Photo of the day – Butcher at work

by Meg Nesterov on


Today kicks off Labor Day weekend, the last long weekend of summer. Maybe you have plans for one last getaway or at least plan to explore your own backyard. However you spend the next three days, we hope it doesn’t involve real work, er, labor. This fellow photographed by Flickr user Bernard-SD in Lijiang, China is working diligently on stripping the meat from this sheep carcass. While we may prefer to see a butcher work in a nice clean shop and not the street, he seems to be a professional hard at work. Think of him when you grill your lamb (or ham-) burgers this holiday, and all the other people whose labor make your day off better.

When you’re back laboring next week, upload your favorite travel photos to the Gadling Flickr pool and we may choose one for a future Photo of the Day.

Biking the car-less streets of New York City after Hurricane Irene

by Kent Wien on

I’ve suddenly found myself stuck in New York City after my 3-day Rome trip canceled. Watching the news last night, it looked like Manhattan would be without power and struggling even to survive the ‘storm of a lifetime’ on Saturday.

Instead, after Hurricane Irene passed through the city earlier this morning there was an erie calm. As I woke up, I wondered if we were in the eye of the storm.

It turns out, Irene may have some strong winds on the back side, but for now, a little fun could be had by biking through the empty streets of the city.

Here’s what I found at 5th Avenue, Central Park, Times Square, Grand Central Terminal, the U.N. Building the Queensboro (59th Street) Bridge and the East River. Wide open streets and unencumbered riding! A video is the best way for me to describe the morning:


There was a atmosphere in the city today. One biker told me he saw people playing Wiffle Ball in Times Square. Tourists, with nothing else to do, gathered on Broadway, umbrellas in hand, just to look at the streets.


New York is an amazing city, but after a snow storm or situation like we had today, the break in monotonous city life offers a chance look around them and see just how great this place is.

I thought I’d had enough of Irene after experiencing it from the air, but today Irene brought many of us a pleasant surprise, and some time to reflect on how thankful we are that it wasn’t worse.

Photo of the Day – Bubbles in Bosnia-Herzegovina

by Meg Nesterov on


As children, we are captivated by bubbles. A little soap and water and the reflections can be magical. Outside of the occasional bubble bath (and the delicious bubbles in sparkling wine!), we don’t have many occasions to enjoy bubbles as adults. In today’s photo by Flickr user Marko Musnjak, the little girl and her mother look equally mesmerized by the street seller’s bubble toy. Taken at the Feast of the Assumption of Mary in Posušje, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the photo captures the fun and magic of street festivals and bubbles.

What childhood delights have you rediscovered in your travels? Share your favorite photos in the Gadling Flickr pool and we may use it for a future Photo of the Day.

Video of the Day: Saturday Night Live mocks cruises

by Mike Barish on

Cruises have long been the butt of jokes in the travel world. From the midnight buffets to the touristy nature of the industry, many travel snobs enjoying mocking cruises. But does that mean that these floating resorts – and the people who enjoy them – deserve to be disrespected? Apparently, the writers at Saturday Night Live believe so. This past weekend, Miley Cyrus hosted the long-running sketch show and played a jaded singer who resented that her failed career had led her to be the entertainment on a cruise ship. She openly ridiculed the passengers and the intent was obviously to put down the people who enjoy cruises.

Was it a cheap joke or an accurate representation of the cruise world? At the very least, it was a poorly written sketch that lacked a strong punchline. It’s no wonder that it was buried in the last ten minutes of the show. What do you think? Was the sketch funny, out of bounds, accurate? I’m sure that our resident cruise expert, Chris Owen, has an opinion and you can let us know what you think in the comments.