I am SPEECHLESS

[partytime2009]

I LOVE YOU redflag deals and google. I was on here reading through the posts regarding google streetview and you won't believe what happened to me.

I decided to try google streetview after reading one of the posts on here and I am totally speechless. I have just spent half an hour retracing my childhood in Spain. The program has street level views of where I grew up, where I won a huge soccer match as a child, and where I even met my FIRST girlfriend.

The emotions going through me are just hard to put into words. I was planning a one month trip to retrace my childhood this summer but what google has done for me I can't even put into words. Google, through your creative program you have changed my life and brought a spark back to my step. It has been over a decade since I left and I feel like I am back where I grew up...back to the times when life was so simple and sweet. I will personally donate to google streetview if they are taking donations...let me know

**Since RFD has a high percentage of people born outside of Canada, has google streetview given you the chance to go back to your childhood and revisit some of the places and things you have done?**

[loho33]

slowly but surely...we're turning into a police state...be careful for what you wish for OP...thanks google.

[king_george]

I LOVE YOU redflag deals and google. I was on here reading through the posts regarding google streetview and you won't believe what happened to me.

I decided to try google streetview after reading one of the posts on here and I am totally speechless. I have just spent half an hour retracing my childhood in Spain. The program has street level views of where I grew up, where I won a huge soccer match as a child, and where I even met my FIRST girlfriend.

The emotions going through me are just hard to put into words. I was planning a one month trip to retrace my childhood this summer but what google has done for me I can't even put into words. Google, through your creative program you have changed my life and brought a spark back to my step. It has been over a decade since I left and I feel like I am back where I grew up...back to the times when life was so simple and sweet. I will personally donate to google streetview if they are taking donations...let me know

**Since RFD has a high percentage of people born outside of Canada, has google streetview given you the chance to go back to your childhood and revisit some of the places and things you have done?**

That's speechless???? :lol:

[partytime2009]

I just found the place where I got my FIRST black eye. Me and a couple of friends were playing soccer out on a field and these Gypsies (landless people who inhabit most of Europe) came to us and asked us to get off the field or else there would be some butt wooping. I told them that if they wanted me out of that field they would have to drag me out of it....so they beat the heck out of me and dragged me off the field. My mother fainted when she saw my face. ahaha THE MEMORIES. Man I am so damn happy.

[partytime2009]

slowly but surely...we're turning into a police state...be careful for what you wish for OP...thanks google.

Police state?? are you kidding dude. This application has given me a chance to go back in time and made this the best day for me. I have yet to see one face and all I have seen are locations. I would personally donate to google if I knew it would go only for this program. I can only imagine how many other lives they are changing with this simple program. It is like the dream of every immigrant to retrace his roots.

[partytime2009]

Update. The ford plant that a lot of people in my small town in Spain used to work at has apparently gone off business. The plant seems to have been bought by Fiat. I guess the big three are suffering in Europe too...too bad because they paid really well over there too.

[YYZFA]

Update. The ford plant that a lot of people in my small town in Spain used to work at has apparently gone off business. The plant seems to have been bought by Fiat. I guess the big three are suffering in Europe too...too bad because they paid really well over there too.

Please keep these updates coming! Your home town has sentimental memories for all of us, not just yourself.

[partytime2009]

Please keep these updates coming! Your home town has sentimental memories for all of us, not just yourself.

I guess that's my hint to stop with the updates. Those of you who have any updates on google streetview rekindling the past for you PLEASE share.

[professionaldude]

http://blogger.com/

you beat me to it. :lol:

[ullyeus]

This post brought a slight smile to my face, thanks.

[grant]

I am SPEECHLESS
apparently not since you wrote 3 paragraphs about whatever it is.

[tonychau]

thanks google for all my future vacations on streetview.
who need to travel when you are speechless.

Everything you can view on google streetview.
It's speechless.

Bought by you, RFD.

-----

You will be more speechless when you see your mother/father with another man/woman on Google streetview?
Shocking? I know.

[cheeseshredder]

Everyday, RFD gets more unfriendly.

[george benjamin]

there is no street view for spain....

[Sogeking]

they dont have toronto!!!!!!! arg

[AcidBomber]

there is no street view for spain....


Uh, surprisingly there actually is. ;)

Monday, October 27, 2008
Spain is the fifth country from Google Street View's map. You can now view street-level images for the biggest 4 Spanish cities: Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Seville.


http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2008/10/street-view-for-spain.html

[Sepiraph]

Everyday, RFD gets more unfriendly.

+1 OP post was actually quite interesting.

[partytime2009]

+1 OP post was actually quite interesting.

Thanks for the support. Seems like people put down anything you post on this site.

And yes, there definitely is streetview for Spain. Even for a town outside of a large city (sort of like what Thornhill is to Toronto). It is really sad though, they basically tore down all the open land and parks I used to play at and built condos. Every cool place we used to play in has now become a condo...what is going on in this world.

[jedijome]

wow what a bunch of jerks we have in here.

i liked op's post too. it was actually funny and interesting and has actually inspired me to do the same.

[Piccolo]

I just did the google maps thing last night to see my old house, but it didn't get close enough to see any details :(. That's what you get for growing up in the middle of nowhere.

edit:
I was curious to see what spain looked like. What are the circles?
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=spain&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=32.114675,56.601563&ie=UTF8&ll=38.958875,-2.056847&spn=0.123072,0.2211&t=h&z=12
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=spain&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=32.114675,56.601563&ie=UTF8&t=h&ll=38.932974,-2.090621&spn=0.01539,0.027637&z=15

[flyingdutchman]

I just did the google maps thing last night to see my old house, but it didn't get close enough to see any details :(. That's what you get for growing up in the middle of nowhere.

edit:
I was curious to see what spain looked like. What are the circles?
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=spain&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=32.114675,56.601563&ie=UTF8&ll=38.958875,-2.056847&spn=0.123072,0.2211&t=h&z=12
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=spain&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=32.114675,56.601563&ie=UTF8&t=h&ll=38.932974,-2.090621&spn=0.01539,0.027637&z=15

whoa...they looks like HUGE radars! Maybe its a farm field?

So they have Google Street View for Alaska but not for Toronto! They even have one for Vancouver!

[Piccolo]

whoa...they looks like HUGE radars! Maybe its a farm field?

So they have Google Street View for Alaska but not for Toronto! They even have one for Vancouver!


I can find my current house (Toronto), but for 18 years I lived in the middle of no where. I can get close enough to see the surrounding fields, but not the house I grew up in. My parents still live there.

[nyrz]

Seems like people put down anything you post on this site.


Yes, there a few RFD resident trolls who like to post negative or nasty messages.

[AMDr]

they dont have toronto!!!!!!! arg

whoa...they looks like HUGE radars! Maybe its a farm field?

So they have Google Street View for Alaska but not for Toronto! They even have one for Vancouver!

Why would they have Toronto :confused: Contrary to popular belief, among Torontonians at least, it's not really that great a place :cheesygri

[goddess]

wow what a bunch of jerks we have in here.

i liked op's post too. it was actually funny and interesting and has actually inspired me to do the same.

I totally agree.
I liked the original post.

And yes, the are way too many unfriendly jerks on this site.

[partytime2009]

Yeah, I can't believe they don't have Toronto on yet but they have a small city in Spain up and running. They even have some really small streets where nothing is happening up and running.

I am curious as to how much it costs google to put small corner streets up on streetview.

[partytime2009]

In case anyone is interested in where I am talking about.

Location :38 Calle de Valencia, Mislata, Valencia, España

It is the red building. It has this advertising of a black person on the side wall which is a little odd. We were the only black family in the small city when I was there and some people would always tell me that I was the first black person they had seen in person.

The two condos you see being built are being built on what used to be housing for gypsies (landless people). A lot of drug dealing and crime used to happen there. I once got chased by one for snooping on a drug deal and yelling that I was the police (scared the heck out of them). And the overhang over the street, we used to fill up balloons with all sorts of horrible liquids (too nasty to mention) and throw them into buses with open windows...horrible.

As you can see, all the windows now have medal poles...wonder if it has been turned into a prison or mental hospital or something equally odd. It wasn't usual to have medal poles on the windows when I was there.

[Piccolo]

Yeah, I can't believe they don't have Toronto on yet.
They definitely have Toronto. But I didn't always live here. I was doing the same think you did, looking to see what the o'l stopping grounds looked like from google space, but where I am from you can't get close enough to see anything except fields. I grew up in a very tiny hamlet in Ontario.
This is the closest I can get to my old highschool.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=flesherton&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=32.114675,56.601563&ie=UTF8&ll=44.265363,-80.55047&spn=0.028335,0.055275&t=h&z=14&iwloc=A
vs. downtown toronto
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Toronto,+ON,+Canada&sll=44.265363,-80.55047&sspn=0.028335,0.055275&ie=UTF8&ll=43.654038,-79.380123&spn=0.000848,0.001727&t=h&z=19

[b166er1337]

to the OP.

Google streetview is really amazing. I was looking around Edinburgh, Paris and Rome. It surely brings back a lot of memories. The feeling is especially strong if one has lived in that place for an extended period of time. I was speechless to see my old flat and the Starbucks I worked for in Edinburgh. It's been less than 2 yrs since I left yet it seemed like a lifetime ago.

I can't wait for the streetview in Canada and other places. Thank you google. :cheesygri


Edit: Google street view is also available in Yosemite, Grand Canyon and Grand Teton National Parks. The scenery is truly breathtaking.

[partytime2009]

They definitely have Toronto. But I didn't always live here. I was doing the same think you did, looking to see what the o'l stopping grounds looked like from google space, but where I am from you can't get close enough to see anything except fields. I grew up in a very tiny hamlet in Ontario.
This is the closest I can get to my old highschool.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=flesherton&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=32.114675,56.601563&ie=UTF8&ll=44.265363,-80.55047&spn=0.028335,0.055275&t=h&z=14&iwloc=A
vs. downtown toronto
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Toronto,+ON,+Canada&sll=44.265363,-80.55047&sspn=0.028335,0.055275&ie=UTF8&ll=43.654038,-79.380123&spn=0.000848,0.001727&t=h&z=19

You are confusing street view with the satellite image that is currently in place for Toronto. Streetview puts you at street level, almost as if you are driving through that neighberhood. It is breathtaking. For example, start with new york city or even Valencia, spain and you will see what I am talking about. It is amazing.

[st7860]

http://www.cbc.ca/gfx/images/news/photos/2009/03/19/tech-090319-canpages-streetview.jpg

[Piccolo]

You are confusing street view with the satellite image that is currently in place for Toronto. Streetview puts you at street level, almost as if you are driving through that neighberhood. It is breathtaking. For example, start with new york city or even Valencia, spain and you will see what I am talking about. It is amazing.

http://www.cbc.ca/gfx/images/news/photos/2009/03/19/tech-090319-canpages-streetview.jpg
Oh Snap!

[Sogeking]

who wants owl drugs :lol:

[jk_9117]

howcome so many people on RFD are so cynical and negative
that was a beautiful, touching post by the OP...

[wachidarin]

I know how you feel!

I'm totally with you, 'cause I spent part of my childhood in NY and even though I have traveled back, it's always nice to spot locations instantly where I used to hang out or my old building, my old school, my fav pizza place, etc... Most of those places are still there.

I've had tons of great memories in specific locations and although I haven't captured them all in photos, I think Google's streetview comes close enough. It's a useful tool to show some friends and people I know about where I hung out. I recently consulted my neighborhood through streetview to show my friends where we'd be going on during this trip back to New York
Lots of fun!

[Piccolo]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91wuBqlny50
:cheesygri

[partytime2009]

I know how you feel!

I've had tons of great memories in specific locations and although I haven't captured them all in photos, I think Google's streetview comes close enough. It's a useful tool to show some friends and people I know about where I hung out. I recently consulted my neighborhood through streetview to show my friends where we'd be going on during this trip back to New York
Lots of fun!

Glad to hear I am not the only one who's able to retrace some of his past on streetview.

[theops]

howcome so many people on RFD are so cynical and negative
that was a beautiful, touching post by the OP...
.

[TheDarkRage]

Toronto really needs a street view, since we're the centre of the universe ;)

Heck, even the Google Maps Satellite view is out of date. I just realized this since the Ted Rogers building is still under construction there with cranes name "Bay/Dundas Parkette" :lol:

[partytime2009]

Toronto really needs a street view, since we're the centre of the universe ;)

Heck, even the Google Maps Satellite view is out of date. I just realized this since the Ted Rogers building is still under construction there with cranes name "Bay/Dundas Parkette" :lol:

I think it might have to do with Canadians being very uptight about privacy and so on. Me personally, I can't wait until the Google vans start driving around. I hope they actually catch me on video.

[flyingdutchman]

if they actually get a street view in toronto, I want to see if that "Jesus" guy at Yonge and Dundas is caught in the moment!

[YYZFA]

I guess that's my hint to stop with the updates. Those of you who have any updates on google streetview rekindling the past for you PLEASE share.

While I'm really not that sentimental that I care about the same things as you might, it was just a joke with some sarcasm on my part, and not malicious in intent.

if they actually get a street view in toronto, I want to see if that "Jesus" guy at Yonge and Dundas is caught in the moment!

That would be cool.

[Piccolo]

I spent all night on google streetview. That thing is neat! When the OP was talking about Streetview I thought i was another name for google maps (evident in my posts). I was talking to my bf about it (who called me stupid for not knowing about streetview ;)) and he said his buddy saw the google truck driving around toronto. So, maybe soon we will see Toronto!

[Talamasca]

I totally agree.
I liked the original post.

And yes, the are way too many unfriendly jerks on this site.

Agreed. I didn't know the big cities of Spain were on Streetview so I just checked it out for a bit. It's nice to reminisce on places that I've visited.

[partytime2009]

I spent all night on google streetview. That thing is neat! When the OP was talking about Streetview I thought i was another name for google maps (evident in my posts). I was talking to my bf about it (who called me stupid for not knowing about streetview ;)) and he said his buddy saw the google truck driving around toronto. So, maybe soon we will see Toronto!

Does he know when Toronto may be up and running?

[heymikey]

Those of you who have any updates on google streetview rekindling the past for you PLEASE share.
Unfortunately, I don't think Google will ever add streetview to any of the countries I grew up in. They're either complicated to do a streetview or they're too strict. But it's nice to check out the place I've been to.