The beauty of Spain

by Justin Delaney on


Spain is a traveler’s paradise. Modern pilgrims traverse the Camino de Santiago by foot in the north. In the west, kite boarders and wind surfers harness gusts of the Atlantic off of golden beaches. The east is home to the cosmopolitan Mediterranean ports of Barcelona and Alicante. The South holds the Alhambra, one of the finest fortifications in Europe. In every direction, character and beauty lurks, either just beyond a rolling hill or in the storied hallways of a Moorish castle.

Central Spain also hosts a variety of splendor. This video touches on the regional delights with epic time-lapse shots of various castles, cities, and rolling landscapes. It will have you dreaming of Spain on this Sunday afternoon.

Spain from Ben on Vimeo.

Top 20 countries for life expectancy

by Justin Delaney on

“Old people” – we all hope to live long enough to earn this distinction. In some countries, the probability of living well into your eighties is much better than in others. The worldwide average for life expectancy is just a smidge over 67, with the highest and lowest countries fluctuating by over 20 years in each direction. 39 of the bottom 40 countries are located on the African continent, and 3 of the top 5 are European micro-states. The United States ranks in at number 50, boasting a life expectancy of 78 years old.

At the bottom of the list is Angola, a country in southwestern Africa with a machete on its flag. The average life expectancy in Angola is almost 39 years old. At the other end of the spectrum is Monaco (pictured above). Monaco is a micro-state in Europe with an extremely high standard of living. The average person there lives to be 89 years old. The 50 year gap between these two countries represents the difference between yacht ownership and subsistence farming, and every other country falls somewhere in between. For the full list, check out the world fact book at cia.gov.

20. Bermuda – 80.71
19. Anguilla – 80.87 (at right)
18. Iceland – 80.90
17. Israel – 80.96
16. Switzerland – 81.07
15. Sweden – 81.07
14. Spain – 81.17
13. France – 81.19
12. Jersey – 81.38
11. Canada – 81.38
10. Italy – 81.779. Australia – 81.81
8. Hong Kong – 82.04
7. Singapore – 82.14
6. Guernsey – 82.16
5. Japan – 82.25
4. Andorra – 82.43
3. San Marino – 83.01
2. Macau – 84.41
1. Monaco – 89.73 (at top)

flickr images via needoptic and adomass

Photo of the day – Tilt-shift Barcelona

by Alex Robertson Textor on

Suddenly, we’re seeing tilt-shift images all over the place, in both still photography and video. Tilt-shift photography creates a mesmerizing shrinking effect. Above, this technique turns Barcelona’s Passeg de Gracia into a delightful miniature netherworld of toy trees, passengers, and vehicles. Thanks to reliable Gadling group pool contributor Gus NYC for today’s Photo of the Day contribution.

Have a tilt-shift image in your archives that deserves to be seen by a wider audience? Submit it to the Gadling group pool on Flickr. We might just select it to be a future Photo of the Day.

The ten best castles in Europe

by Justin Delaney on

Castles originated in Europe over a thousand years ago. These fortresses were one of the original defense systems, and erecting the structures on hills or just beyond moats was a functional choice. Castles were built to house rulers, impose power, and above all, spurn would be attackers. Conforming to these basic principles of utilitarian design, the strongholds now appear solitary, majestic, and frozen in time. The attackers are long gone, and now a steady stream of camera clutching invaders breach the castles daily, ready to inspect the epic grandeur of the past.

While Europe has hundreds of excellent castles, these ten all have design, character, and history that sets them apart. Some occupy the center of bustling cities, while others lurk in forgotten countrysides. Spanning eight countries across Europe, each of these castles has a story to tell.

Prague Castle (above)
Location: Prague, Czech Republic
Nearest airport: Prague Airport
Year originally built: 870
Inhabitants: Kings of Bohemia, Holy Roman Emperors, and presidents of the Czech Republic
Interesting fact: According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Prague castle is the largest castle complex in the world.

Bran “Dracula’s” Castle
Location: Bran, Romania
Nearest airport: Henri Coandă International Airport in Otopeni, Romania near Bucharest
Year originally built: 1212
Inhabitants: Teutonic Knights, Mircea the Elder, Vlad III, and Romanian royalty
Interesting fact: In 2007, the castle was put up for sale for $78 million. It has since been taken off the market.

Neuschwanstein
Location: Schwangau, Germany
Nearest airport: Munich International Airport
Year originally built: construction began in 1869
Inhabitants: King Ludwig II
Interesting fact: This castle has been visited by over 60 million people and is the template for Disney’s Sleeping Beauty castle.

Leeds Castle
Location: Maidstone, Kent, England
Nearest airport: Kent International Airport
Year originally built: 1119
Inhabitants: King Edward I, Henry VIII, and other notable British royalty
Interesting fact: Leeds Castle hosts a large garden maze and a dog collar museum.

Windsor Castle
Location: Windsor, Berkshire, England
Nearest airport: Heathrow Airport
Year originally built: 11th century
Inhabitants: William the Conqueror, Henry I, Edward III, and many other British rulers
Interesting fact: Windsor Castle is the longest-occupied palace in Europe.

Mont Saint-Michel
Location: Mont Saint-Michel, Normandy, France
Nearest airport: Rennes Britanny Airport
Year originally built: 10th century, though the earliest abbeys in the fort date to the 6th century
Inhabitants: Currently 41 people call the Mont Saint-Michel home, and the structure has been home to monks to over a thousand years.
Interesting fact: The tides around Mont Saint-Michel vary by almost 50 feet, and many people have drowned approaching across the sands.

Château de Chambord
Location: Chambord, Loir-et-Cher, France
Nearest airport: Paris Charles de Gaulle
Year originally built: 1526
Inhabitants: King François I, Louis XIV, and the Ducal family
Interesting fact: Though the original designer of the châteaux is widely disputed, some insist it was Leonardo Da Vinci.


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Hohenwerfen
Location: South of Salzburg, Austria
Nearest airport: Salzburg Airport
Year originally built: 1078
Inhabitants: Salzburg rulers and prisoners
Interesting fact: The misty castle served as a prison for hundreds of years.

Buda Castle
Location: Budapest, Hungary
Nearest airport: Budapest Airport
Year originally built: 1265
Inhabitants: Hungarian Kings
Interesting fact: You can visit a portion of the 6 mile subterranean labyrinth under Buda Castle.

The Alhambra
Location: Granada, Spain
Nearest airport: Federico García Lorca Granada-Jaén Airport
Year originally built: 14th century
Inhabitants: Muslim Emirs from the Nasrid Dynasty and Charles V
Interesting fact: It was in the Alhambra’s Hall of Ambassadors that Columbus made his pitch to sail to the orient by heading west from Spain.

Marriott plans Autograph Collection openings in Europe

by Melanie Nayer on

Marriott’s newest hotel brand, the Autograph Collection, will make its debut in Europe with the opening of four hotels in Spain. The hotel company said it plans to have the Europe Autograph Collection open by May 2011.

The concept of Marriott‘s Autograph Collection has been a great success in the U.S. since it launched year. Independent boutique hotels, with a historical and elegant touch, join the collection to add rooms to Marriott portfolio and offer guests Marriott benefits. The U.S. hotels include the newly open Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, the Algonquin Hotel in New York and the Kessler Collection hotels in Orlando, Florida and Savannah, Georgia. As for Spain, travelers can look forward to the following:

  • AC Santo Mauro, Madrid, Spain: The first of two Madrid hotels will offer 50 rooms in an elegant late nineteenth-century building, which was once the residence of the Duke de Santo Mauro.
  • AC Palacio del Retiro, Madrid, Spain: The second Madrid hotel, also a 50-guestroom property – takes over a Spanish residence, complete with original mouldings, woodwork and stained-glass windows.
  • AC Palacio de Santa Paula, Granada, Spain: The 75-room AC Palacio de Santa Paula is located in the historic center of Granada and in what used to be the Santa Paula Convent, and within walking distance of La Alhambra.
  • AC Baqueira Hotel & Spa, Baqueira, Spain: For the more off-the-beaten-path traveler, 102-room AC Baqueira Hotel & Spa will be the first ski resort in Marriott International’s portfolio in Europe, located in Baqueira-Beret ski station near the Pyrenees.