Weekend tip: Stockholm goes all out for 08.08.08

by Anna Brones on

Tomorrow (08.08.08) not only marks the start of the 2008 Olympic Games, but it’s also the day for Stockholm’s Go08 festival. Why does the 08.08.08 date carry significance for Stockholmites? It’s their telephone area code; in Swedish they’re often referred to as “08ers.” So because Friday’s calendar date was special the City of Stockholm decided to throw a party, and it’s going to be full of music, food and dancing into the late hours.

Along with various musical acts playing in two of the cities main squares — Kungsträdgården and Medborgarplatsen — Stockholm’s Old Town will be the battleground of a “water war.” The water war isn’t part of the city’s official festivities, but if you’re in the area and planning on doing some sightseeing you just might want to bring your water gun for the showdown.

Don’t expect to pay too much for Go08; all activities are somewhere between free and 8 SEK (about $1.30). And what city-wide party wouldn’t be complete without fireworks? There will be a whole 8 minutes and 8 seconds of them in the evening to look forward to. Seems like there isn’t a better day to be in the Swedish capital.

Photo of the day #10,000! (8/07/08)

by Kent Wien on

Today’s photo of the day is listed in the Gadling Flickr photo pool as the 10,000th picture added. And for that, it deserves some credit. Luckily, it’s a stunning shot of the Eiffel Tower. Congratulations, RuthannOC!

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!

Indonesia’s New Hot Spot

by Josh Lew on

No. It’s not Bali or Jakarta. It’s Bandung.

Jakarta’s little sister has a rapidly growing tourism industry. Though most of the visitors are from the nearby mega-city, regional and international travelers have been arriving in ever increasing numbers.

Why?

There’s no surf in Bandung, but…

It’s cool (temperature-wise). Located in the highlands above Jakarta, it is the place to take a break from the tropical, sea-level heat. A two hour drive (that’s not taking Jakarta’s famed traffic into account) means it’s within striking distance for residents and tourists.

Also on Bandung’s plus side: an insanely diverse street food scene and a healthy number of shopping malls. Because of the high concentration of universities, there are some youthful and energetic nightlife venues.

Is there anything wrong with Bandung? If you consider a lack of public transit and an abundance of untrustworthy taxi drivers a problem, then yes, it is lacking in some areas. Popular shopping and eating spots get elbow-to-elbow on the weekend, a by-product of the city’s growing vacation reputation.

The increasing number of visitors to the city shows that, for now anyway, the good is outweighing the bad. Tourists with their mind set on a Southeast Asian vacation will be hearing more about Bandung in the near future.

Couple gets hitched while flying on top of two biplanes

by Jamie Rhein on


I’m sure Orville and Wilbur Wright would get a kick out of seeing how their invention has opened doors to new ways of finding wedded bliss.

When Katie Hodgson and Darren McWalters climbed up onto the top of the biplanes–one each, they weren’t the only ones getting strapped into place. A minister was strapped onto the 3rd plane.

My first thought was when I watched this video, I wonder where they found the daredevil minister? I was also impressed Katie was able to climb aboard in such a lovely dress. I also wondered if this couple knows the song, “On the Wings of Love?”

The wedding took place in Great Britain on Tuesday. For a detailed account, click here for an article I found. The groom used to be afraid of heights.

Top off that United frequent flyer account with Award Accelerator

by Grant Martin on

United Airlines just fired up a tool on their website called Award Accelerator, a tool that essentially lets you pay to double or triple earned miles on any of your flights. Basically, you pay a sliding fee on check-in that effectively equates to three cents per mile, then at the end of your flight the airline dumps the bonus into your account.

So say you’re flying 500 miles from Detroit to New York City. Pay fifteen bucks and you can earn 1000 miles for the trip, or pay thirty and you can earn 1500.

So when is this useful?

Well, if you divide the cost of a regular domestic award ticket, 25,000 miles, by 0.03 cents/mile, you get a total of 750$ spent for those miles. In other words, if you bought all of your miles for an award ticket this way you would be paying 750$ for that ticket — too much for any old domestic ticket. So it doesn’t make sense to double or triple your miles on every flight.

The instance in which this tool might be handy, however, is when you need just a few extra miles to reach that award tier from which you can book. You’re at 24,000 miles, you’ll earn 500 on your next trip and want to push that to 25,000, for example. In this case, it makes sense.

Just try not to make a habit out of it.