Herculaneum on display in Italy

by Jamie Rhein on

I can still picture the Time Life book photograph of a child turned into stone from the eruption of Vesuvius. It was one of those elementary school images that captured my attention and hasn’t let go.

Okay, I think it was a Time Life book and I think the photo was a child, but for sure that eruption in Pompeii centuries before I hit 2nd grade has had the power to show just how fragile we are when it comes to natural disasters. Pompeii wasn’t the only town that met with destruction from Vesuvius’s handiwork. Herculaneum was also destroyed. According to this USA Today article, Herculaneum was where wealthy Romans liked to frequent because of its seaside views.

There’s an exhibit of the artifacts that have been uncovered over the centuries at the National Archaeological Museum in Naples, Italy. Among the bounty are large marble statues and smaller bronze ones that highlight the opulence of the time.

The exhibit is up through April 13. This Wikipedia photo is of a boathouse in Herculaneum.

Venice is totally flooded. How about a cheap hotel and some boots?

by Jeremy Kressmann on

You kind of expect a visit to Venice will include some water. This uniquely Italian city, first settled by the Romans along a chain of islands on the Adriatic Sea, has always been inextricably tied to its watery origins. The city rose to prominence due to its wealthy seafaring merchants, and most iconic images of the town inevitably include a canal vista complete with gondolier, happily serenading lovestruck passengers.

Unfortunately, water-loving Venice is for once longing for some much needed dryness. The liquid-loving capital has been plagued for the past two weeks by unusually high tides, leaving many parts of the city like the famous Piazza San Marco submerged under as much as three feet of filthy water. Though the floods are beginning to recede, the municipality of Venice has been coping by erecting tall wooden platforms along heavily trafficked paths and many businesses and cafes are closed or have limited hours.

The city’s floods don’t seem to have dampened the spirits of its hotel owners, however. Ever the entrepreneurs, visitor packages have recently been announced offering special “flood discounts” as well as a free pair of rubber boots for tramping around in the muck. How’s that for hospitality? Room service and a pair of waders.

It’s an ingenious, albeit curious, solution to keep the city’s tourist lifeblood flowing during an obviously difficult time. Flooding is a fact of life in Venice – but the current waters warn of far-more grave issues for this historically aquatic metropolis. As the forces of global warming exacerbate the damage of rising water and cause further harm to the city’s businesses and architecture, Venice is facing some hard choices about the city’s sustainability and its tourist future.

Vatican Splendor in St. Paul: Artifacts and art on display

by Jamie Rhein on

One can’t argue the influence that Vatican City has had in the world. You might argue, but you’d lose. I’ve been there twice and its opulence, abundance of art, pomp and mystery has stayed with me. There is a certain awe one can feel when walking across the plaza and into St. Peter’s Basilica.

Getting to the Vatican to see such splendor and traversing where Michelangelo once walked on his way to create his masterpiece on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel is not something in everyone’s vacation future. Fortunately, if you head to St. Paul, Minnesota, you can get a taste of the Vatican. (Or course, if you are closer to the Vatican instead of St. Paul, by all means, go to the Vatican.)

The “Vatican Splendors from St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican Museums and the Swiss Guard” exhibit at the Minnesota History Museum has 200, give or take a few, artworks and artifacts from Vatican City. Many have never left Vatican City before.

One item that interests me is Michelangelo’s drafting compass. He used it when he worked on the Sistine Chapel. The exhibit goes through January 11. If you go to Vatican City anytime soon, you won’t see the compass. It’s in St. Paul.

This exhibit was previously in Cleveland, Ohio and St. Petersburg, Florida.

Photo of the Day (11.22.08)

by Anna Brones on


I think this photo of Manarola, one of the five cillages of Cinque Terre, taken by stellarviewer, is very striking because of the dark clouds in the sky. What’s even more interesting is that the photo was composed using five different images, which may be why we get such an intense sky.

Have your own great travel shot you think would make for a great Photo of the Day? Submit it to the Gadling Flickr pool for consideration.

When a nation becomes a commodity: The Country Brand Index 2008

by Anna Brones on

We live in an era of global brands. McDonald’s, Starbucks, H&M, Coca Cola, Australia… Wait, what???

You read correctly, Australia recently won the top spot of the 2008 Country Brand Index. Nation branding, as it’s officially referred to, is the theory and practice of measuring and building the reputations of countries; basically applying standard commercial brand management that you’d find with commodities and using it to analyzing everywhere from Austria to Zimbabwe.

The 2008 study conducted by Future Brand, a global brand consulting firm, used rankings from 30 different categories to come up with the final index. Among the categories were History, Standard of Living, Friendly Locals and Environmentalism. It’s like a beauty pageant for countries, with the most well-rounded coming out on top. Here are the top ten:

  1. Australia
  2. Canada
  3. USA
  4. Italy
  5. Switzerland
  6. France
  7. New Zealand
  8. United Kingdom
  9. Japan
  10. Sweden

When you look at that list, referring to countries as specific brands starts to make a little sense. Don’t we all have pretty concrete associations with France for example? Wine, croissants and cheese. And what about Sweden? Meatballs, moose and blondes. Looks like what we once referred to as stereotypes has a new name.