Europe 2004
 
Home
Up
Europe 2004
Italy
Spain
Russia
Switzerland
UK

 

Italy, Switzerland & France - A Photographer's Paradise

In early September 2004, Kai Ling, her daughter Diana and I took an eight-day tour arranged by Jetour of Hong Kong, with stops in Rome, Prato, Venice and Milan Italy; Lucerne and Mt. Titlis in Switzerland and Versailles and Paris in France.  While the tour was designed, as most Hong Kong tours are, of covering as many cities as possible in the time available we were fortunate to have great weather for the entire trip.  Even though the tour was in Cantonese, Nicole Wong, our tour director took the time to explain about the places we visited to me in English, for which I was most thankful. 

Rialto Bridge, Venice, Italy  The Arcades - Interior View, Milan, Italy  Footbridge over River Reuss, Lucerne, Switzerland

Mt. Titlis, Switzerland  The Gardens at Versailles, Versailles, France  Sidewalk Painter near Notre Dame, Paris, France

Our Trip
Tiring journey - Practice for around the world in 80 days (maybe 40). We arrived in Rome after an all-night flight from HK, jumped on a bus and visited The Vatican, got a glimpse of the Colesseum, had lunch, then another stop at Trevi Fountain, then back on the bus to the outskirts of Prato where we spent the night. Anyway, you get the idea by now that we spent a lot of time on the bus, briefly saw a few highlights and most of the HK tourists were satisfied to just get off the bus so they could take their picture in front of some landmark so they could show their friends where all they had been, then eat, shop or sleep their way through Europe, while the tour guide talked non-stop on the bus in Cantonese. Thank God I had Kai Ling's iPod to listen to to drown out the PA.

I did stretch the tour by getting up early, staying up late, eating a quick meal or skipping meals altogether and doing sightseeing on my own while others were shopping, etc.

Click below to view my impressions. 

All of the photos have been posted to Flickr!   Photos have been posted to Flickr and can be viewed by clicking on the link below.  If you are a member of Flickr, I would appreciate any comments you might have and your vote for your favorites. 

Why not bookmark this site - and when you finish your tour, please sign the Guestbook and let me know what you think. 

Copyright notice
Please note that all photographs and text appearing on this site are the exclusive intellectual property of Sam Stearman. No images are within the Public Domain, and no image use is permitted without the written prior authorization of the copyright owner.  If you see any pictures you would like to buy, all the thousands of pictures on this site are available in high resolution digital format, suitable for framing, use in magazines or advertising.  Email me if you would like to know more.