Vacation Trends

Filed under: North America, United States, Photo of the Day

This Photo of the Day was taken in Monument Valley, Utah, and comes from Gadling Flickr pool member oilfighter. It is titled “Drama Over Cowboy Land.”

“I’ve been to Monument Valley a few times, but the sky was usually cloudless,” says oilfighter. “Boy, what a sunset. The clouds broke, and the wind sent them flying. The last light of the day gave the sky a pastel pink hue.”

Upload your best shots to the Gadling Group Pool on Flickr. Several times a week we choose our favorite images from the pool as Photos of the Day.

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Along with “Drama Over Cowboy Land,” oilfighter tells us, “I used a 2 stop graduated ND filter to balance the exposure, and thus bring out the colors in the clouds. What a beauty!”

Photo Of The Day: Drama Over Cowboy Land originally appeared on Gadling on Sat, 19 May 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Festivals and Events, Stories, Asia, Singapore, Ecotourism, Budget Travel

On the night of June 28, 2012, Singapore will debut its brand new Gardens by the Bay, which has been under construction for the past five years. The attraction is the first of its kind in Singapore. The launch takes place in the city’s new Marina Bay downtown area, and is part of the “city in a garden vision,” which aims to make Singapore a place of natural beauty.

From June 29 to July 8, to help celebrate the 134-acre garden’s grand opening, there will be concerts by Jason Mraz and Corrinne May, family carnivals, an eco-friendly green fair, trail hikes, movies under the stars, live entertainment, a photography competition, storytelling, educational demonstrations, children’s activities and more.

Gardens by the Bay will feature many different facets. Visitors can choose to wander through the cooled conservatories of the Flower Dome and Cloud Forest, stroll through the Supertrees in the Golden Garden, learn about Singapore’s plant history in the Heritage Gardens, discover aquatic life in the Dragonfly and Kingfisher Lakes and educate themselves on an array of flora in the World of Plants. And for some extra excitement, there will be choreographed light and sound shows in the Supertree Grove, changing floral displays in the Flower Dome and interpretive media performances to bring the story of plants to life.

Gardens by the Bay will be free to enter, and will be open to the public from 5:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. daily.

Singapore Celebrates Launch Of Bay South Garden With Two Weeks Of Events originally appeared on Gadling on Sat, 19 May 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Arts and Culture, Festivals and Events, Food and Drink, Europe, United Kingdom, Hotels and Accommodations, Luxury Travel

While the Olympic Games are associated with international sports, Andaz Liverpool Street in London will be focusing on international food during the weeks leading up to the big event.

The five-star luxury hotel will be looking to staff members of its four Andaz restaurants – 1901, Catch, Eastway and Miyako – to help create the menu. Pulling from the 40 different nationalities that represent the Andaz Liverpool Street team, 26 unique cultural dishes were created. This number isn’t random, as it embodies the 26 miles in a marathon. The tasty festival will run from July 2 to July 27, the 26 days leading up to the Olympic Opening Ceremony.

Some of the dishes attendees can expect include Korean Spicy Pork, Polish Golabki, Slovakian sheep’s cheese dumplings, Colombian bandeja paisa and South African Bobotie.

Get Ready For The Olympics With Andaz’s World Food Marathon originally appeared on Gadling on Sat, 19 May 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Arts and Culture, Learning, Stories

In your home country, you probably have no problem starting up a conversation with other locals. However, when traveling abroad it becomes a bit trickier. You may find yourself losing your temper in stressful situations, or feeling anxious asking simple questions, like for directions or where the nearest bathroom is. To help you successfully interact with locals on your next trip abroad, here are some tips I’ve learned through my travels.

Remember, You Are The Foreigner

Too often, I find tourists getting snippy with locals because they can’t understand what they’re saying. While in Vienna, I was actually with a girl who shouted at our waitress – who spoke German – for bringing the wrong salad. She actually had the nerve to turn to me and ask, “Why can’t she speak English?”

Because we’re in Vienna!

It was mortifying for me, mortifying for the waitress and should have been mortifying for this nasty tourist as well. The correct reaction would have been to either to politely try to explain to the waitress – with hand gestures and pointing to the menu, if necessary – that she brought the wrong entree. Or, just eat the salad. Sometimes, receiving the wrong order in an eatery adds some adventure to the trip, anyway.

Continue reading Tips For Interacting With Locals When Traveling Abroad

Tips For Interacting With Locals When Traveling Abroad originally appeared on Gadling on Sat, 19 May 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Europe, Italy

We were standing on a train platform in Ancona, Italy, waiting for a train, when my 4-year-old son, Leo, made a surprisingly prescient comment.

“I hope our train’s not ritardo,” he said, using the Italian word for delayed, which he’s heard many times on our trip.

Leo knows only four words in Italian but it occurred to me that two of them- ritardo and chiuso (closed) are two of the dreaded words that travelers in Italy become all too familiar with if they spend enough time in the country. Here are some of the others.

Chiuso. I’ll say up front that I’m an Italian-American who is extremely fond of Italy and the Italians but even the most ardent Italy-backer has to admit that the arbitrary and capricious opening hours in museums, shops and restaurants can be maddening. For an American used to supreme convenience, things seem to be chiuso more than they’re aperto. One could site thousands of examples, but here is just one I noticed in Parma: the museum attached to the Church of St. Constantine is open from 9:30 until 11 a.m., and then again from 3:30 to 5 p.m.

Continue reading The 10 Words Travelers Hate To Hear In Italy

The 10 Words Travelers Hate To Hear In Italy originally appeared on Gadling on Sat, 19 May 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Activism, Arts and Culture, History, Learning, Festivals and Events, North America, United States

It’s been almost a year since the passage of same-sex marriage in New York, and to help celebrate, the city is working with NYC & Company to bring two months of pride-related events. During June and July, 2012, the five boroughs will be presenting programming revolving around the flagship Heritage of Pride festival from June 16-24 in Manhattan, with motivational speakers, dancers, civil rights demonstrations, parades, street fairs and more. Some events include:

Queens Pride Parade and Multicultural Festival- On June 3 in Jackson Heights, there will be a parade starting at noon, making its way down 37th from 84th. There will be special guests, including the cast of Wicked and a festival at 11:00 a.m. at 75th Avenue and 37th Road.

The Rally- On June 13 from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m., well known performers and speakers from the LGBT community will come together at the East River Bandshell to entertain and enlighten.

The March- On June 24 at noon, a civil rights demonstration celebrating gay rights and recognizing causes will begin at 36th Street and Fifth Avenue.

Bronx Pride Festival- Taking place July 21 from 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at Crotona Park, will offer entertainment, a health fair and memorabilia.

To see a full listing of events for NYC Pride 2012, click here.

[Flickr photo via Guillaume Paumier]

New York Celebrates Gay Pride With Two Months Of LGBT Events originally appeared on Gadling on Sat, 19 May 2012 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It will be a very busy day today at the top of the world. After months of planning and weeks of preparation, today is the day that the climbers on Everest will begin heading up to the summit en masse. For most it will be the culmination of a lifelong dream to climb the highest mountain on Earth, for others it will simply be the latest climb in their pursuit of mountaineering greatness.

The road to a successful summit of Mt. Everest in May actually begins in March. That’s when teams of mountaineers first arrive in Kathmandu, Nepal, and start to make their way out to the remote Himalayan peak. If they’re climbing the most common route, from the South Side, they’ll first have to make an 8- to 10-day trek to Base Camp. They can also elect to climb from the North, which is generally less crowded, but in order to get there they’ll first have to cross the border into Tibet. Once they’ve made that crossing, however, they can actually reach BC by car.

After they’ve settled into their respective Base Camp, the process of acclimatization begins. By making a series of climbs up and down the mountain, going a little higher each time, the climbers prepare their bodies for the challenges of dealing with altitude. Slowly but surely they adjust to breathing less oxygen as they hone their technical skills and keep an eye on the weather. The climbers know they need the perfect window of opportunity to reach the summit, as misjudging the conditions can be fatal.

Continue reading 2012 Summit Day Begins On Everest

2012 Summit Day Begins On Everest originally appeared on Gadling on Sat, 19 May 2012 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: North America, United States, Transportation

Continue reading Historic Space Travel Event Signals Start Of New Space Race

Historic Space Travel Event Signals Start Of New Space Race originally appeared on Gadling on Sat, 19 May 2012 06:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: North America, United States, Transportation

Continue reading Historic Space Travel Event Signals Start Of New Space Race

Historic Space Travel Event Signals Start Of New Space Race originally appeared on Gadling on Sat, 19 May 2012 06:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: North America, United States, Photo of the Day

The Arizona desert seduces. When I was a kid, my grandparents collected a magazine called Arizona Highways, which featured honest-to-God, awe-inspiring vistas of the Grand Canyon State. (As you can see from the link, the periodical still exists.) I wouldn’t get to Arizona until I was 25, barreling down 93 from Las Vegas and crossing into New Mexico quickly. Those highways didn’t look like the highways of Arizona Highways. It would take a few additional visits before I got to see the intense beauty that filled the pages of my grandparents’ back copies.

Flickr user Styggiti captured this curious geological object on a hiking trail in Camp Creek Falls, Arizona.

Upload your favorite images to the Gadling Group Pool on Flickr. We choose our favorites from the bunch as Photos of the Day.

Photo Of The Day – Arizona Desert originally appeared on Gadling on Fri, 18 May 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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