Monday, January 13, 2014

Italy Trip Pt. 4 - Cinque Terre

This final ( promise) post from the Italy trip finds us in the area known as Cinque Terre, a ridiculously picturesque string of five towns that line the Ligurian Sea that are accessed mainly by rail, boat, or foot. The five towns are set right in the mountains, and most of their building's facades are painted tastefully painted to reflect the Riviera Lifetyle. It's really spectacular to see.


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Veranzza, Italy. 2013
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Veranzza, Italy. 2013
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Manarola, Italy. 2013
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Ligurian Sea, Italy. 2013
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Corniglia, Italy. 2013
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Ligurian Sea, Italy. 2013
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Hiking Trail, Cinque Terre, Italy. 2013
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Manarola, Italy. 2013
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Train Tracks, Cinque Terre, Italy. 2013
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Hiking Trail, Cinque Terre, Italy. 2013

That will wrap it up for Italy posts, but it's far from all the photos I took while there. If you'd like to sift through them all, feel free to visit my Flickr collection to view the entirety.  



Friday, January 10, 2014

Italy Trip Pt.3 - Street Scenes

Taking a break from posting place-specific vacation shots, the following are some black and white street scenes photographed in a more journalistic style. Cartier-Bresson I am not, but European cities do have some sort of quality that makes everything (seem) so photogenic and worthy of documentation.

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Street Market in Florence, Italy. 2013
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Tourists in Florence, Italy. 2013
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Polizia, Florence, Italy. 2013
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Strada, Florence, Italy. 2013

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Piazza Scene,Florence, Italy. 2013
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Backpack, Riomaggiore, Italy. 2013
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The Colosseum, Rome, Italy. 2013
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 Cavallo, Rome, Italy. 2013
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Squuzebox, Rome, Italy, 2013
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Bukowski, Rome, Italy, 2013
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Fiat, Rome, Italy, 2013
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Automatica, Floremce, Italy, 2013
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There Went the Bride, Rome, Italy, 2013


Thursday, January 9, 2014

Italy Trip Pt. 2 - Roma

Part two of this photo purge finds us in Rome; Italy's capital city, a place that has been around for some time. I'm far from a historian, so I'll assume you already know something of Rome's history and spare you my futile synopsis. But I can say this: coming from such a young country as the  U.S. of A, it's so surreal to visit a city that still has structures in tact that were built 2000 years ago. 2000 years! People talk about (and like to photograph) the "ruins of Detroit," and visually some comparisons can be made. But when you consult the calendar, our American ruins are babies, baby.

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The Roman Forum, Rome, Italy. 2013
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The Roman Forum, Rome, Italy. 2013
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View from The Spanish Step, Rome, Italy. 2013
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The Spanish Step, Rome, Italy. 2013
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St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City, Italy. 2013
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Waiting on a Pope, Vatican City, Italy. 2013
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The Colosseum, Rome,  Italy. 2013
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Where the lions roamed, The Colosseum, Rome,  Italy. 2013
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The Pantheon, Rome,  Italy. 2013
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The interior dome of the Pantheon, Rome,  Italy. 2013
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The pillars of the Pantheon, Rome,  Italy. 2013
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Trevi Fountain, Rome,  Italy. 2013
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A piazza in the Trastevere neighborhood, Rome, Italy, 2013
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Trastevere, Rome, Italy, 2013
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A view of the Pope's house from a nearby park, Rome, Italy, 2013


More soon...

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Italy Trip Pt.1 - Firenze

Back in October Heather and I took a big, big trip (for us, anyway) - we packed or bags and carted off to Italy for a few weeks, and had an absolutely amazing time. We ate (pasta, mainly. Go figure), we drank (more wine than water, probably), we walked (a ton), and we looked at more art than our eyes could handle. It was a time, man.

Being that it was our first time in Italy, we decided to spend extended time in fewer cities, rather than travel around from place to place with little time to hang out and get a feel for any one place. The trip started in Florence, and save for some rain and some bugs in our apartment (no, not those bugs, just mosquitoes and the like) it was absolutely wonderful. Following are a few shots from the first part of the venture.

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View of Florence from the top of Il Duomo, Florence, Italy 2013
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Bridge over the Arno, Florence, Italy, 2013
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Piazza della Signoria, Florence, Italy, 2013
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Basillica di Santa Maria Fiore/Il Duomo, Floremce, Italy, 2013
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Florence, Italy 2013
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Fountain of Neptune, Piazza della Signoria, Florence, Italy, 2013
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View of Florence from the top of Il Duomo, Florence, Italy 2013
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Copy of The David, Piazza della Signoria, Florence, Italy, 2013
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The Arno, Florence, Italy, 2013

More to come...


Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Northern Mitten

Here's something I never really knew having grown up in Detroit: the west side of Michigan is pretty damn nice. I mean, like, really, really nice. Heather and I traveled up the Northwest coast of the state a few weekends back to spend time with her family and take in the sites that Pure Michigan has to offer. With it's relative proximity to Chicago, it's definitely a trip we'll be repeating.

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Leelanau Peninsula, Michigan, 2013
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Leelanau Peninsula, Michigan, 2013
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Leelanau Peninsula, Michigan, 2013
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Leelanau Peninsula, Michigan, 2013
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 Leelanau Peninsula, Michigan, 2013




Below is something I'd never seen before in all the times I've visited vineyards in the past: once grapes are near fruition birds can sense their sweetness, and pillage at will (can't blame them). To prevent these avifauna-monsters from ruining the harvest, netting is draped over the vines, protecting the fruit. Sort of surreal looking, too.

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Leelanau Peninsula, Michigan, 2013
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Leelanau Peninsula, Michigan, 2013

And, because we were traveling during the Harvest Moon...
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Holland, Michigan, 2013
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Holland, Michigan, 2013