A Dream Holiday

I started dreaming of a trip to Italy in 2001 - I was working on the Salt Lake Olympics - the job was hard and all consuming, and I promised myself an epic trip to Italy after the Games. After all, I'd be out of a job then. I bought travel book after travel book and dreamed of a long stretch of time in Italy exploring everything. Things didn't go quite as planned, I (luckily) found a new job before the Games were over and ended up not having a single day off - truth be told, the two jobs overlapped by a day...so my Italian trip got pushed back.

For years, I kept putting off the trip. I was always looking for a year when I had enough vacation time to spend 10-14 days there and had enough money saved to make the trip happen. I was waiting for everything to fall perfectly in place (not that I stopped traveling mind you - I do plenty of that - I just kept putting off this one trip I'd been dreaming of because I wanted it to be perfect.)

This past January I had an epiphany. The project I've been working in Istanbul would have a major deliverable at the end of March, which meant I could easily take some days off the following week or two. I'd already be in Europe so the trip would be cheaper than ever - and thanks to living like a monk for 6 months during a heavy work period I had some savings built up (The easiest way for me to save money is to be too busy to shop!) It was time to make this trip a reality.

I ended up with 10 days in Italy - 4 in Florence, 1 in Siena and 5  in Rome. I found fantastic places to stay and had all the time I needed to explore the cities. After spending months in an office, and rarely seeing daylight, I decided I would focus less on the museums on this trip - and instead spent a lot of time outside. The weather didn't always cooperate with this plan, but I stuck with it regardless, as all that extra vitamin d was good for my soul.

These photos are mostly from was my neighborhood in Florence, right on the River and very near the Ponte Vecchio. If you count the arches in the above building with the arches, along the river starting to the left, my apartment door was across from the 7th arch, you can't ask for a more perfect location to explore Florence. I am still digging through all the photos I took while I was there, but even if I don't yet have photographic proof - I can say this was one of the most beautiful vacations I've ever taken.

"I've been up, I've been down, I've been everywhere around for you."
Wolfrider - For You



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Playing Catch Up

Kat Sloma has a great series of lessons and challenges called Exploring with a Camera, I always learn something interesting and I like the way they are paced, with a bit more time to work on the challenge.  I was convinced her Rimmed with Light challenge was beyond my skills - I just couldn't get the technique to make sense in my head - until I visited a local garden one evening.  Quite by accident I started to notice how the setting sun was affecting some of my photos and things clicked.  I got a couple of shots I loved - and even though she's moved on to the next challenge, I was so excited to finally "get it" I just had to share.

Am I the only one who learns this way - you read something over and over and it just doesn't seem to make sense, you walk away from it for a while and then, suddenly it is staring you in the face?

I can't seem to get enough of Peter Bradley Adams - his music is so amazing.  As I drove home from the garden, this song came on and it had me dreaming of a love just like the one described in the lyrics.

Peter Bradley Adams - For You


Then his I Cannot Settle Down came on and I remembered that my restless need to travel and explore doesn't make that dream of finding very easy.  I love it when listening to a couple of good songs results in hours of reflection.
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