Welcome to another glorious week of Gadlinks! It looks like the web is full of travel news and stories, so we're not short of interesting links. Here are a few to keep your juices flowing:
Matador and the Dir Journal explore abandoned cities in the world and discover ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
Ukraine
Gadlinks for Monday 6.29.09
Welcome to another glorious week of Gadlinks! It looks like the web is full of travel news and stories, so we're not short of interesting links. Here are a few to keep your juices flowing:
Matador and the Dir Journal explore abandoned cities in the world and discover ...Gadling + BootsnAll - Picks of the Week (4.3.09)
Another Friday is upon us, and we're back with another round of weekly picks from our friends at BootsnAll, the independent travel experts. What strange stories, great lists and secret travel tips caught our eye? Take a look below and find out:
ABC's of Study Abroad - ...Top hell-holes on earth
April Fool's Day, 2007, I wrote a post on Linfen, China. Although it was written as a joke, the premise is true. Linfen is a royal mess. Its mighty pollution problem has earned it the number 2 spot on the recent "Hells on Earth" list. The air quality in Linfen is so horrific ...Kiev, Ukraine: Is it really a 'charming' city, like the Associated Press says?
I had to laugh earlier this week when I read the Associated Press' gushing ode to the Ukrainian capital, Kiev. Shining with Orthodox golden domes that rise from forested hilltops, crisscrossed by narrow cobblestone streets, and speckled by quiet, leafy parks, Kiev draws ...Next They'll Be Banning Snakes On Planes
European low-cost airline Ryanair has a pretty good reputation for being friendly and laidback, but the inflight latitude doesn't stretch to allowing a metre-long fluffy (and inanimate) crocodile to sit beside the emergency exit door. A passenger on a recent flight from Rome ...Chernobyl: Vacation Hotspot? Or Mutation-Causing Wrong Turn?
Top 10 "Worst Polluted Places" of 2007
The Blacksmith Institute yesterday released a new list of the "Worst Polluted Places" in the world. This year the places spread out over 7 countries and effect over 12-million people. In Vapi, India, for instance, "Local produce has been found to contain up to 60 times more ...More Independence Days to Celebrate
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 ...Odessa Catacombs; Very Long, Very Dark
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Rome has its famous catacombs and so does Paris. But the city with the largest network of underground tunnels is undoubtedly Odessa, Ukraine.
Its 2,500 kilometers eclipses the 300 kilometers found in Rome and the 500 kilometers in Paris. Get lost here and you'll be ...Super Secret Soviet Submarine Base opens for Tourism
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It's very rare in life, but occasionally some of those super-secret, underground complexes that house submarine bases or other military facilities are actually opened to the public.
A regular diet of James Bond movies while growing up has always made me excited to seek ...World's 10 Most Polluted Places 2006
Make sure you include a respirator or some type of breathing mechanism on your packing list if heading to any of the destinations found on the Blacksmith Institute's World's Worst Polluted Places list. Keep in mind there will be no smelling of roses as you stroll the ...Red Corner: Tea Time in Kiev
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Tea is the second most popular drink in the world after water.
I'm not a huge fan of it myself, but sometimes on cold evenings in dark cafes, I like to hunch over a little mug and sip away.
Tea is especially beloved in Ukraine. But where is the best place to sit and ...Red Corner: A Slice of the Time-Frozen Carpathians
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Here's a wonderful little photo essay about a tiny, obscure corner of the Ukrainian Carpathians called Dzembronya.
Slovak photographer Lucia Nimcova describes the location of this small farming town as "in the Chornohora range not far from the Romanian border, in the ...Photo of the Day (9/1/06)
Today's Photo of the Day comes to us from Carpetblogger--a talented photographer we've honored before who has a great knack for capturing the essence of the former Soviet Union. Here we have a street performer in Uzhgorad, Ukraine working hard for his money. I'll bet the ...Red Corner: Lviv Revisited
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The accolades keep rolling in. We posted a few months back about the Ukrainian city of Lviv (or Lvov which is the Russian spelling if you prefer that). Since then, the charming town has kept popping up on my radar. Most recently, The LA Times devoted a few pages extolling ...Red Corner: Kiev gets Normal Hotel
It has taken a long time, but Europe's last remaining capital without an "internationally branded" hotel has finally joined the 21st century. Kiev has gotten itself a Radisson!
During communism, the only accommodations available to foreigners were dilapidated state run ...Red Corner: Chernobyl Anniversary
Twenty years ago today, something so horrendous occurred in the Soviet Union that the swath of earth on which it happened, as well as thousands of miles in every direction, remains unlivable even today. That tragedy was, of course, the Chernobyl disaster. Today marks the ...Ukraine's Ultimate Dance Party
Well, people, forget Spring Break. Thanks to Travel & Leisure magazine, I now know where the ultimate
dance beach party is. It turns out, it's in the Ukraine. According to the
article, this summer the Ukraine hosts a huge beach party, lasting an entire month, in ...Red Corner: Gogol Bordello Sings Gypsy Punk
Discovering local music while abroad is as much of a joy as discovering local foods. What's really great about both of these pleasures, however, is that they can also be enjoyed back home.
Friday night I did just that. I went to see a group named Gogol Bordello who bills ...Red Corner: Undiscovered Lvov
Journalist Mat Schulz uses a very interesting strategy to figure out where to go on vacation. He types in "Stag Party" and the name of a certain town to see how many Google hits it gets. Too many is not a good thing and he heads elsewhere.
The point of this exercise was to ...
