» Florence - Simon Lau

Europe Trip 2008 Photo Collection

Here’s a handy little post with a list of all the photo albums I’ve uploaded for my 2008 Europe Trip.

Panoroama – Self Stitched
Panoroama – Adobe Photoshop Photomerge
London
Vence
Milan
Florence
Pisa
Rome
Paris

Tags: Europe 2008, Florence, London, Milan, Paris, Pisa, Rome, Venice

. 28 Jul 08 | Photography, Travel | Comments (2)

Florence Travel Pictures

Florence was probably one of the most scenic cities we visited. The sky was blue, clouds fluffy and the landscape was breathtaking.

After arriving by train, we walked around town on the first day. One of the major sites is the bell tower by the Duomo. Surprisingly, I don’t have a good picture of the Duomo and we also didn’t go up the Duomo. It costs a couple of euro’s and there are better places in Florence to get a view of the area.

On the next day we went for a very long walk up to Piazza Michelangelo. It was a windy road uphill, took about 1.5 hours, but had a lot of places to stop and look out into the countryside. You could cheap out and take a 15 minute path from the city, but this way is far more fun and rewarding.

In addition to the panorama views, here are some other pictures we took:

It wouldn’t be complete without a picture of me staring through closed binoculars or a picture of the David as it is named after his creator.

On a more educational note, we rounded out our museum trips with a walk through the Academia for the David, the Uffizi and the Galileo museum. The David is definitely worth checking out, it is mighty impressive how you approach it and the podium that it sits on.

Here’s a replica of the David by the Uffizi.

I’m including a picture of the food at this local diner we ate at. The restaurant opened at 7PM and there was a line up when we arrived at 6:50. We got in and got the last free table. After ordering, the food would be served 5 minutes later. It was really good home cooked food and definitely worth visiting. The place is called “Le Mossacce” and its located at Via del Proconsolo 55r.

Another great place for dinner is “Trattoria da Benvenuto” at Via Mosca 16r. Right around the corner from the Trattoria is a gelato place called “Gelateria dei Neri” and it is absolutely amazing!

Tags: Academia, Bell Tower, Florence, Gelateria dei Neri, Le Mossacce, Piazza Michelangelo, Trattoria da Benvenuto, Uffizi

. 15 Jul 08 | Photography, Travel | Comments (0)

Europe 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

. 19 Jun 08 | Photography, Travel | Comments (3)

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 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.

a/images/Travel/Europe2008/Planning/florence_alamanni/florence.jpg

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.

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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.

/images/Travel/Europe2008/Planning/florence_alamanni/florence2.jpg

All images courtesy of Hotel Alamanni

Tags: Europe 2008, Florence, Grad Trip, Hotel Alamanni

. 04 May 08 | Travel | Comments (0)

Europe Trip Planning – The Schedule & Budget v1

I promised to deliver and update on the schedule and budget planning of my 2008 Europe trip for 2. With the long weekend approaching, I decided to take the entire night off and work on this instead. Whether or not this is a good idea has yet to be determined. There’s still a fair bit of work to do for school but this is far more enjoyable and relaxing!

The planned departure date is 8:35PM from Toronto on May 7, 2008. We’ll take an evening flight that will allow us to sleep through most of it. The estimated arrival time in London is 8:35 AM, giving us a whole day to recuperate, relax and enjoy the city. From London, the plan is to travel to Rome by plane and then visit Venice, Milan, Florence and Pisa by train. From Pisa, we’ll return to Rome and fly out to Paris the next day. We’ll stay in Paris for 10 days and then return back to Toronto on the June 10, 2008.

The budget is still 9K for planning + 1K for any unforeseeable costs. I’ve guessed some food and living costs and I’ve more or less exhausted the budget. If I hope to find some great deals through priceline, apartment rentals or just browsing the net to save a few extra bucks.

Here’s a more detailed look at the itinerary. It’s subject to many changes. I’m still looking for suggestions as to places I must visit, so ping me back with a comment or email!