Gadling http://www.gadling.com Gadling http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/%SiteURL%/media/feedlogo.gif Gadling http://www.gadling.com en-us Copyright 2009 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[The ultimate road trip: 12,500 miles across Africa on a motorcycle]]>http://www.gadling.com/2009/11/25/the-ultimate-road-trip-12-500-miles-across-africa-on-a-motorcyc/http://www.gadling.com/2009/11/25/the-ultimate-road-trip-12-500-miles-across-africa-on-a-motorcyc/http://www.gadling.com/2009/11/25/the-ultimate-road-trip-12-500-miles-across-africa-on-a-motorcyc/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Thomas Tomczyk is serious about motorcycles. He's done three motorcycle trips across India, from the steamy southern tip all the way up to the frozen highlands of Ladakh. Now he's starting his childhood dream--an epic trip 12,500 miles (20,000 km) across Africa.

His zigzag tour will take in 22 African nations including South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Sudan, the Central African Republic, Chad, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, the Saharawi Republic, and Morocco. . .

. . .before he ends up skinny, exhausted, and happy at my house in Spain, where my wife will fatten him up with her excellent paella.

Full disclosure: Thomas is a friend of mine. We covered the massive Hindu pilgrimage of Kumbh Mela together in 2001 and barely managed not to get trampled to death by hordes of naked holy men. But even if I didn't know him, this trip is so thoroughly cool I would have reported on it anyway.

Thomas isn't just going on vacation; he'll be visiting innovative grassroots projects that are making life better for the average African. Through his website Africa Heart Beat he'll be telling us about ordinary people doing extraordinary things, such as creating a job center for landmine victims in Mozambique, an AIDS theater group in Botswana, and a Muslim-Christian vocational center in Mali that's bringing the two communities together.

"The idea of crossing Africa came to me when I was 10," Thomas says.

Continue reading The ultimate road trip: 12,500 miles across Africa on a motorcycle

The ultimate road trip: 12,500 miles across Africa on a motorcycle originally appeared on Gadling on Wed, 25 Nov 2009 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>adventure traveladventure-travelAdventureTravelblogbloggersbloggingblogscharitiescharitydevelopmentmotorcyclemotorcyclesngosroad triproadtripsustainable developmentSustainableDevelopmentWed, 25 Nov 2009 12:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Gadlinks for Monday 11.16.09]]>http://www.gadling.com/2009/11/16/gadlinks-for-monday-11-16-09/http://www.gadling.com/2009/11/16/gadlinks-for-monday-11-16-09/http://www.gadling.com/2009/11/16/gadlinks-for-monday-11-16-09/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

It's "Wild West" day here at Gadling, so I dug into the travel blog archives to find some of the best "Wild West" reads. Hope y'all enjoy today's pickin's!
'Til tomorrow, have a great evening!

More Gadlinks HERE.

Gadlinks for Monday 11.16.09 originally appeared on Gadling on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>cowboysfort worthgadlinkshorsesmontanarodeospaintexasurban rodeowild westWildWestMon, 16 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Through the Gadling Lens: inspiration, courtesy of the Gadlingers]]>http://www.gadling.com/2009/11/12/through-the-gadling-lens-inspiration-courtesy-of-the-gadlinger/http://www.gadling.com/2009/11/12/through-the-gadling-lens-inspiration-courtesy-of-the-gadlinger/http://www.gadling.com/2009/11/12/through-the-gadling-lens-inspiration-courtesy-of-the-gadlinger/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , , , , ,

It occurred to me the other day that we've officially been together for a year here at Through the Gadling Lens -- how great is that? So it seems a little bit of a retrospective on the past year is in order, because seriously, we have talked about a lot here on the column. And so, with the help of my fellow writers here at Gadling (as well as some of the amazing photographers who share their craft with us in the Gadling Flickr pool), I thought we could multitask: I asked some of the Gadlingers what they like to photograph when they're traveling, and as a bit of inspiration, I thought I would feature some of the best our Gadling Flickr pool has to offer to illustrate their points. And while we're at it, I'll provide some links to some of the more popular posts of the past year.

So, ready? Then on with the show.

Continue reading Through the Gadling Lens: inspiration, courtesy of the Gadlingers

Through the Gadling Lens: inspiration, courtesy of the Gadlingers originally appeared on Gadling on Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>geo:41.883823+-87.632469Through the Gadling LensThroughTheGadlingLensWhere:Chicago-ILThu, 12 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST<![CDATA[November is the month for arts in Madrid]]>http://www.gadling.com/2009/11/08/november-is-the-month-for-arts-in-madrid/http://www.gadling.com/2009/11/08/november-is-the-month-for-arts-in-madrid/http://www.gadling.com/2009/11/08/november-is-the-month-for-arts-in-madrid/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Two major festivals in Madrid this month are enough to keep any culture lover happy.

The first and biggest is the Festival de Otoño, an annual extravaganza of theater, dance, music, and even a trio of circuses. The plays are all in Spanish, but dance and music are universal languages so you can still enjoy this festival even if you don't speak the the local lingo. The styles lean towards the modern and experimental, like the theater/dance fusion of the Belgian production Isabella's Room about an old blind antiquities collector recounting a life lived through the highs and lows of the Twentieth century, or the multinational collaboration of Whale Watching Tour that fuses avant-garde experimental and folk music. One show to watch out for is The New Vietnamese Circus, which will portray life in a traditional village through juggling, acrobatics, martial arts, and music.

Another cultural highlight this month is the XXVI Festival de Jazz de Madrid. Jazz in Madrid? Yep, while it's not as famous as Chicago or New Orleans, jazz is big here and there are a lot of cool venues that will be pulling out all the stops for this, the biggest annual jazz festival in Spain. There will be dozens of concerts at clubs around the city featuring artists playing all styles of jazz.

The Festival de Otoño runs from November 4-29. The XXVI Festival de Jazz de Madrid runs November 4-28.

November is the month for arts in Madrid originally appeared on Gadling on Sun, 08 Nov 2009 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>dancejazzjazz festivalJazzFestivalMadridpaintingperformance artPerformanceArttheatreSun, 08 Nov 2009 09:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Explore five cities with a "bad rap"]]>http://www.gadling.com/2009/10/29/explore-five-cities-with-a-bad-rap/http://www.gadling.com/2009/10/29/explore-five-cities-with-a-bad-rap/http://www.gadling.com/2009/10/29/explore-five-cities-with-a-bad-rap/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

I grew up in Detroit. I love my city and will be the first tell anyone who thinks it's nothing but a boarded up hellhole just how wrong they are. But I know Detroit's bad rap comes not only from suburb-dwellers and business travelers who just breezed through, but also from the media that portrays it as a city with nothing to offer other than casinos and a punchline. But maybe the tide is changing. Anthony Bourdain went to Detroit - and liked it! And now Jaunted has included Detroit on its list of Five Cities with a Bad Rap that are still worth visiting.

Detroit is recommended for its passionate people and Motown soul, along with great food from every culture. In addition to my hometown, the list includes Kingston, Jamaica - for the hospitable people and cheap flights, Madrid, Spain - which despite its reputation as a haven for pickpockets still lures visitors with fine art and tasty tapas, Naples, Italy - where the government is making an effective bid to clean up the ancient streets, and Oakland, California - San Francisco's little sibling, where the crime to culture ratio doesn't lean in the direction you might assume.

With the exception of Madrid (which still sees hundreds of thousands of tourists per year), one benefit of visiting these traditionally shunned-by-tourists cities is that there are fewer crowds and a cheaper cost of travel. Plus, your tourism dollars can help the city governments invest in infrastructure, make the cities safer and cleaner, in the hopes that one day they can shed their bad reputations.

Explore five cities with a "bad rap" originally appeared on Gadling on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>anthony bourdainAnthonyBourdaincaliforniadangerousdetroitjauntedkingstonmadridmichiganmotownnaplesoaklandpickpocketpickpocketingpickpocketstourismunpopularThu, 29 Oct 2009 11:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Hundreds of flights cancelled as Iberia workers go on strike]]>http://www.gadling.com/2009/10/26/hundreds-of-flights-cancelled-as-iberia-workers-go-on-strike/http://www.gadling.com/2009/10/26/hundreds-of-flights-cancelled-as-iberia-workers-go-on-strike/http://www.gadling.com/2009/10/26/hundreds-of-flights-cancelled-as-iberia-workers-go-on-strike/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

Thousands of passengers were left stranded today as workers at Iberia Airlines walked off the job for the first day of a two-day strike.

Iberia was forced to cancel more than 400 of its 2,000 flights for this Monday and Tuesday as cabin crews protested the fact that they haven't received a pay increase in four years. This is a tough situation for Spanish workers, who live in a country with one of Europe's highest inflation rates, between 3.6 and 4 percent annually in the past few years. And that's just the official rate. Living in Madrid I can say that here at least it seems to be much higher.

Spain's national airline has been hit hard by the recession and this new blow will only worsen its situation. It couldn't be helping Iberia's chances of clinching a proposed merger with British Airways either.

Information on the affected flights is available here.

Hundreds of flights cancelled as Iberia workers go on strike originally appeared on Gadling on Mon, 26 Oct 2009 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>airline strikeAirlineStrikebritish airwaysBritishAirwaysiberiaiberiaairlinesinflationmergermergersrecessionstrikestrikesMon, 26 Oct 2009 23:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Plane dismantled in search of mobile phone]]>http://www.gadling.com/2009/10/21/plane-dismantled-in-search-of-mobile-phone/http://www.gadling.com/2009/10/21/plane-dismantled-in-search-of-mobile-phone/http://www.gadling.com/2009/10/21/plane-dismantled-in-search-of-mobile-phone/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

We all know we're not supposed to turn on our mobile phones until our plane has reached the terminal. We´re told this again and again, and really folks, it´s for our own safety. Of course, some people think they're special and do whatever the hell they want, like an unnamed but certainly unpopular and embarrassed passenger on a Jet2 flight to Newcastle.

When the flight stopped in Murcia, Spain, someone turned on their mobile. . .and promptly dropped it into an air vent.

Since the phone was on, the plane couldn´t take off because the mobile's signal could interfere with the navigation systems. The passengers had to wait for three hours as technicians tore out the row of seats this idiot was sitting in, as well as the cockpit area. The mobile was found and the flight continued on its way after the passenger was forced to eat the phone and sing "If I only had a brain" in front of the entire plane.

OK, I made that last bit up, but it would be just, wouldn't it?

(Oh, and this photo, while oddly appropriate, shows an entirely different hole on an entirely different flight. Poor sgoralnick was flying Delta and this hole blew cold air on her feet the entire time. Check out her photos here)

Plane dismantled in search of mobile phone originally appeared on Gadling on Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>deltajet2mobile phoneMobilePhoneMurcianewcastleWed, 21 Oct 2009 18:30:00 EST<![CDATA[The ten toughest castles in the world]]>http://www.gadling.com/2009/10/16/the-ten-toughest-castles-in-the-world/http://www.gadling.com/2009/10/16/the-ten-toughest-castles-in-the-world/http://www.gadling.com/2009/10/16/the-ten-toughest-castles-in-the-world/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Castles make a pretty backdrop to any vacation. They conjure up images of brave knights and damsels in distress, but the reality was less romantic. Castles were fortifications built to defend important cities, ports, fords, or mountain passes. The best military minds in the world devised ways to destroy them, when they weren't figuring out better ways to build them. Here are ten castles that proved almost too tough to take. Some took centuries before they fell, or cost the lives of hundreds of attackers. A few never fell at all.


Crac de Chevaliers
One of the best preserved Crusader castles in the Middle East, it protected the pass from the lowlands of Lebanon through the Anti-Lebanon Mountains and into the rich Orontes river valley of Syria. It's on the Syrian side of the border but its turrets afford fine views of Lebanon. Originally an Arab castle that was taken by the French during the First Crusade in 1099, it became the headquarters of the Knights Hospitaller, a knightly order that protected pilgrims in the Holy Land. They protected themselves too, by strengthening the castle and putting up walls that were up to 100 feet thick. It withstood more than one siege and even the great Saladin couldn't take it. It eventually fell back into Muslim hands in 1271 but remained the model for castle builders in Europe.

Masada
Facing the world's biggest empire with only a ragtag group of dedicated fighters? Go to the middle of the desert, find a sheer mesa, and hold up in it. That's what the Sicarii, Jewish resistance fighters, did when they rebelled against the Roman Empire in the first century AD. The location was perfect. The mesa had already been fortified by King Herod as a refuge in case of rebellion, but the Sicarii rebels got it instead. Sheer cliffs rise 300 feet (90 meters) above the desert at their lowest point, and in spots tower up to 1,300 feet (400 meters). The only way up are three winding paths that are exposed to arrows and rocks coming from above. The Romans, in their typical efficiency, built a rampart up the entire way so they could roll up battering rams to breach the walls. The Sicarii committed mass suicide rather than surrender. The Roman camps and walls used to cut Masada off from the rest of the world are still plainly visible.

Numancia
The Celts in Spain faced the same problem the Sicarii did. How to defeat the Roman Empire? Numancia was one tribe's answer. This hillfort at the headwaters of the Duero River held out for twenty years until the inevitable end came. The defenders had run out of food and had been reduced to cannibalism. Like the Sicarii, the Celts chose death before dishonor and most of them committed mass suicide in 133 BC. Spain became a Roman province. Today you can see reconstructions of the fort and Roman siege techniques at the site's musuem.

Osaka
The samurai were brave warriors ready to face death, but even they must have thought twice about attacking this castle. Completed in 1598, it was the base of operations for Hideyoshi Toyotomi, who made peace between Japan's many warring factions by beating them into submission. It took 200,000 soldiers more than a year to take this place in 1615, and when you look at this photo of the bare face of the ramparts you can see why. The castle combines form and function and is beautiful as well as impregnable.

Gallery: Ten Toughest Castles

Crac de ChevaliersMasadaNumanciaLand Walls of ConstantinopleSecond Military Gate, Constantinople

Continue reading The ten toughest castles in the world

The ten toughest castles in the world originally appeared on Gadling on Fri, 16 Oct 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>castlecastlescuzcoenglandincamedievalmiddle agesMiddleAgesmilitarysamuraitop tentop ten listtop ten listsTopTenTopTenListTopTenListswarworld heritage listworld heritage sitesWorldHeritageListWorldHeritageSitesFri, 16 Oct 2009 10:00:00 EST<![CDATA[World Monuments Fund announces list of endangered treasures]]>http://www.gadling.com/2009/10/14/world-monuments-fund-announces-list-of-endangered-treasures/http://www.gadling.com/2009/10/14/world-monuments-fund-announces-list-of-endangered-treasures/http://www.gadling.com/2009/10/14/world-monuments-fund-announces-list-of-endangered-treasures/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The World Monuments Fund, a private organization battling to preserve the world's great man-made wonders, has published a list of the most endangered monuments around the world.

It's a depressing litany of priceless places that are under threat from a variety of factors, mostly related to human greed.

Some monuments are fantastic, such as the mountaintop monasteries of Phajoding in Bhutan, where centuries of peace and solitude are being disturbed by an increasing number of trekkers seeking peace and solitude.

Others are more mundane places that you might not even notice, yet they're important artifacts of history, like the farm fields of Hadley, Massachusetts. When the Puritans first settled here in 1659 they replicated the system of open, narrow fields that they knew from England. The field system still exists today, but this legacy of America's early settlers has now been rezoned for commercial and residential buildings, including a Wal-Mart Supercenter.

My own adopted country of Spain has seven entries to the list. The old medieval town of Avila (pictured here) is facing increasing pressure from new building, while Gaudí's famous cathedral in Barcelona is threatened by the construction of a high-speed railroad right next to it. That a rich, moderately-sized country should have so many entries should come as no surprise to Spanish residents. "Developers" have been ruining the Spanish landscape for years, fueling a building boom that crashed last year and flung the country into a deep recession. The most glaring example of the rapacity of the Spanish real estate market is the coastline, where a ring of apartments, homes, and hotels encircle the country like a garrote. Some of this construction is illegal, but campaigners have had only limited success in stopping it.

The list has been published every two years since 1996 in order to bring attention to cultural heritage sites that are threatened by natural or man-made factors, although the bulk of them are man-made. Many of the sites that make it onto the list get sizable donations from the World Monuments Fund to help their caretakers preserve them.

Best of luck guys, given constantly expanding urban areas and a rising population, you'll need it.

Gallery: World Monuments Fund 2010 Endangered List

Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada FamíliaHistoric town of HeratFortified Church at ViscriThe Jesuit Missions of the ChiquitosOld building in Shikarpoor, Pakistan

World Monuments Fund announces list of endangered treasures originally appeared on Gadling on Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>archaeologyarcheologyAvilaBarcelonabuddhismmassachusettsmonasteriesmonasterymonumentspreservationworld heritageworld heritage listworld heritage siteworld heritage sitesWorldHeritageWorldHeritageListWorldHeritageSiteWorldHeritageSitesWed, 14 Oct 2009 14:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Photo of the Day (10.11.09)]]>http://www.gadling.com/2009/10/11/photo-of-the-day-10-11-09/http://www.gadling.com/2009/10/11/photo-of-the-day-10-11-09/http://www.gadling.com/2009/10/11/photo-of-the-day-10-11-09/#commentsFiled under: , ,



Truly great architecture has its own personality. The best buildings are not merely structures with walls, doors and windows. They tell you something about how they were made and the character of the places they were built. When I saw Flickr user scottmschutlz's playful photo, I immediately knew it was taken at Gaudi's Casa Milà in Barcelona. The fluid curves of the cement and quirky human-like face of this sculpture tip their hat to the whimsical, artistic traditions of this favorite Spanish city.

Want your pics considered for Gadling's Photo of the Day? Submit your best ones here.

Photo of the Day (10.11.09) originally appeared on Gadling on Sun, 11 Oct 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>architecturebarcelonabuildingcasa milaCasaMilacataloniacatalunyagaudila pedreraLaPedrerasagrada familiaSagradaFamiliaSun, 11 Oct 2009 18:00:00 EST<![CDATA[A Frommer's gourmet Barcelona tour, fully illustrated]]>http://www.gadling.com/2009/10/08/a-frommers-gourmet-barcelona-tour-fully-illustrated/http://www.gadling.com/2009/10/08/a-frommers-gourmet-barcelona-tour-fully-illustrated/http://www.gadling.com/2009/10/08/a-frommers-gourmet-barcelona-tour-fully-illustrated/#commentsFiled under: ,

Barcelona has one of the liveliest food scenes in Europe right now, with celebrity chefs, sprawling outdoor markets, and gourmet dishes of all sizes and prices -- which is why when I toured through the city in April I decided I would spend my days stuffing my face with tapas. I wanted to try the squid, the croquettes, the chocolate, the cava, the works.

I'm a Frommer's editor by day (read more about that here), so I somehow cooked up the idea that the best way to do this would be to eat my way through the entire "Gourmet Barcelona" tour from Frommer's Barcelona Day by Day, written by Neil Schlecht. This would be no small feat as the tour has 14 stops and is spread throughout the city. The tour's introduction notes "this isn't a day-long tasting menu unless you choose to make it one," which I took to mean this is more of a list to explore at leisure rather than a typical one-day itinerary.

Still, I was determined to nosh my way through Neil's list, testing out both the tour and the limits of my stomach. I had 2 days to do this before I left Barcelona to reconvene with my sister in Madrid (she was off touring the Costa Brava).

I gave myself a few ground rules: I would visit every stop but didn't have to stick to the tour's order; I would consume or at least buy something at each stop; I would allow myself the full two days (there was no point in running around and getting sick along La Rambla); I would roll with whatever punches Murphy's law sent my way; and I would report all my findings, warts and all.

Did I finish the tour? and still fit into my pants at the end? Click below for a gallery with the answers. Be sure to start with the first photo, a map of the itinerary.

Gallery: Gourmet Barcelona

Itinerary stop #1: El Quim de la Boquería (3 stars)Itinerary stop #2: Mercat de la Boquería (3 stars)

A Frommer's gourmet Barcelona tour, fully illustrated originally appeared on Gadling on Thu, 08 Oct 2009 13:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>barcelonafoodfood pornFoodPorntapasThu, 08 Oct 2009 13:45:00 EST<![CDATA[Top 10 places to have your pocket picked]]>http://www.gadling.com/2009/10/04/top-10-places-to-have-your-pocket-picked/http://www.gadling.com/2009/10/04/top-10-places-to-have-your-pocket-picked/http://www.gadling.com/2009/10/04/top-10-places-to-have-your-pocket-picked/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I always get a laugh when I see people walk the streets of Manhattan with backpacks worn on their fronts. Millions of people commute into and around the city every day, yet the outnumbered visitors take extreme measures to make sure their subway maps and recently purchased Planet Hollywood t-shirts remain in their control.

Of course, pickpocketing is a concern in many tourist destinations around the world, and it does pay to be cautious. In the latest TripAdvisor list of cities where this crime is most prevalent, New York doesn't make an appearance. In fact, no city in the United States is represented. Yet, there are plenty of places where you could be separated from your wallet quite easily, so if you're thinking about hitting any of these spots, keep an eye on your valuables.

Eight of the top 10 pickpocketing locations in the world are in Europe, with one in South America and the other in Southeast Asia. Spain and Italy share the dubious distinction of making the list twice.

Ready to find out where this crime is most common? Take a look at the list after the jump.

Continue reading Top 10 places to have your pocket picked

Top 10 places to have your pocket picked originally appeared on Gadling on Sun, 04 Oct 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>amsterdamathensbarcelonabuenos airesBuenosAiresflorence italyFlorenceItalyhanoimadridmanhattannew yorknew york citynew york new yorkNewYorkNewYorkCityNewYorkNewYorkparisplanet hollywoodPlanetHollywoodsoutheast asiaSoutheastAsiaSun, 04 Oct 2009 08:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Spain to become leader in high-speed trains]]>http://www.gadling.com/2009/09/22/spain-to-become-leader-in-high-speed-trains/http://www.gadling.com/2009/09/22/spain-to-become-leader-in-high-speed-trains/http://www.gadling.com/2009/09/22/spain-to-become-leader-in-high-speed-trains/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Spain is tipped to become the world's leader in high-speed trains next year, surpassing Japan and France for the most kilometers of track.

With the rising costs and hassles of airfare, train travel has become more competitive. The high-speed train between Spain's two most important and visited cities, Madrid and Barcelona, takes just two-and-a-half hours. That's quicker than flying once you factor in taxi rides and waiting at the airport. Another advantage of trains is that you go from city center to city center.

This past summer the Madrid-Barcelona route proved its dominance by serving more customers than the airlines, and with more lines planned, including a much anticipated Madrid-to-Paris service, it looks like high-speed rail is the transportation of the future for Spaniards and visitors. In total more than 40,000 people use Spain's high-speed trains every day, enjoying a 99% on-time rate.

Having gone on many train journeys in Spain I have to say that Renfe, the state railroad company, gets high marks. The trains are much more comfortable than airplanes and many offer bars, dining cars, and other conveniences. Madrid is set in the dead center of the country and the lines branching out to all major cities are convenient for visitors. Prices are slightly higher than airline tickets, but the cost comes out to be about the same once airport transportation is taken into account. I personally prefer to travel by train because I get to see the country as I pass by, and you don't want to miss Spain's beautiful countryside.

Spain to become leader in high-speed trains originally appeared on Gadling on Tue, 22 Sep 2009 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Barcelonahigh speed railhigh speed trainHighSpeedRailHighSpeedTrainMadridRenfetraintrainsTue, 22 Sep 2009 16:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Through the Gadling Lens: photographing the children of the world]]>http://www.gadling.com/2009/09/17/through-the-gadling-lens-photographing-the-children-of-the-wor/http://www.gadling.com/2009/09/17/through-the-gadling-lens-photographing-the-children-of-the-wor/http://www.gadling.com/2009/09/17/through-the-gadling-lens-photographing-the-children-of-the-wor/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , , , , , ,

I was recently instant-messaging a friend of mine, asking him if he had any suggestions for what we could talk about this week here on Through the Gadling Lens.

"Why don't you talk about taking photographs of kids?" he asked.

I demurred.

"Umm, I really try to keep this column about travel," I explained gently.

He looked at me like I was stupid. Well, as much as one can look at someone else on instant-messaging.

"Karen," he said patiently, "people travel with their kids. Besides, there are children all over the world. Children make great subjects. You should share how you capture kids on camera."

Well, duh. He's right, of course. So this week, with the additional help of some fantastic images in our Gadling Flickr pool, we'll talk about how to capture the essence and innocence of childhood while traveling. A couple of points to remember, before we begin:

1. Be sure to ask permission before you snap any photos, particularly if the children are with their parents or other adults; and

2. Remember the rules about shooting strangers in general (you can see some general guidelines here).

And so now, let's get to it:

Continue reading Through the Gadling Lens: photographing the children of the world

Through the Gadling Lens: photographing the children of the world originally appeared on Gadling on Thu, 17 Sep 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>BorneoBurmaBurmanGibraltarMabul IslandMabulIslandMyanmarRangoonThrough the Gadling LensThroughTheGadlingLensThu, 17 Sep 2009 11:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Madrid's Reina Sofia museum is now free every day]]>http://www.gadling.com/2009/09/05/madrids-reina-sofia-museum-is-now-free-every-day/http://www.gadling.com/2009/09/05/madrids-reina-sofia-museum-is-now-free-every-day/http://www.gadling.com/2009/09/05/madrids-reina-sofia-museum-is-now-free-every-day/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

Here's some good news for budget travelers in Madrid. Following the lead of the Museo Nacional del Prado (which has been offering free hours each day it is open since 2007), the Reina Sofia will now offer a few hours of free admission every day as well.

Previously, the museum had charged €6 admission, except for Saturday afternoons and Sunday mornings, when the fee was waived. But now it will offer free admission for a portion of each day that it is open, which is every day except Tuesday. Free hours will be from 7pm to close (9pm) on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, from 2:30pm to 9pm on Saturday, and from 10am until the 2:30pm closing time on Sunday. If you're looking for just a small sampling of the modern and contemporary art housed at the Reina Sofia, swing by for a few free hours of browsing. If you're a dedicated art-lover, spread your visit out over a several evenings to get your art fix without spending a single euro. Either way, you'll get more art for less money, almost any day of the week.

Travel to Spain is down this year, except in Madrid, where it actually increased by about 6%. With cheaper opportunities for viewing art, Madrid's tourism numbers may continue to increase, especially among travelers on a smaller budget.

Madrid's Reina Sofia museum is now free every day originally appeared on Gadling on Sat, 05 Sep 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>artart museumsArtMuseumsbudgetbudget travelbudgettravelcheapfreefree admissionfree admittanceFreeAdmissionFreeAdmittancemadridmusuemmusuemspradoreina sofiaReinaSofiaSat, 05 Sep 2009 14:30:00 EST<![CDATA[The World's ten happiest cities]]>http://www.gadling.com/2009/09/05/the-worlds-ten-happiest-cities/http://www.gadling.com/2009/09/05/the-worlds-ten-happiest-cities/http://www.gadling.com/2009/09/05/the-worlds-ten-happiest-cities/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Disney World has been labeled "the Happiest Place on Earth", but one look at the tired parents, screaming kids, and extremely long lines will tell you that is just marketing spin. Ever wonder where the actual happiest place on Earth is? Then wonder no more, because Forbes, in conjunction with market researcher GfK Custom Research North America, has put together a list of the ten happiest cities on Earth, just in time to start planning your next vacation.

The list was compiled using data from 2009 Anholt-GfK Roper City Brands Index which was published in June. In that study, more than 10,000 people, across 20 countries, were surveyed about the their general satisfaction with their lives and their overall lifestyle. The results were then compiled, with these ten cities rising to the top for the overall happiness level of their inhabitants.

The ten cities to make the list, in order, are: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Sydney, Australia; Barcelona, Spain; Amsterdam, Netherlands; Melbourne, Australia; Madrid, Spain; San Francisco, U.S.A.; Rome, Italy; Paris, France; and Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Many of the cities on the list come as no surprise, as they are already top destinations for travelers, but clearly the Australians and Spaniards know what they are doing, as they each have two cities in the top ten. So? What are your thoughts on the list? Are there any cities that seem to have been left out? How many of these have you visited?

The World's ten happiest cities originally appeared on Gadling on Sat, 05 Sep 2009 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>amsterdambarcelonabuenos airesBuenosAirescultureforbeshappiest citiesHappiestCitiesmadridmelbourneparisrio de janeiroRioDeJaneiroromesan franciscoSanFranciscosydneySat, 05 Sep 2009 11:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Frommer's on Gadling? The "Blogger Swap" Explained]]>http://www.gadling.com/2009/09/04/frommers-on-gadling-the-blogger-swap-explained/http://www.gadling.com/2009/09/04/frommers-on-gadling-the-blogger-swap-explained/http://www.gadling.com/2009/09/04/frommers-on-gadling-the-blogger-swap-explained/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Throughout the history of civilization, there have been swaps. Land swaps. Housing swaps. Student exchange swaps. Lunchbox dessert swaps. Baseball card swaps. Baseball player swaps. "Cash for Clunkers" swaps. Wife Swap. Now, for your reading pleasure, a Blogger Swap.

That's a long way of saying that I'll be writing on Gadling during the month of September, though I normally write on Frommers.com. Gadling's Jeremy Kressman and Grant Martin will both write for Frommer's. It's an experiment that will hopefully not disrupt the travel/time/space continuum or cause anyone's favorite cereals or bacon to get thrown away.

(That's a Wife Swap reference. Everything that can go awesomely wrong with a swap is illustrated in a recent 1-minute clip of the show. Click here to watch.)

So who am I, and what do you get out of this barter? I am an Associate Editor at Frommer's travel guides, and I contribute to our editors' blog, Behind the Guides. I'm currently editing Napa and Sonoma Day by Day, Frommer's India, and Suzy Gershman's Born to Shop Hong Kong. I'm hoping to use this month to revisit a fantastic 3-week vacation I took with my sister Diane through Italy and Spain in April. We noshed our way through Rome, Siena, up through the Chianti region and Florence to Venice, then over to Barcelona and Madrid. I ate through an entire Frommer's "Gourmet Barcelona" itinerary and had a home-cooked meal on an agriturismo vineyard/B&B in Chianti. I dined at a Ferran Adrià restaurant in Madrid! I made a lot of food memories - fairly emotional food memories. It's funny, as the editor of Frommer's Rome, I remember deleting a few exclamation points I thought were gratuitous. This was the sort of trip that made me want to throw them all back in.

Continue reading Frommer's on Gadling? The "Blogger Swap" Explained

Frommer's on Gadling? The "Blogger Swap" Explained originally appeared on Gadling on Fri, 04 Sep 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>blogger swapBloggerSwapbotinerasferran adriaFerranAdriafoodfood pornFoodPornfrommersfrommers.commadridsuckling pigSucklingPigwife swapWifeSwapFri, 04 Sep 2009 12:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Through the Gadling Lens: 5 photography subjects that are the same and different everywhere]]>http://www.gadling.com/2009/08/27/through-the-gadling-lens-5-photography-subjects-that-are-the-sa/http://www.gadling.com/2009/08/27/through-the-gadling-lens-5-photography-subjects-that-are-the-sa/http://www.gadling.com/2009/08/27/through-the-gadling-lens-5-photography-subjects-that-are-the-sa/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Do you remember those Where the hell is Matt? videos that were taking the internet by storm in recent years? I was thinking about those videos the other day, and wondering why they affected so many people, causing the videos to go so wildly viral. And then it dawned on me: the reason we love that video so much is because as different as all of the people featured in the video are, from all over the world, they all held something in common: they loved to dance.

This, of course, is true for more than just dancing: despite how different we all are, we all share or do or having things in common: we all eat, we all wash, we all hope, we all live. And so this week, I thought I'd share some of my favourite subjects that I like to shoot when I'm traveling -- things which are so different from place to place, but really, are so often the same.

Continue reading Through the Gadling Lens: 5 photography subjects that are the same and different everywhere

Through the Gadling Lens: 5 photography subjects that are the same and different everywhere originally appeared on Gadling on Thu, 27 Aug 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>BarcelonaBorneogeo:39.527596 -99.141968Through the Gadling LensThroughTheGadlingLensWhere:HyderabadWhere:KeralaThu, 27 Aug 2009 11:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Travel to Spain suffering]]>http://www.gadling.com/2009/08/22/travel-to-spain-suffering/http://www.gadling.com/2009/08/22/travel-to-spain-suffering/http://www.gadling.com/2009/08/22/travel-to-spain-suffering/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

It really is a shame: summer travel to Spain is off 6.1 percent this year, as the global economic decline is making the decision to travel tougher for everyone. The country's Tourism Ministry puts the number of July arrivals at just over 6.6 million. For the entire year (through the end of July), arrivals fell 10.3 percent to 30.2 million visitors. This follows a record 33.6 million for the same period in 2008.

Spain has historically been one of the world's top three tourist destination in terms of both the number of people arriving and income earned from them; France and the United States are the other two. So, a substantial year-over-year decline is likely to be felt.

Every part of Spain saw arrivals fell except Madrid, where arrivals increased by 6.6 percent. Andalucia saw visits drop by 11 percent, though Valencia had an easier time. Of the regions with falling arrivals, it had the lowest at only 0.4 percent.

Most of Spain's tourist traffic came from Britain, which sent 1.6 million visitors to the country. France is second, overtaking Germany this year. British share of travel to Spain, 24.5 percent, fell 16.1 percent this year because of economic conditions. Meanwhile, French tourism to Spain increased this year, with visits to Valencia surging 35 percent and Madrid up 23.4 percent.

Travel to Spain suffering originally appeared on Gadling on Sat, 22 Aug 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>andaluciaandalusiabritainenglandgreat britainGreatBritainmadridtourismtourism and traveltourism industryTourismAndTravelTourismIndustrytravel industryTravelIndustryvalenciaSat, 22 Aug 2009 16:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Fiestas de la Virgen de la Paloma in Madrid]]>http://www.gadling.com/2009/08/11/fiestas-de-la-virgen-de-la-paloma-in-madrid/http://www.gadling.com/2009/08/11/fiestas-de-la-virgen-de-la-paloma-in-madrid/http://www.gadling.com/2009/08/11/fiestas-de-la-virgen-de-la-paloma-in-madrid/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

If you're in Spain this week, you won't want to miss the festival for the "Virgin of the Dove". This takes place every year in the old barrio of La Latina in Madrid and honors an 18th century portrait of the Virgin that was found in the trash one day and captured the barrio's heart.

I went to one of these a couple of years ago and it's loads of fun. There's music, dancing, and lots of limonada, which is sort of like a cross between lemonade and sangria. Tasty, but potent on a hot evening.

The main festival is August 15, when there's a long procession and a mass in honor of the Virgin. More secular entertainments include dancers, clowns, and fireworks. Since madrileños can't conceive of a party lasting only a single day, the festival actually lasts August 12-16.

There's something for everyone at this festival--chess tournaments, storytellers, dancing, kids' games, and way more into the wee hours. Last year they even had a running of the bulls suitable for the whole family. The bulls were guys in bull costumes, and kids dressed as matadors waved little capes in front of them. It wasn't all fun and games, though. Local blogger/writer/poet Sue Burke, who took this shot, nearly lost her drink when she got gored. The running of the fake bulls will happen again this Thursday, so hold onto your limonada.

A full schedule of events is here (in Spanish). Check out this website's main page for more festivals in one of Spain's most enjoyable cities.

Fiestas de la Virgen de la Paloma in Madrid originally appeared on Gadling on Tue, 11 Aug 2009 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>bullfightingbullscatholiccatholic churchCatholicChurchcatholicismcatholicschesschristianityMadridsangriaTue, 11 Aug 2009 18:30:00 EST