HTC U11 Snapshots in Italy

HTC U11 snapshots in Italy, May 2019. This photo diary comes from a trip where the recording tool changed: I used to bring a DSLR overseas, but this time a two-year-old HTC U11 took over, following us from Rome to Tuscany and the city in the sky.

Officially, this was a trip to take my daughter to a violin competition, with a few days of travel on the side. Looking back at the result, though, it feels more like we mainly went traveling and joined the competition on the side... ha. The photos are not perfect, but they kept what is actually worth revisiting from those days: the expressions of the cities along the way, the family's comments, and the small surprises that only quick phone snapshots tend to preserve.

From Canon 500D to HTC U11

I once bought a Canon 500D DSLR that stayed with me for many years. It took more than 100,000 photos, so I suppose it served its purpose well.

After I took it to Austria in 2014, I never expected that would be the last time I brought it overseas. That memory was recorded in the post about a day in Hallstatt.

After that, I started challenging myself to record trips with a phone, and the results were actually not bad. Maybe for scenery, buildings, flowers, and small travel moments, I did not need to bring out the heavy gear after all... ha.

So this time, I boldly handed the responsibility of recording the trip to the HTC U11. It did not have the ritual feeling of preparing a DSLR before going out, and it did not make me keep thinking about aperture or shutter speed. The benefit was obvious: take it out and shoot. Many travel memories are not carefully planned works anyway; they are frames that suddenly appear while you are walking.

Enough talking. Please enjoy the photos.

Rome: Queues, Security Checks, and the Classics

The first stop was Rome. See the crowd outside the Colosseum? That was the line for security.

In 2019, armed soldiers were easy to spot in major European cities, and many important landmarks required security checks.

Seeing such a long line, I decided not to go in. After all, it is just a ruin.

Ha, that does sound a bit like sour grapes. Actually, I had been there a long time ago. That earlier visit was recorded in Italy Travel Notes - Rome.

Trevi Fountain in Rome — Trevi Fountain, also known as the wishing fountain.

Spanish Steps in Rome — The Spanish Steps.

Even without going into the Colosseum, Rome still makes it hard to stop taking photos. A few classic landmarks are close enough that they naturally enter the route as you walk. Trevi Fountain is the famous wishing fountain made even more familiar by Roman Holiday; the Spanish Steps are another crowded place that somehow still slips naturally into a city walk.

The Victor Emmanuel II Monument is something like Italy's national father memorial. Completed in 1935, it really is not that old in a city like Rome.

The Pantheon was part of this stretch too. One thing I like about Rome is how you can be looking at something unimaginably old one moment, then return immediately to traffic, crowds, and daily street life. That is also why I did not turn every photo in this section into a landmark note. Pinocchio in the puppet shop and Piazza Navona feel more like city fragments collected along the way, so they can stay in the gallery at the end.

Assisi: A Hill Town That Quietly Settles In

Assisi old town — Assisi, a UNESCO World Heritage hill town.

After Rome, the scenery shifted to Assisi. Rome keeps throwing major sights and crowds toward you; Assisi is the opposite. It is not a city that announces itself loudly. Its mood builds more slowly through stone walls, slopes, lanes, and distant views.

Street scene in Assisi — A street scene in Assisi.

Around the Basilica of Saint Francis — On the way toward the Basilica of Saint Francis.

I took quite a few photos in Assisi. Some are only street scenes and architectural details, and as single frames they may not look like major events. Together, though, they bring back the rhythm of the hill town: walk up a slope, turn into another lane, and find the next frame. A phone was actually a good fit here, because it recorded the pace of walking.

Basilica of Saint Francis in Assisi — The Basilica of Saint Francis, the best-known landmark in Assisi.

The best-known landmark in Assisi is the Basilica of Saint Francis. This photo can simply sit here; it already explains why the place is remembered.

Fermo: The City Around the Competition

Fermo hill town landscape — Fermo and the surrounding fields.

Leaving Assisi, we arrived in Fermo on Italy's eastern side. If you only look at the photos, this may seem like another small Italian city we passed through. For us, though, it was one of the main threads of the trip, because the violin competition was here.

The main mission was to bring my daughter to a violin competition, with travel on the side.

But judging by the result, it was more like we mainly came to travel and joined the competition on the side... ha.

Moonrise over the Adriatic Sea — The moon above Fermo, with the distant Adriatic horizon.

The moon rose from the direction of the Adriatic Sea. If I had used a DSLR, I might have started adjusting a lot of settings. With a phone, the feeling was more like: keep the moment first.

The theatre in Fermo also deserved a place here. A phone photo cannot fully explain the space, but a quiet, weighty small-city theatre like this pulls the idea of "coming for a competition" back into a real setting. We were not only moving through an itinerary; for one afternoon or evening, we had briefly entered the life of a city.

Tuscany: Views That Look Like Wallpaper

Tuscany countryside — Back west, into Tuscany.

Back on the western side, we arrived in Tuscany. The earlier stops all had clear city outlines; here, the view suddenly became wide fields, rolling valleys, and farm country. Once the sightline opened up, the pace of the trip opened with it.

Val d'Orcia farm stay pool — A farm stay in Val d'Orcia, with beautiful views and a pool.

Wallpaper-like Tuscan valley — After adjusting the contrast, this looked just like a Windows 98 wallpaper.

The farm stay sat in Val d'Orcia, with beautiful surroundings and a pool. At 80 euros a night, it really was not expensive.

That price and lodging experience was part of the trip.

The view from the room window was good too. After adjusting the contrast on another frame, it looked exactly like a Windows 98 wallpaper.

And yes, this was just taken at the farm entrance. ~.~'"

Cypress road in Tuscany — The cypress road marked by a kind stranger on Google Maps, four minutes from the farm.

About four minutes by car from the farm, some kind person had marked a "cypress road" on Google Maps. A place like this does not need much guidebook writing. Drive there, stop, and the classic Tuscan lines are right in front of you. A phone was enough, because what I wanted to keep was not a gear test, but the surprise of realizing that the roadside really looked like this.

Unfortunately, in such a beautiful place, Lisa's comment was: "Nice mountains, nice water, very boring." >.<

Next time, just stay home and watch travel shows.

Across from the farm was Pienza, another UNESCO World Heritage town, often associated with Renaissance urban planning. That area probably rewards slow wandering, but trips often go like this: some places deserve a full day, while others only get a short stop. You drive past, pause, take a few photos, and continue to the next place; only when sorting the photos later do you realize that it still occupies a place in the memory.

Big Dipper photographed by phone — The Big Dipper, shot with a phone.

Big Dipper in the night sky — Another Big Dipper frame.

The two dark photos below have seven bright points in them. If you cannot count seven, or if you count more than seven, maybe your screen is about to break XD

Still cannot see it? It is the Big Dipper...

Shot with a phone.

The City in the Sky: A Destination Seeded by Windows 10

The final stop was Civita di Bagnoregio, Italy's city in the sky. It is placed at the end here not because it was simply on the way, but because this was the image I most wanted to see on this trip.

Bagnoregio is in Viterbo, Lazio. Its history goes back about 2,500 years to an Etruscan village. Because the village is isolated on a hilltop and cut off from the outside world, it is also known as the city in the sky.

Bagnoregio village — Bagnoregio traces its history back about 2,500 years.

Distant view of Bagnoregio — This was the main destination of the trip; everything else was a bonus.

Honestly, I discovered this place because I was shocked by a random Windows 10 login photo. Usually those login images disappear in a second, but this one somehow became a real travel destination.

This was the main destination of the trip. Everything else was a bonus... ha.

Looking back at this Italy trip, the HTC U11 did not create any earth-shaking masterpieces, but it did keep the scenes that needed to stay. From Rome, Assisi, Fermo, and Tuscany to the city in the sky, these photos are fragments from those days on the road, and also the first travel record I could comfortably hand over to a phone after the DSLR stepped aside.

What often remains after a trip is not every detail of every landmark, but a certain second when you think: this is a scene worth bringing home. For me, this post is a way to line up those phone photos and look through them again.