Gadling + BootsnAll – Picks of the Week (3.27.09)

by Jeremy Kressmann on

If it’s Friday, it must mean it’s time for another installment of our Gadling and BootsnAll Picks of the Week, a weekly series where we take a look at some of the top stories from the past seven days from our travel partners at BootsnAll. Let’s take a look at what made the list this week, shall we?

  • Wild for Wildlife – for many of us, the only place we’re likely to see majestic animals like a polar bear or a rhinoceros is within the confines of a zoo. Not true, says Abigail King – she’s got a list this week of Seven Endangered Species You Can Find Outside a Zoo. If you’ve ever wanted to catch a sea turtle or panda in its natural habitat, here’s a good place to start.
  • Travel Religiously – holy sites are perhaps the original tourist destinations. Many years ago, pilgrims would travel from miles around to visit sites of religious significance like Mecca or Santiago de Compostela. Deanna Hyland takes a look this week at the Top Ten World’s Most Religious Cities. It’s a great list, whether you’re devout believer or just plain curious.
  • Head for the Coast – there’s something about the ocean that makes it a constant source of attraction for travelers. Whether its the beach, the salt air or the majestic vistas the coast never seems to disappoint. If you want to learn about some of the most beautiful coastal vistas worldwide, check out Nellie Huang’s list of 8 of the world’s most beautiful coastal towns.
  • Walking the Walk – to truly get a sense of a place, many travelers will tell you, you need to walk its streets with no particular purpose. What you encounter will tell you as much about that location as any museum or cultural site. Whether it’s the smells of fresh baked bread, the clanging of church bells or the sneak peek of hawkers at the market, your senses will reveal the tiny details you might otherwise miss driving through in a car or flying past in a train. Check out Andy Hayes’ list of his favorite small cities for walking to try some out for yourself.

That marks the end of this week’s Gadling and BootsnAll Picks of the Week. Stay tuned next Friday for another installment in our ongoing series.

Teens capture amazing shots from 20 miles above the Earth

by Karen Walrond on

(Via Daddy in a Strange Land and Gizmodo) : Four teenagers in Spain have gone where no Spanish-teenagers-with-a-camera-operated-weather-balloon have gone before — they’ve taken astonishing photos from 20 miles above the Earth’s surface.

The Meteotek team from IES La Bisbal school in Catalonia built electronic components from scratch, harnessed them to a heavy-duty latex balloon, and were able to capture beautiful images from the edge of space.

Said team lead Gerard Marull, 18: “We were overwhelmed at our results, especially the photographs to send our handmade craft to the edge of space is incredible.”

You can see the photographs of their process, as well as their stunning results, here. Well done, boys!

And NASA? You might want to keep an eye on these young men.

Weirdest festivals from around the world

by Karen Walrond on

Seven years ago, when I became engaged to my now-husband, Marcus, I took him back home with me to Trinidad & Tobago to meet my parents for the first time, as well as participate in my country’s legendary Carnival. On Carnival Tuesday, as we were dancing in the streets, I said to him smugly:

“See how lucky you are to marry me? You get to visit my country and enjoy fabulous festivals!”

“Ah yes,” he agreed in his English accent, “but one day soon, I’ll take you back to my dad’s home in Gloucester, where we can go to the Cheese-Rolling Festival!”

I looked at him strangely, and attributed his odd response to the hot sun. Cheese-rolling festival? Jeez. Clearly, he needed to lay off the rum.

Turns out, the Gloucester Cheese-Rolling Festival is quite famous: according to MSNBC.com, “In a logic that defies reason, participants of this festival race down a vertiginous hill in pursuit of a 7.8-pound roll of cheese.”

Oookay.

Amazingly, this isn’t even the weirdest festival out there — you can check out some of the other oddball festivals around the world here. And let it be said now, I’m heaving a big sigh of relief that my Marcus is from a small town in England, rather than a small town in Spain, where revelers at one particular festival “parade around town and whip the townspeople, while a cow masquerader runs amok in the crowd.”

Wow.

Bury a sardine for Lent: A tradition across Spain

by Jamie Rhein on

Before today, I knew of only one other celebration centered on a fish. During the Walleye Drop on New Year’s Eve in Port Clinton, Ohio, townsfolk drop a walleye. Not a real walleye–one made out of some sort of fiberglass material. Here’s another case of fish frivolity. This Mad Culture video depicts the Burial of the Sardine in Madrid. The celebration, attended by folks of all ages, is connected to the end of Mardi Gras. The mood is fun and festive complete with people dressed in costumes, some carrying images of sardines.


Burial Of The Sardine Madrid from Phillip Stark, Ben Dornan, Justin Metz, and Karina Stenquist of RedHill Media (a new production house in Madrid, Spain specializing in travel videos) on Vimeo.

The sardine burying tradition, according to what I found out here, came about in 19th century when some students in Madrid wanted to recreate a pagan holiday connected to the allegorical characters Don Carnal and Doña Cuaresma. The symbolism has something to do with carnal pleasures over moderation. The festival has since spread throughout Spain, and does indeed involve burying a sardine. The video explains it all.

Bargain Europe: Camping Across The Continent

by Kraig Becker on

In these economic times we’re all looking to find ways to save a little cash without giving up our travels. Airfares are more affordable than they have been in a long time, which means that we can at least afford to get to the places we want to visit. But what happens once we get there? Are there any affordable places to stay?

Most travelers making their way across the pond to Europe tend to stay in nice hotels. Some, looking to go on the cheap, will stay in hostels along the way. But the Times Online has another suggestion, one that often goes overlooked. They recommend frugal travelers consider camping their way across the continent.

In their first article on the subject, they recommend the best place to camp in Paris. Yep, that’s right, camping in Paris itself, within sight of the Eiffel Tower, on a small river island on the Seine, at a place called Paris Camping International. The place offers a quiet escape from the sights and sounds of the City of Lights, but is just minutes from the chic cafes and art houses that Paris is famous for.

And if that wasn’t enough, the Times followed up that story with a list of the 20 coolest campsites across the rest of Europe. The list has suggestions for Portugal, Spain, France, Holland, Germany, Italy, and more. The camp sites offer some amazing scenery, with backdrops ranging from the Swiss Alps to the Mediterranean Sea, and they are all rich in charm, but short on expense.

Looking for a bargain trip to Europe this year? Perhaps you should pack a tent when you go and take advantage of these unique places to camp.