Gadling Dev

Sample Post Number One

by Mark Priestap Oct 16th 2007

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Vestibulum suscipit hendrerit arcu. Nulla dictum. Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae; Praesent pellentesque elit eget tortor. Curabitur id ante in libero pharetra ornare. Morbi interdum dapibus lectus. Vestibulum massa erat, blandit eget, sagittis eget, placerat et, lacus. Donec id diam ac nisi nonummy pellentesque. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos hymenaeos. Praesent a lacus vitae elit feugiat feugiat. Maecenas in dolor in dolor vulputate dictum. Pellentesque eleifend augue non magna. Quisque vel odio eu mi aliquam luctus. Vestibulum convallis ligula et metus. Suspendisse accumsan, urna eu lobortis tincidunt, lacus tortor viverra tortor, sed porta nulla est eget dolor

Continue reading Sample Post Number One

Filed under: Europe, France

Climbing Icebergs with Will Gadd

by Justin Glow Aug 10th 2007

First, a warning: don't try this at home. Not that you would, since you'd either have to live in Greenland or keep monstrous icebergs around the house. No icebergs? OK, then read on.

The photos here, and the amazing video that accompanies it, take us to, well, not Greenland, but a series of icebergs that came off Greenland and which lie ten miles off Labrador's coast. The climber in the video here is Will Gadd, a 38-year old adrenaline junkie, who also happens to be one of the top ice climbers in the world...which I thinks helps matters when you're talking about such ballsy stuff. Me? I think I'll stick to the neighborhood climbing wall.

Filed under: Talking Travel, Here's a really long category name for testing, Asia, North America

Photo of the Day (8/4/07)

by Justin Glow Aug 10th 2007

Today's Photo of the Day comes from Gadling reader pirano who, back in May, shot this McDonald's sign in front of the destroyed former Serbian military headquarters in Belgrade. The contrast between this bright, jubilant symbol in the forefront and the stark, war-torn building behind it is unsettling. Plus, the fries look like fingers! I'm not lovin' it. Great shot, pirano.

If you'd like to contribute a Photo of the Day shot for consideration, please visit our Gadling Flickr pool and upload your favorites.

Filed under: Talking Travel, Here's a really long category name for testing, Asia, North America

Mobile Transformer Hotels

by Justin Glow Aug 10th 2007

Festivals, fairs, and other events often require lots of free space to serve as a venue. As a result, they are often held on the outskirts of town where, unfortunately, there aren't too many hotels to house the masses who attend.

Hotelmóvil, a new Spanish company, has come up with a simple solution to this problem; bring a hotel to the masses.

Hotelmóvil is an ingeniously designed 18-wheeler which can motor up to an outdoor event, find a parking spot, and then transform into an 11 room hotel with the push of a button and a few hydraulic lifts.

Eight bedrooms reside on the bottom floor while three luxury suites, which can sleep five people each, are located on a second floor. Each room has its own bathroom, air conditioning, TV, DVD player and internet access.

Very cool! Imagine attending the Roskilde Festival in Denmark and actually having a nice place to stay instead of camping in the mud.

But, you'll have to wait. Hotelmóvil won't roll off the assembly lines until 2008.

(via Business 2.0, but not yet online)

Filed under: Talking Travel, Test Feature, Here's a really long category name for testing, Asia, Europe, North America, South America, Africa, Oceana, Antarctica

Midwestern Bluegrass in China with Ironweed

by Justin Glow Aug 10th 2007

My aunt, Jane Accurso, is in a traditional bluegrass band; she plays lead guitar and sings. They're called Ironweed, and they're one of Columbia, Missouri's most well known groups in a burgeoning local music scene. Columbia has a sister city in China: Laoshan, which is roughly 30km east of Qingdao (Tsingtao). A few months back, the Columbia Friends of China -- an organization dedicated to promoting sister-city relationships -- accepted applications from local Columbia bands to be considered for an all-expenses-paid spot playing on stage at the Quingdao International Beer Festival. Ironweed won the spot.

Until yesterday afternoon, Jane had never left the United States. "We leave for the airport in just a couple of hours," she wrote on the band's blog. "I don't even know how to use chopsticks!"

The band will be updating their blog from the road, sharing the experiences of being one of the few traditional bluegrass bands to play in China. They've also got a Flickr page for photos. I can't wait to follow along.

Filed under: Asia, North America

New Airline in Iraq Bans Iraqis

by Justin Glow Aug 10th 2007

There's a brand new airline in Iraq fittingly called ExPat Airways, and aside from limiting food and alcohol on the flight, they're also banning citizens of Iraq, among other countries.

According to ABC News, "Expat Airways said it is only accepting U.S. and Western citizens on its flights as it tries to capitalize on the thousands of U.S. contractors traveling in and out of the Iraqi capital each month." This is the first airline to restrict passengers based on nationality. Also barred from boarding are Indians, Pakistanis, and people from other non-Western countries, according to the Seattle Times.

The only route runs from Amman, Jordan to Baghdad, Iraq, and costs a whopping $450 each way. [via]

Filed under: Asia

Best Hot Dogs in Chicago

by Justin Glow Aug 10th 2007

America was introduced to the hot dog back in 1983 at the Chicago World's Fair.

While the hot dog has gone on to be an American favorite consumed all over the country, the proud city of Chicago has not forgotten the roots of the auspicious dog. In fact, Chicago continues to be the hot dog center of America, consistently and proudly producing some of the country's greatest wieners.

But which are the best? Which hot dog stand pumps out the very finest, finger lickin', mouth watering, wieners?

Narrowing down the best hot dog in Chicago is most certainly a sacrilegious undertaking at best. To say one dog is better than another could in fact constitute blasphemy in some circles--that's how seriously they take their dogs in the Windy City.

Nonetheless, Travel & Leisure decided to brave the waters and pick the very best dogs the city has to offer.

So, if you're heading off to this fine city any time soon, print out the list and try some of the dogs yourself. If, on the other hand, you happen to live in Chicago, you might want to tear up the list; you no doubt have your favorites already.

Filed under: Talking Travel, Here's a really long category name for testing, North America

Best Underground Transit In the World Is...

by Justin Glow Aug 10th 2007

...apparently London's, but this is a list compiled by Virgin, a British company, so go figure. Anyone who has ever spent more than two seconds in London's tube during rush hour must question their sanity.

Don't get me wrong, I think London has a great and extensive subway system but during rush hour it is a nightmare - packed and no air-con. Plus, it costs 4GBP (about $8) for a single ride, unless you buy an Oyster Card, their version of a pass which is well-worth it but still very expensive.

Anyway, here is Virgin's Top 11 Underground Transit Systems in the World:

London
Paris
Moscow
Madrid
Tokyo
Seoul
New York
Montreal
Beijing
Hong-Kong
Sao Paulo, Brazil

Out of all of these, my vote goes to the Paris and Hong-Kong subway systems. New York's is relatively cheap ($2) and easy to navigate, but geez, it looks, smells and operates like something from a third world country!

Filed under: Talking Travel, Test Feature, Here's a really long category name for testing, Asia, Europe, North America, South America

Across Northern Europe: Shining a Light On Iceland

by Justin Glow Aug 10th 2007

There's something nice about traveling in Iceland. There are a number of nice things, I'm sure, but one came to mind specifically as soon as I landed. This nice thing is nice if you're a certain kind of traveler. Namely, the kind who maybe sometimes pretends to be a little poorer than you really are. We're all that kind of traveler by month two in South Asia. That's the traveler I was when I chose the 250 baht guesthouse in Bangkok and scoffed at the 500 baht room with aircon. I was pretending to be poor.

But there's no need to strike a pose in Iceland because, friends, I am poor. On my yearlong trip I didn't carry a tent and rarely camped but I'm glad I have one now. Even my slab of campsite grass is 520 baht (that's US$13 if you're not Thai) and a real roof would have run me about $100. Iceland is expensive, that's what I'm trying to say. Iceland is small and homogeneous and cold. Those are cliches too. That last list hasn't proven that true to me so far but the expensive thing is as true as an $80 entree.

Continue reading Across Northern Europe: Shining a Light On Iceland

Filed under: Talking Travel, Test Feature, Europe

One for the Road - China: Restaurant Ordering Guides

by Justin Glow Aug 10th 2007

As a sidebar to this month's Chinese Buffet series, throughout August, One for the Road will highlight travel guides, reference books and other recommended reads related to life or travel in China.

The final two books from the True Run Media team that I'd like to mention this week are their brand new restaurant ordering guides: Healthy Chinese Cuisine and Spicy Chinese Cuisine are compact glossy flip books that are handy for making sure you order what you really want to eat. Each book includes color photos of popular dishes, and is accompanied by the name of entrees in Chinese and Pinyin, as well as an English, Russian and French translation of all the meals.

A variety of culinary regions are represented -- Sichuan, Hunan, Guizhou, Yunnan and Xinjiang. Ingredients for each featured dish are also included, so you know exactly what is supposed to be in what you are ordering. No guarantees, of course -- but a book like this might be especially useful for folks with food allergies. The spicy book has dishes like sour lotus root, Kung Pao chicken, spicy cucumber and all kinds of hot stir fry. These guys love their spicy food so much that they also host a Chili Pepper Eating Contest each summer. Is your mouth watering yet?

Filed under: Talking Travel, Test Feature, Here's a really long category name for testing, Asia

Music is Airborne at the Stratford Music Festival

by Justin Glow Aug 10th 2007

If you're planning on heading to Ontario this summer for the you'll be treated to a unique performance that comes from the sky. The music festival is introducing what they call The Sky Orchestra, which consists of several hot air balloons, each with a speaker attached, that float through the sky over Stratford and delight the crowds with music and readings from A Midsummers Nights' Dream.

The obvious benefit of this type of music performance is that you don't have to crank your neck and sit on someone's shoulders in order to see the stage, but the drawback is that you will have to get up early -- the performance starts at the ghastly hour of 7am, presumably to lull festival-goers out of their slumber with the soothing sounds of the symphony.

The Sky Orchestra happens this Saturday, August 11th, in Stratford.

Thanks to Marilyn at Intelligent Traveler for the tip!

Filed under: Talking Travel, Test Feature, Asia, Europe, North America, Africa, Antarctica