Jan 25th, 2010 at 3:00PM: Spitsbergen is the "last stop before the North Pole," a cold, remote landscape of snow, ice, and arctic wildlife. And you can explore it with Hurtigruten, an adventure tour company.
While some of their longer tours may be prohibitively expensive for a lot of travelers (9-day tours cost around $5000 per person). they do offer a much more affordable 6-day Polar Encounters cruise starting at ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
norway posts
Explore the Arctic with Hurtigruten Tours
Jan 25th, 2010 at 3:00PM: Spitsbergen is the "last stop before the North Pole," a cold, remote landscape of snow, ice, and arctic wildlife. And you can explore it with Hurtigruten, an adventure tour company.
While some of their longer tours may be prohibitively expensive for a lot of travelers (9-day tours cost around $5000 per person). they do offer a much more affordable 6-day Polar Encounters cruise starting at ...A year in the life of a Norwegian forest (time lapse video)
Jan 9th, 2010 at 9:00AM: In 2005, Eirik Solheim shot a still picture of his back yard in Norway every day for an entire year. He aligned the pictures together and created a beautiful time lapse. Since his 2005 version, he's managed to do a higher resolution movie in 2008 and finally, during all of last year, he put together time lapse that uses video clips.
Eirik chose the amazing Canon 5D Mark II for this experiment ...Incontinent and impotent after fall in cruise ship spa is worth $9.5 million
Dec 30th, 2009 at 3:30PM: In 2006, British Fitness instructor Danny Simpson slipped on the wet floor of the spa on board the Norwegian Cruise line's "Norwegian Crown". Mr. Simpson was employed by Steiner Transocean, responsible for operating the spa facilities on the cruise line.
When he fell, he suffered a back injury that made him impotent and incontinent. And apparently, that kind of suffering is worth $9.5 million. ...Photo of the day 12.14.09
Dec 14th, 2009 at 7:30PM:
This year, I'm feeling just full of the holiday spirit, so in looking for tonight's Photo of the Day, I decided to base my search on holiday phrases. While this beautiful photograph, entitled "blue december" and shared by kanelstrand isn't exactly what I had in mind, you can certainly see why I was drawn to this image with its strong lines and vivid colours. A really arresting shot.
If you've ...Mysterious blue light shines over Norway
Dec 10th, 2009 at 1:00PM: On December 9th, residents of northern Norway were surprised to see a weird blue light shining above. According to reports, the beam of light seemed to point to the sky from behind a mountain. As the light began moving in circles, forming a spiral, a brighter beam came out of the center. The phenomenon lasted for about 12 minutes.
After the light disappeared, the Norwegian Meteorological ...Gadlinks for Monday 12.7.2009
Dec 7th, 2009 at 5:00PM:
I hope everyone enjoyed their first weekend of December! I have a feeling many cities inaugurated the season with some sort of Christmas lights parade and Honolulu was no different. Here on the islands we have a paradise Santa display where he and Mrs. Claus kick off their shoes and dip their feet in the water for some tropical relaxation. Here are some good travel reads to get you all relaxing ...National Geographic ranks 133 destinations
Oct 30th, 2009 at 12:00PM: National Geographic Traveler has released the results of its 6th annual survey of authenticity and "destination stewardship". The survey, ranks 133 places on earth according to how well (or how poorly) the local governments, businesses and residents are protecting the area from degradation, along with other factors like risk of natural disasters.
437 panelists scored each destination according ...Record influx of visitors to U.S. in 2008
Mar 26th, 2009 at 1:00PM: Last year, 58 million international visitors came to the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. That's an increase of nearly 4 percent from 2007. To sweeten it up a bit, 13 of the top 25 arrivals markets saw new records set. In the last month of the year, nearly 4 million people came here from abroad – down 7 percent. The fourth quarter was down 6 percent ...Where To Go To Truly Get Away From It All
Feb 16th, 2009 at 10:00AM: Everyone has different reasons for why they like to travel, and their destinations of choice vary just as much. Some love to visit noisy, bustling foreign cities, others prefer the quiet tranquility of a secluded beach. Then of course, there are the travelers who truly like to get away from it all. They prefer to visit remote wilderness places, far off the beaten path, with few, if any, amenities. ...Travel sans visa coming for European, Caribbean, Mauritius, and Seychelles nationals
Feb 13th, 2009 at 2:00PM: A mutual agreement allowing Europeans, nationals from four Caribbean countries, and citizens of two island nations in the Indian Ocean is expected to be passed and approved by the end of March, which will allow for hassle-free and smoother travel. If you hold a passport from any of the following countries, it means you're that much more free to travel between those listed sans visa: Austria, ...Photo of the Day (2.7.09)
Feb 7th, 2009 at 4:00PM: I've been to Alaska twice and not once did I see the northern lights. Maybe it was the wrong season or maybe I wasn't looking hard enough, but I'm sure when I do see them (and I will) I won't forget the sight. That's what one of our dedicated and intrepid adventuring photographers, localsurfer, discovered on a trip to Norway four years ago. He writes, "It's impossible to really take a picture of ...Photo of the Day (9/18/08)
Sep 18th, 2008 at 9:00PM: Today's photo of the day comes from Flickr user pirano who captured this picture, titled Fist and Rose in Oslo, Norway. You might think the sculptor was trying to make a political statement, but from the accounts in the comments of this site, he apparently never intended for it to be political. Pirano did a nice job of using the sun to highlight the sculpture, giving it a fantastic glowing cast. ...33-year old Czech woman is a 13-year old boy in Norway
Jan 11th, 2008 at 9:30AM: If there is anything to learn from this truly bizarre case, it should be "do not overestimate cultural differences."
Barbora Skrlova, 33, duped Norwegian police, classmates, child care workers and teachers for four months into believing she was a teenage boy named "Adam". She went to school and all.
The kids in "his" classroom thought the boy was a "little strange", but since they were brought ...Safe Sex Around the Globe
Oct 11th, 2007 at 8:26AM: So Western Europe, particularly the Nordic countries, are 'all that'? Maybe not, when it comes to safe sex. There's a very interesting graphic in this month's Foreign Policy magazine regarding which countries practice safe sex and get STDs (sexually transmitted diseases).
The study (more parts of which appear here) was sponsored by Durex condoms and put together by Miguel Fontes of Johns ...Climate-change Tourism: Warming Planet Unveils New Tourist Destinations
_thumbnail.jpg)
Oct 3rd, 2007 at 7:45AM: "Climate-change tourism" is something we're going to be hearing a lot more about in the near future. In fact, it's already here in some parts of the world. What is climate-change tourism exactly? That's when a traditionally frozen arctic wasteland like Greenland suddenly starts to warm up, shed its ice, and become hospitable. As a result, tourists who used to shun such frigid environs are now ...Photo of the Day (6/19/2007)
Jun 19th, 2007 at 12:01PM:
Gonna draw again from a series of my own photos today for the Gadling Photo of the Day. This one comes from Norway, from where I recently returned after a glorious ten-day trip exploring fjords and cities and lovely little Scandinavian villages. The shot here of a rainbow over the fjord was taken late one afternoon after a very satisfying nap. I actually shot it right from the balcony of the ...World Heritage Sights Rated
Apr 5th, 2007 at 11:45AM: My wife and I are planning our upcoming trip to Norway and we're trying to decide whether it's worth the effort to take a boat called the Coastal Steamer up to the Western Fjords...places with pretty much unpronounceable (and unspellable) names like Geirangerfjord and Naroyfjord (names, several letters of which, do not seem displayable here because they are, well, weird-looking letters). Well, ...Norwegian Customs Handled By Machine
Apr 3rd, 2007 at 4:01PM: Next time you're traveling through Norway and have goods to declare, chances are your transaction will take place at one of the world's first automatic customs tellers.
The Finance Minster is excited because the move leaves his "personnel to fight more serious smuggling," and I agree. You can always tell with customs officials are bored -- they grab the first shaggy-looking college student they ...World's Most Expensive Cities
Mar 6th, 2007 at 4:02PM: According to a recent study by The Economist, the World's Ten Most Expensive Cities are:
Oslo
Paris
Copenhagen
London
Tokyo
Osaka Kobe
Reykjavik
Zurich
Frankfurt
Helsinki
The most expensive city in the US is, of course, New York (thank you very much) -- though it didn't show up on ...
