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05/04/2009 12:00:12 PM · #1 |
My wife and I are going on a 25th anniversary Mediterranean cruise with my brother and his wife next week. I'm looking for suggestions on can't miss places for photography or just experiencing. I see a few threads, but haven't found much on the forums yet.
First 2 days in Rome
Night train to Venice (miss travel sights but make best use of limited time for sleep), board our ship and spend the day touring Venice
12 day cruise including Athens and Mykonos Greece, Istanbul and Kusadasi (Ephesus) Turkey, Naples, Civitavecchia and Livorno Italy, Monte Carlo, and ending up in Barcelona where we'll spend 3 more days.
Any "can't miss" suggestions would be appreciated. I was going to keep this secret for challenge entry anonymity, but I think we have enough members living in those areas I'd benefit much more from getting your advice. |
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05/04/2009 12:16:04 PM · #2 |
It looks like one of those trips where it will be tough to choose between great subjects. Venice is tough to screw up, any morning or evening light over the canals is going to be lovely, be it bright sunlight, or misty fog.
In Athens when you go to the Parthenon, if you have time wander around the old city near the train station by the foot of the plateau. And when you sail into Piraeus there are some amazing working boats that make great contrasts with the yachts of the ubber rich.
In Istanbul sunrise over the golden horn while standing between the blue mosque and the Hagia Sophia is one of the most amazing sights in the world. And under your feet at that location is an old roman "Basilica Cistern" that has been used in many movies because it is beautiful and oddly well lit.
In Ephesus, shooting into the setting sun from the top of the theater with the town to your left and ahead is a great image. Make sure you see the temple of Artemus (one of the ancient wonders of the world, now a ruin topped by nesting storks) and the abandoned Basillica of St. John on the northern hills, all in walking distance form the ruins of Ephesus.
Message edited by author 2009-05-04 12:23:50. |
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05/04/2009 12:28:39 PM · #3 |
Wow - can I come?! I would highly recommend seeing Siena and Florence if you've got time in Italy - although they can be a bit touristy there is no where else like them. If you're pushed for time Venice would be my choice (I lived about an hour away and would head there whenever possible - couldn't get enough it's truly incredible). When you're in Venice don't bother with maps or directions - get yourself lost in the back streets, it's an island so you can't go too far wrong and you'll see things most of the tourist crowd never will. You'll eventually end up bumping into all of the main tourist attractions - the roads just seem to all amble eventually towards St Mark's square. Check out the Peggy Guggenheim museum if you have time, it's and incredible collection and right on the grand canal so the views out the back are superb.
My main piece of advice though (again if you're not too time constrained) would be to stick around until the sun has gone down and the streets are empty, there really is nothing quite like the eerie silence among the twisty back alleys of Venice at night. The place oozes history, beauty and tradition and the whole place is once enormous photo opportunity.
Barcelona is also great and Ephesus was EPIC (and involved a full on 8 hour drive across psycho-turkish roads to get there) don't miss either of those! Monte Carlo is very special as well, although make sure you bring plenty of spending money. J |
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05/04/2009 01:01:48 PM · #4 |
Barcelona = Gaudi's architecture. Do NOT mi9ss the opportuni9ty to check it out and photograph it. Absolutely, utterly unique. Sagrada Familia, of course, is the most famous work of his, but there are a bunch of others.
R. |
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05/04/2009 02:21:15 PM · #5 |
| Thanks, all, for the suggestions so far, I'll use them to make the most of it. Keep them coming! We definitely plan to concentrate on Gaudi in Barcelona. I just saw Vicky Christina Barcelona over the weekend. I didn't realize Ephesus was so far from Kusadasi. Since we're on an independent tour there (our only scheduled tour so far) I hope we make it back in our 6 hours! I'll be limited in my sunrise/sunset/night shots due to the ship schedule, but we'll have the days in Rome and Barcelona and from 5:30 AM until 8AM the next day in Venice followed by almost 2 full sea days to rest up. We may head to Tarquinia on our Civitavecchia day to get away from tourists and get some more genuine Italian neighborhoods. |
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05/04/2009 02:57:20 PM · #6 |
I see you're stopping at the Isle of Capri... be sure to take the chair lift to the top of Mount Solara -- what an amazing place!
Here's a picture I took there. |
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05/04/2009 03:03:22 PM · #7 |
| You can´t miss Toscana, you have to go to Chianti and drink a good red wine... ! If you are going to italy it´s most important you will not regret it! ;) |
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05/04/2009 03:07:27 PM · #8 |
Originally posted by boyd2000:
We may head to Tarquinia on our Civitavecchia day to get away from tourists and get some more genuine Italian neighborhoods. |
This is a really good idea - especially because you're more likely to find a really nice, genuine and reasonably priced restaurant in a smaller town. A lot of people go to Italy without really eating Italian, get as local as possible with the food and you're on the right track. Each town will have it's own special pasta or meat dish which will be better the further away you get from the tourist routes! |
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05/04/2009 03:33:30 PM · #9 |
Originally posted by JimiRose:
Originally posted by boyd2000:
We may head to Tarquinia on our Civitavecchia day to get away from tourists and get some more genuine Italian neighborhoods. |
This is a really good idea - especially because you're more likely to find a really nice, genuine and reasonably priced restaurant in a smaller town. A lot of people go to Italy without really eating Italian, get as local as possible with the food and you're on the right track. Each town will have it's own special pasta or meat dish which will be better the further away you get from the tourist routes! |
Couldnt agree more...just adding that the same applies to every place you will stop at. It might be difficult to do in mykonos and venice since both are tourist islands in themselves |
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05/04/2009 03:45:55 PM · #10 |
Along these lines, if you find yourself in Sorrento (south of Naples... we took a hydrofoil to Capri from here), look up Gigino's (Via Degli Archi, 15, 80067 Sorrento (NA), Italy +39 081 877 3446). We had an awesome and inexpensive authentic meal here. They have the wood-fired oven, and really friendly service. One of the best meals we had on the trip!
Originally posted by JimiRose:
you're more likely to find a really nice, genuine and reasonably priced restaurant in a smaller town. |
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05/04/2009 06:05:22 PM · #11 |
 JimiRose and  alanfreed, I love your pictures. We're stopping at Naples, and Capri is an option along with the Amalfi Coast, Vesuvius, Pompei, Herculaneum (maybe the best choice?), Sorrento and other places including Naples itself. I would love to go to Toscana after seeing "Under the Tuscan Sun" and we're planning to go to Pisa and Florence, so Chianti and Siena may be difficult. I hope to get back some day for a more prolonged land vacation. This is our first time in Europe (and technically Asia thanks to Istanbul). I've been listening to an Italian Phrases MP3 CD for a while trying to at least communicate in Italian to a certain extent. |
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05/04/2009 06:55:06 PM · #12 |
Thanks for the photo compliments - the shots I have up are just a few of many many Venice shots I have stored away!
If I might make a suggestion - don't devote too much time to Pisa, it's really not all that amazing. The tower is something to see and the surrounding park is nice but apart from that there's not really a great sense of place or history. If you have the choice of Pisa or Siena DEFINITELY choose to visit Siena - it's about 40mins on the bus from Florence and it is an incredible place to visit. I studied at the University there and lived just off the Piazza del Campo (my roof was in the latest Bond film!!). It's one of the most atmospheric places I've spent time, the Cathedral is spectacular, the views are second to non and they have some AWESOME street parties (free booze, food and entertainment). That was also where I was first inspired to concentrate on learning to take pictures properly so it holds a special place in my heart.
p.s I tried to find a couple of shots from back then just now but I realised as I was looking through them how far I've come since then, I couldn't find anything worth posting!! |
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05/05/2009 12:31:52 AM · #13 |
I was in Spain in January for two weeks and it was wonderful. Barcelona is a great city with tons of architecture and diversity, you should for sure visit:
Sagrada Familia - duh :P
Hospital De Sant Pau has some great architecture and there is less tourists.
Las Ramblas -long street with tons of little stands and people (be careful with money/valuables here, there is a lot of pick pocketing here) Close to the Ramblas there is a hot chocolate restaurant called âLa Pallaresa Granja-Xocolateriaâ they have great hot chocolate and churros.
Walk around the Gothic quarter for some amazing architecture and also visit the Pablo Picasso Museum there.
The Eixample district is more modern and also has some cool architecture the main thing to see here is Casa Mila and âThe Block of Discordâ.
I didnât have time for Parc Guell but I heard itâs really nice.
Ohh Montserrat is really worthwhile as a day trip but with only 3 days it's probably best to stick with just Barcelona because thereâs so much to see.
One of the best things I took with me was a money belt as well as the Rick Stevesâ Spain book., they made things a lot easier.
Iâm sure youâll love Barcelona so have fun!
BTW this is a link to a thread before going to Spain asking for tips- Spain here is the thread with a few picsbut I havent uploaded Barcelona images yet Pics
Message edited by author 2009-05-05 00:35:06.
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05/05/2009 02:03:10 PM · #14 |
| Just got back and it rained often while in Venice but I got some great early a.m. shots from the end of the Grand Canal, also photos of people with umbrellas near the canals. While in Rome, I got some great Coliseum shots, night & day. I went to Stia & Poppi in the Tuscany region and took a lot of pictures of the countryside. Have fun! |
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