I gotta serious cold

I gotta head ache, 

a terrible cough, 

the shivers,

a runny nose.

Might as well admit it:

 I feel awful.

Bertstravels 

wonders:

Will all of these meds do any good ?

Rose after the rain

After the rain 

Early Autumn

Without words

Burgi Mai

Burgi Mai is an exceedingly talented artist, living in a small town in Lower Carinthia.
She depicts life in an often exaggerated realism, sometimes, nay, often, actually, almost always, 
tinged with the poetry of Irony, Satire.

Each of Burgi's pictures carries a message.

I must ask her what the beer drinking young man

with the strange T shirt, sitting on a suit case really means.

The meticulous, detailed manner of her painting style 

brings a realism

quite unlike other realistic painters and totally Burgi's own.

Hermann Nitsch, a most controversial Austrian Painter

 is probably best known

fort throwing blood onto a canvass, claiming it as a work of art.

Burgi, in her untitled painting, shows the unmistakable Nitsch

with a butcher knife in one hand and a painter's brush in the other.

The irony of the painting entitled:

Germany's Next Topmodel

is quite clear.

Please, Burgi, talk to me.

In the background a little church on a hill.

In the foreground the last three letters of the 

newly erected factory called Rohrbach.

The German exclamation "Ach" means a regrettable "Oh my".

Burgi clearly expresses her dismay, because this factory

has no place in these bucolic surroundings.

Brrrrrrr

Dove in one more time.
Air temperature: 24 !
Water temperature  16 !
I did not stay in very long. 
In fact, I would call what I did more a "dip" than a "swim"
Dive in !
Swim the length of the pool!
Swim back and
Get the hell out 
as fast as you can.

Bertstravels
is not a glutton for punishment, and

Off tomorrow to Vienna, for two days,
to celebrate three  birthdays.
I will not take my laptop and therefore,
Bertstravels
will not post anything new for two or three days.

Paraglider

A favorite sport from the Petzen is Paragliding !
It takes, I am sure, skill and guts, and must be an exhilarating feeling to hang there between earth and the clouds, supported by a piece of plastic cloth, sailing toward a distant meadow for a safe landing, and all the while observing the distant town of Bleiburg.

That's it for today

isn't this a beauty ?

s e e d s 

Atop the Petzen

Took the cable car to 3/4 the height of the Petzen, Bleiburg's 
house mountain.
After having taken the obligatory picture of Bleiburg, I concentrated on what, in early autumn, is left of flowers and other interesting plants.

Have a gander:

Bleiburg from the Petzen, through the 400 mm lens

Strange ( to me ) plants,

with seeds similar to the milk weed.

I wish I knew a little more about Botany.

As it is, I do not know the names of these strange fellows.

For a Change of Pace

A Pot of Soup

I Looked over Christin's shoulder and saw a beautiful picture !
Fetched my camera and shot this unforgettable work of Art.
(I am talking about the Soup)

What's in it ??

Well, let me tell you, What's In It !

chicken legs

rib of beef

roasted onion

Celery

Carrots

parsley

parsley root

Salt

peppercorn

and I don't know what else.

I tasted it: 

It tastes simply wonderful !

Francisco Jose de Goya y Lucientes

GOYA, for short, lived between 1746 and 1828, and became the most famous Spanish romantic artist.
As a painter and print maker he, during the latter period of his creative life, criticized Society of his time severely, particularly in his etchings - "Los Caprichos" and "Desastres de la Guerra" and others.
He depicts the cruelty of man to man during war fare, the poverty, the wanton exercise of power and the degeneration of the members of the ruling Nobility of Spain  of his time.
Below are a very few of his extraordinarily large creation.

The one-lane entry gate into the Carinthian town of Gmünd.

On three levels within the tower 

this magnificent collection of etchings

is displayed.

below is an excerpt of the whole etching above.

However  many exhibits in however many museums

you might have seen,

this series of etchings by "Francisco de GOYA"

leaves you speechless with admiration and astonishment.

Into the Maltatal, The Valley of the Malta

We left quite early in the morning and drove into the Maltatal, a valley in the High Tauern mountain range of the Central Eastern Alps.
By car, after two hours on the highway, we reached  a tortuous drive, featuring more curves and hairpin turns than you can count, we finally arrived at the the "Kölnbrein Dam" at a level of 6,342 feet ( 1,933 meters)
The valley was famous for its many picturesque waterfalls. Only three or four are left today, the rest having been diverted to add to the river Malta and supply sufficient water for the man-made lake.

(above) 

Three of the waterfalls tumbling into the Valley of the Malta.

The Kölnbrein Dam and behind, the Ankogel Group.

Downriver from the main Dam, a small lake forms due to a secondary Dam

of lesser proportions.

Another view of the Kölnbrain,

 with the Hotel in mid right.

There are a large number of hiking trails 

and many intrepid wanderers

use this as their headquarters for several daylong excursion.

The Crock

It is neither a close up of an elephant, nor an alligator.
It is, in fact, the  close up of a Nile Crocodile

However, the guess of an Alligator came close.

What is it ?

What is it ? What could it be ?

(as always: tremendous prizes for guessing right )

Strange, no, interesting Nature.

Here, in a side arm of the Zambezi, swims a Hyppo, 

closely followed by its offspring.

Observe: The Hyppo's ears, eyes and nose are on one level, therefore, although almost totally submerged, 

the animal has all its senses available.

It can hear, see and smell any approaching danger, 

recognize friend or foe, 

without exposing itself to obvious view.

"Ain't Nature wonderful ?"

The Waterbuck, this happens to be a group of females, 

has a white circle on its hindquarters.

Why did nature decide on such an obvious marking ?

A definite sign, visible by a predator, long after the rest of the animal has disappeared from view into the bush.

The American White Tail Deer, throws up its tail, when in flight, thereby exposing the white underside clearly.

Biologists have surmised that thereby a young deer does not lose sight of its parent and is able to follow it more easily.

Is it reasonable to assume that the white circle on the Waterbuck's behind fulfills the same purpose ?

What is Nature up to ?

A proud male Waterbuck, showing the same markings.

The Ground Hornbill, when not in flight, 

sports a completely black-feathered  body. (above)

When in flight, it shows its brilliantly whited wing tips. (below)

It is generally assumed that nothing in Nature is without purpose.

What was Nature up to ?

The Nyala is the only Antelope 

in which the male shows a fundamentally different color than the female.

The horned male is a medium grey, while the females  show a light brown.