Non ski resorts: Gearing up for a future without snow

by Neil Woodburn on

This is slightly scary but not entirely unexpected.

According to a New York Times report, ski resorts in Europe are making the necessary adjustments to continue attracting people to the resorts after global warming has all but eliminated the possibility to ski.

Resorts are already investing in more snow making machines, but this alone won’t solve the problem. Instead, in places like the Swiss Alps, ski resorts are beefing up their “off-slope attractions” and adding spas, shopping, sun decks, pools, and funky architecture to attract non-skiers to snowless ski resorts.

It’s a scary world out there folks. Better get your skiing in before Dubai becomes the only place on this planet where you can do it.

Parc Guell: Gaudi’s other masterpiece

by Grant Martin on

When most people think of Antoni Gaudi, they usually think of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. There are many, many examples of Gaudi’s genius architecture throughout the city, however, from private residences to lamp posts to entrance pavilions.

Take Parc Guell. Originally commissioned as a private community by the then-famous Count Eusebi de Guell, Gaudi was hired to plan and oversee the construction of the site overlooking Barcelona. Among the twisting paths and steep terrain, Gaudi built a fantastic opening gate into a main terrace, where his Gothic mosaic architecture dominates the landscape. Benches, sculptures and columns roll over the hill and its easy to get lost across the sprawling park.

Although Parc Guell never became the community that The Count had planned, it did fall into the hands of the city, where it was subsequently turned into a public work. It’s fun to wander around the park in modern times and wonder how the architects had planned their Eden to be.

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Photo of the Day (12/3/2007)

by Iva Skoch on

Since Vladimir Putin just won the elections in Russia (can you believe it?), I decided to go with the theme of present-day Russia for today’s photo. Here is a picture by Yuri Mamchur, author of the Russia Blog, of a parking lot by a 5-star hotel in Moscow. It would almost make you believe that Russians like Mercedes cars, wouldn’t it.

Until, of course, you remember that although there are a lot of Mercedes-cruising socialites in Moscow, the average male in Russia has a life expectancy of less than 60 years. And those are typically not exactly Mercedes-cruising years…

***To have your photo considered for the Gadling Photo of the Day, go over to the Gadling Flickr site and post it.***

Exposed in a Travelpod: The world’s first mobile hotel room

by Kelly Amabile on

Writing about normal rooms reminded me of another possible (albeit odd) sleeping alternative to traditional hotels. I first learned about the Travelpod from this Age article by Benji Laynado: For those too posh to pitch recounts Benji’s experience sleeping in one of Travelodge’s mobile hotel rooms — a transparent glass structure with clear polycarbonate walls, carpeting, AC, double bed and other furniture, but no shower. This is the second generation Travelpod, a revised version of the original room that was trialed in 2006, with added design features.

For about $65 bucks a night, the mobile hotel room can be transported from one of Britain’s Travelodge hotels to any destination that allows permission for the room to be placed there. Benji chose a field for his out-of-the-box-while-in-a-box travel experience, and had a good night’s rest in what he calls “the top of the camping chain.” Interesting concept, but confusing, as Benji notes: “I came here to get outdoors, yet everything around me is trying to convince me indoors is great, too.”

The book Sex in a Tent reviews love-making tips for locations other than a typical tent — canoe, beach, sturdy tree — but what about the Travelpod? Would hooking-up in one of these count as an outdoor sexual experience if the structure was simply plopped down in a rural location? Something unimportant to ponder, eh? And how come I can’t find anything about similar structures in the US? Has any American hotel chain experimented with transportable hotel rooms yet? The whole thing seems quite silly to me, but still fascinating to follow these outlandish travel trends.

Amazing Race Season 12, Recap 5

by Jamie Rhein on

Last week, Martha’s recap left our Amazing Race traveling pals in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. That’s where this episode started off since the teams stayed here for a night of R&R at the Hotel d’Ville.

Although the people of Burkina Faso were described as “warm and kind” by one of the teams, that’s not the general feeling the teams are now having towards each other. Their determination to win the race has heated up, so no one is chit chatting or making nice whenever the teams’ paths cross.

“Our eyes are full of fire and we’re going to use our fire [to win] ” explained Rachel when the teams found out that their next leg was to Vilnius, Lithuania.

Everyone seemed peppy with this news. “I heard they make some great pastries,” said Ron, as he and Christina headed off in a taxi to find out how to get there.

Getting out of Burkina Faso was not exactly a slam dunk. Since the rules said they had to use an official ticket office, the teams had to find one that was open.

Here’s a tip. If you’re ever in Ouagadougou, head for an Air France office. While most teams piled into the Onatel Internet cafe first after finding the airport virtually empty, Ron and Christina headed to the Air France office in town to let a ticket agent do their searching for them. This got them on a plane with the least amount of fuss. That’s my opinion.

Ron did do what any savvy traveler should do, though. When the first flight option was not satisfactory, he insisted that the travel agent look again and include another airlines. “She’s fossilizing her mind to Air France,” he said. For once, his stubbornness paid off. They got an earlier flight.

Watching people try to get flights out reminded me just how fickle air travel can be. Flights that are full may actually have room. That’s what Nicolas and Donald found out. They were told a flight was full only to find out that one of the other teams bought two tickets on that flight after they were told it wasn’t available. Nicolas’s frustration with the ticket agent may not have helped.

Whether you’re flying from Ouagadougou to Vilnius via Paris then Amsterdam, Frankfurt or Prague, you’ll arrive in time to still be in the thick of the race. Christina and Ron, who were the only once to travel through Prague, arrived last, but because they weren’t frazzled, they were able to catch up fairly easily and Ron’s hernia had a chance to settle down. As soon as they figured out that navigating Vilnius in a car wasn’t easy, they hired a taxi so they could follow it to St. Ann’s Church, the place where they would find the instructions for their first task. What a great idea. Keep this in mind. It’s possible to hire a taxi to get you where you need to go, even if you are driving a separate car.

TK, also going with the stay cool approach, explained “Teams that stress out and use useless energy will loose.” As this episode progressed, illustrations of this principal at work were increasingly evident. For example, the blonds, unlike cool Ron and Christiana, found their frustration with each other increasing by the minute, and it almost got them hit by a bus. I could almost hear the sound of crunching metal, but they missed disaster by a hair. While they drove around bickering and looking for the church, most teams were already involved with the first task.

The task involved a scavenger hunt through the Old Quarter of Vilnius, a lovely area of quaint, baroque style buildings of apartments, cafes, restaurants, and shops. One of the team members had to find a woman doing a chore such as beating a rug in order to receive a clue, plus a basket of baked goods. That clue led to another person who the basket was to be delivered to, and who had another clue to another location and so on. The idea was to simulate a Lithuanian message service.

I loved this part. The number of people who agreed to take team members to the spots they needed to go to was heartwarming. Everyone who knew where a place said “Sure” when he or she was asked, “Can you take me there?”

If you ever feel like no one in the world feels helpful anymore, head to Lithuania. The people are gems, at least on a reality TV show. One of the things I also liked about this segment is that it enlisted the help of many Lithuanians. They seemed as if they were having as much fun being part of the race.

TK and Rachel and Vyxsin and Kynt breezed through this task, totally opposite to Nicolas who was vexed by this little game. His communication problems with getting info out of people seemed to have followed him from Burkina Faso to Lithuania. Although, he and his grandfather arrived in first place, they were one of the last to get all the clues and head off to Rumsiskes, the town where Lietuvos Liaudies Buities Muziejus, an outdoor ethnographic museum is located.

As soon as Vyxsin and Kynt arrived at this living history museum, they lit up. The traditional Mid-Summer’s Festival was going on. All the people dressed up in medieval garb and pagan wear made them feel right at home, Kynt said as he and Vyxsin headed off to search for a Travelocity gnome among 100 others. “It’s a lot easier to care for than a chicken,” said Vyxsin, as they found their gnome. Gnomes are popular items in Lithuania. I expect you could pick one up one of these babies as a souvenir. From the looks of the ones throughout the gardens and on windowsills the variety is extensive.

Once the teams found a gnome, they had to complete the road block. Once choice was to walk on old-fashioned board stilts, and the other was to count all the slates on a very, very, very long picket fence. Oh, I could have so nailed this one. Walking on stilts is one of the things I can do. Counting those slates would have made me mental, though.While the teams who chose this task were counting, the folks at the festival played music in their faces, banged sticks on the slats, and basically did all those things that make you want to slug someone.

Ron had the most dramatic moments with his stilt walking. He ended up falling hard in the dirt, but picked himself up, hernia and all, to make a rousing 3rd place finish with Christina calling him her hero.

If you’ve ever wondered how traveling can pull people together or drive them apart, this section of the episode was it, particularly if your names are Jennifer and Nathan. My word, those two would win if there was a race for bickering and throwing verbal barbs. The blonds were almost as bad. They stopped getting along in Burkina Faso. While they were arguing about how best to count the slats, Nicolas, who discovered he made a mistake, but kept his cool, was able to get the number of slats correct (717) after adjusting for his error, and head off with grandpa to the Pit Stop at Aukstaitija Windmill. They came in next to last.

The blonds, in tears, arrived at the Pit Stop as the sun was setting. The sky, along with the circa 1884 windmill did make a lovely backdrop for their demise. What they learned by this experience is that their life of manicures, pedicures and facials back in the U.S. didn’t amount to a hill of beans on this global dash. As they strode back up the hill past the windmill, their silhouettes against the brilliant reddish- orange streaks of the sky, their last comments were to the effect that they would always be friends. Aw. That’s sweet. From the looks of next week’s episode preview, I’m not sure if the same could be said of Nathan and Jennifer.

Oh, yeah, who came in first? TK and Rachel. Their coolheadedness and pleasant ways got them a 10 day-trip to Japan. Azaria and Hendekea were happy to come in 4th and didn’t seem at all disappointed that they lost their first place standing on this particular leg.