quote:

I always love looking out the airplane window and seeing the towns or landscape below us

Me too! I wasted far too much time this afternoon wandering around the Puglia views seeing where the high res photos were... You can get some great close-ups of Brindisi & most of Lecce; down on the west coast Gallipoli, Porto Cesareo & Taranto are good too.

Deborah, I agree with your analysis of the test areas 4km diameter, from my measurement! Actually, Alberobello is on one of the high res areas - but I just don't think trulli look their best from on top... The resolution looks pretty good on Matera, too, but we haven't been there yet so I don't really know what I'm looking at. I think it's one for the Easter trip! The landscape is certainly more dramatic than the Pugliese flatness.

Jonathan

I loved Diamond Head!!! Good one, girasoli! And the Bridge in Prague looks so cool from above, trekcapri.

Teaberry, the finds being posted here have been really awesome. It's so incredible to see these places from this vantage point.

I've been trying to find Machu Picchu for the past few days to see how that looks from high above! It’s been fun to keep checking back on this thread for more finds.

This feature is really amazing.

Here is Google Mars (hehe). It is a half-mile wide crater. Pretty cool.

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This message has been edited. Last edited by: Pauline,

Farmland in Germany.

It looks like modern art.

Here is Punchbowl.

I tried to do some of the outer island sites such as Haleakala and the Volcanoes on the Big Island but none have high enough resolution. The state of Hawaii is pretty limited so far.

This is a look at all of the islands:
Islands of Hawaii

http://www.slowtrav.com/gmaps/viewpoint.asp?x=14.327459....07347943528675&z=16

The Reggio and gardens of Caserta. Be sure to scroll north for a VERY long time in order to appreciate the depth of the garden.

You realize the size of the place when you notice the huge tour bus on the garden drive.

Most people stop at the 1st or 2nd basin. But, the hike up to the headwater is great fun if you are up for it.

I also notice that the image was 'sewn' together about halfway between the first long basin and the first small basin, and doesn't quite line up.

Never mind about the tour bus - I want to know what those planes are doing in that paved area to the left of the palace

I've never yet visited, but you get a good view from the train tracks as you approach Caserta station: the palace is indeed huge!

Jonathan

Fascinating!
I searched for my own 'palace' in Birmingham I could tell from the trees and surroundings that the satellite is several years old. We did an addition 3-4 years ago and that is not in the picture.
Still- really neat!

I wondered about the planes as well, Jonathan. The only think I can guess is that they are part of the whole WWII Allies thing.
The one closest to the building looks like a fighter.

This reggio is where at noon on Wed. May 2nd, 1945 Germany signed an unconditional surrender at Caserta.

Deborah - those gardens are HUGE! It must be so beautiful.

Here's another one: Mt Vesuvius

I couldn't get any closer but in hindsight I think this shot is more dramatic. I remember looking at Mt. Vesuvius when I was standing in Pompeii last May. Incredible to think of the power of that eruption. I thought it was interesting.

Excellent, trek - it's massive!

That's very cool! Interesting to see how far away Pompeii is from Mt. Vesuvius.

i love looking at the sattelite images over Alaska- it's amazing , you see all the glaciors, and around them everything has intense colors, it's just beautiful..

Here is Tower Bridge in London. I like the way the distinctive shape of the structure shows in the shadows.

What a beautiful angle, Steve - it's all in the shadows!

The northern end of Norway!!

Oh dear. Pauline, you got me started again!

The Great Pyramids of Egypt

quote:

Originally posted by Jonathan:
Frustratingly, the area of 'satellite' imagery is very variable in Puglia (as it is here in Gloucestershire): Ostuni and Stroud are both very blurred, whereas some towns very nearby have far better photoviews.

The more detailed photos are taken from airplanes equipped with automatic camera rigs. Just depends on who's decided to do what and how much they want to charge for it.

The Vatican

The Duomo in Firenze

And Notre Dame in Paris.

Merry Christmas!