5th of july

My  4th of July ended up being sort of a flop…but I did have a great 5th of July! I spent the whole day shooting with lovely bride Tara West and her groom Matthew Thomas. The wedding was beautiful and her flowers were amazing! I will have tons of photos to post from their wedding once I get them edited, so stay tuned!

After their wedding, I went to my pal’s house where we cooked out and set off tons of fire works! It was great to be with my whole gang of friends again and see them all one last time before I headed off to NYC for a few months. I really am so so lucky to have such wonderful people in my life. Here are some shots of us running the streets of Cresent Hill.

fireworks!

street works

the crew

santorini greece

OK, now my favorite of all time. When I think of Greece in my head, I think of white stucco homes with lots of blue….and Santorini was exactly that. Santorini was another one of the Greek Isles and the whole city is built on a cliff side. We rode donkeys up to the top of the mountain and saw just how breath taking the view really was.

Santorini was like a paradise for me. All the buildings were painted white, with pastel rooftops and cobbled stone streets. We spent the whole day trudging through the narrow walk ways, going under yellow painted archways and admiring the view of the Mediterranean.

the view

the ocean view

by the port

santorini

color balance

the donkey i rode to the top

patmos greece

After a few days in Athens, we visited Patmos, one of the Greek Isles.  Being one of the Isles, it was full of hills and green pastures.  We saw the cave where the apocolyptic book of Revelation was written by John while he was in exile as well as visited a 2000 year old Monestary where Monks still visit and stay today.

streets of patmos

coast of patmos

from the top of the island of patmos

ancient monastery

athens greece

Now, I am finally to Greece, which was, hands down, my most favorite place we saw throughout the entire trip. I thought Greece was beautiful! I absolutely loved it there! The people were gorgeous the city was gorgeous, and the food was delicious! It was just fantastic! We went to Athens first, which I loved. The city life was so amazing there…. and clean! Everyone was so friendly, however, not as many people could speak English as I thought. It reminded me of a cleaner New York and less crowded. A friend of mine said that overlooking the city from the top of the Acropolis reminded them of LA. I have never been to LA before, but I can see the resemblance.

Every two steps, you would run into some ruin from thousands of years ago. We saw the Parthenon and all the surrounding temples and what was still standing of the ancient market  place. It gave me such an eerie feeling to be surrounded by the left overs and evidence of a culture that died out thousands of years ago. One of my most favorite parts of Athens was how there were stray dogs evvvveryyywhere! Literally, all over the place, just hangin out. I loved that. One night, we went out to some bars and a puppy stayed with us the whole night. Made me so happy!

I wish we would have spent more time in Athens but while I was there I was able to capture a few great shots.

parthenon

temple on the acropolis

ancient temple

sunny in athens

italy

Italy was our last stop on our trip. By that time, we were all pretty wiped out from traveling and seeing so much. I have always always always wanted to go to Italy. I wish we could have had more time there and I wasn’t so exhausted and ready to get back to the real world of internet and cell phones so I could have enjoyed it more, however, the place was just as beautiful as you’ve heard. We first went to a little coastal town called Sorrento. Sorrento was quaint and quiet and set right on the water of the Mediterranean. The streets were all cobbled stone and narrow and wound up and down and around the hillsides. From Sorrento, we took a train to Pompeii. It was a little expensive to get into see the ancient city covered in ash, but it was well worth it. The whole city looked almost just as it probably did 2000 years ago. The streets were all intact and most of the buildings were as well, with the wall murals and paintings still visible. It was beautiful. A little eerie in some places being that they had contained a few bodies and put them on display…bodies that were found covered and frozen in time, in ash.

sorento, on the coast

sorrento

pompeii

pompeii

pompeii

The next day we spent in Rome. Rome was quite an awesome city. We saw all the classics. The streets of Rome sort of reminded me of New York City, however, much older, but much cleaner. While in Rome we went to the Vatican where we were actually able to see the Pope speak. I thought that was pretty cool…not many people get to see that in person in their lifetime. We saw Michelangelo’s Pieta and St. Peter’s Basilica where he painted the ceilings. Art history in college all started to make sense while here. Hah. Seeing the real artwork in person is so much more intriguing than in a book.

rome

rome

rome

st. peter\

sicily

Since we spent almost a month just floating around the Mediterranean, we decided to take a pit stop in Sicily before we reached Italy. In all actuality, a crewmember of the ship got very sick, so we had to get to land a.s.a.p. to get him help. Our stay was very very short and we didn’t even get off the boat, however, the view was magnificent. I was able to get a few shots before we left shore:

view of the coast

sicily at dusk

turkey

One of the most beautiful places we visited was Turkey. Unlike the other Middle Eastern countries we saw, Turkey was put together more. The poverty did not seem to be such a problem and the streets were cleaner and the people were friendlier. We spent most of the day in Ephesus walking around the ancient city. It was amazing to see 2000-year-old ruins still in such good shape. The entire front of the ancient Library was still standing. We also were able to see a Turkish Loom where they make the gorgeous handmade Turkish rugs. My grandma actually dropped quite a penny to buy a small one for my cousin and me. They showed us how the made the silk that they used to weave the rugs…taking little silkworm cocoons and un-spinning them. From each caccoon, they could get almost six miles of silk! They were so delicate and the rugs were so intricate, I completely understand now why the price and demand is so high. Here are a few of my favorite shots from Turkey.

poppies and ancient ruins

ancient library

front view of ancient library

probably a decendent of one of the first locusts

turkish loom

kiiiiittttttttttty

israel

I was not very keen on the idea of visiting Israel with the state that it is in, however, I am so grateful for the experience. We visited many ancient sites that were full of history allowing me to put “faces” with all the names and places I grew up learning about. We went to Jerusalem first and through some of Jordan. We got to see the Wailing Wall, which was quite amazing. I even wrote down a little prayer to stuff into the wall along with the millions of others. The churches we visited were beautiful and ancient. Jerusalem was over all a very unique and lovely city.

Bethlehem was, well, wow. I don’t even know how to describe. The entire city was fortified with a cement wall enclosing the entire place. It was definitely the most sketch thing I have ever witnessed. We didn’t stay long in Bethlehem…only long enough to visit the Church of the Nativity. Then we got the hell out of there…especially after going into a gift shop only to hear “God Bless America” playing on the intercom. It was all too ironic for me.

To say the least, I was very glad to leave Israel when we did. I was able to capture a few good shots that I wanted to share:

streets of jerusalem

2000 year old tree

church of all nations

church of the nativity

church of the holy sepulchre

church of the holy sepulchre

the entrance and exit of bethlehem

the wailing wall