EntriesEurope 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
Milan Travel Pictures
After 4 days in Venice, it was time to move on and our next city was Milan. It would be our first train ride of the trip and I was surprised at how nice the train was. It was modern looking, spacious and clean. A stark change to how some of the VIA/GO trains look like here in Toronto, Canada.
Milan is not a very popular city for grad trip travelers, but I’m glad we got to check out the Duomo.
Milan is obviously known for its high-end fashion and it doesn’t disappoint. Right beside the Duomo is Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. The shops open up into the street which is covered by an glass ceiling. I consider an outdoor shopping area because there are no doors to get into the galleria. The types of shops you’ll find include Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Prada etc. There’s even a Gucci cafe but the best view of the action inside the galleria can be had from the McDonalds.
From one of the McDonald’s, you get this amazing view of the Duomo.
There was one McDonald’s across from the Duomo, that’s the one in the picture above, and there was another in the galleria. Both were packed and had a long lineup to the counter.
Another well-known place to visit in Milan is the Castle (Castello Sforzesco). The property includes a fairly massive park.
I found this piece of art rather interesting in the city.
I’m not quite sure what it is.
The last two pictures are from the same day. We went to Piazza San Carlos thinking there would be a cool park to check out but it was close. So after a day of walking, I had to kick back and relax a bit before the next days train ride to Florence.
Tags: Europe 2008, Grad Trip, Milan
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 Milan, Italy
As you can tell, the planning for the Europe trip has kicked into high gear. For our third leg of Europe, we’ll be visiting Milan for five days and staying at the Express by Holiday Inn. The Express by Holiday Inn is located very close to the Milan subway system and the central train station, two huge pluses for travelers.
While some would stay this isn’t a budget place for students, we picked it up for $388.17 (97.04 per night) and we’ll get 1% back on our VISA and another 2.2% back from Great Canadian Rebate. There was a current special to reserve at this exact hotel for $112/night, good thing we didn’t jump on that! We’ll be in a double room complete with all the basic Holiday Inn amenities. The double room boasts a bed, sofa, tv, coffee maker, A/C, TV and just about everything a business person would need. The only thing it has that I wish was free was high-speed internet. This comes at a cost of 3 EUR, most likely per day.
One of the nice perks about Express by Holiday Inn is the free complimentary breakfast! This is an easy way to kick start your day and save a couple of bucks on your trip. We’ll see about sneaking some snacks out for the day as well.
All photos courtesy of ICHotelsGroup.com
Tags: Europe 2008, Holiday Inn, Milan
. 28 Apr 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!
Tags: Budget, Europe, Florence, graduation trip, Italy, London, Milan, Paris, Pisa, Priceline, Rome, schedule, Venice
. 19 Mar 08 | Travel | Comments (0)
Europe Trip Planning – The Budget
I’m currently in the middle of planning a two person 5 week vacation to Europe. The places we intend to visit are: Paris, London, Rome, Venice, Milan, Florence and Pisa.
The Budget is 9K for everything with 1K as contingency for anything we can’t plan for. Items like bus fares to local attractions, taxi rides around the city etc will be lumped into this group.
I’ve put together a quick spreadsheet of some known costs. We don’t plan on staying in any 5* hotels, so the goal is to keep every night under $100CDN. The plan is to find cheap hotels/bed&breakfasts and avoid hostels. In Paris, the plan is to rent an apartment for the stay, this will keep the average nightly cost down and will allow for buying and storing local food in a fridge. I haven’t factored in any budget for food yet as I’m not sure what that will cost in Europe. If you have any experience on daily food costs in any of the areas I’m visiting, please let me know!
If you have any suggestions on how to keep the cost down, or things that we should plan and do, please leave a comment!
| Item | Local Currency | In CDN Dollars | Qty | Total | Date Looked Up |
| Flight: Toronto to Paris | 1474.8 CDN | 1478.8 | 1 | 1478.8 | 03/16/08 |
| Hotel in Paris | 100 | 1 | 100 | ||
| Breakfast/Lunch/Snack | 0 | ||||
| Dinner | 0 | ||||
| Train: Paris to London | 240 USD | 240 | 1 | 240 | 03/16/08 |
| Hotel in London | 100 | 3 | 300 | ||
| Breakfast/Lunch/Snack | 0 | ||||
| Dinner | 0 | ||||
| Flight: London to Rome | 61.64 GBP | 123.56 | 1 | 123.56 | 03/16/08 |
| Eurorail: Italy Rail Pass | 294 EUR | 452.83 | 1 | 452.83 | 03/16/08 |
| Hotel in Rome | 100 | 4 | 400 | ||
| Breakfast/Lunch/Snack | 0 | ||||
| Dinner | 0 | ||||
| Hotel in Venice | 100 | 4 | 400 | ||
| Breakfast/Lunch/Snack | 0 | ||||
| Dinner | 0 | ||||
| Hotel in Milan | 100 | 4 | 400 | ||
| Breakfast/Lunch/Snack | 0 | ||||
| Dinner | 0 | ||||
| Hotel in Florence | 100 | 5 | 500 | ||
| Breakfast/Lunch/Snack | 0 | ||||
| Dinner | 0 | ||||
| Bus: Florence to Pisa | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Flight: Rome to Paris | 159.44EUR | 245.58 | 1 | 245.58 | 03/16/08 |
| Hotel in Paris | 50 Euro | 75 | 11 | 825 | 03/16/08 |
| Grand Total | 5465.77 | ||||
| Budget | 9000 | ||||
| Remaining | 3534.23 |
The next post will hopefully include more information on costs, a schedule and things to do.
Tags: Budget, Europe, Florence, Italy, London, Milan, Paris, Pisa, Rome, Travel, Vacation, Venice
. 17 Mar 08 | Travel | Comment (1)
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