What a fantastic, simple shot. This great photograph of some ruddy little boat on the Belfast quays comes to us via Colmdc. He has nicely titled it the Great Escape–although I’m not sure if it is with a sense of irony, humor, or dead-pan honesty.
If you would like to bask in the glory of having your shot chosen for Photo of the Day, jump on over to our Gadling Flickr Pool and upload away.
For those of you looking to get roaring drunk on your next holiday abroad, you’re probably in the market for a really good pub crawl. I spent my college days in Liverpool — formerly rated the UK’s number 1 party city — so, rest assured, I know what I’m talking about.
But beyond the unchecked inebriation, and poorly-harmonized group renditions of “Lean On Me” that often accompany these sorts of excursions, in some cities, pub crawls are the best way to get to know the local population.
Thanks to Vincent Crump and Chris Haslam at the Times Online, you can review a handpicked list of the best pub crawls in the best pub crawl cities — Sydney, Dublin, Boston and Edinburgh. Not only do they give you a run down on the cultural significance of all their chosen watering holes, but the pair are even so thoughtful as to offer culinary suggestions for the morning after — pleasant ways to ease out of that hangover (or beat it to death with fried eggs and bacon).
Bottoms up.
There is something magical about islands. There’s something even more magical about an island’s island.
Just off the coast of western Ireland rests a small archipelago called the Aran Islands. I first visited 14 years ago and have been back a couple of times since.
There is very little on these islands, mostly just farmers, grassy fields, and these amazing rock walls that slice the islands into smaller and smaller squared off sections.
This is where true Ireland has come to live out its days. You won’t find sushi restaurants, expensive mixed drinks, and all the other affluent trappings which have sprung up in the emerald tiger of Dublin. No, this is where the Irish soul still resides, where fishermen and playwrights tend to peat burning fire places and the lyrical sing-song of the Gaelic language can still be heard.
I began feeling nostalgia for this wonderful place yesterday morning when I ran across yet another account of how its magic mesmerizes those who venture this far off the beaten path.
Leonard Doyle, writing for the Independent, does a nice job capturing the flavor of the place. He does mention, however, that the 21st century is creeping in via large windmills off the coast which are providing enough energy to make the islands practically carbon neutral. That means no more squinting fishermen hunched over a poorly-lit bar. That much I can live with. It’s the streetlights and neon signs, however, which I hope continue to stay far away.
Surfing, it seems, is no longer tied down to warm weather climates.
Long the sport of the South Pacific and other tropical locations, surfing is popping up in the strangest of places. In the last year here at Gadling, we’ve posted about surfing in Ireland, England, Germany, Cleveland, New Jersey, and Alaska. And today, I run across an article in The Toronto Star about a group of die-hard surf fanatics who ride the waves in the frosty waters off Halifax, Nova Scotia. Brrr…..
Are these people crazy? Well, apparently the waves are world-class and the breaks are yours to own–there’s usually not another surfer for miles. Of course, according to journalist Kelly Toughill, this is all impossible without the advent of super wet suits which keep surfers alive in water temperatures which can dip below freezing. And then, there is the post-surfing dash through the snow back to your car–something which needs to be done quickly or you may just freeze up like a statue and die.
So what’s it like? Toughill points us to two resources to see for ourselves: Magicseaweed.com and the Red Bull Ice Break Surf Competition. Check it out.
Interested in finding a pub in the United Kingdom or Ireland? Head on over to PubFinder.com where all you need to do is type in a postal code and up pops every pub within two drunken miles of your location. Or, you can search by county or city. Pubfinder claims to have 18,873 pubs in its data base, all of which will happily pour you a pint.
Actually, it all seems a little silly to me. With 18,873 pubs in the area, all one needs to do is walk out the door and a pub will fall out of the sky and hit you on the head. Pubs are like sand at the beach in England and Ireland. They’re everywhere! But in case you think you might be missing one or two, then PubFinder is just for you.