Arc de Triomphe

Using the idea of the google earth mobile going round a roundabout as a revolving camera here is an animation I made of the Arc de Triomphe

Contextualisin With Cash

A Sunny Two Hours in Historic Boston

[1] Finding the start of the walk was incredibly easy. Typing in 'Boston, MA' into google maps too me right to  it. on the south side of Boston Common.

 However I instantly lost the trail as it cuts across the common and google street view only covers the road.

 However I was able to use the photo spots and drag myself from one to the other, making my way across the common towards [2] the state house.

Arriving at the state house and back on the street

Over the road is [3] the ShawMemorial

Turning right onto Park st brings me to [4] the Park St Church. Initially I was disappointed as this iconic building seemed to be undergoing renovation at the time of being photographed.

 However a short distance further onto Tremont st reveals the church in all its glory.

Next to the church is [5] the 'Old Granary Burying Ground' where some important people are buried

Such as Paul Revere whose grave I managed to find by stepping off the street and onto the photo spots again

Just down the street is [6] the "King's Chapel" and [7] the adjacent burial ground

 Taking a right down school street, alongside the Chapel brings me to [8] the 'Globe Corner Bookstore'

 and a short walk right down Washington street reveals [9] the 'Old South Meeting House'

 Doubling back on myself and heading back up Washington brings me [10] the 'Old State House'

 and here it is from the other side, showing the balcony where many important people have given speeches.

 The trail continues north to [11] Faneuil Hall were I again loose the trail and must resort to photo spots.

 and continue to do so up untill reaching [12] the 'Union Oyster House'

 rejoining the road at Marshal street this is the best shot of the Oyster House I can get

 a little further down Marshall street brings me to [13] the 'Boston Stone' which thanks to Google images I now know is the little circular thing to the bottom right of the door in this screen shot.

 while trying to cros the road to [14] the Hay market I kept finding myself underground on the John Fitzgerald Expressway which was very annoying. The market was a bit of a none event anyway.

 Just round the corner from the market and down Hanover street has to be, for me as I imagine it is for many others a great highlight of the Trip [15] the House of Paule Revere.

 and just a little further is Paul Rever mall where I cant go. So heres one end of it

 and heres the other.

Which brings me to the next site of great significance, [16] the 'Old North Church'

 and heres it from the front

 just up the road behind me is [17] 'Cop's Hill Burying Ground' and from here its quite a way until the final stop on the tour.

 Just approaching the Charlestown Bridge

 crossing the Charlestown Bridge and looking out to sea. Note the North Church steeple can be seen from here

 again accidentally finding myself underground

 and as for street view this is all it lets me see of the final destination on the route, [18] the USS constitution

 Luckily, however, someone has uploaded a cracking pic to a photo spot and I end my educational journey round historical boston pretty satisfied.

I can also tell from the time in the screenshot file names that this virtual journey took me around 2 hours to complete. The guide book claims the tour should take around half a day (if doing it for real)

Book Scans

Here is the book I will be using for reference on my trip.

Change of Destination

After talking to my mum about the idea and askin if she had a book on SF I could borrow she mentioned an alternative destination. The Boston Freedom trail is a walking tour of boston which passes many historial locations from the time surrounding the war of independence. I have decided to take this walk instead of my trip to San Francisco as I also have a desire to go to boston and take a great interest in history. This is also probably americas most popular walking tour which makes it seem even more appropriate. The walk is also physically marked on the boston streets using a line of red bricks. This will make the walk even easier to follow accurately and is also interesting in that it is similar to the way google street view offers an augmented version of reality by adding lines and street names over the photographs.

Back to Square 1: Going to SF

Looks like im going to have to go back to my original idea of virtual tourism and using the interent to explore a strange place. I have chosen San Fransisco as my place of choice for my virtual holiday. I chose SF because of lots of reasons. Te massive physical distance between SF and my actual location of London means i dont fel like im cheating at all, it also somewhere i have always wanted to go although never have. Having never been there is important because i wouldn't want any previous experiences to enter into my virtual experience. San Fransisco is famous for its great deal of history, culture and architecture and i want to see how well these aspects come across over the online mediums i will be using. Also being in the states and being a big city means it will likely have a large amount of webcams and a more comprehensive representation on Google street view. Also the predominantly English speaking nature of the US means reduces the chances i will stumble onto websites i cannot read.

Havving said all this it would also be a good idea to try out the same experiment somewhere more obscure to see how the online experience compares. However i feel like starting relatively simple and easy is the best way.

I wanted to find an online guide book to the City with walking tours. This seems like the most logical and tourist like way to start my journey (ignoring any idea of taking a virtual flight to cali) and make sure i actually see some of the stuff people would likely go to see on holiday. However no such website appears to exist and so it looks like im gonna have to buy a book.

Game Over

Just checked bin HQ again and i was right to be worried about the last development. The Blog has not been updated since the television crew left. So thats the end o that, back tut drawing board.