Gadling

Video of the Day: Airport time lapse

Mike Barish — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Europe, Moldova, Photo of the Day, Video, Video of the Week

We're always fascinated by the happenings at airports that we don't always get to see. That's why we're captivated by this time lapse video (with bonus tilt shift effect) shot at Aeroportul Internaţional Chişinău in Chişinău, Moldova. Myriad trucks and buses roll by, passengers board planes, luggage is loaded and people go about their day in this video that makes mundane airport life really seem quite beautiful.

For people who work at an airport, these events are everyday occurrences. For the rest of us, however, they are curiosities at which we marvel through windows as we wait for our own flights to board. Airports are neat places depending on your perspective.

Video of the Day: Airport time lapse originally appeared on Gadling on Mon, 12 Sep 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Five ways to get more European stamps in your passport

Alex Robertson Textor — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 10:30:00 EST

Filed under: Europe, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Russian Federation, Turkey, Albania, Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Georgia, Ireland, Macedonia, Moldova, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Ukraine, United Kingdom

Lake Ohrid, Macedonia.

Yesterday, I wrote about the fact that European passport stamps have become harder and harder to get. The expansion of the Schengen zone has reduced the number of times tourists are compelled to show their passports to immigration officials. For most Americans on multi-country European itineraries, a passport will be stamped just twice: upon arrival and upon departure.

Where's the fun in that?

There's nothing wrong with enjoying your passport's stamps. They're souvenirs. So ignore the haters and treasure them. You won't be the first to sit at your desk alone, lovingly fingering your stamps while daydreaming of your next adventure. You won't be the last, either.

And if you are a passport stamp lover with a penchant for European travel, don't despair. There are plenty of places in Europe where visitors have to submit their travel documents to officials to receive stamps. Some countries, in fact, even require Americans to purchase full-page visas in advance.

The Western Balkans remain almost entirely outside of Schengen. Russia, Belarus, Armenia, and Azerbaijan all require visas for Americans, while Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia do not. Immigration officers at the borders of all of these countries, however, will stamp your passport when you enter and when you leave. Turkey provides visas on arrival. These cost €15. Among EU countries, the UK, Ireland, and Cyprus remain outside of Schengen for the time being, while Romania and Bulgaria will soon join it.

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Five ways to get more European stamps in your passport originally appeared on Gadling on Wed, 02 Mar 2011 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Travel then and now: Travel to the USSR and GDR

Meg Nesterov — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 15:30:00 EST

Filed under: Asia, Europe, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, North Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Ukraine

This year is the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Soviet Union and 21 years since the reunification of Germany. While citizens of the USSR and GDR were unable to travel abroad and restricted in domestic travel, foreign travelers were permitted under a controlled environment. In the early nineties, if you were a foreigner looking to go abroad to the Eastern Europe or Central Asia, you called your travel agent and hoped to get approved for a visa and an escorted tour. After your trip, you'd brag about the passport stamps and complain about the food. Here's a look back at travel as it was for foreigners twenty years ago and today visiting the biggies of the former Eastern Bloc: the United Socialist Soviet Republic (USSR) and the German Democratic Republic (East Germany).

Soviet Union/USSR (now: independent states of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldovia, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.)

Travel then: Before 1992, most tourists were only able to enter the Soviet Union with visas and travel itineraries provided by the state travel agency, Intourist. Intourist was founded by Joseph Stalin and also managed many of the USSR's accommodations. Like North Korea today, visitors' experiences were tightly controlled, peppered with propaganda, and anything but independent, with some travelers' conversations and actions recorded and reported. Read this fascinating trip report from a Fodor's community member who visited Russia in 1984 and a Chicago Tribune story with an Intourist guide after the glasnost policy was introduced.

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Travel then and now: Travel to the USSR and GDR originally appeared on Gadling on Tue, 01 Mar 2011 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gadling's favorite destinations for 2011

Alex Robertson Textor — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, South America, Ethiopia, Zambia, China, Japan, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Austria, Bulgaria, Finland, Italy, Moldova, Switzerland, Dominica, Mexico, Nicaragua, St. Kitts & Nevis, Trinidad & Tobago, United States, Ecuador, Peru, Central America, Caribbean

We travel a lot, to destinations both well-known and unfamiliar. In our defense, it is our job to travel like mad, to explore the world and then write about our discoveries.

Though most travel writers find something or other of interest in most places we visit, there are always those personal favorites that rise above the rest. This year, we decided to scribble our favorites down for you. Some of these spots we're tipping for greater coverage in 2011, while others are simply tried-and-true favorites that we can't stop raving about to our friends and the various publications that allow us to write for them. Over the course of this week, we'll weigh in on our favorite hotels, airlines, gadgets, apps, and websites.

So, without further ado: Gadling's favorite destinations for 2011.

Mike Barish. St. Kitts. I genuinely enjoy how locals and visitors frequent the same beach bars and restaurants. During evenings on the strip, I'd recognize staff members from my hotel doing the same thing I was doing: enjoying the ocean breeze with a cocktail and some jerk chicken.

Kraig Becker. Everest Base Camp, Nepal. For adventure travelers, a visit to Everest Base Camp is one of the best treks in the world. The 12-day hike isn't just about the destination, however, as you walk in the shadow of the Himalaya each day, passing through sleepy mountain villages steeped in Sherpa culture along the way. The scenery, and altitude, is a breathtaking once-in-a-lifetime adventure.

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Gadling's favorite destinations for 2011 originally appeared on Gadling on Tue, 07 Dec 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ten budget-friendly destinations in Europe

Alex Robertson Textor — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Europe, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Italy, Macedonia, Moldova, Portugal, Slovakia, Budget Travel

For Americans, Europe can be very expensive. Let's take a moment to acknowledge this fact. Tourist costs are high, and currently the euro is doing well against the dollar, even if the pound is down somewhat from its stratospheric performance a few years ago. So yes, Europe is expensive. But its high costs are merely a marker, not a prisonhouse. There are always ways to cut costs and forge an alternative path.

One way visitors can cut costs is by forsaking traditional tourist hotels for alternative types of accommodation. There is a new wave of very stylish hostels in many cities in Europe at odds with the traditional reputation of hostels as dirty, packed dormitories. (Look, for example at Paris' Oops! Hostel, with doubles starting at €60 [$81] to see the new hostel wave in action.) And there's also a newish recession-appropriate embrace of owner-occupied accommodations that are often quite inexpensive. Airbnb is the latest splashy arrival on the owner-occupied scene, but there are plenty of other local options, including the Italian agriturismo network, French gîtes, and couchsurfing.

Here are ten destinations, cities, regions, and countries where traveling on a budget won't be a struggle in the least. Budget-friendly Europe begins here.

1. Bulgaria. Gadling writer Meg Nesterov visited Bulgaria this fall and raved about the local price index. Bulgaria, a member of the EU since 2007, is cheap in just about every possible way. Nesterov hones in on the tried-and-true tourist stop of Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria's Medieval capital, as particularly inexpensive.

2. Bratislava, Slovakia. About an hour from Vienna by train, Bratislava boasts a cute Old Town and many astoundingly cheap restaurants serving hearty Slovak fare. At Prašná Bašta, dinner can be as cheap as €6 ($8). Hotels are more expensive than they should be, though there are a few basic properties like Old City Hotel that cater to the budget set. Old City Hotel's rates start at €53 ($72).

3. South Tyrol, Italy. This one is a bit difficult to wrap one's head around, as this German-speaking region is one of Italy's most prosperous corners. The landscapes are stunning up here, and simple, glamorous inns like Gasthof Bad Dreikirchen sell rooms on a seasonal basis starting at €57 ($77) including half-board (that is, breakfast and dinner). Bad Dreikirchen is open from the end of April through the close of October.

4. Berlin, Germany. The German capital remains impressively affordable and amazingly cool. Before you arrive, peruse some of the very good English-language blogs on life in Berlin; when you touch down, get yourself a copy of Zitty and get caught up to speed on what's going on. You'll be ready to sink into some of Europe's hippest and cheapest corners in no time. Budget pick: Die Fabrik, a funky renovated factory, with doubles from €52, or $71.

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Ten budget-friendly destinations in Europe originally appeared on Gadling on Tue, 23 Nov 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Traveling through Moldova's "Twitter Revolution"

Grant Martin — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Moldova

Editor's note: This dispatch comes from Robert Reid (www.reidontravel.com) co-author of Lonely Planet's guidebook to Romania & Moldova.

"Communists take ur dirty hands our of our country!'
"They can't control Twitter! They can't control Youth!"
"Solidarity!"
"YES WE CAN! YES WE CAN!"

Sounds like a riot? It is, and it isn't. The protests in Moldova's capital (which erupted after Sunday's election results gave the communist party 60 of the 101 parliament seats) have fizzled down from up to 15,000 on Tuesday to - per Twitter reports this morning - "about 200." That doesn't mean the chants are done. A steady stream of 140-character Twitter posts, like the ones above, are still streaming at a rate of 2000 or more per hour.

I've been following the posts -- at Twitter's hashtag #pman (referring to Chisinau's central square Piata Marii Adunari Nationale) -- the past 24 hours. And I still don't know whether the media rush to call it the "Twitter revolution" is really accurate or not.

Tweets -- in Moldovan (Romanian), Russian and English -- tend to dwell on a handful of day-old links, eg YouTube and JurnalTV videos, reports of election observers questioning the results. I tried contacting several local posters to find out what was happening on the ground yesterday via Twitter and was thrilled to finally get a response: "atm there r ppl at #pman certainly I don't know how much." New journalism!? (Meanwhile The New York Times - one of very few media outlets to follow the story today - reported that 1000 turned out to protest yesterday, perhaps a bit more dependable.)

Beyond the big Twitter buzz rests Europe's poorest country (monthly average salary is about US$240), a communist-run sliver of rolling farmland between Romania and Ukraine. About one million have left for jobs (a major drain considering the population barely breaks four million), and those who remain are being tugged in different directions. Rural and older folks tend to look east (towards Russia and the communist past), while urban and youth look west, towards the EU. Chisinau mayor Dorin Chirtoaca called Sunday's election results "fraudulent," while the communist president Vladimir Voronin blamed Romania for influencing "fascist" protesters.

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Traveling through Moldova's "Twitter Revolution" originally appeared on Gadling on Thu, 09 Apr 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Indie travel guides - pipe dream or way of the future?

Leif Pettersen — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Afghanistan, Turkey, Vietnam, Croatia, Moldova, Romania

With all due respect to my generous client Lonely Planet, without whom I'd still be an obscure, broke, moonshine junkie in a forlorn corner of Romania, guidebook authors wallowing below the Sushi Line are increasingly probing new "Screw the Man" applications for their hard-won expertise - namely their very own online travel guides.

There's certainly something to be said for a trusted brand name guidebook, but equally independently produced, digital travel guides allow authors to toss in all kinds of wacky content in addition to the usual sights/eating/sleeping content, uncorrupted by editors, guidelines, house styles and meddling lawyers.

A 2,000 word, absurdly detailed walking guide to Tijuana? Why not? A sidebar entitled "Top Ten Curse Words You Should Know Before Attending an Italian Football (Soccer) Match"? Bring it on! Why [insert your least favorite German city] sucks? I'm all ears.

This developing genre was recently augmented by the completion of Robert Reid's online guide to Vietnam. As Reid rightly points out, the advantages of an independent online travel guide are numerous:

o. It's free - Guidebooks cost $25. Why pay?
o. It's fresher. Unlike a guidebook, turn-around time is immediate.
o. You can customize it. The most common complaint guidebook users have is having to tote around 400 pages they'll never use.
o. It's more direct, personalized. With my site I can 'tell it like it is'.
o. Anyone can talk with the author. [Just] hit 'contact'.

In addition to this excellent resource, other free sites serving the online travel community include Croatia Traveller, Kabul Caravan, Turkey Travel Planner, Broke-Ass Stewart's Guide to Living Cheaply in San Francisco, and (cough), the Romania and Moldova Travel Guide (now with extra moonshine).

For the time being, these independent travel guides are usually not money-making ventures (and boy do they take a lot of time to put together!), thus the current scarcity. However, as print media gasps to its inevitable conclusion - one decade, mark my words - the online stage is set for authors to leverage their expertise and provide autonomous, interactive, up-to-the-minute travel information for anyone with an internet connection.

Indie travel guides - pipe dream or way of the future? originally appeared on Gadling on Fri, 16 Nov 2007 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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My Bloody Romania: Hero gloriously returns to zero fanfare

Leif Pettersen — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 13:37:00 EST

Filed under: Moldova, Romania, My Bloody Romania with Leif Pettersen

Dateline: Cruising altitude, en route from Minneapolis to JFK

I hold in my hands a just-out-of-the-box, mint condition copy of Lonely Planet's Romania and Moldova. This is significant for two reasons: One, I plan to do a fair bit of travel in Romania's Moldavia and Transylvania regions over the course of the next month. Two, it just so happens that I wrote/updated half this staggering work of brilliance and I'm more than a little pleased to finally be flipping through the final product.

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My Bloody Romania: Hero gloriously returns to zero fanfare originally appeared on Gadling on Fri, 31 Aug 2007 13:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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More Independence Days to Celebrate

Jamie Rhein — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 14:05:00 EST

Filed under: Arts and Culture, Festivals and Events, Benin, Burkina, Central African Republic, Gabon, Niger, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, France, Moldova, Ukraine, Peru, Uruguay

August is another Independence Day bonanza. The shifts of power didn't happen all at once, but 1960 was a big year. If you're in any of these countries expect a holiday. Maybe there will be fireworks or a parade or a speech or two.

August 1 - Benin gained independence from France
August 3-- Niger gained its independence from France
August 5 --Burkina Faso also gained independence from France.
August 11--Guess which country Chad gained independence from? That's right, France.
August 13--Central African Republic also gained independence from--you guessed it--France.
August 14- Pakistan from the U.K. in 1947.
August 15- India from the U.K. in 1947.
August 17- Gabon. Can you guess the country and year? If you said France and 1960, ***ding ding ding ! [Did you hear the you win bells?]
August 19- Afganistan from the U.K. in 1919. Wow, that's early.
August 24- Ukraine in 1991.
August 25- Uruguay from Brazil in 1825.
August 27- Moldova from U.S.S.R. in 1991
August 31- Kyrgystan from the U.S.S.R in 1991 and Trinidad and Tobago from the U.K. in 1962.

*The information is from the International Calendar published by the Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of Madison, Wisconsin. They put this calendar together every year and other Peace Corps groups sell it as a fundraiser.

More Independence Days to Celebrate originally appeared on Gadling on Wed, 01 Aug 2007 14:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Moldova's Wine Region

Neil Woodburn — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 08:50:00 EST

Filed under: Food and Drink, Moldova

Moldova is one of the only former republics of the Soviet Union I have yet to visit. Sure, it's the poorest country in Europe and has its share of problems, but it is also home to a wonderful wine region that is virtually unknown outside the old borders of the USSR.

According to Leif Pettersen, writing for Lonely Planet, the wine is not only excellent, it is also shockingly affordable. And, like any good wine region worth its grapes, tourists can go wine tasting throughout the area.

Certainly the most famous winery is Milestii Mici. Blessed with 200 kilometers of wine cellars that hold over two million bottles, Milestii Mici is recognized by the Guinness Book of Records as having the world's largest wine collection. Wow. One can literally disappear underground and as long as he brings with him enough cheese, there really is no reason to ever surface again.

And the best news of all? Moldova has dropped its visa requirements for Americans and EU passport holders. Now one can breeze in and out without all the hassles of arranging a visa. That means there is no longer an excuse for ignoring this fine country.

Moldova's Wine Region originally appeared on Gadling on Sun, 25 Feb 2007 08:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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