10 latest experiences http://www.hereorthere.com/members/lenoz en-us I’ve talked before how first impressions of a city can often make the most memorable of images, and there’s no place better for striking first impressions than Venice. That is, of course, if you understand the geography of the place. There is the Venice we are familiar with through its reputation and media coverage – the lagoon, the canals, the gondolas, all the, if you’ll excuse the term, obvious stuff. But the other half of Venice is on the mainland, and this is indeed where most tourists will be accommodated, tourists of my calibre anyway – you’ve got to have real money if you want to stay in one of the swanky hotels that are actually on the lagoon. So if you get off at Venice Mestre train station expecting to walk out to a vista of shimmering water and traditional gondoliers , your first impressions will be of massive disappointment. A quick comparison would be to say it’s fairly similar to Pisa, a touch run down, a touch dirty. Needless to say though, don’t jud... Venice, Italy lenoz Thu, 10 Apr 2008 16:46:13 +0100 http://www.hereorthere.com/members/lenoz/experience/1363 http://www.hereorthere.com/experiences/1363 (continued from Day 2)… After our disappointing non-visit of the Boboli Gardens that overlook Florence, we were back the next day, student cards in hand for a 50% discount. We didn’t want to miss out on the highly-recommended views over Florence, and we’d both also roundly expressed an eagerness to find somewhere to do some quality sunbathing on this most glorious of days. Instead of walking up the hills to the top entrance like yesterday, we strolled round the side of the Piazza Pitti hopping to find the bottom entrance, which we did indeed. Florence, Italy lenoz Thu, 10 Apr 2008 16:36:27 +0100 http://www.hereorthere.com/members/lenoz/experience/1362 http://www.hereorthere.com/experiences/1362 (continued from Day 1)… The following day brought delicious weather again so we decided to just walk into the centre with two main plans; visit the Uffizi Gallery and see the Ponte Vecchio, the famous bridge over the Arno river. Both we knew to be easily accessible from the Piazza Della Signoria which we had visited the day before. Upon arriving in the large square, it was instantly obvious to us just how much busier it was than the previous day. Hordes of tourists of every nationality were packed into groups, taking pictures of each other standing by the statues, or huddled around a tour guide, of which at least five of every nationality and language seemed to be operating. We had already been wondering why our hotel was considerably more expensive for Tuesday and Wednesday in comparison to yesterday (Monday) and concluded that either; a) Mondays are quiet days in Florence/Italy, like Tuesdays were in Paris (the one day we tried to visit the Louvre and the one day of the week the... Florence, Italy lenoz Thu, 10 Apr 2008 16:30:30 +0100 http://www.hereorthere.com/members/lenoz/experience/1361 http://www.hereorthere.com/experiences/1361 When you’re travelling for the first time, when you’re not too experienced with foreign cities, foreign maps, foreign street signs… the manner of your arrival can really have an impact on your opinion of the place. Florence, Italy lenoz Thu, 10 Apr 2008 16:21:21 +0100 http://www.hereorthere.com/members/lenoz/experience/1360 http://www.hereorthere.com/experiences/1360 Pisa’s Leaning Tower is to Italy what the Eiffel Tower is to France – a landmark as recognisable as it is popular, and one that the country seems to know how to exploit best to serve its tourism. So, Pisa – does it hold any attraction more than the tower itself? These days Pisa is a fairly quiet university town, and in general has the calm studenty air that you’d expect. It’s a pretty small place – it’s nice and easy to walk from the train station to anywhere in Pisa. The trouble is, because all the tourists flock to the Tower, the main part of the town seems to have become less hospitable as a result. When we visited, the area around the train station (unfortunately where our hotel was) was crowded by rowdy, abusive drunks, and in general there’s quite a lot of litter around. Walking from the train station into the centre, things start to improve. The buildings are occasionally beautiful, and thanks to the lack of chain stores and big brands, the town seems to reta... Pisa, Italy lenoz Mon, 03 Mar 2008 16:22:33 +0000 http://www.hereorthere.com/members/lenoz/experience/1309 http://www.hereorthere.com/experiences/1309 We visited Nice after a very rainy and miserable couple of days in Marseille, so we were very much ready for some better weather that might restore our faith in our idealistic British visions of the south coast of France. We’d started with a scare too – the weather in Marseille on the morning we left had suddenly become glorious, and we feared that we might be running away from the good weather just as we had done coming from Paris to Marseille. We were kept in suspense too, the train seemed to be travelling down the precise line where miserable grey clouds and clear blue skies met, and it remained impossible to tell what Nice would hold in store. Thankfully, it didn’t disappoint – lovely and sunny! Nice, France lenoz Mon, 03 Mar 2008 14:13:44 +0000 http://www.hereorthere.com/members/lenoz/experience/1308 http://www.hereorthere.com/experiences/1308 I remember back when we were planning the itinerary for our Europe trip and we were listing places that we’d like to go. Myself and my cousin both suggested Marseille, and in retrospect, I ask myself why. I think it was due in no small part to three factors – my knowledge of their football team, the fact that the Taxi films were filmed on location there, and finally, well, it’s on the south coast of France isn’t it, so it’s going to be absolutely lovely? Well… We got to Marseille on a TGV from Paris. I was pretty excited about travelling on a TGV, and that was perhaps the first slight disappointment of the visit. I was expecting speed-of-light type stuff, cheeks flapping from the G-force and all that, but no, it just felt like any fast-service train. Perhaps the disappointment was in no small part linked to the gradual decline in the weather. It’d been absolutely fabulous in Paris and it got worse as we went further south. All the potentially-beautiful hills and mounta... Marseille, France lenoz Mon, 03 Mar 2008 13:19:32 +0000 http://www.hereorthere.com/members/lenoz/experience/1307 http://www.hereorthere.com/experiences/1307 Further, and perhaps contrary, to my recent attempts to try and encourage people to enjoy the less obvious aspects of Paris, here’s a guide to my favourite three of the popular tourist destinations in France’s capital city. Paris, France lenoz Fri, 29 Feb 2008 17:49:19 +0000 http://www.hereorthere.com/members/lenoz/experience/1304 http://www.hereorthere.com/experiences/1304 Paris must be one of the most visited places in Europe, and deservedly so. Tons of the world’s most famous and recognisable landmarks can be found in France’s capital. In fact, if there’s a single one of Paris’ famous landmarks that you haven’t seen, I’d truly recommend that you go and visit them. Not only because these places are amazing, but because it’s only once you’ve seen all these must-see places that you are able to really enjoy Paris. Paris, France lenoz Thu, 28 Feb 2008 20:08:25 +0000 http://www.hereorthere.com/members/lenoz/experience/1303 http://www.hereorthere.com/experiences/1303 Stockholm is obviously the first choice for any tourist looking to discover Sweden, but beyond the country’s capital city, there aren’t many other places that crop up regularly on travelling itineraries. I don’t think I can offer a better recommendation than Helsingborg, a small and beautiful city in the south-west of the country. Helsingborg, Sweden lenoz Tue, 26 Feb 2008 16:33:35 +0000 http://www.hereorthere.com/members/lenoz/experience/1301 http://www.hereorthere.com/experiences/1301