Photo of the Day (8.22.09)

by Brenda Yun on

There´s something both totally fitting yet out of place in this photo. The London Tower Bridge, as I see it, is one of the most famous bridges in the world because of its age and history. While the bridge that stands over the River Thames today was built in the 19681894, I like to imagine it as a throwback to the days of old. And while the postmodern streams of red and purple lights add nice contrast to this image, it seems like London (just like any other place) has to find that nice blend between old and new.

Needless to say, this photo taken by jrodmanjr is quite stunning. The blur of pedestrians and the streaks of light make for a perfect image of the today´s London.

If you have some great travel shots you’d like to share, be sure to upload them to the Gadling pool on Flickr. We might just pick one as our Photo of the Day!

Travel to Spain suffering

by Tom Johansmeyer on

It really is a shame: summer travel to Spain is off 6.1 percent this year, as the global economic decline is making the decision to travel tougher for everyone. The country’s Tourism Ministry puts the number of July arrivals at just over 6.6 million. For the entire year (through the end of July), arrivals fell 10.3 percent to 30.2 million visitors. This follows a record 33.6 million for the same period in 2008.

Spain has historically been one of the world’s top three tourist destination in terms of both the number of people arriving and income earned from them; France and the United States are the other two. So, a substantial year-over-year decline is likely to be felt.

Every part of Spain saw arrivals fell except Madrid, where arrivals increased by 6.6 percent. Andalucia saw visits drop by 11 percent, though Valencia had an easier time. Of the regions with falling arrivals, it had the lowest at only 0.4 percent.

Most of Spain’s tourist traffic came from Britain, which sent 1.6 million visitors to the country. France is second, overtaking Germany this year. British share of travel to Spain, 24.5 percent, fell 16.1 percent this year because of economic conditions. Meanwhile, French tourism to Spain increased this year, with visits to Valencia surging 35 percent and Madrid up 23.4 percent.

Heathrow hires author to write about Heathrow

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Hate it? Embrace it! Heathrow Airport has decided to immortalize the plights of their passengers – rather than bury or ignore them. The airport has tapped best-selling author Alain de Botton – whose titles include The Consolations of Philosophy and How Proust Can Change Your Life – to spend a week in Terminal 5 and reveal what really happens in this environment.

He kicked off this project on Tuesday. Sometimes, he crashes behind a desk in the departures area, talking to passengers and just watching the action. But, he’s been given full access to Terminal 5 and the freedom to write whatever he wants (with the upside that someone will probably read it, unlike our endless frustrated tweets). De Botton’s plan is to show what goes on in a terminal, though he claims he’ll write about whatever he feels like.

Themes already coming to mind, apparently, are technology, globalization and consumerism, which suggests that this high-brow author is unlikely to dive into the muck now. I’m sure whatever he devises will be insightful … but how much does that matter when you’ve been stuck in a sweaty cabin for two hours and still haven’t pulled back from the gate?

Heathrow unveils driverless personal transport pods

by Katie Hammel on

Buses and shuttles make up a large portion of an airport’s traffic. People need to be shuttled back and forth from parking lots, garages, terminals and rental car lots, and all those vehicles mean congestion and pollution. Heathrow Airport is working on a system that will address both of those issues. The new Personal Transport Pods, or PRTs will run on dedicated tracks and use 50% less energy than the buses they will replace.

Up to four passengers (and their luggage) at a time will enter the futuristic-looking pods and program their destination into a touch-screen. Then the pod does the work, zipping off to the destination at speeds of up to 25 miles per hour. The pods are low-energy, battery powered and produce no emissions.

Right now the pods are in the operational testing stage and will only journey from Terminal 5 to the car park, a trip that will take around 5 minutes. According to airport officials, once the system is fully operational, passengers will board at one of three stations and ride in one of 21 total pods. As long as the £25 million project runs smoothly and more funding can be secured, the airport plans expand the service to other terminals.

Smelly theme park guests told to keep their arms down

by Scott Carmichael on

Smelly guests and warm weather have forced UK Theme park Thorpe Park to introduce a new rule called “say no to B.O.“. The rule has been put in place because too many smelly guests were stinking up their rides on the hottest days.

Any time the temperature reaches 25C (77F) and above, guests must keep their arms down on the rides at all times. Personally, I think that telling guests to take a shower and use deodorant may have been a better (smelling) solution, but obviously not everyone practices basic hygiene.

This is the second time in two weeks that a UK theme park has introduced silly rules – previously, Alton Towers banned Speedos from their premises “to protect the children”.

So, what do you think of this new rule? Ever been stuck behind a screaming rollercoaster rider who spread their stinky pit stench to the rear of the ride?

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Click the pictures to learn about other unusual amusement parks … from R-Rated “Love Land,” to a park with a ride called “Dog Fart Switchback,” to a park twice the size of Disneyland.