Whether you are traveling in an exotic city, or just commuting to work, public transportation is always a rich source of photography subjects. Flickr user (and PotD favorite) davitydave is a frequent photographer on San Francisco‘s Muni, adding his favorite shots to his Flickr page with the title “Meanwhile on Muni.” This shot particularly captures the range of human expression, from suspicion to sleep.
Add your best transit shots to the Gadling Flickr pool for a future Photo of the Day.
Remember scavenger hunts? The game where individuals or teams go out into the world to gather the items on predetermined list? Whoever gets them all first wins? Great.
In a unique twist on the game, UrbanQuest is a scavenger hunt in a great city that ends at a restaurant where reservations have been made. Along the way, “Questers” learn their way around the city in a fun and challenging way and everyone is a winner.
Held Amazing-Race style, groups of Questers download their clue package online then hit the streets to solve interesting puzzles that force teams to be resourceful. The final destination is a mystery restaurant where UrbanQuest has made a reservation for you. Timed to take about an hour and a half to complete, reservations are made for two hours after starting to allow some extra time for slow teams.
After buying a Quest online, it can be launched from your My Quests pages anytime. While the exact restaurant will be a surprise, you’ll pick a general category, just to be sure it is the kind of food the team will enjoy. Get stuck on a clue, see hints and answers on the included clue package that you printed off before starting.
In New York, for example, two Quests are offered. A Walk In The Park is a Quest in Central Park and another one sends Questers around Rockefeller Center. Each is priced at $28.99 per person + tax and the meal.
UrbanQuest is currently available in Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Washington DC, Chicago, Indianpolis, Louisville, Baltimore, Boston, Princeton, Cincinnati, Portland, Philadelphia, Nashville and Seattle plus a number of Canadian cities and some international destinations with more cities on the way. UrbanQuest customers who have successfully completed a Quest are invited to be QuestTesters, trying out new Quests before they become available to the public
UrbanQuest looks to be great for dates, groups of friends, family outings or office team building and can be gifted via e-gift cards.
The blur of public transportation is an atmospheric, if possibly overplayed, representation of travel itself. This particular blur, of a BART train and station, owes much to the yellow floor safety line, which grounds the image.
This blur was snapped by Flickr user kiddie1997. For me, it prompts memories of living in San Francisco, an association I was feeling particularly keenly today to begin with thanks to the slow, insistent rain outside, so reminiscent of a San Francisco winter.
Upload your best images to the Gadling Group Pool on Flickr. We choose our favorites from the pool as Photos of the Day.
San Francisco’s Museum of Craft And Folk Art has announced in a press release that it will close its doors forever on December 1.
Museum officials said, “Sustainability in the current economic climate, with reduced funding for the arts, was a significant factor in the decision.”
The museum tried to put a brave face on the announcement by highlighting its past achievements. It was founded in 1982 in San Francisco at a time when artists carrying on craft and folk traditions were generally overlooked by the art market. The museum was instrumental in changing that, the release said.
The closure is scheduled to coincide with the end of its current exhibition “Fiber Futures: Japan’s Textile Pioneers.”
There is no word yet on what will happen with the museum’s collection. The museum is the only one of its kind in northern California.
The global recession has hit museums and the arts particularly hard. Many museums are scaling back exhibitions and reducing hours. I’ve written before on how Greek museums are facing the economic crisis. They’re not alone. The Edgar Allen Poe Museum may have to close, and a Dutch museum is selling part of its collection to survive.
[Photo of guitar/record player from the museum’s collection courtesy Marshall Astor]
The Golden Gate Bridge, which links San Francisco and Marin County, is one of the most iconic man-made sights in the United States. It’s bold and dramatic, the source of rich symbolism and the background to countless tourist snaps. In this image, taken by Flickr user jrodmanjr, the bridge is dwarfed by a cliff and the humans atop it.
Do you have an image of a major tourist site? Upload it to the Gadling Group Pool on Flickr. We choose our favorites from the pool as Photos of the Day.