What a New York City shot! At first, I thought, where is this place? And then, "Aha!"

Taken from a distance by Damon Green, this view of people waiting by a train track is an every day New York experience that is often lost in the busy shuffle of life there.

It's great to have time to see how these three men are sitting on this bench waiting. This reminds me a bit of the Edward Hopper painting "Nighthawks." It's the voyeuristic quality perhaps.

The lines and color tones of this shot are also exquisite. Well, done.

If you have shots that capture an experience where you are, please send our way at Gadling photo pool. It may be picked as Photo of the Day.

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You've thought about going to Venice. Come on, admit it. Don't deny it. Of course you immediately talked yourself out of it, considering you absolutely detest crowds and tourist traps. Yet Venice, you must admit, does look magical, like the kind of tourist trap you should see at least once in your life. But the problem is you can't stand crowds and tourist traps. And that's a problem. A very big problem.

For me, too!

When a flight attendant takes a vacation, the flight attendant will do everything possible to avoid anything that resembles a layover. Layovers equate to work. Yeah, I know, work ain't so bad when you're laying over someplace nice, but at the same time, laying over somewhere nice usually means you're at a chain hotel surrounded by chain restaurants, not too far from the airport. Of course, life could be worse, I know. But when you've been doing the layover-chain-thing for thirteen years, it doesn't matter where you are - New York, Paris, Rome - it all starts to look the same. Which is why a flight attendant looks for something different, someplace unusual, somewhere special, when it comes to a vacation - wherever that vacation may be.

So where, exactly, did I stay in Cannaregio? See that picture on the right? That's where. At the hotel Ai Mori D'Oriente, a small Turkish hotel located on a quiet canal, just a fifteen minute walk from the Rialto Bridge. Where did I eat? When we weren't enjoying the complimentary breakfast of fresh fruit and salami and ham on a crusty roll at the hotel (the husband was in heaven), or the pizza, anywhere pizza could be found, which was pretty much everywhere, we'd go wherever Guido, the concierge at the hotel, suggested.

"You want something rustic, some place not too much money, someplace I'd go?" he asked, looking at my heavy travel book with disdain.

The husband and I nodded frantically, as I placed the 2008 edition of Frommer's Italy back in my bag. It was a big bag.

Not once did one of Guido's recommendations let us down. Especially the night we visited Osteria Ai 40 Ladroni (right down the street/canal from the hotel) where I found myself sitting at a candlelit table under the stars, beside a quiet canal, surrounded by other tourists looking for something not-so-touristy, immersed in a small plate of heaven - gnocchi with crab smothered in a delicate tomato sauce.

Did I just use the word delicate? I did. It was delish!

I don't need to remind you that Cannaregio is in Venice, not too far from everything you ever wanted to avoid. Yet won't. Because even that is a must see. But then, as soon as you've had enough (which won't take long), it's back to the ghetto for you, where all of the other tourists who don't like tourists find themselves. On your brisk walk back to the hotel, make sure to run into a loaf of crusty bread, a bottle of olive oil, a hunk of cheese, and half a pound of salami at the local grocery store, the store where you see that little yappy dog staring intensely into the window. Trust me, this will be one of the best (and cheapest) meals you'll ever experience. In your room. Away from the crowds. Don't worry about all those calories, you've already burned them off walking from San Marco Square back to the peace and quiet. And yes, you really do need to experience Venice. At least once in your lifetime. For the gnocchi alone.

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If you are on the way to Essaouria, Morocco and you need to find a toilet, no problem. Could this sign be any more travel friendly? This shot by mce323 interests me for other reasons as well. See the man and the child in the background? Plus, there's the coffee cup painted on the wall. What's that about?

If you notice, the pink building has a crack in it. There are so many details that catch my eye. I'm also drawn in by the multiple textures. Don't you know exactly how that wall would feel if you could reach in and touch it?

If you have an image of what you've seen in your travels, send it our way at Gadling's Flickr photo pool. It might be chosen as Photo of the Day.

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The post about the eight abandoned hotels reminded me of the glory days gone by hotel where I worked one summer during college. Wildmere was a wondrous expansive wooden hotel that first opened in 1887.

Perched on the top of the limestone cliffs of Lake Minnewaska in upstate New York near New Paltz, it was a regal testament to monied folk.

When it was in its prime, the hotel gleamed white from fresh paint. When I worked there, it was at the tail end of fading. As with the hotels in the abandoned hotel post at ProTraveller, as the economy shifts, keeping up with beauty is not easy.

Paint flaked. Dripping pipes in the basement created puddles one had to gingerly step through on the way to the laundry room.

Once, the dishwasher broke down in the middle of dinner creating a predicament for the wait staff who were serving five-course meals.

There were holes in table cloths, so placing the vase of handpicked wildflowers in just the right place was a strategic necessity.

When the large industrial sized toaster broke during breakfast one morning, we fought over the four-slice toaster. I remember one waiter throwing a piece of toast at another waiter in a fit of frustration.

The staff was so disgruntled with the management that people stole items to make up for the bad treatment. Someone stole a grandfather clock out of the hallway, for example.

I can't imagine what the guests thought. Once described in a review as elegance fading into shabbiness, for awhile, the hotel was able to hide its secrets with a garnish of a slow pace, glimpses of a Great Gatsby-like life and the spectacular setting.

In their heyday, these two hotels were jewels of the Shawangunk Mountains at the foothill of the Catskill Mountains. Wealthy people from New York City would come up for the weekends or longer for a vacation of pampering.

The wooden wrap-around porches were perfect for rocking on, and you've never seen a more beautiful lake. The water is the most gorgeous blue. When the sun is shining the limestone gleams bright. People could boat, swim and take carriage rides around it.

Eventually, stemming the tide of a dying hotel was futile. The hotel burned to the ground one night after it had already been closed for good. Interestingly, this was the same fate of the other hotel that once stood on the property. Cliff House, Wildmere's companion was the first to open. It was built on another side of Lake Minnewaska, but burned well before my summer of waitressing.

I'm not sure exactly why each burned, but the circumstances were mysterious. In all honesty, wooden hotels up on a mountain miles from a fire station are no match for a fire, even in the best of circumstances. I felt bad for the owners since they always did right by me, and it must have been awful to lose such splendor, however down-trodden.

Even when it was getting ready to close, you could almost picture women in big hats drinking lemonade while watching their children play croquet on the lawn. It was that kind of place.

After the hotels burned and the family was out of options, the state of New York bought the land. Now called Minnewaska State Preserve, it is open to the public. I try to head up here every summer. There is one section for swimming in the lake. Back when, we swam off the rocks on the opposite end.

The carriage road still goes around the lake which makes for a pleasant walk. Whenever I'm at Minnewaska, I look at the expanse of green and rock where Wildmere used to be and feel a bit nostalgic for the good old days where guests rocked on the porch and the wait staff threw toast.

For more photographs and information about the history of Minnewaska, check out the Lake Minnewaska Web site. It is filled with details. I really did love the place, thinking back.

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Over at ProTraveler, there is a read worth noting about eight abandoned hotels in various parts of the world. They once had glory days, but didn't hold onto it for financial woes or pestilence.

These are the places that chronicle shifts of time. Hot destinations that don't stay hot or where the owners made bad decisions. You've probably come across examples of these types of places in your own travels.

"What was this place?" you might say to your traveling companions. You wonder if anyone important stayed here or what the building looked like when it was brand spanking new.

One example is this picture of the Palace Hotel in Jerusalem. I love this shot. The hotel reminds me of John Everett Millais's painting of Ophelia still clutching flowers, dead, floating face-up in a pond.

The photos are haunting, I think. Chairs with no one sitting in them, debris scattered across the floor, and an old sign that once flashed its neon. These are reminders that nothing gold can stay, but if lucky, can be resurrected into a new life.

For example, the Palace Hotel is to be reopened as a Waldorf-Astoria luxury hotel in a few years. The Diplomat Hotel in the Philippines may be turned into a museum. The folks who are going to do the project better hurry while there is still a building worth saving. It's thought to be haunted, so hopefully, the ghosts will be happy with the change.

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"Want to go to Italy?" The husband asked.

"Umm...I don't know...Yes. As in YES YES YES!" I exclaimed. And then I added, "But I'm not flying standby." Because I wasn't. And I was ready to stand my ground.

"Yeah, well me neither," he said, and that was that.

When The Husband and I decided to go to Italy on our vacation last month, we actually purchased our tickets, even though I can fly standby for free. Why? Because we wanted to go to Italy, remember? We actually wanted to make it to the land of wine and cheese and olives and pasta and prosciutto served with a loaf of crusty bread.

What we didn't want to do was get stuck sitting around an airport for days praying that two people wouldn't show up for their flight. Oh no, we wanted to get fat from drinking wine and eating cheese and olives and pasta and prosciutto with a loaf of crusty bread in Venice, Rome, and Positano. Not from cheeseburgers and pizza at the JFK food court. And not only did we have plans to eat our way through Italy, we also planned on getting back home when the vacation came to an end. Oh the joys of stand-by travel...

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Because The Husband flies over 100,000 miles a year, we were able to use his frequent flier miles to bump us up to business class, where you can usually find me working. Did I happen to mention this was a dream trip, a trip we've been planning for years, a trip that was supposed to be our honeymoon trip five years ago things got screwed up and we wound up in Playa Blanca, a teeny tiny town near Zihautanejo. The war had just broken out and someone was afraid to travel too far from home for fear of getting stuck, since that same someone had gotten stuck in Zurich with her mother for two weeks immediately following 9/11.

Okay okay, so there are worse places to get stuck than Zurich, I know, but when you're a flight attendant and make a flight attendant salary, it's very easy to go broke on cappuccino and croissant alone. Though there are worse ways to go broke, I guess.

The best part about actually buying a ticket on a flight, opposed to standing-by for free, is that you get to choose your seat. A window seat, that's what I chose, and that's exactly what I got. Man, I couldn't wait to get on that airplane. And sit. Not work. And watch movies. As others worked. While I sat. Not working. I did mention that this was my dream trip, right? Oh yeah, trust me, that's part of the dream. I couldn't wait to take off from JFK at dusk, my favorite time of day, and look out my window, camera in hand, from a business class seat. Not the jumpseat. I couldn't wait to see a breathtaking view of New York City. Not the first class closet. Or the business class galley. Or the nasty coach carpet. Or the flight attendant sitting next to me. No offense to the flight attendant sitting next to me, whoever that flight attendant may happen to be. I couldn't wait to....oh you get the picture. Speaking of pictures, here's a few from our flight from New York to London, where we transferred to another flight that would take us to Venice.

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This is an ad campaign that certainly gets ones attention! Particularly, the guy who is riveted. What a juxtaposition of images. Pirano was at the right place at the right time with the right angle in Vienna, Austria.

If you have a shot where you were at the right place at the right angle, send it to us at Gadling's Flickr photo pool. It might be chosen as a Photo of the Day.

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There are some items you can look at and pinpoint exactly where the picture was taken. JasonBechtel snapped this in Sante Fe, New Mexico, capturing one item for sale in the Southwest that gives a nod to the desert/ranch scene and a little Georgia O'Keefe. I found a cow skull once when I was hiking in New Mexico and thought my brother might like it. Since there was still some grizzle on it, (it wasn't as gross at it sounds,) I soaked it in bleach for a mighty, mighty, mighty long time.

If you click here, you'll see another one of Jason's shots that captures another aspect of New Mexico. Oh, how I miss those sunsets.

If you have a photo that captures somewhere you've been, add it to the Gadling Flickr photo pool.

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A few years ago, I was asked to be a guest speaker at a conference geared towards teachers. Each session had to do with either Japan, Germany and Africa. So, there you have it. A vast, diverse, complicated continent with the same billing as two countries. I narrowed my topic down to comparing Nigeria and The Gambia.

To really see Africa's impact all one needs to do is see which of the world's countries can fit inside it.

The statistics are staggering. Africa's square miles are hard to wrap ones mind around. The first time I went there, I thought it would be easy to country hop from The Gambia to Kenya. Yeah, right. Going back to the U.S. was easier. What other countries could you add into the 29,843,826 of the countries represented here without going over? Singapore for sure. [via A Welsh View]

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Here's another version of canopy tours, much different than the ones in Hocking Hills, Ohio and near Kuala Lumpur. At the Ysterhout Gorge in Magaliesberg, South Africa, trees are sparse, but the gorge is mighty. This is a well-done edited version that shows each step of the experience. The scenery is gorgeous. The family in this video consists of a young girl as well. You really know how much you trust a tour guide when you send your child flying along a cable, feet dangling high above the rocky ground. There's a point where my heart would jump. Part with fright, part with their excitment--and I'm the one who once took my 3 month-old on long boat rides in Thailand, passing him above the water while he was strapped in a car seat carrier. Here is a resource to find canopy tours in South Africa, plus a Gadling post from former blogger Erik Olsen that presents options in other places.

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This photo that woofboy111 calls "Giant Swimmer" is an example of a photo taking technique that works well when taking pictures of monuments. Choose an interesting angle. Taken at Daytona Beach in Florida , this reminds me of a scene in an Esther Williams movie or Beach Blanket Bingo. Seeing just part of this scene draws me in wanting more.

Are you seeing life at an interesting angle? Send the photo our way to Gadling's Flickr Photo Pool.

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Perhaps you've been one of the people jockeying for position to snap a photo of a memorial that other people are also trying to capture. Getting a photo that looks different than what the person standing next to you has taken can be a challenge. Plus, memorials are inanimate objects that might not look all that interesting in those vacation photos after all.

I came across these photo tips for taking photos of memorials from Rambling Traveler . Each are simple to follow and effective. The focus of her shots are memorials in Washington, D.C., but would work anywhere you happen to be.

One of the tips I particularly like is to take photos with people in them. Notice that these are natural shots. There are none of those types where family and friends are looking at the camera.

If you want shots of people reading quotes, don't think it's cheating to move someone reading a quote to get a better angle and tell them to stay still while you're focusing. You're creating a composition. Sometimes this is necessary to make sure a person isn't hidden in a shadow, or that the quote is visible. Take more than one shot to make sure you get one that you like.

This photo by David Paul Ohmer on Flickr of the Vietnam War Memorial in Arlington National Cemetery the National Mall has the added detail of the wreath and the small flag. The white hat and the raised arm with the pen pointing at a name also add visual interest. If you look at the larger version, you'll see reflections of other people. Well done!

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Although this shot by lecercle was taken in Bangalore, India, I see it as a tribute to all the people who rescue people worldwide--some quietly when no one is looking, and others who just happen to be there when the shutter opens, even though they probably don't even know it.

If you've captured a remarkable moment in the world, send it to Gadling's Flickr photo pool and it might be chosen as a Photo of the Day.

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This shot taken in Jaisalmer, India by arunchs looks like one of those scenes that might have looked the same 100 years ago--except for the sneakers. Also, notice the exquisite embroidered cloth underneath the saddle on the camel. There is a blue ruffle border to jazz it up. The embroidered household items sold in Rajasthan, where Jaisalmer is located, make shopping here sheer pleasure.

Send your shots that evoke pleasure our way at Gadling's Flickr Photo Pool.

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