powell, 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
by Alain Chamot (1971-2020)| 18 Comments
This post is in: On The Road, Open Threads, Readership Capture, Travel
Good Morning All,
Have a wonderful day and weekend, and enjoy the pictures!
Stay cool otmar and all our European friends.
Today, pictures from valued commenter otmar.
The week after my trip to Bucharest brought me to Stockholm. Again on a business trip, meaning no extensive sightseeing, just some minor walks to the evening events and from/to the airport.
It actually was quite a change of scenery: Stockholm feels quite different. For one, the climate differs a lot: I was coming from a hot, dry southern Europe town to a cool, rainy Scandinavian metropolis. Bucharest is in the middle of the country-side, not even on a major river, Stockholm is connected to the Baltic sea and the big ferries/cruise ship anchor right in the city center. And of course the people are different.
The public transportation network of Stockholm includes boats. In my case, this was actually the best way to reach the city center. On the way, we passed by the Island of Djurgarden, which hosts a number of interesting buildings.
On the left is Junibacken, which is a Disneyworld-style ride through the books of Astrid Lindgren. During RIPE-50 Meeting in 2005 we had the social event there, it’s nice ride.
The building on the right is the Vasa Museum. It holds the salvaged wreck of a mighty (though ill-fated) warship from the 17th century. See https://www.vasamuseet.se/en/vasa-history/timeline
This is still taken from the boat. Now we’re close to the city center at the Nybroviken landing point.
I’m now back at the hotel in Hendriksdal and looking back over the sea towards the center. The amusement park is on Djurgarden.
The location of Stockholm is very interesting: the coast here is a huge archipelago of small islands that somehow smoothly morphs into lakes. (Think “MC Escher drawing where foreground and background intersect”) The old center of Stockholm (Gamla Stan) lies exactly as this transition point: large sea-faring ship can navigate up to this point. But they have to pass trough a quite narrow and winding shipping channel passing a lot of island until they reach this point. This, of course, makes defending the port of Stockholm from maritime invaders rather simple. There are still some historic forts on this route.
Apparently, the Swedish navy plays games with real (or imagined) Russian subs there every now and then.
I passed by Sofia Church on my way to dinner on Södermalm.
And this is how it looks from inside.
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