Video of the Day – Aurora Borealis over Tromsø, Norway

by Stephen Greenwood on

If witnessing the northern lights is one of the top items on your travel wish list, the ideal time of year for seeing them (March & April) is quickly approaching. But if Alaska, Norway, or Finland is just too far to travel this year, you can watch this video instead!

Shot by photographer Tor Even Mathisen at the Aurora Borealis over Tromsø, Norway, this timelapse video was created by taking a rapid series of photographs on a Canon 5D Mark II later stitched together in Adobe After Effects. By taking individual snapshots, Mathisen was able to capture a remarkably crisp image with stunning color.

If you’ve captured your own timelapse photography series, we want to see it! Share with us by posting in the comments section below and it could be our next Video of the Day.

Roman child’s footprints discovered in northern England

by Sean McLachlan on


Every now and then an archaeological discovery makes me realize just how much we have in common with our ancestors.

Just this morning I was telling my son to keep out of the mud. I didn’t want his shoes to get dirty, you see, and didn’t give much thought to the footprints he left behind.

Two thousand years ago in Roman Britain a child was hopping or skipping beside the road. Archaeologists working in Yorkshire found the kid’s footprints–a right one followed by two left prints–during an excavation in 2009. They’ve only now been made public. Sadly, the archaeologists weren’t able to preserve the prints, but were at least able to photograph these ghostly traces of the past.

The spot was the location of an old stream near Healam Bridge Roman fort, which some researchers believe may have been the home of the mysterious “lost” Ninth Legion, which vanished without a trace from Roman records after 117 AD. In addition to the footprints, archaeologists found an industrial estate that supported the fort, where they uncovered the foundations of buildings, a millstone, pottery, glass, coins, and even the skeleton of a sacrificed horse placed under the foundations of a building for good luck. They also found evidence that the Romans wore socks with their sandals.

The dig was sponsored by the Highways Agency, which has posted photos of some of the finds on their Flickr site.

[Images courtesy of Northern Archaeological Associates Ltd]

Blogger Justin Delaney

by Justin Delaney on

Introducing a new blogger at Gadling, Justin Delaney…

Where was your photo taken:
This photo was taken in Dahab, Egypt on the Red Sea – one of the coolest places I have ever been. Here I am enjoying a well deserved sheesha after climbing Mount Sinai.

Where do you live now:
I live in Dallas, TX.

Scariest airline flown:
On a flight from Bagan, Yangon Airways had me gripping my armrest in white knuckled terror. As we flew over the plains of Burma, the plane bobbed and weaved nature’s windy jabs, and I felt my stomach slingshot to the back of my throat. Their slogan, “You’re safe with us” seemed ominous under these circumstances. My terror hit a personal threshold when the flight attendant spilled a drink on some guy’s head three rows up. Panic spread throughout the cabin. I kissed the ground when we landed. A few months later, their aviation license was revoked.

Favorite city/place:
Hong Kong is my favorite city. Nothing hustles like HK. It is grimy and beautiful – everything about that city is balanced like yin and yang. Most people do not realize that beyond the forest of skyscrapers, Hong Kong is 40% parkland. My favorite place is 100 feet underwater in Indonesia, getting to know some local pelagics.

Most remote corner of the globe visited:
The rain-forest of Northern Sulawesi in Indonesia is about as far off the map as one can get. I stayed in an old bungalow on a deserted beach about a 2 hour drive and one hour walk from civilization. Not the best place to get food poisoning, but it happened.Favorite guidebook series:
I am a Lonely Planet guy.

Type of traveler:
I am definitely a flash-packer, meaning I carry a backpack, but it is filled with electronics and a Nikon DSLR. I also prefer guesthouses and hotels with free wifi and comfortable beds, though I am fine with slumming it.

When I’m not writing for Gadling, I’m…
Eagerly awaiting acceptance letters from MBA programs.

Favorite foreign dish?
In Rome, I fell hard for Pecorino al Tartufo. It is a Florentine cheese with embedded black truffles. Some people day-dream about beaches or days at the spa; I day-dream about cheese.

Next Trip
This May, I am marrying the love of my life in St. Croix and following it up with a trip to Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Dubai. My fiance, Kristin, also has a passion for travel. We have visited 25 countries together since we started dating in 2008.

London 2012 Olympics schedule and ticket prices released

by Sean McLachlan on

If you’re thinking of going to the London 2012 Olympics, now is the time to start planning.

The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games has just released the competition schedule and ticket prices. The race is on for tickets, hotel reservations, and flights. Personally I’m avoiding the whole thing. London’s transport system is chaotic at the best of times, and an influx of hordes of sports fans isn’t going to do it any good. My family and I spend every summer in Oxford but we’re headed elsewhere in 2012. Being only an hour from London, rental prices in Oxford are sure to hit the stratosphere.

While the Olympics will be a royal pain in the ass for the English, it promises to be a memorable event for everyone else. The organizers boast there will be “19 days of sporting competition. . .over 640 sessions, across more than 300 events, 39 disciplines, and 26 sports.” If you love seeing the best athletes in the world competing live, this is the place to be.

For those of you planning to brave London in 2012, tickets go on sale March 15 and are sure to be snapped up quickly. You can register on the site to make purchasing quicker once tickets do go on sale. This is especially important if you’re outside the UK and Europe because you’ll have to apply for tickets via your local National Olympic Committee (NOC) starting March 15. For the Paralympics you need to get tickets from your National Paralympic Committee (NPC) starting September 9. Some NOCs and NPCs may appoint an Authorised Ticket Reseller (ATR) to sell tickets. If you register with the site via the above link, they’ll send you information about how to get tickets from an acronym near you.

And don’t forget to reserve a hotel or flat early, early, early. You might want to consider staying outside of London to avoid the crowds. Oxford, St. Albans, and Hertford are three pleasant towns all about an hour away by rail or bus and all have local attractions worth seeing.

Princess Ships to Broadcast Historic Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton

by Chris Owen on

Just announced, the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton will be televised live on Princess Cruises ships on April 29. Passengers can follow along with full coverage of the historic wedding through BBC World’s broadcast of the event.

Some other lines made a similar announcement in December. Princess Cruises is doing it differently though.

“As this is the first British royal wedding in years we know there will be wide interest among our passengers,” said Jan Swartz, Princess Cruises executive vice president. “We at Princess also feel a connection with Prince William because his mother, Princess Diana, christened our original Royal Princess back in 1984.”
Princess is adding onboard viewing parties complete with British-style refreshments and royal-themed cocktails as they watch the most extensive coverage of this royal event. BBC is the official wedding broadcaster and has exclusive access inside Westminster Abbey during the ceremony.

Onboard events include a William and Kate look-alike contest and royal wedding trivia competitions.

Royal Wedding broadcasts are planned for all ships in the Princess fleet, subject to satellite availability. Shown on giant 300 sq ft “Movies Under The Stars” LED screens like they have the Super Bowl and Academy Awards in the past, there will be a good seat for everyone to watch the entire event.

Flickr photo by TossMyPancake