EntriesEurope Trip 2008 Panoramics
I have finally pieced together photos of our Europe Trip that covered London, Venice, Milan, Florence, Pisa, Rome and Paris between May 7th and June 10th. The photos were taken with a Casio Exilim EX-Z1050 (10MP) digital camera and pieced together using Adobe Photoshop.
London was the first city we visited but we did not visit any high points in the city that would allow for panoramic city photos.
Venice was the first Italian city of our trip and from the Bell Tower in San Marco (Campanile di San Marco) you get a wonderful view of the city, the water and the islands that dot around Venice.
Leaving Venice we took the train to Milan but like London, there were no good free high points that allow you to take panoramic photos. From Milan we went to Florence, where the blue skies, green grass and small city made for breathtaking views. The photos below was taken from Cimitero Delle Porte Sante on our way to Michelangelo Piazza.
From Michelangelo Piazza the city is a bit closer.
Karen and I both believe that Florence had the best view during our trip.
Leaving Florence we went to Pisa for one day where the most obvious thing to do is to visit the Leaning Tower. However, going up the Leaning Tower is quite the experience. I think it is the best way to fully appreciate the lean. You also get a great view from the top.
The final Italian city for us is none other than Rome. Rome is full of history and two of the most popular places include the Vatican City and the Colosseum. At the Vatican City we went to the cupola (top of St Peter’s Basilica) and I had enough photos for 2 panoramic, possibly more if I wanted to put the rest together. In addition to those two sites, I compiled a panoramic photo of some ruins along Via dei Fori Imperiali between Colosseum and Victor Emmanuel II.
The final stop on our trip was Paris and the most obvious place for panoramic photos would be at the top of the Eiffel Tower. There’s absolutely no doubt in my mind that the view from the Eiffel Tower was spectacular but at such a great height (300m above ground) some of the detail is lost. However, it is the only monument open late into that night allowing for pictures of the “City of Lights”. Before revealing the photos from the Eiffel Tower, we first went to Notre Dame, the site Victor Hugo’s Hunchback of Notre Dame. From here you can see large portion of Paris and its surrounding area.
The night of our boat cruise we also went up to the Eiffel Tower because the weather was finally starting to clear and we didn’t want to miss the opportunity. When we arrived at the top, the sun was setting.
That’s a wrap for all the panoramic I currently have. I am still selecting which photos from each city I will upload and share. Expect that to happen in the coming weeks.
Tags: Europe 2008, Florence, Grad Trip, panoramic, Paris, photos, Pisa, Rome, Venice
Back in Toronto
After 36 days in Europe for my graduation trip where I covered London, Venice, Milan, Florence, Pisa, Rome and Paris, I came back to Toronto yesterday afternoon in one piece. The flight was smooth until the last 20 minutes when we hit some very choppy air. To make matters more interesting, they made us sit in the plane for another 20 minutes while Peel police escorted someone off the plane. Why? Who knows!
Over the coming weeks I will slowly upload a few of the photos I’ve taken. In total there are over 2200. I’ll likely break it down by city and share a few comments about why the photo is special.
Tags: Europe 2008, Florence, Grad Trip, Itinerary, London, Milan, Paris, Pisa, Rome, Venice
. 11 Jun 08 | Travel | Comments (0)
Final Itinerary for Europe Trip
Here’s our final itinerary for Europe. I’ll be back in Toronto in June!
| Date | Depart | Arrive | Location |
| Wednesday, May 07, 2008 | 18:25 | Depart Toronto | |
| Thursday, May 08, 2008 | 6:25 | Arrive in London | |
| 7:15 | Liverpool Finsbury Square | ||
| Monday, May 12, 2008 | 11:25 | Depart London (Stansted) | |
| Monday, May 12, 2008 | 14:20 | Arrive in Venice | |
| Bus to Venice | |||
| 16:00 | Arrive in Venice | ||
| Friday, May 16, 2008 | 10:30 | Depart Venice | |
| Friday, May 16, 2008 | 13:05 | Arrive in Milan | |
| Tuesday, May 20, 2008 | 11:50 | Depart Milan | |
| Tuesday, May 20, 2008 | 14:32 | Arrive in Florence | |
| Saturday, May 24, 2008 | 10:00 | Depart Florence | |
| Saturday, May 24, 2008 | 10:35 | Arrive in Pisa | |
| Sunday, May 25, 2008 | 8:55 | Depart Pisa | |
| Sunday, May 25, 2008 | 12:14 | Arrive in Rome | |
| Thursday, May 29, 2008 | 3:00 | Bus to Airport | |
| Thursday, May 29, 2008 | 6:45 | Depart Rome | |
| Thursday, May 29, 2008 | 8:50 | Arrive in Paris | |
| Bus to City | |||
| 8:00 | Train to CDG Terminal 2A | ||
| Tuesday, June 10, 2008 | 11:40 | Depart Paris | |
| Tuesday, June 10, 2008 | 14:05 | Arrive in Toronto |
Tags: Europe 2008, Florence, Grad Trip, Itinerary, London, Milan, Paris, Pisa, Rome, Venice
. 07 May 08 | Travel | Comments (0)
Europe Trip Planning – Where We’re Staying in Paris, France
Our final stop in our Europe trip is none other than Paris. We’ll spend a total of 12 night in this city, starting May 29th and returning back to Toronto on June 10th. The first 6 days of our stay will be at the IBIS Paris Porte d’Orleans. One could technically argue that it is slightly outside the city but it’s only a short walk to the metro and close enough for me that I’ll call it part of Paris.
There’s not a whole lot of information about this place, other than it is somewhat cheap…70EUR/night. The rooms look comfortable enough without very many features – a a clean room, wifi, and a place to shower. Good enough until we make our way to our apartment.
Images courtesy of IBIS.
The reservations are quite relaxed; you can cancel with no penalty up until the afternoon of the day you’re expected to check-in. We’ll continue to look for better deals that will move us closer to the city and save us money!
This being the last update on where we’re staying in each city, I’ll try and take some pictures and post actual reviews of each place I stayed at after I return.
Tags: Europe 2008, Frane, Grad Trip, IBIS, Paris
. 07 May 08 | Travel | Comments (0)
Europe Trip Planning – Where We’re Staying in Rome, Italy
Rome is the last city we’ll be visiting in Italy and three of our four nights will spent inside an apartment. We ordered a place through a company called RentalinRome.com and the apartment we have is called the Crivellucci Apartment. There was a bit of discontinuity between myself and our agent, after giving them our deposit via Paypal we lost communication for a week. After calling their office in Rome, the confirmation and contact details were sent to us the next day. According to them, they had send an email but I never got it. It’s hard to say who is at fault there. However, from just the pictures, the place looks nice and should be a pleasant stay.
The apartment sleeps 4 as it has a double bed and a sofa bed. There is also air condition, washing machine, TV, bathroom & shower and a fully equipped kitchen. All features that will keep keep our trip costs down.
Will the place look exactly like in the photos, we hope so! The apartment is located at the east end of town, it’s not extremely close to the attractions but the metro system will let us cover a fair bit of ground with ease.
On our final night in Rome, the plan is to just hang around town until we can take a bus from Termini station to the airport. Our flight is at 6:45 and the airport opens at 4:30. The departure lounge closes at 1:30 but the arrival remains open.
All images courtesy of RentalinRome
Tags: apartment, Europe 2008, Grad Trip, Italy, Rome
. 06 May 08 | Travel | Comments (7)
Europe Trip Planning – Where We’re Staying in Pisa, Italy
Pisa is really one of those cities that you can cover in a single day. The biggest attraction is the Leaning Tower and being only 30 minutes away from Florence, you could simply make it a day trip. However, factoring in the extra cost of taking a train back to Florence and the cost of taking the train from Florence to Rome, it wasn’t a big difference if we spent the in town. Expedia had a Europe sale but the place we ended up taking wasn’t on the list. As a matter of fact, Hotel Santa Croce is one of the more expensive nights, $128.17/night, and with tax it comes to $141/night.
Hotel Santa Croce is at the edge of Pisa but within public transportation to the Leaning Tower and Central Station. The hotel is actually an old monastery built in the 13th century. It’s address is Piazza Santa Croce, I guess you can’t miss it.
There aren’t very many pictures of the hotel but some of the amenities include: free wifi, complimentary breakfast, private bathroom, TV, A/C, patio and a view of the courtyard. Our train out of Pisa is around 9AM so we’ll be getting up and out early, let’s hope the free breakfast starts early! From Florence we will make our way to Rome, the last stop of our Italian leg of the trip.
All Images Courtesy of Venere
Tags: Europe 2008, Grad Trip, Hotel Santa Croce, Leaning Tower, Pisa
. 06 May 08 | Travel | Comment (1)
Europe Trip Planning – Where We’re Staying in Florence, Italy
The stay after Milan is a step down in quality, we’re not sleeping any any established hote chain, simply because they were completely out of budget. Instead of priceline or expedia, we used a site call hotwire.com. Hotwire lists a series of accommodations, their general location, amenities and star rating without the name of the place. Based on the available information, you buy it if you like it wait until another deal comes along. With Great Canada Rebate, you get 1% back on all HotWire purchases. All of our requests on Priceline went over budget and there was nothing good on Expedia, Venere or any typical booking site, so we jumped the gun and took this 2.5 star hotel in central Florence.
It turned out to be Alamanni Hotel. The hotel is located on the second floor of a “modern building”. The have a number of websites but they all appear the convey the same general information: close to the train station, twenty minutes to Uffizi Gallery and Duomo by walking and ten minutes from congress and the exhibition with many more attractions a few minutes away.
The hotel was apparently renovated in 2002 and partially renewed in 2006. Each room is comes with a TV, a bar fridge, A/C, telephone, bathroom with shower, hairdryer, towel heater (that’s a new one for me!) and a writing desk. Internet is a surcharge, we’ll see if we can get around that.
All images courtesy of Hotel Alamanni
Tags: Europe 2008, Florence, Grad Trip, Hotel Alamanni
. 04 May 08 | Travel | Comments (0)
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