Photo Of The Day: Madrid’s Palacio Real

by Jeremy Kressmann on

Today’s photo, by Flickr user APANCHA, takes place at the changing of the guard at Madrid’s Royal Palace (Palacio Real). The tight marching pattern of the soldiers, evenly spaced as they pass in front of the palace’s stately architecture makes for quite a show for photo-snapping tourists. There’s an intriguing geometry to the shot – the neat, upright marching of the soldiers almost seems to mimic the palace’s stately vertical columns behind them.

Taken any great photos during your own travels? Why not add them to our Gadling group on Flickr? We might just pick one of yours as our Photo of the Day.

60 Years Of Royal Travel: Queen Elizabeth II’s State Visits

by Meg Nesterov on

This week, the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries are celebrating the Diamond Jubilee, commemorating 60 years of Queen Elizabeth II on the royal throne. The Times has an interactive, multimedia infographic detailing six decades of royal travel. Each decade details her Commonwealth and international trips with video and photographs from some of her most important visits. The 1970s-’90s mark her most prolific time as a traveler, with over 60 countries visited in those three decades. She slowed down a bit in the past few years, with just four foreign countries (plus Canada and Australia, members of the Commonwealth) visited since 2010 – but still pretty impressive for a senior citizen. Since her coronation in 1952, she’s visited an impressive 161 countries and spent a total of 3.5 years abroad.

[Photo courtesy The British Monarchy on Flickr, copyright Press Association]