I took almost 400 photos on my trip. Here are my favorites, organized by country. My absolute favorite cities were London (love love love) and Paris. I could easily spend an extra week at each. I liked Paris much more than I expected to, I think mostly because of how well-preserved all of the history is. Italy was much dirtier and more unfriendly than I thought it would be, and there's so much graffiti in Rome (on major landmarks, too) that it made me really sad. Also, Rome was unbelievably crowded. I felt like I was in Disneyland.
So here they are. Of course, many of the museums and churches don't allow photography, or they only allow them without flash, so I don't have a lot of art photos, unfortunately.
England:
(I forgot my camera one day, so I don't have any photos of the major landmarks of London or Windsor )
Bath
Stonehenge Picadilly Circus, London
Canterbury Cathedral
Site of Thomas Becket's murder, Canterbury Cathedral
France:
Typical interiors at the Palace of Versailles (home of Louis XIV, XV and XVI) gardens of Versailles Notre Dame Cathedral fence in the Montmartre neighborhood, with Sacre Coeur in the background Paris, as seen from Sacre Coeur The Moulin Rouge
The Louvre Paris by sunset, from the Seine Pere Lechaise Cemetary, where Jim Morrison, Marcel Proust, Oscar Wilde, Sarah Bernhardt and tons of other famous people are buried
The Mothership! The Galleries Lafayette (shopping center) in Paris
Switzerland:
The Lion Monument, Lucerne, Switzerland. The monument was created to honor the deaths of 100+ Swiss mercenaries who died defending Marie Antoinette at Tuileries, 1792. Mark Twain called it "the saddest and most moving piece of stone in the world." Swans and the city of Lucerne, Switzerland On the way up Mt. Pilatus. ("The hills are alive...") Swiss Alps Snow, and a view from the top of Mt Pilatus (7,000 feet)
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"We live in an age where unnecessary things are our only necessities." --Oscar Wilde
The Uffuzi Museum and the Palazzo Vecchio, Florence
The Duomo, Florence
Outside the Palazzo Vecchio, a small drawing inscribed on the stone. Legend says Michaelangelo sketched this face of a prisoner who was inside a cage nearby for not paying his taxes.
The River Arno and the Ponte Vecchio Bridge, Florence
View from the village of Assisi
more village of Assisi
Church of St Francis of Assisi
From St Peter's square -- The white dot in the middle is the Pope. He was holding his Audience that day and there was a huge crowd
Streets of Rome. You can see the Smart Car in the middle, which is what almost everyone drives in Europe. The car on the right is considered a "large" vehicle
I forgot the name of this building. I do know that it's in the ending of Angels & Demons
more Rome huge line outside the walls of Vatican City (thankfully, we didn't have to wait in it)
Ceiling inside St Peter's Basilica
Trevi Fountain, Rome
The Pantheon
The Appian Way. This used to be a stadium of sorts that was used for Roman sporting events and the persecution of Christians.
Roman ruins (and a guy in a gladiator costume)
Roman statues inside the Coliseum
The Coliseum
Roman ruins inside the Forum
Wide-ish view of the Forum ruins (which are MUCH bigger than I thought!)
Statue in Pompeii, Italy. This is an actual man who died when the town was destroyed by Mt Vesuvius in 79 AD. His body was preserved by the ash and then covered in plaster. (There was also a really well-preserved body of a pregnant woman who died trying to protect her womb, but I couldn't bear to photograph it.)
Remains of Pompeii street with Mt Vesuvius in the background
More Pompeii
View of the mountain and the Mediterranean from my balcony in Naples, Italy
Island of Capri, Italy
color of the water in Capri
Coast of Capri
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"We live in an age where unnecessary things are our only necessities." --Oscar Wilde
it looks like you had a great time! I was just wondering about you yesterday...
I see you did the Bath/Stonehenge tour (suprised to not see Salisbury Cathedral in there) - I love Bath - it's such a cool old city. You must have driven past Druid burial mounds around there too.
That building in Rome that is at the foot of the bridge when you pass over to Vatican City is the Saint Angelo Castle (actually Hadrian's tomb which was turned into a fortress - not really a castle as we know it).
The coliseum is really interesting isn't it? So is the forum. It's amazing to try to imagine life back then.
Pompei is really interesting too - all the ruins were dug out from the old lava. And the plaster casts of people were obtained from the cavities left by the ash that cooled around submerged bodies (the actual bodies disintegrated 1000's of years ago).
Any good stories to tell? anything that stuck out to you as odd or cool?
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"Fashion can be bought. Style one must possess." ~ Edna Woolman Chase
Wow, I am really impressed by how much you saw in such a short amount of time!
Did you have good weather for the whole trip? I left for France and Italy a few days after you did and it was actually kind of cold for the few few days I was there - I had to run and buy a pashmina - but after that we had really amazing weather. Your outfits look so cute!
Seeing your pictures of Florence, Rome and Pompeii makes me wish that I got to spend more time in Italy on my trip. But I don't envy you being in Rome at this time of year. I'm sure it was a madhouse.
I was in northwestern Italy and I was surprised how empty it was - even major cities like Turin and Milan didn't seem to have that many tourists. I went to the top of the duomo in Milan and there was no line and hardly any people up there and the main museum was practically empty. I did skip seeing the Last Supper though - I'm sure that would be a nightmare, especially with the current Da Vinci code madness.
Wow! Great pictures!!! Your pics of Switzerland are especially stunning--I've never been there, but now I want to go, thanks to you! Glad you guys had a good time! Next time you go on a big trip like this, will you do me a favor and get an extra big suitcase so I can stow myself away in it and go to cool places?
That looks like such a cool trip! You got to visit just about everything I learned about in my interior design history class!! I am glad you had a great time. Thanks for posting all of your cool pictures.
awesome pictures! would you mind very much if i borrowed a couple of pics (NOT the ones with you in them! ) to use as wallpaper for my computer. i really like the stonehenge one, the paris sunset, and all the swiss and capri shots. just let me know if that's too wierd or whatever.
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"But I want you to remember, I intend this breast satirically." Susan from Coupling
cc- the weather was actually really nice. London and Paris were a little cool at night, but nothing overwhelming. Rome was HOT, especially with all of the people and the humidity, but otherwise all right!
detroit - thank you for the reminder! We went through that Rome tour so fast, I felt like my head was spinning. I liked Bath too -- I really wanted to go to the fashion museum there, but we didn't have time. It would be a great place to spend a weekend.
relrel- I don't mind at all! I am glad you liked the pics.
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"We live in an age where unnecessary things are our only necessities." --Oscar Wilde