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Tagged With "ducks"

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Re: August 2 2017: Duck Herding in the Kerala Backwaters

Travel Luver ·
Do you know if they use the duck's eggs, or whether they're harvest for their meat?
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Re: August 2 2017: Duck Herding in the Kerala Backwaters

Professorabe ·
I don't know for sure, but I think that the ducks are probably bred for their meat. Having said that, I did not once see duck on any of the menus here. The destination markets, however, might be elsewhere in India or even abroad.
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Re: August 2 2017: Duck Herding in the Kerala Backwaters

PortMoresby ·
In Bali I watched from my rented house in the rice paddies as ducks were regularly brought to the fields to eat insects and fertilize the crop. Not to say they don't eat them, too, but probably a similar routine in So. India.
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Re: Boston's Beautiful Public Garden

Travel Luver ·
It's a great garden and a wonderful place to go for a walk or jog at the end of a summer's day.
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Re: Assiniboine Park, Winnipeg, Canada. Where Gumbo Was #36

GarryRF ·
You must be civilised in Canada too - cricket ! The original design for Central Park NY was made here - near Liverpool UK Birkenhead Park. Same guy did both. Just a bit smaller. We're a bit pushed for space over here !
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Re: Assiniboine Park, Winnipeg, Canada. Where Gumbo Was #36

DrFumblefinger ·
We are indeed very civilized here, but in full disclosure, cricket is just a footnote sport. Not played by many. There is only one sport in Canada and that is hockey. Every other sport combined would not equal half the popularity of ice hockey.
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Re: Assiniboine Park, Winnipeg, Canada. Where Gumbo Was #36

GarryRF ·
I guessed that DrF - that guy is way too close to the parked cars !
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Re: Assiniboine Park, Winnipeg, Canada. Where Gumbo Was #36

Paul Heymont ·
Close but no cigar on Central Park's designer (who also did my backyard, Brooklyn's Prospect Park). Birkenhead was the work of Joseph Paxton, while the other two were done by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux. Olmsted visited Birkenhead in 1850, three years after it opened, and while he was already thinking about Central Park, which opened in 1858. In his book "Walks and Talks of an American Farmer in England, Olmsted wrote about Birkenhead: "five minutes of admiration, and a few more...
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Re: Assiniboine Park, Winnipeg, Canada. Where Gumbo Was #36

GarryRF ·
In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted won a design competition to improve and expand Central Park with a plan he entitled the Greensward Plan . 8 years AFTER Olmsted visited the Peoples Garden - Birkenhead Park England. He said "that in democratic America there was nothing to be thought of as comparable with this People’s Garden" So he took the plans back to New York. Entered the Central Park competition 8 years later. And won using Paxton plans from the Peoples Garden in England as a guide.
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Re: Assiniboine Park, Winnipeg, Canada. Where Gumbo Was #36

Paul Heymont ·
Garry, no one doubts Paxton's influence on Olmsted, and on generations of others (as Olmsted influenced those who came after him), but surely there's a vast difference between learning from a master and applying similar ideas to different terrain on the one hand, and "plagiarism" of any sort on the other. That's especially so when we see how fully and publicly Olmsted acknowledged the model!
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Re: Assiniboine Park, Winnipeg, Canada. Where Gumbo Was #36

GarryRF ·
Apr 13, 2013 The boss of New York’s Central Park hailed his first visit to Birkenhead Park which inspired its design as “a dream come true” Doug Blonsky, president and chief executive of the New York Central Park said: “You drive around Birkenhead Park and there is no question that the physical similarities between here and Central Park are there" “To come here and take a look at it is a dream come true for me."
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Re: Autobahn driving hazards: ducks and planes

Paul Heymont ·
It must be duck season in Europe! Moments after I posted the story above, I found an Italian weekend story, with video, of Rome police holding up traffic in the Italian capital. A passerby posted a video of the action, and now, perhaps, ducks will replace cats in internet popularity. Anyway, here's the story, with the video embedded near the bottom
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Re: Sometimes a Trip is just a Walk in the Park

Former Member ·
I've often advised travelers with jam-packed itineraries to step back and leave themselves time to take a walk in a park or sit there a while, experiencing what the locals see and do. That is absolutely excellent advice. I hope that most people were wise enough to take your advice. Many of my best trip memories are made of such stuff. Thank you so much, PHeymont, for this walk in the park. It is just what my jangled nerves needed today.
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Re: Sometimes a Trip is just a Walk in the Park

PortMoresby ·
I suspect a walk in the park is a habit acquired over time and familiarity with a place. I have a feeling, too, that the urge to go at top speed is the initial and overriding one. Or is it years and not travel experience that slows us down enough for such places to finally come into focus? Looking back over the decades I think maybe it's the latter.
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Re: Sometimes a Trip is just a Walk in the Park

DrFumblefinger ·
I do think people's perspectives and priorities change with time. For example, I care little about a bar or nightlife scene in most of my destinations nowadays; that mattered more to me when I was much younger. I have always loved walking in parks because of the beautiful gardens, etc. But I think i'm much more into people watching in these places than I used to be. One of my favorite places to visit is the provincial park a short block from my home. It's grand to go for a walk in it, see...
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Re: Sometimes a Trip is just a Walk in the Park

PortMoresby ·
Maybe travel advice of the very concrete sort then, hotels, trains, etc. is the most satisfying for all concerned. A suggestion to slow down just may not compute, something for each of us to discover on our own. So PHeymont may be preaching to the choir...may he continue.
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Re: Sometimes a Trip is just a Walk in the Park

DrFumblefinger ·
Good advice is good advice. People can accept it or ignore it. I'm all for freedom of choice. But sometimes an alternative needs to be presented in a clear way, as PHeymont has nicely done in this piece.
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Re: Sometimes a Trip is just a Walk in the Park

PortMoresby ·
I don't disagree. Just pointing out the nature of human beings and, like world peace, we can wish for it while not actually expecting everyone to join in. But lessons are learned from war too and how would we feel about every tourist in town flocking to OUR park.
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Re: Sometimes a Trip is just a Walk in the Park

GarryRF ·
I've mentioned in other pages that I love wide open spaces - like the State Delaware Park - but the designer of New York Central Park rung a Bell with me. Frederick Olmsted came to Liverpool to check out the "Peoples Garden" and he wrote in 1850 : "Five minutes of admiration, and a few more spent studying the manner in which art had been employed to obtain from nature so much beauty, and I was ready to admit that in democratic America there was nothing to be thought of as comparable with...
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Re: Sometimes a Trip is just a Walk in the Park

Former Member ·
It is clear that the "dumb" animals always seem to know the best places to hang out. We can never have enough parks. Nice to read that Frederick Olmsted also knew a good park when he saw one. Thanks for that info GarryRF
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Re: Sometimes a Trip is just a Walk in the Park

Paul Heymont ·
Garry's note about Olmsted's travels (and he was quite a traveler) set me off on a quick look to find the park he was referring to (which I didn't; apparently "people's garden" was a description rather than a name?) and found that Liverpool has more parks and especially top-class parks than any British city besides London. The article also mentioned that for reasons of health—and keeping social unrest down—the city commissioners set out on a park-building spree starting about 1833. Many...
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Re: Sometimes a Trip is just a Walk in the Park

GarryRF ·
Re: Sometimes a Trip is just a Walk in the Park
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Re: Sometimes a Trip is just a Walk in the Park

Paul Heymont ·
Even a certain similarity of shape...
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Re: Sometimes a Trip is just a Walk in the Park

GarryRF ·
Another Park from the 1850s. People would escape Liverpool for the day and travel north to Hesketh Park. 20 minutes on the train. This is taken in Mid-Winter.
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Re: Sometimes a Trip is just a Walk in the Park

DrFumblefinger ·
Originally Posted by Grouchy Gumbo: The last pic is of my cousin Priscilla, who lives in Prospect Park. I see that you gave her a little gnosh. Not that she needs it. She seems to be putting on a little extra "winter coat" this year. She has a fine home. I would really like to visit the park sometime. Grouchy, I'm curious how a squirrel manages long distance travel to visit relatives. Maybe you can enlighten us mere mortals.
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Gumbo's Pic of the Day, Apr. 20, 2015: Les Canards en Seine

Paul Heymont ·
  You often hear how important it is to "get all your ducks in a row." Well, here they are, lined up on a chilly December morning in Paris. These three were taking their chances (or their leisure...I'm not a duckologist) in turbulent water just...
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August 2 2017: Duck Herding in the Kerala Backwaters

Professorabe ·
We at TravelGumbo have heard of herding cats, but this is our first exposure to shepherding ducks. ProfessorAbe illustrates.
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April 14, 2020: The Duck Pond, Winnipeg

DrFumblefinger ·
DrFumblefinger comes across people skating on the frozen duck pond in Winnipeg's Assiniboine Park.
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Autobahn driving hazards: ducks and planes

Paul Heymont ·
Last week was not the best for traffic on Germany's high-speed autobahns, as two major tie-ups were caused by totally unexpected events: a flock of orphaned ducks, and a disabled fighter plane.   On Friday, near Kiel in northern Germany, a...
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Boston's Beautiful Public Garden

Samantha ·
Samantha takes us to the crown jewel of Boston's Emerald Necklace.
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Assiniboine Park, Winnipeg, Canada. Where Gumbo Was #36

DrFumblefinger ·
Gumbo was enjoying a stroll in Winnipeg's largest park, Assiniboine Park.  Established in 1904 the park covers 1100 acres (450 ha); almost half the park's design is styled after an English park (which is quite common in Canada).     Big...
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Sometimes a Trip is just a Walk in the Park

Paul Heymont ·
I've often advised travelers with jam-packed itineraries to step back and leave themselves time to take a walk in a park or sit there a while, experiencing what the locals see and do. When we travel, it's one of our favorite things to do (we even...
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Make Way for Ducklings at Boston Public Garden

Jonathan L ·
Jonathan L visits Boston's Public Garden and makes way for some ducks.
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Common Merganser Ducks, Green River, Colorado

DrFumblefinger ·
DrFumblefinger shares photos of a pair of Common Merganser ducks which he photographed in Lodore Canyon in Dinosaur National Monument.
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