Sep 26th, 2011 at 9:00AM: A few weeks ago, I was sitting at the bar of the very lovely Alto Atacama Desert Lodge & Spa, outside of San Pedro de Atacama in Northern Chile. I'd just returned from an afternoon at 12,600 feet, exploring the Andean Altiplano Lakes of Miscanti and Miñiques, and I was feeling parched.
Small wonder I was thirsty; Atacama is the driest desert on earth. Visually and geographically, ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
vodka posts
Cocktails, Chilean style
Sep 26th, 2011 at 9:00AM: A few weeks ago, I was sitting at the bar of the very lovely Alto Atacama Desert Lodge & Spa, outside of San Pedro de Atacama in Northern Chile. I'd just returned from an afternoon at 12,600 feet, exploring the Andean Altiplano Lakes of Miscanti and Miñiques, and I was feeling parched.
Small wonder I was thirsty; Atacama is the driest desert on earth. Visually and geographically, ...Middle West Spirits is making great vodka in Columbus
May 18th, 2011 at 12:00PM: Middle West Spirits in Columbus, Ohio will be celebrating their 1st birthday this summer and as a nod to the delicious liquor I tried during my most recent trip to Columbus, I wanted to say... Happy Birthday, guys.
Ryan Lang and Brady Konya were new to Columbus from the West Coast when they started Middle West Spirits. And although they were newbies, they got the attention of the vodka-drinking ...Knocked up abroad: pregnant travel in the first trimester
Mar 16th, 2011 at 11:30AM: For more on pregnant travel, see parts 1 and 2 of Knocked up abroad: pregnancy in a foreign country here and here.
There's no question that having a baby changes you: your body, your lifestyle, even your shoe size. One thing I hoped not to change altogether was traveling, as long as it was reasonably safe and comfortable for me and the baby. From the beginning of my pregnancy in Istanbul, my ...10 ways to survive a Russian winter vacation
Jan 12th, 2011 at 3:00PM:
The phrase "Russian winter" may bring to mind images of tall fur hats, snowcovered gold church domes, and steaming bowls of borscht. It may also remind you that both the armies of Hitler and Napoleon were driven off by the cold winter of the north and that "Russian winter" is also an explanation why every invader has failed to conquer the country. Winter of 2010-2011 was forecast to be the worst ...Daily Pampering: The Pierre Hotel's organic caviar and oyster tasting
Oct 18th, 2010 at 4:00PM: When the Pierre Hotel wants to celebrate, it celebrates in style. In honor of the hotel's 80th anniversary, the Pierre in New York is recapturing the glamour of its past with a tasting flight of a trio of organic caviars with wine and vodka pairings.
Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from October 22 - December 31, 2010, Executive Chef Stephane Becht will debut the caviar tasting menu and The ...GadlingTV's Travel Talk - Vatican, Vespas & Rome's Nightlife
Aug 2nd, 2010 at 11:00AM:
GadlingTV's Travel Talk, episode 25 – Click above to watch video after the jump
For the final installment in our series on Rome, we've saved the best for last & are satisfying our thirst for adventure. Watch as we tour the Vatican, rent Vespas, and check out Rome's impromptu night life.
On the couch, we'll dissect the differences between the Vatican & the Holy See, and ...Letter from Russia: Moscow's latest revolution (is culinary)
Jul 22nd, 2010 at 12:28PM: Gone are the bandit days of the Russian Wild East, the roaring 1990s, when the pyrotechnic shrapnel from mafiya bombings and Kalashnikov shoot-outs ripped flaming through the shroud of Moscow's endless snowy nights. No longer do caged strippers gyrate in warehouse discotheques under the deadpan stares of shaven-skulled mafiozy. Vanished are the night club dance floors teeming with gorgeous hookers ...Drunk mailman threatens mayhem, grounded for half decade
May 4th, 2009 at 7:30PM: Why is it always the postmen?
Robert Russell had added "former" to his "mail carrier" title after being laid off by Royal Mail. So, he took a trip to Malaga, Spain. This isn't unusual; plenty of people do something nice for themselves after losing their jobs. It's great for morale.
It didn't work.
Russell got wasted on lager and vodka in the Gatwick departure lounge. By the time he was ..."Vodka Pipeline" Links Russia and Estonia
Mar 6th, 2009 at 2:00PM: An ambitious group of smugglers managed to build a 1.2 mile long pipeline across the Russian-Estonian border with the intention of pumping contraband vodka into the EU. According to this story from the Telegraph, they actually managed to get more than 1630 gallons across the border before their operation was discovered and shut down. It seems that vodka is far cheaper in Russia than Estonia, so ...Freeze your backside off at the new Minus 5 Vodka lounge in Vegas
Nov 7th, 2008 at 11:00AM: It's no secret that Vegas is hurting at the moment, prices of most hotels in Sin City are way down, as are visitor numbers. Thankfully that does not mean enterprising people have stopped bringing new entertainment to the city that never sleeps. The newest attraction in the desert is the Minus 5 Ice Lounge - a sub zero Vodka lounge located in the Mandalay place resort at Mandalay Bay. Minus 5 ...Drunken British women try to open door midflight -- divert plane to Germany
Jul 28th, 2008 at 1:00PM: It seems that every week these days another passenger is getting drunk on an aircraft and making a fool of him or her self. This past weekend, two women returning from the hedonistic island of Kos to Manchester, England, were so drunk that they tried to open up the aircraft door to "get some fresh air". They had apparently smuggled their own alcohol onto the flight then had been smoking in the ...Another day, another drunken airline passenger
Jul 1st, 2008 at 11:30AM: I wonder if the reason that everyone seems to be getting drunk on airlines lately is because the stress level is so high. Perhaps it's a means to deal with the stress of having no leg room or no meal during an excruciatingly long flight. Jeff posted an article about an unruly passenger getting drunk, throwing ice and feeling up flight attendants last week, while the week prior another woman lit a ...Gadling TAKE FIVE: Week of May 24--May 30
May 30th, 2008 at 4:00PM: Although, finding deals are still on our minds (poor Iva in Moscow is having little luck), food and drink has been one topic of interest this week.
Iva, for example, has found some solace in the vodka. She's discovered loads of it, and all brands are not the same.
Aaron has clued us into saying good-bye to free peanuts--even though they cost peanuts-- and has told us where the best ...Bolshoi in Russia: Train to St. Petersburg and other excuses for obscene vodka-drinking
May 28th, 2008 at 9:30AM: Greetings from Moscow! Bolshoi in Russia is my variation on Big in Japan. (Bolshoi means "Big" in Russian. Get it?) Stay tuned for my live dispatches from Russia.
There are two ways to travel between Moscow and St. Petersburg and they cost about the same. Either you fly--and you have to be prepared to fly Aeroflot or worse--or you take the train. They cost is about the same: $100 one-way. It was ...Bolshoi in Russia: How to get women to drink more vodka
May 27th, 2008 at 10:30AM: Greetings from Moscow! Bolshoi in Russia is my variation on Big in Japan. (Bolshoi means "Big" in Russian. Get it?) Stay tuned for my live dispatches from Russia this week.
I have never seen a bigger vodka selection than a vodka isle in any supermarket in Russia. There must, literally, be hundreds of vodkas to choose from. The selection ranges from bottles with generic titles, costing as little ...Gadling TAKE FIVE: Week of May 17-23
May 23rd, 2008 at 5:00PM: This has been a week where deal snagging has been a bit elusive and prices are rising.
For example:
Grant noted American Airlines announcement that it will start charging $15 for the first checked bag.
Jeffrey gave us details about how we can expect the price of plane tickets to keep going up as the availability of flights go down.
Aaron made note of the higher gas ...Absolut Vodka causes a stir with Mexico ad
Apr 7th, 2008 at 12:00PM: Absolut Vodka is known round the world for its creative ad campaigns. With the most recent campaign however, the Swedish company managed to cause an uproar from U.S. consumers who threatened to boycott the vodka after seeing the "In An Absolut World" ad which depicted the Southwestern U.S. as a part of Mexico. The ad only ran in Mexico, but when it was posted to a conservative blog, it began to ...Man chugs a litre of vodka in airport line-up
Dec 12th, 2007 at 7:12PM: You know those new regulations that prohibit you from taking liquids on a plane? They can be near fatal for a vodka lover, according to this story: Recently, a man at the Nuremberg Airport almost died from alcohol poisoning when he downed a litre of vodka because he was told he'd either have to get rid of it or pay a fee to have his bag checked as cargo. He chugged the potent liquid in a matter of ...Photo of the Day (2/10/07)
Feb 10th, 2007 at 5:31PM: There is something about StrudelMonkey's photos of food and beverage that always seem to draw me to them. Perhaps it is my insatiable appetite to experience new bits, nibbles, sips and guzzles in exotic areas. In this most recent addition to the Gadling Flickr pool we are lured into the Absolut Ice Bar in Stockholm, Sweden by two drinks on ice. And when I say on ice I really mean in ice - ice ...Battling Russian Vodkas
Apr 10th, 2006 at 8:25AM: Probably should have let Neil handle this one, but what the hey. I feel like we should cue the banjo music from Deliverance...albeit played with a Balalaika. So what's the dealeo? In Russia, the country that we most often think of when we consider vodka, there appears to be a serious debate going on about which brands can lay claim to being called "Russian." This is important because the ...
