Taken in Portugal, this gorgeous sunset shot from flickr user flicts makes me hate the snow on the ground outside my house even more. I can just imagine sitting on the beach with a bottle of Portuguese Super Bock next to me, thanking God to be alive.

Notice the reflections of the clouds on the water in the foreground? I'm sitting here tilting my head to see how the photo looks upside down-- still pretty cool. Try it if no one's around.

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I positively love this image by Flickr user t3mujin -- the composition couldn't be more perfect. Shot in Portugual, the pop of colour is breathtaking, and I love the juxtaposition of the old (the building, the cobblestone street) with the modern (the fire-engine red scooter). Really great shot.

If you've got some great travel shots you'd love to share, be sure to upload them to the Gadling pool on Flickr. We might just pick one as our Photo of the Day.

How often has this ever happened to you? You head down to the beach and there's nobody there. It's certainly not a pleasure I get to have very often - and definitely not during this time of year. Perhaps once Labor Day passes us by. In any case, hats off to Flickr user t3mujin, who captured his very own empty beach in Praia da Adraga, on the northern coast of Portugal.

Have any great photos from a deserted beach? Why not share them with us by adding them to the Gadling pool on Flickr? We just might choose your shot as our Photo of the Day.

This fountain in Madeira, Portugal says summer. How great would it be to run through this on a hot day?

I'm reminded of the other fountains where water arcs upwards from the ground. There's the fountain that Matt Harding of "Where the Hell is Matt?" dances in along with other dancing folks in Atlanta, Georgia, the one at the playground in Knights of Columbus Park in St. Cloud, Minnesota and the pop jet fountain at the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder, Colorado.

This fountain shot by Donner00 looks almost animated. I can hear the sounds of the water--almost.

If you have a shot that has captured your fancy, capture ours at Gadling's Flickr photo pool. It could be chosen as a Photo of the Day.

Flickr user wesleyrosenblum has decided to let us in on a secret - Lisbon is one of the most picturesque cities on earth. This photo looks like it was taken from atop the hill that's occupied by Lisbon's Castelo São Jorge, the magnificent castle that guards this ancient port city.

I like the way the cannon "pokes" out into the middle of this view, looming over the city below. I also like the way the field of view is split neatly in half, with little puffy clouds floating above and ancient terra-cotta-roofed buildings laying underneath.

Have any photos of a panoramic view in Portugal? Or maybe just a picturesque shot from Portland, Oregon? Add it to our Gadling photo pool on Flickr and it could end up as our Photo of the Day.

What a great shot of San Francisco! The colors!

Except, of course, that it is Lisbon, Portugal, as shot by t3mujin. Seriously though, tell me this doesn't look like San Francisco when you first glance at it? It is amazing how many similarities there are between Portugal and California...the weather, the coastline, the lifestyle, the bridge. If Portugal had Hollywood and Chinatown, it would practically be the same place. Just kidding.

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Color is always something that I am drawn to when I travel and in honor of late spring, I thought this colorful photo from Portugal needed to be featured. Dog blue manages to capture the intensity of organic hues in this Portuguese field. I love how the house in the background plays a role in the photo, but that the flowers are definitely the main center of attention, highlighting the simplicity of natural beauty.

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Can't say I'm a huge heavy metal fan, but it was cool to find out that the town we were staying in over the New Years, Santa Barbara de Nexe, Portugal, is considered the world-wide center for Iron Maiden fans.

It turns out that bassist and IM founder Steve Harris started a bar there almost twenty years ago and has a local presence, including owning at least one luxury villa on the hill there, in the mountains north of Faro, Portugal.

The bar is named after the skeletal mascot of the band, Eddie, who's image adorns the front entrance as well as the interior.

Forget "Planet Hollywood" (or "Cabo Wabo," for that matter), Eddie's Bar is a real, neighborhood bar, that just happens to be owned by a real metal celebrity.

What better place to grab a cold Sagres cerveza?

Before going to Portugal for New Year's, we were advised that we shouldn't even try to speak Spanish there. If you don't speak Portuguese, stick with English because the Portuguese don't like using Spanish, even if they speak it.

I didn't realize how deep is their resentment toward the Spanish until I saw this sign spray-painted on a building in Alfama, Lisbon.

I feel for you, Portugal. In the early nineties, there were similar signs in Prague: "Shut up, or stay in Germany."

On our way from Portugal to Madrid last week, we saw a lot of trucks on their way to Lisbon for the annual Dakar Rally (previously Paris-Dakar). Unfortunately, the next day, they got the sad news that the Dakar Rally was canceled for the first time ever, because of terrorism.

Four French tourists were murdered in Mauritania on December 24 and nine of the Dakar Rally stages happen to go through Mauritania. The organizers feared they couldn't provide sufficient security.

As an alternative, Dakar Rally organizers are considering a race through central Europe this spring. Czechs are big fans of the rally so I am sure they would be psyched, but replacing a race through the Sahara desert with a race through some "bad roads of Europe" is kind of a stretch, isn't it?