Photo Of The Day: Turkish Tulips

by Meg Nesterov on

April showers bring May flowers, as the saying goes. We’re getting plenty of rain this month in Turkey, but we’ve had flowers. April is the big month for tulips in Istanbul, and you can see them planted all over town as 11.5 million were planted for this year’s season. I took today’s photo at Emirgan Park, one of the prime viewing spots of the Istanbul Tulip Festival. There are over 100 varieties planted in Emirgan Park alone, many in interesting patterns like the nazar evil eye, a major symbol of Turkish superstition.

You probably associate tulips with Holland, but it was Ottoman Turks who first cultivated them and introduced them to the Dutch in the 17th century. Today, Turkey is trying to reclaim the flower, growing millions of tulips with a goal of becoming an exporter again by 2014. Along with fresh flowers, you can see the influence of the tulip in the shape of the Turkish tea glasses, and as legend has it, the shape of the sultan’s turbans.

Have a springtime photo to share with us? Add it to the Gadling Flickr pool for our next Photo of the Day.

Overlooked London: The Bookshop Theatre At The Calder Bookshop

by Sean McLachlan on

Welcome to “Overlooked London,” the first in an occasional series on the lesser-known sights of one of the world’s greatest cities!

Anyone who loves theater will love London. From glitzy musicals to serious drama or weird experiments, London’s theater scene has it all. One place that has become a shrine of sorts for alternative theatergoers is The Bookshop Theatre. By day it’s the Calder Bookshop, stocking fiction, philosophy and plays. At night, the stacks are cleared away and it hosts plays, movies, lectures and other events.

The space is tiny. When I attended a play by Samuel Beckett, the 25 or so people in the audience filled the back room. The actors were so close I could have touched them. It was like being part of the performance.

The theater was founded by John Calder, who has been at the forefront of London’s theater and independent publishing scene for decades. Through his publishing company he helped popularize Samuel Beckett, Henry Miller, William S. Burroughs and many other leading figures in the literary and theater world. On more than one occasion he had to fight for the right to publish controversial authors – fights he always won.

His theater reflects that scrappy, independent outlook by hosting experimental plays, lectures about avant-garde literature and, to commemorate the anniversary of the Falklands War, a documentary on British Imperialism.

The Bookshop Theatre is located at 51 The Cut, near the more famous theaters of The Old Vic and The New Vic. It’s served by Waterloo and Southwark Tube stations and there are plenty of dining opportunities nearby. So if you like your theater experience a little more intimate, check out their website and see what’s on.

Celebration To Promote Mexico In Familiar Neighborhood Setting

by Chris Owen on

De Pueblo a Pueblo is an eight-week celebration that begins later this month in Philadelphia. The first-ever festival will honor Philadelphia’s local Mexican community by promoting greater understanding of traditional arts, language and history of Mexico.

The citywide festival hopes to connect a growing Mexican population and their customs with a broader Philadelphia audience. In addition to providing a variety of opportunities to learn more about Mexican culture, of special significance is where the event will be happening – Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens.

Showcasing the work of mosaicist Isaiah Zagar, Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens is a folk art environment made entirely of found objects and contributions from the community.

In 1968, Zagar and his wife came to Philadelphia after spending three years with the Peace Corps in Peru. Creating folk art all around his new city, he took an entire row house on South Street and covered it with mosaics, over 3000 square feet of them, that include pieces of mirror and original poetry.Hands-on activities, performances, traditional foods, crafts and folk art, along with discussions about immigration, are set to provide opportunities to learn about Mexico and should fit right in at the Magic Gardens.

The event will kick off on April 27 with the opening reception for “Echeleganas: Do Your Best,” a photographic exhibition featuring the people of La Sierra del Norte, a small village in Puebla, Mexico.



Flickr photo via Guerry

Explore The Unknown In Your Hometown On Obscura Day

by Jeremy Kressmann on

“Travel” is an activity many of us associate with leaving home in search of the new and unfamiliar. But the truth is, there are some strange and wonderful sites in the places we live, often right under our nose. It’s the idea behind a great event called Obscura Day, kicking off its third year this April 28 in cities across the US and the world.

Sponsored by Atlas Obscura, a website devoted to exploring the world’s “wonders, curiosities and esoterica,” Obscura Day aims to give participants insider access to local curiosities they might have overlooked, including access to typically off-limits locations and “unusual” guided tours. For instance, explorers in Philadelphia are invited to tour the spooky abandoned Eastern State Penitentary. Meanwhile, in Boston, participants will have a chance to partake in a mysterious murder-themed scavenger hunt through the Museum of Science. In Alameda, California, gaming fans should check out this chance to play vintage 30s and 40s pinball machines at the Pacific Pinball Museum.

Wherever you happen to live, head over to the Obscura Day website and type in your zip code to find out what’s going later this month at a location near you. It’s sure to be a chance to rediscover the surprising history, unique attractions and unexpected activities you might otherwise take for granted in your hometown.

[Photo by Flickr user country_boy_shane]

Norwegian Couple Gets Married At The North Pole

by Kraig Becker on

I’ve heard of lavish destination weddings before but this story pretty much tops them all. Earlier this week a Norwegian couple was married at the North Pole. The handsome groom and his blushing bride, dressed in traditional clothing, were joined by a small group of their closest friends at the top of the world. The 30-minute ceremony was performed by a Lutheran minister under a makeshift cross constructed out of skis and a celebration followed the nuptials.

For most people getting married at the North Pole would sound absurd but in this case it makes perfect sense. The groom was none other than Borge Ousland, one of the most experienced arctic explorers in the world today. Ousland has visited both the North and South Pole on expeditions in the past and even conceived of the idea of getting married at 90°N while on just such a journey. Lucky for him, his new bride, Hege, was up for the adventure as well.

The couple and their guests made their way to the Pole via the Barneo Ice Station, a temporary base of operations that is built each spring to facilitate travel in the Arctic. They flew to the base aboard a Russian An-74 aircraft that is equipped to land on the ice and were shuttled the rest of the distance to the Pole by helicopter.Once the ceremony was complete, the wedding party celebrated with music, dinner and dancing. But not unlike weddings that take place anywhere else on the planet, this one had a wedding crasher as well. British explorer Mark Wood completed his North Pole expedition just as the revelry was getting into full swing and it must have been a surreal moment for him to reach the finish line only to be greeted with singing and champagne.

After a few hours out on the ice, the wedding party loaded up into the helicopter and returned to Barneo where they spent the night before heading home to Norway. I’m sure they had some fantastic stories to share with friends and family upon their return.

[Photo courtesy Borge Ousland]