Photo Of The Day: Crossing The Frozen Songhua River In China

by Jonathan Kramer on

With daytime getting longer and longer each day, spring is soon approaching. But winter doesn’t feel like it’s going anywhere anytime soon – especially in places like this one, featured in this photo by Flickr user Bernard Siao taken in Harbin, a city in northeastern China.

The frozen Songhua River freezes hard in the winter and people commonly cross it on foot, but as you can see in this photo, there’s another option to dart across the frozen river on a horse-drawn carriage. Harbin is a city of interesting and unique history. Originally founded by Russia and inhabited by Jewish immigrants, it also hosts the Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival, which goes on throughout January.

If you have some great photos just sitting there, fragmenting on your hard drive, share them with us on Instagram or in our Gadling Flickr Pool and they can be featured as our “Photo of the Day.”

[Photo Credit: Flickr User Bernard-SD]

Photo Of The Day: Wine Tasting

by Meg Nesterov on


What makes you enter an unfamiliar shop in a new city? An inviting window display? A big crowd (or lack thereof)? How about a funny sign like this Brooklyn shop, which advertises, “delicious free booze poured by a crazy French guy”? They had me at “delicious” and “free” wine; the French guy is just icing on the cake. It helps that the store looks cozy and friendly; the sign helps to show off their personality.

Share your favorite travel signs for the Photo of the Day by adding to the Gadling Flickr pool or tagging us on Instagram.

[Photo credit: Flickr user Mike GL]

Mission To Mars Planned By Private Space Leaders

by Chris Owen on
When we last heard from Dennis Tito, it was when the New York-born American engineer was catching a $20 million ride on the International Space Station. That was in 2001 and he did so against the wishes of NASA, instead hitting up the Russian Federal Space Agency for the lift. Now, 20+ years later, Tito plans a trip to Mars in a venture that should make him the first human ever to walk on the red planet.

On what looks to be a 500-day round trip voyage to Mars, Tito’s newly formed Inspiration Mars Foundation teases “plans to take advantage of a unique window of opportunity to launch a historic journey to Mars and back in 501 days, starting in January 2018,” reports CNET.

Details are few right now but clarity will come next week during a press conference scheduled for February 27, 2013, at The National Press Club in Washington, D.C., moderated by CNN’s Miles O’Brien.

Speculation on how the flight will go includes wondering if an actual landing on Mars will occur or if the private mission will simply (as though this is simple in any way) be a fly-by. At nearly 70 years old by the time the proposed flight happens, time is of the essence for Tito.Also involved in the project is Paragon Space Development Corporation most recently involved with the life-support systems in the Red Bull Stratos Space Jumper, world’s-highest sky dive in 2012. That was nothing new for them either, as original members of the Biosphere 2 sealed dome life-support for the experiment of the early 1990s.

Add it all up and these private space leaders could very well pull it off. We’ll find out more details on the plan next week.

Want to know more about the idea of a mission to Mars? Check this video:



[Photo Credit – Flickr user Amitabh T]

Photo Of The Day: Nine Beaches Bermuda

by Chris Owen on

This Photo of the Day, titled “Nine Beaches Bermuda,” comes from Gadling Flickr pool member smallscreen and is dedicated to all our friends located in places where cold winter weather has them dreaming of warmer times or climates.

Nine Beaches is a resort in Bermuda, currently undergoing a $55 million redevelopment of which Bermuda’s Royal Gazette says:

“The result will be a first class, mixed use development in a modernized-Bermudian-themed manner, including a complete upgrade of the current over the water units, dockside restaurant and lounge and the addition of new public space, permanent accommodation units and further enhancement of the resort’s grounds and amenities”

Upload your best shots to the Gadling Group Pool on Flickr. Several times a week we choose our favorite images from the pool as a Photo of the Day. Now, you can also submit photos through Instagram; just mention @GadlingTravel and use the hashtag #gadling when posting your images.

[Photo Credit- Flickr user smallscreen]

Photo Of The Day: I Heart NY

by Meg Nesterov on


Happy Valentine’s Day! Can a place be your Valentine? This year, I’m in Istanbul, my second love, but my first will always be New York City. Still, I’ve never quite gotten the appeal of souvenir T-shirts that announce where you’ve been or what places you love most. There was a nice trend after September 11, 2001, of people wearing “I (Heart) NY More Than Ever,” which made sense and contributed to the solidarity of that time, and the trend has been revived in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. But otherwise, why do you need to declare your love for a place while you’re still in it? Flickr user em_photos2010 captured this family, who evidently couldn’t love New York more, as they all wear their hearts on their sleeves (so to speak). We’re not sure where they are wearing their shirts (other than outside Johnny Rockets, which are all over the world, including some cruise ships), and I’m guessing NYC is not their hometown, but maybe it’s a second love.

Add your favorite photos to the Gadling Flickr pool for another Photo of the Day. Remember, you can also now submit photos through Instagram; mention @GadlingTravel AND use hashtag #gadling when posting images.

[Photo credit: Flickr user em_photos2010]