Yves Logghe, AP
Looks can be deceiving: it may be beautiful, but this giant flower smells like rotting meat. The corpse flower (or amorphophallus titanum, if you want to get scientific) is the largest and smelliest in all of earthly flowerdom. Native to the Sumatran ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
Belgium
Tourists Line Up To Sniff Stinky Plant In Belgium
Yves Logghe, AP
Looks can be deceiving: it may be beautiful, but this giant flower smells like rotting meat. The corpse flower (or amorphophallus titanum, if you want to get scientific) is the largest and smelliest in all of earthly flowerdom. Native to the Sumatran ...48 Hours In Brussels: 5 Budget-Friendly Things Not To Miss
Anna Brones
Beyond beer and the European Parliament I wasn't sure what Brussels had to offer. Oh wait, waffles, there had to be waffles.
Brussels often gets a bad rap. Maybe it's because one of the iconic tourist symbols is a statue of a peeing boy, or maybe it's ...Bruges: 7 Reasons The 'Venice Of Belgium' Is Worth Visiting
Anna Brones
The only memory I had of the Belgian city Bruges was thanks to the black comedy film "In Bruges," where the city is more or less equated to some form of purgatory. The only image I had retained was a grey, misty and dismal city with not much going for it.
...Interactive Website Shows Cleanest, Dirtiest European Beaches
Wikimedia Commons
It's getting to be that time of year again. People are heading to the beaches, especially around the Mediterranean.
Now choosing one has been made easier by a new interactive website by the European Environment Agency. The agency has released its 2012 ...Eurostar Revamps Services In A Bid To Lure Fliers
Long-distance train travel is making a comeback with Eurostar announcing plans to expand its services. The high-speed train, which primarily serves London, Brussels and Paris, has its sights set on new destinations across the European continent.
Eurostar says its ...Photo Of The Day: Cyclists In Foggy Bruges
Cycling is an excellent way to explore a city, and who said it had to be nice weather to do it? This photo taken on a foggy day in Bruges, Belgium, shows just what is required in order to take on a city in inclement weather. The cyclists are probably locals, but ...Bizarre Carnival Celebrations You Haven't Heard Of
It's that time of year again, when thousands of dancers prepare to don feathers, beads, and sequins and parade down the streets to mark Carnival. And while big Carnival (or Mardi Gras, as it's also known) celebrations such as the one in Rio de Janiero get plenty of ...Massive New Penguin Colony Discovered In Antarctica
In December, a massive new colony of emperor penguins was discovered in Antarctica when humans visited a remote location on the eastern coast of the continent for the very first time. Scientists estimate that the colony is home to more than 9000 individual birds, which is ...Airline Gives Away Surprise Christmas Presents In Baggage Claim
Airport baggage claims are very strange places. Industrial, drab, and rarely decorated, they are metal cauldrons of human emotion.
One the one hand, you have happy families reuniting with each other where shrieks, hugs, and the occasional "I'm going to briefly ...
Would You Sleep In A Converted Shipping Container?
Beginning in September, travelers visiting France will be able to book a hotel room in a converted shipping container (pictured above).
Located near the France-Belgian border, Deûle Insolite is featuring 20-foot-long steel boxes with amenities like a ...Sick Of The Heat? 40 Places Where You Can Cool Off
Most people look for warm places to visit. I look for cold ones. I live near Washington, D.C., and by mid-July, I've had it with the suffocating heat and humidity. I've taken escape-the-heat trips almost every summer over the last five years to places like Newfoundland, Nova ...I Miss The 'Crap' English Weather
I've just returned from a five-day trip to England, in which we saw the sun for an aggregate of about 15 minutes, but I miss the English weather already. It's supposed to be 102 today in Washington, D.C., and 104 tomorrow. Factoring in the heat index, it will feel like a ...Torture Museums Look At The Dark Side Of History
Ah, the Good Old Days, when everyone lived in a perpetual Renaissance Festival quaffing ale and shouting "Huzzah!" It must have been wonderful.
Not!
People died young, the cities were filled with rats and open sewers, and God help you if you ever got arrested. You'd ...Five Alcohol Factories To Kick Off Spring Travel
Spring is in the air, which means that most of us will be swapping our mulled wine and spiked apple cider for beer gardens and rooftop bars. Behind every good brew, though, is a distillery that made your buzz possible. And many of those outlets have turned into touristic ...Belgian TV Station Launches With 'Dramatic' Viral Campaign
Want to make a splash? Belgian TV station TNT wanted to launch with a bang, and so they set up a "push for drama" button in the middle of a quiet town square.
Watch what happens when someone asks for drama. We wish all launches would be this creative. ...
Top ten things to do in Brussels, Belgium
A couple of weeks ago I was chatting with some fellow travel writers and the conversation turned to Brussels. The general consensus seemed to be that Belgium's capital isn't worth visiting.
I disagree. While it can't compete with London or Paris, it has its own charm and ...Let's get it on: travel in the footsteps of Marvin Gaye with this new app
In 1980, famous singer Marvin Gaye's life was as at an all-time low. He was depressed, in the midst of a divorce, and even attempted suicide. He owned the IRS millions in back taxes, was having difficulties with Motown Records and was in the throes of a drug addiction.
...Photo of the Day: Sunset over Bruges
The Belgian city of Bruges is famous for its stunning medieval architecture - it's a fact made all the more apparent by today's photo, taken by Flickr user clee130. Taken at sunset, the city's gothic cathedral spires (that's the Church of Our Lady on the left, and St. ...Video of the Day: Brussels to Bruges in two minutes
Road trips seem to be a very American activity. Driving cross-country, family vacations to national parks and the like. However, road trips are popular around the world. Caravanning (what we would call RVing) is quite popular in the UK. Also, because European countries ...
The perils of solo travel, or, how to sexually harass someone without even trying
Here at Gadling we've talked a lot about the perils of solo travel, from how it can break up relationships to creating feelings of loneliness. On a recent trip to Antwerp I discovered a danger to solo travel I never thought of--people look upon you with suspicion.
I was ...
