The Wachau is a beautiful valley on the Danube west of Vienna traversed by Eurovelo 6, a bike route which goes from the Atlantic all the way to the Black Sea, mostly along the Danube. It’s an ideal location for an easy excursion as the trail is mostly flat. Autumn seems the best time to do the ride as it’s off season, the weather isn’t too hot, there aren’t too many tourists, and the leaves in the vineyards are changing colors.
Technically the Wachau is the 22 mile stretch between Krems and Melk, but the ride can be extended as far upstream as you want. Like Winston’s mom you can go either way or both ways, upriver and downriver. If you want to make it a one-way trip you can take the train (again like Winston’s mom), or alternatively you can ride the ferry and get off wherever you want (one more time, like Winston’s mom).
Durnstein
Krems is a sleepy but pretty town of about 25,000 people with not a lot to do, but it’s a good place to park and start your journey. About 5 miles upriver is Durnstein. It is a picturesque village with a blue tower on the river which you’ve probably seen in a travel commercial at some point. Durnstein is also the location where Richard the Lionheart was held captive by Leopold of Austria as he was returning from the Third Crusade. Leopold was angry at Richard for killing his cousin and for dissing him by throwing down his colors at the battle of Acre. Kind of like the Bloods and the Crips or maybe the Nortenos and Surenos. Last time here we stumbled on a festival reminiscent of the Griswolds on their European vacation, but in our case we were wearing Lycra instead of lederhosen, neither of which is really appropriate for polite company.
Documentary footage
Seven miles further upriver is Spitz. Spitz is home to many wine cellars which makes it a good place to stop for a drink, as if you need an excuse. If you keep your eyes open, you’ll see signs for grappa for sale out of people’s garages, proving that Austria is the West Virginia of Europe: landlocked, mountainous, a little slow and with available moonshine.
Melk
Another 12 miles upriver at the west end of the Wachau is Melk, home of the Melk Abbey. If you have read or seen The Name of the Rose, Christian Slater’s character was from here. The abbey was founded in 1089, but the current ornate iteration was built in 1702. A friend described it as “too baroque”, and indeed it looks as if it could have been designed by Trump’s decorator. Nevertheless, it’s the best abbey. Everyone says so.
Wir haben die besten Dekorateure. Jeder sagt es.
If you are looking to make this a multi-day trip, a nice place to stay is across the river from Melk in the town of Emmersdorf at the Hotel-Restaurant Zum Schwarzen Bären. They have a nice pool and sauna, where you can exchange your bike shorts for a speedo or nothing at all, if you are going full European. Also, the restaurant serves delicious meals, but you probably need to get dressed for that.
After Melk you are out of the Wachau proper. If you choose you can return to Krems, or you can continue up the river. Grein, about 28 miles upriver, makes a pretty good destination for the second day. It’s home to Schloss Greinburg owned by the House of Saxe-Coburg which is known for its Prince Albert. If Grein is a grind too far, then a good bailout point is Ybbs, only about 18 miles upriver from Melk. Here you can have a meal by the river and catch a ferry or the train back to the start.
Find the Prince Albert
All in all it’s a nice way to spend a weekend if you have the time and happen to be in the area. There are other sites to see that are more accessible by car, and a day trip from Vienna is certainly feasible, but I prefer the slower pace of a bike. And on a bike you are less likely to get ticketed for a DUI after stopping for drinks.
“You know who else traveled through Austria?”
General Zhukov?
The Orient Express?
The Trapp family?
Can’t forget the latts, bro.
My people, as they fled Romania?
Vercingetorix?
There was no evidence that particular Gaul ever went that far East.
That’s why there’s a question mark.
Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy?
Attila the Hun?
The Ottomans tried!
Me?
“You know who else traveled through Austria?”
It’s referred to as a ‘walkabout’, m8.
Austria is the West Virginia of Europe
Used to be that could’ve started a war.
Archduke Franz Ferdinand has a sad.
Do people ride fat tire cruisers in Europe, or is it all Tour de France LARPing?
Not necessarily cruisers, but in the Netherlands I saw a lot of Dutch bikes. That’s what they are called.
They are responsible for the wrastler that is the nexus of KK and Tonio dreamboatary?
I don’t know. Might be a brown-bagger. That sculpted facial hair doesn’t attract anyone.
He likes his tobacco in his can?
He has IBS. That’s not the can referred to in the joke.
I watched a fella get a prince albert through his penis on mid 1990’s late night Seattle public access TV. No anesthetic other than whisky. I couldn’t look away.
I’m betting you winced.
I winced reading that.
I knew someone who did some personal body modifications to themselves, and then later removed it.
Of course, I also saw a guy who was allowing people to staple money to his body (with a staple gun) and the denomination determined where you were allowed to staple it. He did say $100 for the shaft. I do not know if anyone took him up on that.
That sounds like something from the Jim Rose Circus Side Show. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Rose_Circus
Very different. I’ve seen a show like that one before. This was two guys (one pulling in people, the other getting bills stapled to him) walking around at a beer/music fest. They did it at least two days running that I saw. The second day in the morning, the guy who got stapled had red dots all over his chest and arms from where they had pulled out the staples.
The Lord works in mysterious ways.
https://www.foxbusiness.com/money/colorado-pastor-admits-taking-1-3m-crypto-scheme-targeted-christian-community
Makes me wonder who was stupid enough to buy into his shitcoin.
This is interesting.
https://hotair.com/headlines/2024/01/23/robocall-urges-dems-not-to-vote-in-new-hampshire-today-n606739
So will democrat operatives be thrown in jail over this? Repubs had a guy thrown into jail for posting a meme.
You can manipulate audio without digital technology.
The state AG sent a letter to the DNC telling them to knock this stuff off (the DNC said the NH primary doesn’t count… and it doesn’t thanks to their change of rules for the nomination process) as this violates NH state law. I saw some news stories about it. I don’t remember if I posted links to them here.
I expect nothing else will happen.
The scenery looks amazing! Thanks for the article. Beats bicycling around Texas in the heat and looking at chain stores.
How much chain do texans buy?
Everything is bigger in Texas
Just ask the wife!
So when she asks if these pants/dress make her ass look big, you just reply with “Everything’s bigger in Texas?”
🙂
Yes! Hence the perma-scream face.
<==
“You cant hide a barn by painting it black” was my usual answer.
Course Im divorced.
The full story is pay-walled, but you’ll get enough to be amused.
I despise these kind of “we were in chains” statements.
“Chain” appears to be the word of the day. Should we all scream in place when it is posted, like on Pee Wee Herman’s show?
“Chain”
Inside job
These yogis are stretching the patience of America’s biggest oil company.
Natasha Lamb and Farnum Brown founded and run Arjuna Capital. The decade-old sustainable-investment firm, whose mission is to push major corporations into adopting more socially conscious policies, has found itself at the center of a lawsuit by Exxon Mobil Corp. XOM, +1.00% that seeks to block a shareholder proposal on climate change.
With a mantra of “divest from old problems; invest in new solutions,” Arjuna says its goal for clients is “to invest in ways that further both their own financial well-being and the health of society.”
The founders, who met while working at Boston-based Trillium Asset Management, say their principles were influenced by their study of yoga. The fund is named after a figure in the Bhagavad Gita, a Hindu scripture.
This kind of investment strategy, commonly known as environmental, social and governance, or ESG, investing, has become increasingly popular in recent years. As of May 2023, the fund had $374 million in assets under management, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Let’s destroy capitalism from within. Who could object to that?
Going public is the single worst decision you can make if you care about anything besides making a quick buck.
Depends on what your capital structure looks like and what your capital needs are.
It puts you on the slippery slope to complete loss of the business. It’s always a mistake to go public.
It allows you access to capital you likely can’t get or get at similar rates. I’m truly agnostic. It depends on the business and what your end goal is.
What it does do is give you an exit. If you don’t want such an exit and actually feel like you have somebody you can pass the business to I’d recommend against it.
Going public where you only offer 49% of the company protects you from some of the risks, but also limits the potential gains.
See Ford vs. Schattner.
Or however you spell Papa John’s last name.
Sensei speaks wisdom. Unfortunately, there are a lot of (short-term) incentives out there for (short-term) investors that promote going public when it’s maybe not the best idea, long-term.
Often, though, your alternative is private equity. Those guys make megalodon look like a goldfish.
There’s the fringe option of crowdsourcing/crowdbased investing, which appears to have been gaining traction in the craft beer world.
There’s the even more fringe option of growing at a much slower pace that can be supported by revenue rather than financing your growth.
Looks like an amazing place to ride.
Thanks for these.
The ride looked pretty nice. That it is a flat trail is big plus
Bwahahahahahahaha – this guy thinks America was, or is, a reliable partner. No my friend, we’ve treated the Kurds like we’ve treated many other convenient friends.
Sweet Jesus, will the Kurds never learn?
Well, they’re mostly commies, so they may not be the brightest.
They will learn about the same time the Ukrainians do.
A spokeswoman for Arjuna said the firm considered it a “duty” to raise issues regarding climate change with the companies it was invested in.
“Investors face economy-wide risks from climate change and we have a fundamental right and duty to voice concern over climate risk, its impact on the global economy and shareholder value,” the spokeswoman said.
In a statement, Follow This called Exxon Mobil’s suit a “remarkable step” that appears aimed at preventing its “shareholders using their rights.”
“ExxonMobil appears to interpret reducing emissions as decreasing business even though fossil fuels can be replaced by renewable energy,” the statement said. “ExxonMobil’s interpretation shows a lack of imagination beyond oil and gas.”
They claimed, without evidence.
“…fossil fuels can be replaced by renewable energy,”
No it can’t.
Yeah. So the activist shareholders are causing loss for everybody else. It’s more sabotage than reducing emissions, which is a straw man. The lawsuit should be interesting.
No my friend, we’ve treated the Kurds like we’ve treated many other convenient friends.
Something something rented mule.
Response to OBE on my horror trip post last night: Technically I might have been able to get some assistance on the 24 hour help line – but when I found out about the hotel water being out, it was already after 11 and I needed to get up around 0530 for the reserve class in any case – getting there a little earlier and cleaning up on base wasn’t the worst thing…not being able to take a massive shit for 8 extra hours was one of the worst – and not having enough water for other personal hygiene.
A little irritating that the DTS system didn’t post updates or notifications sooner. I made the reservations in Dec right before I got an updated GTCC – but it wasn’t till the week of travel that I got notifications that they couldn’t buy the tickets because of the expiration date issues. Even after I got a new card, I still had to call to get them to update my card in the system for other travel because changes I made to my profile didn’t seem to populate.
I can’t help wondering what the response would be if somebody invested a few thousand dollars in Arjuna and then sued them for willfully destroying the value of their investments.
Exactly. I think this lawsuit is going to be the first of many.
Heh!
https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2For-so-the-state-would-have-you-believe-v0-zccl5g3o62ec1.jpeg
WEF guy talking about the carbon footprint of coffee:
https://youtu.be/x_Bx9q6Vs9g?si=T_w-o_Za8f-uVo8s
No…
“You will own nothing, have a say in nothing and you will like it. Also, the greatest threat to world order is ordinary people having their own ideas.”
Really, where do these sick fucks come from?
Hell. They come from Hell.
Obligatory
One of the best moments in the whole MCU
Some cartoon villain from a different culture half of a world away thinks they are somehow qualified, using their own standards, to decide how we should live?
I never have figure out how euroweenies feel entitled to have an opinion about gun control in the US. What the fuck is that?
This is the perfect blend to get everyone steaming hot.
Words of wisdom from our VP on The View:
I especially love the second half where she repeats the thought, just transposing the words.
The audience clapped with delight when she said this.
The history of racism in America should never be the subject of a sound bite or a question that is meant to elicit a one-sentence answer,
What is the cause of the U.S. Civil War?
The audience clapped with delight when she said this
It’s good to use positive reinforcement when a mentally challenged person succeeds.
Spellbinding wordplay, for children.
I like how she says gives a one-sentence answer that says you shouldn’t give a one-sentence answer.
The correct answer is that we have profound racism in this country, carried out mostly by Democrats who want to keep blacks in a state of constant panic and dependency on Uncle Sugar because the Democrats need that for their electoral coalition.
Exxon, pt 2
In a federal lawsuit filed in Texas on Sunday, Exxon (XOM) said Arjuna Capital and Follow This became shareholders only to put forward proposals that are calculated to “diminish the company’s existing business” and do not serve investors’ interests or promote long-term shareholder value.
The goal is to “force Exxon Mobil to change the nature of its ordinary business or to go out of business entirely,” the lawsuit alleged.
The activist investors want the company to set Scope 3 targets to reduce emissions produced by users of its products; Exxon has said it plans to become net zero by 2050 for Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, but it has rejected all targets associated with pollution caused by the use of its products.
Exxon (XOM) believes a judgment in its favor would tighten the Securities and Exchange Commission’s interpretation of the rules about what proposals are allowed on proxy ballots.
One might think this would be pretty straightforward, but in Bidenanistan, there’s no telling.
I have issues with this story:
https://www.theautopian.com/car-and-driver-cuts-half-its-issues-as-media-continues-to-feel-like-its-dying/
I can tell you, I stopped paying attention to Car and Driver because every F-ing story was about some new electric car which will never see the light of day. Writers pivoted to parroting how awesome electric cars would be for everybody. Not one dissenting view. Coverage of existing car models, and things average readers cared about virtually disappeared. THAT is why they are cutting back. Not private equity.
Some points are correct. The customers became advertisers and not readers. But – and this is a big one, the writers stopped caring about the readers. Not the money people. Money people didn’t make the magazine endlessly write about shit the readers cared less about. Journalists did that all themselves.
Dan Neil, the car guy for the WSJ who I usually really like, is an EV fanboi. His article on Saturday was basically “EVs don’t really suck, y’all!”. It was mostly about increasing demand/market penetration, although it leaned on Chinese car sales somewhat heavily on that front (you can believe ChiCom numbers if you want, I suppose). “Policy support” from governments was somehow also a reason why EVs don’t suck, y’all. Not mentioned: what has happened to demand every time subsidies go away.
Encyclopedia Britannica salesman knocked on my door about 35 years ago. I grew up with the set my parents bought before I was born. It comprised a fair portion of my recreational reading.
Anyway, the salesman starts his pitch so I stopped him.
“Look, you dont have to sell me on this. It sells itself.” *included a set containing all of the greek plays and philosophers, Romans and then hits the high points of thinkers that shaped western culture up to Freud. No interpretations, just all original writings. All very high quality books.
If you have to talk people into buying something they otherwise would not buy, your product is probably shit. Good stuff sells itself. If EVs were any good people would be lined up around the block to buy them. Instead there are 40+ acre lots all over the country crammed bumper to bumper with the shitboxes just rotting in the sun.
*The bonus set is 54 hardback books in 8 pt font.
Gold embossing and all.
most of the junk I have is junk and I wish I had the money back. Those books? I dont want that money back. They are worth every penny.
Yeah yeah, I know. I have a book fetish.
The way I see it, there’s two problems with EVs right now:
(1) Infrastructure isn’t there. And the buildout is huge, even before going upstream to build generating capacity.
(2) Battery technology. It just isn’t there (yet?). Even if you squeeze more out of lithium-ion technology, I just don’t think you’ll ever get the energy density you need.
These relegate EVs to a (relative) niche product, certainly in the US. There’s a use case, but it’s pretty narrow for now compared to ICE vehicles. Someday? Sure, EVs with much better battery tech and a built out charging infrastructure (and also a lot more generating capacity) could be standard. But that’s decades away.
We’ve spent a hundred years building out the infrastructure across the globe to support ICE vehicles.
Even if EVs “worked”, it would take decades to build out the equivalent infrastructure. Which requires both infrastructures to coexist for all those decades.
There is not enough energy available to power such a monstrosity.
What they are doing it replacing a very efficient means of personal transportation that gives individuals more power over their own lives than anything else with a system that cant and won’t work because fuck you.
They set their sights on guns and automobiles. What does that tell you?
The basic premise is flawed. Why take a large amount of energy stored in fossil fuel and turn it into a small amount of electrical energY? Why would anyone do that? Just put the fossil fuel directly into the vehicle instead of losing much of it in changing forms,
I keep hearing how nifty they are for local commutes, errands etc. My wife’s Honda CRV will make the 40 mile trip to town on so little gas the needle hardly moves. If I am going local it takes literally a few tablespoons of gas. I am not gonna spend hours charging up some energy sink when I can spend 5 minutes gasing up my car. Why would I do that? Per mile the EV is far more expensive to drive, far more expensive to maintain, hazardous, and won’t run ini the cold. Our Honda and our Jeep start every time I turn the key, no matter the temp. The infrastructure for powering them is already in place.
None of it makes any sense. I think people have some utopian pipe dream of the extra cool stuff the future holds, and it may, but the EV is not one of them.
Back up, close your eyes tight, take a breath and then open your eyes. Forget the fantasy. EV’s suddenly look like a terrible idea because it is. Look, if the dems are trying to sell us on something you can bet your last dollar it is a scam and you will forever regret buying into it. That alone should be enough to convince.
In. the not too distant future people will look back the EV debacle and ask “What the fuck were they thinking?”
It’s a scam. I blame Musk, the welfare queen.
In Musk’s defense, he built Tesla to primarily be able to sell carbon offsets to California industries. The business was a loss leader while he was making money hand-over-fist selling offsets. Tesla taking off took Musk by surprise more than anybody.
If you want blame someone, blame Schwarzenegger who signed off on the carbon offset boondoggle.
WEF guy talking about the carbon footprint of coffee
There is no way in Hell I’m going to watch that, but it reminds me of a conversation with a “localvorism advocate” a long time ago.
As soon as you figure out how to grow coffee and bananas in Montana, I’ll think about it
Should’ve asked him how his canning skills were.
How do you people listen to podcasts?
I used google podcasts, but that is going away soon.
I listen to Tom Woods, Dave Smith, Hardcore History, and a couple others.
A phone app called Castbox, though the ads are annoying.
On the Apple app on my iPhone.
Same. Though I haven’t listened to any in a bit. *shrug*
I’m a Spotify guy. I believe you get podcasts with the free version. I still get a ton of ads with the premium version anyway.
I have issues with this story:
What can you expect from a “car site” on which a writer devotes a big chunk of a “car review” to whining about how its “transgender partner” got turned down for a loan by finance company bigots who apparently think crazy people are lousy credit risks?
The Autopian is fail.
How do you people listen to podcasts?
I don’t.
Speaking of EVs, I saw a longish thing on CNBC (I think) about how the Chinese are becoming a power player in automobile exports, particularly EVs. It’s almost as if the American car companies are deluding themselves about the demand for smaller/simpler/cheaper cars, electric or combustion.
[insert cost disclaimer]
Don’t forget the quality disclaimer, too.
Toyota just released a new Hi-Lux model, for third world markets so poor they can’t even afford a Hi-Lux. Base model – $10G. It’s baffling why US and Euro carmakers don’t seem interested in the smaller/simpler/cheaper market. I think I detect the stench of MBAs.
I wouldn’t say MBA’s, unless you’re talking about the ones who keep pushing for more safety features, more mandatory features, and higher CAFE standards.
Ignoring all the other market distortions I wonder what making such vehicles comply with US and EU crash would add to the cost.
Part of the issue is Americans say they want small cheap cars, but don’t buy them.
This MBA likely suspects that JDs have distorted the market with cost/benefit being a foreign concept.
OTH, if you want to pick on the MBAs a McKinsey and the like and JDs in DC and their lobbyists I’m all in! 😉
You know what a small cheap car gets you? Injured.
Co worker was rear ended over the summer. He’s still fucked up and in physical therapy. He was stopped at a light.
Yup. Physics is physics.
Even an expensive small car has it’s work cut out when it collides with a full size SUV.
Was that wrong? Should I have not done that?
“Trudeau’s Orwellian Attack On Canadian Truckers Declared Unconstitutional”
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/trudeaus-orwellian-attack-truckers-declared-unconstitutional
What difference at this point does it make, eh?
The more history I read, the more extraordinary the lack of violence in our current political economy looks. I’m starting to suspect that not necessarily a good thing. The personality types who always accumulate in positions of power don’t seem to understand anything else.
It’s very much not good. If the rubber band keeps stretching and stretching, the snap gets progressively less pleasant.
That said, a solid 80% of the BS goes away when you turn off the TV and social media. Why get violent when you have a job and can buy your essentials and a bit of entertainment? For most, the only real impacts are the pedos in their kids’ schools and the inflation. Most everything else isn’t having a serious impact on their daily lives.
So, now what happens?
…nothing, nothing happens to them.
We’re sorry we didn’t know, tehehe.
The ruling gets appealed. This was the equivalent of a U.S. District Court.
Yes. Now if the ruling stands, the lawsuits begin. Either way I am passing you the popcorn.
They get a a very mean letter.
Well, that was a mistake. I took a peek at what youtubes roku had served up for me. “Race track sued by neighbors,” from somebody named Steve Lehto. I suspect many of you are familiar with him. I was not. I was expecting to hear about some podunk circle track.
Anyway… the race track in question is Laguna Seca. Some group is suing to completely shut it down. LAGUNA. A public nuisance. What the fuck is the world coming to?
He referred to a piece on The Drive, I believe, which I have not yet read.
I’m hearing Bob Uecker in “Major League” saying, “Just a bit outside”.
Watch A Subaru WRX Driver Split Their Car In Half On A Snow Plow After An Idiotic Pass
https://www.theautopian.com/watch-a-subaru-wrx-driver-split-their-car-in-half-on-a-snow-plow-after-an-idiotic-pass/
I would love a WRX: all wheel drive, decent gas mileage, and one of the few remaining manual transmissions. Unfortunately, the used ones get snapped by “boi racers” who abuse the shit out of them and bolt on gaudy “go fast” bits.
It reminds me of a joke:
What’s the difference between a porcupine and a BMW driver?
A porcupine has the pricks on the outside.
During mid-life, I was in a position to choose my fun car. I looked seriously at both the Nissan 350Z and the Subaru WRX — both at about the same place for MSRP. I went with the 350Z and never regretted it. But, it would be fun to drive a WRX sometime.
It’s missing the AWD, but (IMO) the GTI is a better fun car to live with. The WRX made it to the final 3 in 2018, but ultimately didn’t finish.
My kid’s mom has a BMW.
I’ve made that joke.
Old dude like me has one at the suburban train station.
I considered one, but refused to pay the dealer mark up. The current WRX is much less of a rally car than the older versions.
Part of the issue is Americans say they want small cheap cars, but don’t buy them.
I’m not 100% convinced. I suspect dealers play an outsized role, just by not stocking low margin cars. Do I know this for a fact? Of course not, but I have heard anecdotal stories about how difficult it can be to get a base model anything.
I am not convinced. I think younger people may think they want small, cheap cars. That lasts for about one car purchase. Once you have to get on the highway in it, commute in it, go see grandma in it, your wants evolve. I have not met many older people who want a small cheap car.
I want a Cadillac CT4 V Blackwing because it’s small and cheap (er than the CT5), and I’m old. And I love my Cobalt SS, but it is getting a little long in the tooth.
I know I’m an outlier. I drive a Hyundai Elantra, and I like it. Sure, there are times when I want to haul bigger stuff than I can fit in it, but I can generally find a friend/family member to help out (and compensate – I’m not a mooch!). I’m quite content with the gas mileage, and the trunk is big enough for all my soccer gear.
Hyundai Elantra sells well and in comparison to cheap cars in the past, it’s a luxury cruiser. It’s a cromulent car for trips. Look at the standard equipment on a 1970s Dodge Dart. That is the definition of spartan and cheap. Nobody wants that anymore. Even people living in what the US defines as poverty now wouldn’t drive a base model 1970s Dodge Dart anymore.
Maybe cheap, spartan cars are a commie wet dream?
Define “small cheap”. Small cheap cars from the 90s can’t be built today because of safety regulations. Today’s small cheap cars are only small and cheap by today’s standards.
Agreed. Civics are probably the most popular car for young people in that class, and the base weight is almost 3K pounds and cost what, $25K or more these days?
Also a valid point. Regulations are murder on cost, size and weight.
If you havent had a Ferry Ride from Winston’s Mom before, you’re missing out. Worth every penny.
Nice pictures!
A friend in Austria spent a recent vacation in Melk. It looks like a interesting town to walk around.
Wow… Tesla uses industry standard coolant and given the light use compared to ICE considers it a lifetime fluid. Hyundai OTH.
https://www.theautopian.com/electric-car-owner-pays-1500-for-fake-sounding-ion-flush-service-heres-what-that-is/