Gadlinks for Wednesday 12.23.2009

by Brenda Yun on

‘Twas the night before Christmas Eve and all through the house
The children are stirring; you can’t hear the mouse
After some ham or Christmas meat
You’ll all settle in for your winter feast
Take some time to browse the latest reads
From the ever reliable Gadlinks feed.

(I’m not much of a poet, but I try. Enjoy the last few hours of Christmas hype!)

More Gadlinks here.

What ever happened to the missing 22-year-old American teacher in Germany?

by Jamie Rhein on

Reading that Laura Dekker has been found safe and sound in St. Maartin made me think of Devon Hollahan, the American teacher living in Prague who disappeared after a Portugal and the Man concert in Frankfurt, Germany. When his friend’s back was turned, Hollahan went missing.

I wrote about Hollahan in a post about the worst nightmares of parents whose children travel overseas. I’ve been busy these last few weeks, so I forgot about him until I read about Dekker.

Hollahan’s story is not so splashy as Laura Dekker’s. It might be because his family seems like most of us. They appear to be normal, regular people whose lives tend to flow through the days like anyone else’s unless something bad happens on a slow news day. On a slow news day, normal people’s stories can make the international news. Hollahan’s bad news story was a fleeting blip on the media radar. A day or two after he was reported missing, he didn’t show up again in a big news way.

Amanda Knox’s story has had more press time than Hollahan’s. She is the other person of note in my parent’s worst nightmare post. But, when a person is found guilty of murdering her roommate which results in a 27 year jail sentence in Italy, it’s no surprise that we’d hear more about Knox–at least until Tiger Woods’s story eclipsed everyone’s bad news.

What about Hollahan, though? That’s who I want to know about–the guy who could be any one of us. After a search, I found this bit of news in The Huffington Post. Hollahan has not been found, but possibly the shoe found floating in The Main River in Frankfurt belongs to him.

It is thought that Hollahan was drunk and fell into the river. As a sad, devastating part of this tale, it’s possible that he was seen alive at 4 a.m. lying on a sidewalk. Unfortunately, whoever was on the sidewalk, got up and ran away when someone said that an ambulance was coming.

Hollahan’s body has not been found. His parents are still in their nightmare, and I wonder if Hollahan’s body is found, will there be a news story about it? My thoughts go out to his family.

Statue used to strike Berlusconi now a popular souvenir in Italy

by Aaron Hotfelder on

An incident in which Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was injured by a man wielding a statue has proven profitable for souvenir sellers in Italy.

According to Yahoo News, vendors say they’ve noticed a sharp uptick in sales of the Duomo statue, the same one a mentally disturbed man used to bloody Berlusconi’s face while he was signing authographs in Milan a week ago. Berlusconi suffered a broken nose, two chipped teeth, and cuts on his lip as a result of the attack.

“People are definitely buying it as a souvenir of the event,” said one vendor. “It seems to be one of the most popular Christmas gifts.”

The statue retails for anywhere between 5 and 10 euros.

For some pricier (but better!) gifts for travelers, check out Annie Scott’s recent post 10 Ways to Give the Gift of Travel.

Danny DeVito tours Italy with his “Troll Foot”

by Mike Barish on

There are plenty of ways to document a trip. You can blog during your travels, shoot some video or, of course, take pictures. Often, having a recurring theme in your photographs can help create a narrative for your friends to follow. Pictures of you in front of famous works of art, sampling local foods or posing with monuments can turn photo albums into photo essays. Or, of you’re Danny Devito, you can take pictures of your foot as you meander through Italy.

The diminutive actor who is best known for his work in Taxi and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (and as the “crap left over” in Twins) is currently tweeting his way through Europe’s boot while documenting his self-proclaimed “Troll Foot.” His foot has visited the Duomo in Milan, Piazza San Marco, and the canals of Venice.

You can follow his adventures (or, more accurately, his Troll Foot’s adventures) and live vicariously through his stubby appendage. With so many celebrities tweeting the inane triviality of their lives, it’s refreshing to see someone of such prominence leveraging new media in a way that both enlightens and uplifts others. What better way to teach others about Italy and promote the benefits of travel than posting grainy images of your creepy foot?

It should be noted that a fairly extensive perusal of DeVito’s images has led this reporter to discover that the actor has not one, but two Troll Feet. Once again, Gadling is at the forefront of investigative travel journalism.

Photo via yfrog user Danny_Devito.

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Crazy roads from around the world

by Kraig Becker on

Lets face it! We all love a good road trip now and again. Who hasn’t enjoyed hopping in the car with some friends to hit the open road? And when that road is unique and interesting, it makes the journey all the more fun. To helps us find more of those roads Popular Mechanics has put together a list of their selections for the 18 strangest roadways from around the world.

As you can imagine, the list, which includes photographs of each of the routes, has some crazy roads, often located in exotic locations. Take for example, the Hana Highway on Maui, Hawaii. This road made the list thanks to the stunningly beautiful views of rocky cliffs on one side and the Pacific Ocean on the other. But what really sets it apart is the 600 curves and 54 bridges, spread out over just 52 miles of pavement.

If you prefer the mountains to the ocean and you’re looking for something more remote for your next road trip, then consider the Karakoram Highway, which runs for 800 miles between Pakistan and China. This road winds through the Karakoram and Himalaya mountain ranges, and reaches altitudes in excess of 15,390 feet. Altitude sickness can be a legitimate concern for drivers making this drive.

A number of countries are represented on this list, including Italy, Iceland, China, Argentina, Norway, and more. Some of these streets are marvels of modern engineering, while others are primitive and basic. But they all have one thing in common, they are unique and interesting in their own way, and each of them will give you a road trip to remember.