Images of Disneyworld fall into two categories: personal snaps and images that look like they could be used as marketing collateral. I love this image of the Magic Kingdom's iconic Cinderella Castle towers, taken by Flickr user insEyedout, precisely because it falls into neither camp. It's too pretty to count as a random snap and too sparse to go in a brochure.

That said, it certainly achieves the aim of advertisement. What better way to encapsulate the deep thrill that Disney's amusements inspire than to reduce those towers to a silhouette on a horizon? How recognizable is this image to hundreds of millions of people?

Upload your photos of Orlando (and Las Vegas, while you're at it) to the Gadling Group Pool on Flickr. Our favorite images are chosen as Photos of the Day.

Hyatt Regency London – The Churchill is currently partnering with the Saatchi Gallery on One Giant Leap, a series of three 2012 exhibitions. These exhibitions, the first of which opens today, bring pieces from the Saatchi Gallery's collection into the hotel's public spaces.

Since 1985, the Saatchi Gallery has been the UK's leading contemporary art collection. Like a number of other high-profile museums in London, the Saatchi Gallery never charges admission. And for its part, the Churchill has developed a tradition of working with art and artists. Since 2008, the Hyatt Regency property has been a hotel partner for the Frieze Art Fair.

One inarguable highlight of the exhibition is Martin Honert's Riesen (Giants), a mesmerizing sculpture of two giant men who look like modern day hobos. They are positioned across from the hotel's main elevator bank, looking far less menacing than their three meter (almost 10-foot) height might suggest in the abstract.

There are artworks on display by a number of contemporary artists, including a sizeable jesmonite sculpture of a hippopotamus by British artist Christina Mackie.

The real treat, however, is the Saatchi Gallery Suite, which is crammed with remarkable pieces by contemporary artists, including works by Carla Busuttil, Ronin Cho, and Jill Mason.

The suite's most appealing feature in my view is Celine Fitoussi's site-specific installation (see photo) in its en suite bathroom. Fitoussi has tiled the bathroom's walls with bars of soap. Their gentle scent is fragrant enough to be sensed, very faintly, throughout the suite.

The suite will remain decked out in contemporary art (and classic Republic of Fritz Hansen furniture pieces) through April 30. Admittedly, it does not come cheap. The suite is is priced at £700 ($1100) per night. High rollers and splurging art fans, however, are in luck. Its short three-month season has not yet sold out.

The world's ten smallest countries in terms of area fall into two general categories: European microstates (Liechtenstein, Malta, Monaco, San Marino, and the Vatican) and small island nations of the Indian Ocean, Pacific, and Caribbean (Maldives, Marshall Islands, Nauru, St. Kitts and Nevis, and Tuvalu.) Some of these countries are quite new as independent nations: Tuvalu gained independence from the UK in 1978, while the Marshall Islands gained full independence from the US in 1986. Others have been around for a very long time. San Marino dates its founding as a republic to 301. These countries vary greatly from one another along other axes as well: population, income, life expectancy, industry, tourist facilities, and membership in various international organizations.

Gallery: World's ten smallest countries

[Image of Tuvalu: Flickr | leighblackall]

This Kauai sky is awfully pretty. It doesn't even need the surrounding habitat, which is likely amazingly beautiful, to compel viewers. Vast elongated cotton-candy clouds are location-independent, after all.

Captured by Flickr user matt coats earlier this month, this is a dreamy image, a reminder that the sky, like the ocean, inspires journeys through its very enormity.

Upload your images of skies to the Gadling Group Pool on Flickr, and be sure to let us know where you took them. We choose our favorite images from the pool to be Photos of the Day. And while you're at it, make sure you've enabled downloading of your photos.

Lampedusa is Italy's southernmost island. Geologically part of Africa, it sits about 70 miles from the Tunisian mainland and a good 125 miles from Sicily. If the island sounds familiar to you, that's probably because it's been in the news quite a bit recently.

In the wake of the Arab Spring, tens of thousands of migrants from Africa (first from Tunisia and Libya; later in the year from points south) set out for Lampedusa, many on rickety boats not designed to cross rough open waters. Many would-be migrants died en route, and Lampedusa has come to be associated with these tragedies in the ensuing months.

The migrant flow has had an undeniable effect on tourism on the island. Earlier this month in La Stampa, Federico Geremicca cited a 60 percent drop in tourism in 2011. Tourism on Lampedusa is confined to one very concentrated high season, the end of July through the end of August. During this period, scores of northern Italians descend upon Lampedusa to spend their school holidays in the serious heat.

Despite the concentration of high season into a single month, tourism is the major economic driver on Lampedusa. Aside from tourism, only fishing and a small crafts industry motor the economy.

Outside of its brief high season, the island is quiet. In January it's almost silent. The concierge at my hotel, the very comfortable and inexpensive Hotel Martello (with rooms starting at €45 in low season) told me that I was the only tourist on Lampedusa.

Las Vegas and bright lights: peas in a pod, lovers on a park bench. They're intertwined, and frankly unimaginable without the other. Flickr user jrodmanjr plays around with this association, capturing some of Las Vegas' less extraordinary lights. He juxtaposes hotel neon with car lights, all set against an evening sky.

Las Vegas is an extremely popular destination by any measure, and we'd love to feature more photos of Sin City as future Photos of the Day. So upload your Vegas shots to the Gadling Group Pool on Flickr. We pick our favorite images from the pool to be Photos of the Day.

Ushuaia, Argentina is the end of the line. Situated near the tip of South America, Ushuaia is the main departure point for Antarctic cruises. Though technically not the world's southernmost settlement--that honor goes to the tiny town Puerto Williams, Chile--it is without question the world's southernmost city, with a population, according to the 2010 census, of just under 57,000.

Flickr user Guillermo Esteves snapped this image of Ushuaia in mid-December, capturing Ushuaia in its full late spring glory.

Got an epic image of a far-flung place in your archives? Upload it to the Gadling Group Pool on Flickr. If we like it, we might just choose it to be a future Photo of the Day.

London, a perennial tourist favorite, is no stranger to the luxury travel market. What's relatively new is the proliferation of luxury hotels and other venues in traditionally working-class East London.

In 2012, East London's reputation as luxury territory will intensify. Why? The Olympics, mostly. London hosts the Summer Olympics from July 27 through August 13. The Olympic Village along with many Olympics sites are are located in London's East, far beyond the capital's traditional tourist sites.

London's East has seen significant high-end hotel development over the last several years. Luxury hotels like Hoxton Hotel, Andaz Liverpool Street by Hyatt, Boundary, Shoreditch House, and Bethnal Green's Town Hall Hotel have transformed East London's hotel scene.

Edgy fashion, weekend markets, and various creative venues will continue to characterize East London, but there are luxury shopping opportunities as well. East London is packed with galleries and specialty shops, with particularly interesting hubs in Shoreditch and Spitalfields.

For dining, there is the outstanding Viajante, a Michelin-starred restaurant, located in the Town Hall Hotel in Bethnal Green. Other Michelin-starred restaurants not far from the East London hubbub include St. John Bar and Restaurant in Clerkenwell (with a less formal outpost, St. John Bread & Wine, in Spitalfields) and Club Gascon, located just inside the City of London, across from Smithfield Market.



[flickr image via Harshil.Shah]

Since the dissolution of Yugoslavia, Macedonia has hidden beneath the radar. While Croatia and Montenegro receive sustained coverage for their coastlines and Slovenia pops up here and there as a budget-friendly alternative to pricey Switzerland, landlocked Macedonia has received short shrift.

The country remains shut out of major Europe-wide organizations over its very name, which the Greek government contests as a stealthy move toward an eventual invasion of the northern Greek region of Macedonia. It's a ludicrous proposition, and it has kept Macedonia far more isolated than it should be.

Macedonia's reputation as a tourist destination has slowly grown over the last few years, and with good reason. The country offers amazingly good value for money. Transportation, accommodation, food, and tourist attractions are all inexpensive. The country's chief draws are Lake Ohrid, which Macedonia shares with Albania, and its scattered monasteries. Lake Ohrid is starkly beautiful, great for swimming and water sports. It's anchored by the city of Ohrid, itself spilling over with churches, fortresses, and other objects of historical interest.

Monasteries abound in Macedonia. One of these, Treskavec, is located near the town of Prilep in the south. There are marked hiking trails winding up hills to the monastery. At the top, you'll find accommodation for the cost of a small donation. A simple dinner is even included in the deal.

If Macedonian tourism taps into its treasures the right way, this country should see its current trickle of tourists become a modest stream.




[flickr image via Rilind Hoxha]

This vibrant Buenos Aires overpass can't help but grab viewers' attention. Situated in the neighborhood of Recoleta, it looks as if it were inspired by a fancy silk scarf. (As an aside, why does super colorful public art crop up so infrequently in cities much grayer than Buenos Aires? One glance at colors like these and a minor case of Seasonal Affective Disorder might just vaporize.)

Flickr user Guillermo Esteves took this photograph. We just featured another of Esteves' photos as this past Wednesday's Photo of the Day. We like his work.

Want greater fame? Do what Mr. Esteves did and upload your favorite images to the Gadling Group Pool on Flickr. Make sure you've enabled downloading while you're at it. We feature our favorite images as Photos of the Day several times a week.