Photo of the Day – 51 Irish coffees for St. Patrick’s Day


Happy St. Patrick’s Day! If you’re celebrating today in America, you’re probably planning to drink green beer or a nice pint of Guinness, but why not warm up with an Irish coffee, spiked with whiskey (Irish, of course)? In today’s Photo of the Day, Flickr user jrodmanjr snapped these 51 coffees in action at San Francisco‘s Buena Vista Cafe, which claims to have brought the drink to the United States from Ireland’s Shannon Airport and holds the Guinness World Record for most Irish coffees served. A fun photo bonus: another Flickr user caught the same coffees (and jrodmanjr) at the Buena Vista.

Take any pics of your favorite beverages while traveling? Upload them to the Gadling Flickr pool and we may use it as a future Photo of the Day.

Beatles infest cruise ship, give back

But this is a good thing.

Beatles Tribute Cruise 2011 is on sale now and for fans of the fab four it doesn’t get any better than this. “8 days a week” is exactly how long fans will sail on Royal Caribbean’s Liberty of the Seas along with pretty much anybody who’s anybody in the world of Beatlemania.

Sailing from Miami with tribute-band The British Are Coming! and other special guests, fans will visit St Maarten, St Thomas, San Juan and Royal Caribbean’s private destination of Labadee in Haiti where Royal Caribbean is still helping, a year after a devastating earthquake rocked the island nation with donations of supplies each week.

Along for the ride is two-time Grammy award winning guitarist Laurence Juber, Beatles artist Shannon, TV and radio personality Tony Perkins, Beatles historian Tony Bramwell and Joe Johnson, the host & creator of the nationally syndicated radio show “BeatleBrunch“.

An annual event, this year’s cruise will be a fundraiser for Thrive/Survive Los Angeles to support young adult cancer survivors. On-board, a raffle will be held with close to 100 Beatles-related items to be given away during the sailing including a special Ultimate Weekend Tickets To Ride package for Abbey Road on the River along with autographed DVD’s from assorted post-Beatles artists.

For donation or ticket information contact Woody Lofton or register online.

Photo: Beatles Tribute Cruise

Irish airports will offer pre-flight US customs and immigration

Noel Dempsey, the transport minister of Ireland, has announced that he will meet with US Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff next week. The two will sign an agreement that will allow airports in Dublin and Shannon, Ireland to provide US customs screening and immigration checkpoints prior to take-off. This will exponential up the convenience factor and also make Ireland a more viable hub for travelers flying between the US and Europe.

Passengers flying out of Ireland will still have to pass through customs and immigration. But they will be able to do so in Irish airports, where it is bound to be less crowded and hectic. Also, since no further immigration or customs clearance is necessary, planes from Ireland can land in domestic terminals at US airports.

Currently, Dublin and Shannon have US immigration checkpoints for outbound fliers. However, passengers still have to go through customs once they reach the US. The agreement with US Homeland Security will not bring immediate change. Shannon will begin offering full immigration and customs service next summer. Dublin will start the program in 2010.

[Via Airwise]

Photo of the Day (10.16.08)

Let’s face it. Ireland has a lot of grass. But who knew the entire Shannon runway was grass?

RuthannOC captured this head-on shot of a Ryanair Boeing 737-800 at Ireland’s second largest airport. Her timing gives a unique look at the thick vertical stabilizer and the landing lights that were just turned on prior to taking off. (Wouldn’t that make them ‘takeoff lights’?)

Oh, and of course I was just kidding about the grass runway. But it sure would make for smooth landings, wouldn’t it?

Are you a Flickr user who’d like to share a travel related picture or two for our consideration? Submit it to Gadling’s Flickr group right now! We just might use it for our Photo of the Day!