On the last day, we took a train for a day trip in Budapest. I regret not spending more time in Budapest, its definitely an unique city and deserves at least two full days. Full of character and lots to offer for photographers.
European trains are nice.
We all slept through the train ride. We did wake up at 4AM to catch the 6AM train…..
Budapest is booming.
In Budapest, they use Burger Kings as geographical landmarks and measurement of distance. We were only 3 Burger Kings away from the city centre.
They love their metal.
We walked the wrong direction (away from the city centre but probably towards a Burger King) and found a gianormous shopping mall.
We walked the right away shortly after.
I found this a bit odd, then realized the day we were there a Chinese trade mission arrived in Budapest.
Take my breath away….
Tee hee, booger.
History and change shaped Budapest. From different rulers came different buildings.
Several majestic bridges connect Buda with Pest. They used to be two separate cities.
Last photo before the least battery pack died. Heat does not treat camera batteries well. Budapest hit a high of 33C. Felt like 40C.
And that concludes the trip. Here’s a few snaps as we waited for the Airport Express bus to take us to the Vienna Airport.
Again, we woke up 4AM.
At this point I was all photo’d out.
Hope you enjoyed our photos from the trip. For those photo gear geeks who are curious half of the photos posted in the blog entries are from the Canon 7D and the other half Olympus E-P1.
For those who are wondering if there’s more photos, yes there are!
Follow this link to my Flickr Collection where you can enjoy almost a thousand photos from the trip!
More Wien!
Always important to start off the day strong. Like this Expresso. and Cappy!!!!
Vespa.
Maybe Heart Break in Deutsch is the same as Heart Burn in English?
Triple Threat -30%.
The subway system is modern. Unlike the TTC.
Yes another cafe. The day before we passed by this cafe, according to the Guide Book, its one of a few historic cafes that is also at least 100 years old.
Vienna’s main street had plenty of entertainers.
We returned to the Stephansondom and the projectors were turned off! Natural beauty shines through.
Yes more cafe.
Historic Tour Guide? Role Playing Dude? Nope, Mozart Concert Ticket Scalper. We already bought our tickets the day before from a nice lady.
The Palace.
Bikes and the City.
Ok another cafe.
But it was for dinner. I also discovered ALMDUDLER. So good.
Off to the Golden Hall for our concert.
And into the night. Vienna is still as vibrant.
Random bokeh balls! And realisation my sensor is dirty.
No EU?
And we get ready to head to Vienna from Prague!
If you haven’t, take a look at Part 1 and Part 2 of my trip.
First thing was to fuel up with cheap food and groceries as we knew Prague things are cheaper.
So I had some Fried Cheese.
and Fried Chicken.
Billa was one of the grocery store chains in Europe.
No I didn’t get to buy any Lentilky.
Yes, more caffeine. Mmmm…..
Strangers.
Sneakers ready!
The old train station section is now used as a bus terminal. However most of the building is kept as it was, and they expanded the modern train platforms around it.
Wien Praterstern is our destination! After the fact, we found out we should have trained it to Westbanhof to be 2 minutes away from our hotel. Oh well….
Bags packed and ready to roll!
Trains connect smaller towns to the city. Most Europeans can get by without owning a car, and yet be able to commute to work and home easily.
The great thing about rail travel is the feeling of escaping the city and into the country side. Also not claustrophobic like an airplane. Or a small car.
…and we’re there! The first noticable difference between Prague and Vienna is, Vienna is much more vibrant and full of life. Not full of tourists. Minus the Norwegians in this photo.
Beautiful churches pretty much everywhere. There’s a number of small, medium and gianormous sized churches all throughout the city.
….and also the complete opposite.
At a local BILLA. Yoghurt!
I was very amused by this poster.
The Central Market was one of the busier areas in Vienna.
Just ask, Derr Mann.
Across the street is Secession, a ‘breakaway’ art collective group. We went in for the ice cold A/C.
Unlike Toronto, where we demolish old buildings for new, Vienna and pretty much every other European city incorporates modern life into old architecture. Without it, their cities would not have character.
In the city centre is the Stephansdom church. This is also where Mozart had his funeral.
High powered light projectors painted the walls with colour and images.
This was also very amusing, couples who wear matching outfits while travelling. I guess this way, if one gets lost, the other one remembers what they were wearing.
Message of love.
Yes more caffeine. Cafe Latte. I love how they serve it.
Different but quite similar.
This guy is still on Winter Tires.
I was looking for the Danube, I found this.
They are very cyclist friendly, its part of their city.
This is another grand church, not as grand as the Stephansondom but beautiful as its own.
Travellers get hungry, so we lunched and lunched well.
We ate near the University of Wien, which means cheaper food. We also dropped by to see what the local students were up to. Studying of course. School is for studying.
We made our way to the Cafe Landtmann and found an American Food Photographer. I don’t know who she is, but pretty sure she’s American from the accent. She has two 5DmkIIs, a sweet Gizto Carbon Fiber tripod, 24-70mm f2.8L, and a ton of lighting gear she didn’t get to use. Natural light was beautiful inside anyways.
Yes, more cafes. And awesome cakes.
It was extremely hot that day, so we opted for a cold drink. Creme soda.
Yep, it was a hot day. Doggy found a solution.
Humans found a solution.
The Austrians love their Asian food!
Yes more cafes.
“YOU! NO MORE CAFES FOR YOU!”
When the night falls, its hot dogs and happy noodles.
What was initially a potentially cool artistic street shot, turned out to be a couple who just got high from some injection. A passerby woke them up because after a while, they seemed dead. They were very alive and the girl was angry that they were waken up from their nap.
But lets end this blog post on a nice sunset.
Our second day in Prague was a bit rainy on and off. As true hardcore photographers, we obviously didn’t bring umbrellas or rain jackets. I actually didn’t even have a jacket on my trip!
Continued from Part 1: http://va-photography.com/my-trip-to-europe-part-1-prague/
When weather became worse, we took refuge in a cafe for some expresso.
Soon it was the theme of the trip, cafe crawling.
Back into the fun with some wacky mirrors.
She was posing for another photographer. Or two.
Day 3 had some strange weather. Cold hot rainy sunny. We made our journey to the Prague Castle.
When we arrived at the castle, there was some armed resistance. Good thing I brought a Canon…if I had a Nikon, not sure how that woud work out.
Pow pow! Pow pow!
Tourist 1
Royal Guards 0
It rained some more so we hid under archways.
Not sure why people want to read in the rain…with red shoes.
We climbed to the top of the castle tower, the South Tower and it over looks the river, Charles Bridge and the city. “The Tourists are invading!”
Tools.
Photography is about breaking rules.
That’s the castle we explored.
I do love European cars. Practical, stylish, and what better way to show an European car in a European setting! Fiat 500 Abarth Edition. Mmm….
Thanks.
Travelling is something I wish I could do more often if I had both the time and money. An opportunity came up and off we went to Eastern/Central Europe! I’ll be posting in parts as we explored Prague, Vienna, and Budapest. Here’s part 1.
The trip went through a bit of a rocky start with the Air Canada Labour Dispute, their customer service agents went on strike.
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A more usual airport scene, plane watching.
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Passing Time at the Frankfurt Airport.
We have dreams and hopes to travel to Europe for a vacation, but what about the Czechs?
One of the goals I had in mind was not to produce postcard photos. Not hard to do when we kept on wandering aimlessly around town.
But there are a few sights that traditionally define a city.
Prague has their castle and old town with the Charles Bridge connecting them. Along the bridge are entertainers and sculptures of the past. 
Local foods with lots of goulash, potatoes, and gelato.
The locals aren’t very different, but in the city centre the tourists outnumber the locals quite clearly.
Prague does come alive in the night. Night life is full of tourists, locals having a night out, and party people.
Part two: http://va-photography.com/my-trip-to-europe-part-2-more-prague/
This little capture comes from Seattle, from Gas Town Park. I guess it does have this sort of Microsoft aura to it, Bill Gates does live up the road somewhere.
The park is a bit of an escape from the city…even though Seattle itself feels quite laid back anyways. Maybe people need to get away from the Starbucks…
What brought me to Seattle was a wedding assignment as part of Norris Films Wedding Cinematography. Seattle and the state of Washington is definitely a place in touch with nature and awe inspiring scenery.
This little Mustang was coming down a quiet alleyway in the financial district of Boston. Unfortunately you can’t hear the sound it makes in a photo, but here’s what it sounds like “visually”.
Some cars are just designed to look ‘loud’, and then there’s some cars where you know how it sounds. Here’s one:
For car enthusiasts, they know what it sounds like not just from seeing what car is in the photo, but also the context and environment of the car. For track enthusiasts, you know this Porsche is pulling out of Turn 3A approaching to brake for Turn 3B.
Spotted at Ippudo Ramen in NYC, forgot what style this kind of art is called but definitely a piece that blurs traditional cultural art with modern methods. Simply cool.
The decor of Ippudo carries the same theme and is a sensory experience that welcomes diners with authenticity of Japanese cuisine in a modern city.
Here’s a few snaps from the restaurant.
From Fort Lauderdale, leaving the mainland and into the sea….
