Italy
I was waiting in line to visit the Academia in Florence, Italy. Having nothing better to do, I looked down at a table of sunglasses that a street vendor had put out to lure tourists. And I saw the facades of the buildings and the beautiful morning sky reflected in the lenses. So I took this photo. That's all I have to say about this one.
Canon 5D Canon 24-105mm 4.0L (105mm) f/4.0 1/800 ISO 400
Visiting St. Peter's is an overwhelming experience and I'm guessing that the architects had that in mind when they planned this massive place. The dome that appears in this photo was designed by Michelangelo, but sadly he died before its completion. The structure with the darker, bronze pillars rising from the left corner of the photo is called the baldacchino, and was designed by Bernini. It is close to 10 stories tall (98 ft.). That, alone, give you a sense of the scale of the dome.
On the technical side, this camera and lens combination was the first time I was truly amazed by the capabilities of the Canon 5D. I shot with a high ISO and low shutter speed to get this shot and I was impressed by how little digital noise that showed up in the photo and how sharp the photo is - in spite of shooting without a tripod at 1/40 of a second.
Canon 5D Canon f/4.0 1/40 Canon 17-24mm 4.0L (17mm) ISO 1000
The Pantheon was built close to 2000 years ago and I am still awed by its design every time I walk in. In fact, I would have to say that the Pantheon is my favorite structure in Rome. For this photo I stood towards the wall of the building and pointed the camera towards the ceiling. I wanted to get some of the oculus ("eye") in the shot, though the bright light flowing in caused a little lens flair. I shot using my 24-105mm lens and I was wishing I had the 17-24mm lens that I had decided to leave at home, though the image stabilization built in to the lens I used allowed me to use a an otherwise impossible shutter speed.
Canon 5D f/4 1/30 24-105 4.0L (24mm) ISO 650