That's a wrap! - photography

Welcome to my personally favourite part of "that's a wrap!", where I'll review my photography from the whole trip.

In January my original DLSR's battery failed. It seemed like a good excuse to upgrade from a 10-year-old model to a new model, so amid much squawking from my parents, I went out and bought a Canon EOS 7D body - about $1,200.

Worth. Every. Cent. I was absolutely rapt with the photos I took on the whole trip away, from the start right through to the end. My photography skills became ingrained towards the end of the trip, and I was able to spend much less time evaluating a scene before snapping away.

The lads at work were also impressed with them - so I may yet get some published photos out there in the big bad world of the internet!

Everyone's asking me "what was your favourite part of the trip"? Put me on the spot, why don't you! I've answered every time more or less the same - the three-week period after arriving in Andorra, driving along the French Azure Coast, down to Liguria and Cinque Terre, and back up through the Alps to Grenoble. I'd happily do that again many, many times.

"Pick your favourite photos" is another common question. To that end, I've ranked my top ten favourite photos, now that I've had the chance to evaluate all the photos I've taken. Which, by the way, comes in at just under 33,000. That equates to 370 photos every single day!

If you want to reminisce some more, check out my Flickr galleries from my Europe trip at:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/81692166@N05/collections/72157647345994947/

1) London. Right at the end of the trip, I grabbed this one very late in the afternoon at Piccadilly Circus. You can see the ubiquitous neon signs, but also a London double-decker bus, and an Underground symbol. I also increased the exposure, capturing the movement and bustling nature of the city:

2) Paris. On the very first day, I happened to be at the Jardin du Trocadero when the massive fountains went off, allowing me to capture a unique perspective of some famous Parisian landmarks, with the Eiffel Tower and the Champs-Élysées as the backdrop:

3) Calanques. Even though we didn't make get to do the five-hour-long hike through the rest of the Calanques, I managed to snap this one on the shorter, 90-minute walk around a small headland. What immediately struck me about the whole area was the colour of the water. Yes, it really is that colour, no photoshopping here:

4) Cinque Terre. This time we did get to do the all-day hike from one end of the park to the other, from the first to the fifth town. This one is Manarola, the fourth town we visited, late in the afternoon, looking down from the trail above:

5) Vienna. This is a grab of Schönbrunn Palace, looking back from all the way up the hill at the Gloriette. It truly is a spectacular park, with manicured gardens and flowers galore:

6) Brighton. Looking back from the amusement park of Brighton Pier, you can see 'The Eye', and the beaches, which made for a really nice contrast when the sun came out and made the pebbles of the beach shine a bright orange:

7) Cambridge. On the second last day, we went to Cambridge, the place I really wanted to go in England, having never been before. Here you can see Pembroke College, one of the smaller, less-known colleges in Cambridge. The colour of the building, in contrast to the grass and the sky, was mind-blowing:

8) Potsdam. Patience reaps its own rewards. I was getting cranky at the miserable weather in Berlin, and on my last day there, I caught this photo, across the lake from the Neuer Garten:

9) Grenoble. This Alpine city is famous for its hill, called the Bastille, which rises up over the city, really quite close to it, in comparison to the far-away mountains. This photo includes a view of downtown Grenoble, with the Bastille's famous cable car in the foreground:

10) Venice. And what top-ten would be complete without 'the' view of the Grand Canal in Venice? In the afternoon I tried my hand at a long exposure shot here. I had to fight for a spot, and fight to keep it, but my tripod proved to be a good deterrent to anyone wanting to bowl me over. It's really a stunning part of the city:

So there you have my top ten photos. That also concludes the "that's a wrap!" series! And this blog. Join me at the end of September, when I'll be taking a short trip to Adelaide - a part sightseeing, part AFL umpiring trip!

That's a wrap! - accommodation

Welcome again to "That's a wrap!". Today I'll be covering the highs and lows of the accommodation options we chose for the trip. They can be segregated into three distinct categories of stays:

AIRBNB SHARES

The view from my Airbnb in Venice

I utilised Airbnb for the first time on this trip. For those that don't know it, it's basically a more evolved version of couch-surfing, leasing out shared rooms, private rooms and even whole apartments and houses.

On my part, private rooms seemed a great way to sleep on the cheap and meet some new people who were locals and knew the area well. It worked really well for basically the whole three weeks, where I stayed in private rooms in Paris, Berlin, Vienna (with two separate apartments), Venice and Rome.

PLUS - I averaged AU$40, including $250 for 3 nights in Venice. So I'd say that's a win regardless. Three of six had breakfast included, so I could stretch my single bag of muesli for 3 whole weeks! The locals I stayed with knew what to see and what not to see.

MINUS - I had a few panics when I couldn't (a) get into or lock the apartment in Paris, (b) find the apartment in Venice, (c) unlock the apartment door in Rome at 11:30 at night. Fortunately they were all circumvented by either myself or someone else before I reached panic attack stage.


ENTIRE AIRBNB APARTMENTS

The experience of a Swiss ski chalet

Our (mostly) weapon of choice when the two or three of us were together. We stayed in places all over the place, from the coast of Italy to the middle of nowhere in France. We averaged about $45-50 per person per night, be it only dad and I or all three of us.

PLUS - We got to use the facilities of entire apartments, and cook our own meals - we didn't have to eat out every night. We came across some fantastically furnished apartments. THE SWISS ALPS! My gosh that chalet was incredible. If we ever go to Switzerland again, we will likely be back. $30 per person per night, in a place like that, is an experience in itself.

MINUS - There were again some hair-raising moments when we couldn't get into apartments or lobbies. Some were a bit on the expensive side for my taste too, but they were certainly cheaper than anything we could find in terms of hotels.


HOTELS

We mostly used hotels when mum was with us, and sparingly during my time with dad - Airbnb apartments were often very cheap for two single beds. Usually the hotels we used were on overnight stops from A to B, where mum wanted to use hotels more frequently.

PLUS - Management is usually there, so there are no dramas trying to get into places. Most of the places we stayed at were flexible with check-in and check-out times, so we could sit in the lobby after if we needed more internet access, or if it was only a short day we could check in early.

MINUS - It was very much a chore coming up with meal ideas that didn't require any cooking - the quality of our meals definitely went downhill, with the notable exception of Strasbourg, where we had an Appart-Hotel, which had full cooking facilities. Quite expensive for three people too - the Hilton in Croydon, near London, was a major disappointment for the price we paid. Often internet was also either not included, outrageously expensive, or very, VERY slow.


THE UPSHOT?

Next time (if I actually want to travel with the folks again) I think we will continue to use AirBNB. At the end of the day the convenience of being able to cook your own meals was really useful for us. When I was on my own, I loved being able to talk to the locals and get their opinion of places to see.

I used Trivago to compare hotel prices, and it proved useful more than once, where we were able to get a price $10-$15 cheaper than on Booking.com for instance.

I've learned that I'm prepared to pay about $15-$20 more per night to stay in an apartment in the city centre. Paris was OK because I was still fresh, but I really didn't like having to commute into the city from an hour away. It saps the motivation.

Join me for my next "that's a wrap"!

That's a wrap! - transport

So now that I've been home for a few days, I've decided to do a "that's a wrap!" series, covering all the major cogs and parts of my three-month-long trip. First out of the gate is transport.

By my calculations, between the I-don't-think-it-really-counts long-haul flying (33,085 kilometres), short-haul flights (1,397 km), trains (2,362 km), busses (210 km), driving (10,500 km), running (14 km), cycling (20 km), and walking (747 km), I have traversed a total of 48,335 kilometres on this trip (15,250 if you take out the flight there and back).

FLYING

Starting with the long-haul flights, and the Qantas flight from Brisbane to Hong Kong was exceptional, mainly because it was so empty. And that hot chocolate - worth the price of admission! Plus I met a German steward, that was cool. The two Air France flights, one in economy, one in premium, were dour. I don't think I'll fly with them again. The Asian and Middle Eastern airlines are much better IMO. But I got to fly on an A380, so that's a bucket list item ticked. Cathay's Premium Economy was good too. Plus I got to see an A330 and A380 cockpit! Truly amazing where a little courtesy and politeness gets you!

The two low-cost intra-Europe flights were uneventful for me, and each had its own unique flavour, where an Airberlin peak hour packed business flight had a completely different feel to the lunchtime Vueling flight, which felt a bit like a Spanish siesta.

THE SCORECARD
Qantas. The flight was empty, otherwise it would rank lower. A-
Air France. Left a bit to be desired. C-
Airberlin. Fun, but a bit cramped. B+
Vueling. Siesta atmosphere, bit of a ragshot organisation. B-
Cathay. Great! A

ON THE RAILS

I had (counts to self) four train trips overall, all with different companies. First up was the TGV. It was typical French, very efficient and organised, and felt like a really well-oiled machine. Germany's Deutsche Bahn had massive luggage storage space, but felt a bit sloppier with its multiple 15-minute delays. The Trenitalia was packed to the rafters, and there was next to no luggage storage space for those that got on late.

The overnight train was amazing. You have 15-25 people per carriage, with a dedicated service attendant. They are FANTASTIC value for money, at €120 for a three-person sleeper. They are perfect for backpackers - you get to meet some interesting new people, and you get breakfast and a night's sleep basically for free!

THE SCORECARD
TGV. A well-oiled machine. A+!
Deutsche Bahn. NOT a well-oiled machine. B
Overnight OBB. A fantastic experience. A+!
Trenitalia. Packed, felt poorly managed. D

ON THE ROAD

Well, dad drove 13,960 kilometres. That was an absolute marathon. I did about 10,500 of those kilometres with him. The GPS/audio/Bluetooth system kicked butt, and the recline on the seats was really good. In future we should probably have allowed more rest days in between driving long distances, so that's a learning experience.

HUMAN POWER

Well, I walked 747 kilometres in total. And that's just the above ground parts, not including airports, metros or trains. That's further than the (as the crow flies) distance from Brisbane to Yeppoon or the Gold Coast to Sydney. So yeah, maybe I walked a bit far. But the interesting stuff was often in that bit you would just miss if you wimped out and got the metro.

Umpiring the Dutch AFL practice match was amazing, and was one of only two runs I got on the entire trip, the other was more than two months earlier on my first day of the whole trip in Paris. So my fitness will be below par when I get back.

We had a couple of goes at cycling, it's much more civil there than in Brisbane. Amsterdam especially is OK if you treat the traffic with just a little respect, rather than being a hooligan. I think it will be hard to adjust to the nutcases that are all over the roads back in Australia.

Tune in for the next "That's a wrap!"