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.



Veranzza, Italy. 2013

Veranzza, Italy. 2013

Manarola, Italy. 2013

Ligurian Sea, Italy. 2013

Corniglia, Italy. 2013

Ligurian Sea, Italy. 2013

Hiking Trail, Cinque Terre, Italy. 2013

Manarola, Italy. 2013

Train Tracks, Cinque Terre, Italy. 2013

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.  

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.


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

Polizia, Florence, Italy. 2013
 
Strada, Florence, Italy. 2013


Piazza Scene,Florence, Italy. 2013

Backpack, Riomaggiore, Italy. 2013

The Colosseum, Rome, Italy. 2013

 Cavallo, Rome, Italy. 2013

Squuzebox, Rome, Italy, 2013

Bukowski, Rome, Italy, 2013

Fiat, Rome, Italy, 2013

Automatica, Floremce, Italy, 2013

There Went the Bride, Rome, Italy, 2013

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.


The Roman Forum, Rome, Italy. 2013

The Roman Forum, Rome, Italy. 2013

View from The Spanish Step, Rome, Italy. 2013

The Spanish Step, Rome, Italy. 2013

St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City, Italy. 2013

Waiting on a Pope, Vatican City, Italy. 2013

The Colosseum, Rome,  Italy. 2013

Where the lions roamed, The Colosseum, Rome,  Italy. 2013

The Pantheon, Rome,  Italy. 2013

The interior dome of the Pantheon, Rome,  Italy. 2013

The pillars of the Pantheon, Rome,  Italy. 2013

Trevi Fountain, Rome,  Italy. 2013

A piazza in the Trastevere neighborhood, Rome, Italy, 2013

Trastevere, Rome, Italy, 2013
 
A view of the Pope's house from a nearby park, Rome, Italy, 2013


More soon...

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.


View of Florence from the top of Il Duomo, Florence, Italy 2013

Bridge over the Arno, Florence, Italy, 2013

Piazza della Signoria, Florence, Italy, 2013

Basillica di Santa Maria Fiore/Il Duomo, Floremce, Italy, 2013

Florence, Italy 2013

Fountain of Neptune, Piazza della Signoria, Florence, Italy, 2013

View of Florence from the top of Il Duomo, Florence, Italy 2013

Copy of The David, Piazza della Signoria, Florence, Italy, 2013

The Arno, Florence, Italy, 2013

More to come...

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.


Leelanau Peninsula, Michigan, 2013

Leelanau Peninsula, Michigan, 2013

Leelanau Peninsula, Michigan, 2013

Leelanau Peninsula, Michigan, 2013

 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.


Leelanau Peninsula, Michigan, 2013

Leelanau Peninsula, Michigan, 2013

And, because we were traveling during the Harvest Moon...

Holland, Michigan, 2013
 
Holland, Michigan, 2013