[casiojem]

Just got back from a few days in Italy (Florence and Pisa) and thought I would share a few photo's of the trip- apologies in advance for the quality as I only took my iPhone with me. I normally take a decent camera everywhere but decided just to enjoy and experience the sites this time rather than get too caught up recording them, but my old self couldn't help reaching for some kind of camera.

I took my Casio solar G 5600 just for ease of use. I took an analogue/atomic Giez to the far East last year and by the time I had set the watch it was time to come back- man, they are tricky!

Anyway, here's some pics all with the iPhone, the ones with the effects and 'polaroid style' border where taken with an iPhone app called Hipstamatic which is great fun and I highly recommend you checking out if you have an iPhone - the effect I use kind of ramps up a few of the colours and the border gives it a kind of '1972' feel to them.

<img src="http://img.skitch.com/20100409-c1m3ekqmu595iuuykqye5pwc2d.jpg" alt="skitched-20100409-072823.jpg"/>

I've been to Italy many times and over the course of the last 25 years but never to Pisa- I highly recommend it and I suggest you get the ticket that allows you into everyone of the buildings on the site, I think it was 10 Euro and the tower was 15euro on it's own.
Anyway, the other buildings are amazing and it seems that very few people bother to go in and look; it was very quiet while we were in there. The cemetery in particular is awe inspiring and the garden in the Museum where I took the one of the tower was a great get away from the crowds.

By the way- a great Train station in Florence that is worth visiting for the architecture
Regards
Jem

 

[thianwong]

Great travelogue! Brought back memories of Pisa..never did get to Florence back in the 70s...those camera cellphones are really amazing! The G5600 was a great choice too!

 

[minidriver]

I was last in Italy in 2001 and hit all these spots. At the time of my visit, they were doing renovation/construction work to the tower of Pisa so we could not climb it. I liked Florence but preferred Milan. Pisa was kind of a let down overall.... Too touristy for my taste.


Venezia was nice too. That place is completely different during the day/night. Was not impressed with mainland Venice... Remind me of some of Miami's industrial zones with warehouses, etc.

 

[DeskDiver]

Nice post Jem, enjoyed the pics. Must get there someday, with Rome, Venice, Pompeii and Sorrento too, on our list.....
Did you get to see inside Brunoleschi's dome (pic 3)? Apparantly it was the world's biggest-span dome for around 400 years after it was built, and amazing inside. You can still see the medieval woodwork formers over which the arch was built....

Hope you enjoyed the break, looks like it was relaxing.......