Open to Life.

March 2014, Pisa, Italy.

There's something about this photo that I just can't explain.

The open window with the curtains. It makes me think of life. You can have your window closed with the curtains closed blocking out all life, or the window can be closed with the curtain being open, allowing the light in, but not the noise. Or you can have both the window and curtains open, letting everything in. You can feel the cool breeze, and experience everything.

This may be nothing to you, but it's something to me.

Achievement Unlocked: Climbed Stair- Mountain

March 2014, Florence, Italy.

A thousand and one stairs.

Climbing so many stairs was worth it for the few night shots that I got. It was difficult to get the shots because my camera didn't want to work at night because that's too much work. I managed to get it to do it's job and take 4 night shots. This one is my favourite though.

A thousand and one stairs. The view was worth it, there was gelato at the top, and I just remember and laughter the whole time.

"Do you want a creepy banana from that random stand?" You just hear laughter from everyone around you, we all agreed it was a sketchy stand. Only some of the best memories that I'll hold onto.

Sometimes the hardest climbs can have the best views.

Let's Take This City by The Night.

March 2014, Florence, Italy.

It's late. Sometime after dinner. We all begin to wander the streets after all, we are in Italy! The place still has fairly large crowds wandering through the streets, the after dinner stroll.

Where is this crowd heading?
This crowd is headed to climb a thousand and one stairs to the top to get a beautiful view. But first, gelato stop!

Look Up, Not the Middle.

March 2014, Statue of David, Florence, Italy.

It's a bit small don't you think? If you ever get to see it in person look at it from behind, the view's better. ;)

The statue of David by Michelangelo, I saw that in person. Not something I ever thought I would be able to say since it's in Italy. Seeing stuff by Michelangelo was rather amazing for me after talking about him among other artists during my art courses throughout high school, and I felt pretty awesome seeing them and knowing background stuff.

Art. Art is something that will continue to amaze me as I see more throughout my travels, and even through photos and the internet. There's really so much talent in the world, now and way back then. The amount of detailing that goes into sculptures, like can you imagine sculpting something, and then making the wrong move and you try to fix it or work with it, or the worst, it's ruined. I applaud sculptors, or any artist for that matter because they are amazing problem solvers.

Art is life.

Hotel Room Excitement.

March 2014, Florence, Italy.

Another hotel. One of the many we took residence in for a two days at a time.

Bestie showcasing the large window.
Florence, Italy.

This one was unique too. I suppose they all were, they all had their little quirks here and there, big and small. This hotel in particular was interesting, it had a massive door that was at least 3x my height, and so many flights of stairs to get to the top two floors where the hotel was. Yeah, there was a lift in the building, but it could only hold a max of 4 or 5 people, and when we all arrived there were over 30 or 40 of us. The rooms were the best part, they were large and spacious, and the window was huge.

The could be disastrous bathroom.
Florence, Italy.

The only downfall of the room in my opinion was the bathroom. In the bathroom there was no set shower, there was just a shower head, with a curtain that you pulled around you with a drain on the floor. You can only imagine how disastrous it was for the last two people to shower after the first two, it was a mess for them.






 A major plus for this hotel was that it was right in one of the squares of Florence, and it had easy landmarks to remember where it was, such as seeing this carrousel. Carrousel? Right in front of our hotel, easy.

A Sweet Addiction

March 2014, Verona, Italy.

Gelateria, gelato. It became my addiction over there. It was just amazing, and ahhh, so good.

Can I go back?

Age is Beautiful.

March 2014, Venice, Italy.

Close to the water, on the water.

In the gondola in Italy was the best and most terrifying thing ever. It felt like it was going to tip, but at the very same it didn't at all. Most of the shots I managed to take while on the gondola ride were ruined by a the person sitting in front of me because their head was always right there. This one though, this one was perfect.

Looking at this photo now it makes me extremely happy. The flower/ plant beds that are hanging from the windows, the old buildings, the murky water all complete this shot. It was everything that I wanted to see and it's all in one photo, minus the murky water, but oh well. Ignoring the scent of the water that is forever burned in my nose, the gondola was actually pretty great, and it was a nice warm and sunny day for it.

Sometimes the most beautiful things are hidden within age.

An Interesting Stay.

March 2014, Hotel Astoria, Lake Garda, Italy.

A hotel of frogs.

The entrance of this hotel had a big stuffed animal frog, quite like the one in this photo, there were shelves all throughout the lobby full of frog objects that you could actually buy from the hotel.

I remember when I was getting ready to leave for this adventure of Italy and Switzerland my sister had told me about this hotel, and I honestly thought she was joking. I shrugged it off until we got there late at night and we were greeted with frogs everywhere. I will say that I was thankful that there were no real frogs.

You would think in the guest rooms it would be at least slightly normal, no. There was this massive tree frog panting that faced the beds, and watched you as you slept, this painting was even larger than the tv beside it. The rooms were a dull mustard yellow colour accented by a deep blue, it wasn't the most aesthetically pleasing hotel, but it had a bed and shower that's all that mattered.

And frogs.

Ribbit, ribbit.

Blue on Blue.

March 2014, Lake Como, Italy.

A man off in the distance.

At first you think he's just driving around in his little boat, until you get closer and see the fishing rod in his hand. Is he doing this for his leisure activity? Is it what he does everyday? Is it his peace? Is it his escape? Questions you'll never know the answer to, all you know is that you saw a man in his little blue boat with a rod in his hands who waved with a smile as you drove by.

A bright little blue boat on a blue lake, how fitting.

Observe.

March 2014, Lake Como, Italy.

Warm breeze, hot sun, surrounded by fog.

The crowd is walking towards the boat and you're taking your time, capturing the moments. Watch everyone rush with their friends in a fast paced walk, look to your left. Beneath all the fog there's a beautiful lake, it's a vibrant blue when the sun pushes through the clouds. Inhale, exhale, relax. Everything is peaceful. There are mountains surrounding you, you can see them through the clouds, just a reminder of how far away from home you really are. The old tree you're approaching is one of the coolest looking trees you've ever seen. From afar it doesn't look like it has much life in it, but as you get closer and closer you see the buds starting to form.

Spring is in the air, and you can sense it.

Fast Pace Streets

March 2014, Somewhere near the boarder, Italy.

Winding roads, narrow roads, cars flying by. Italy. That's one thing I think of when I think back to Italy. The roads were always busy, full of vehicles zipping by, people on motorbikes, bicycles, all just trying to get to their destination.

Look both ways before crossing. I'm serious, unless you want to be roadkill, do it. Don't be slow when crossing the road, be quick. Impatient people are behind the wheel.

Zoom. Whoosh. Traffic all day, everyday.

Bathroom Wake-Up Call

March 2014, Einsiedeln, Switzerland

Circle inception?

"There's a hole in the wall!" A girl cried out.

Bathrooms. Sometimes they're different, sometimes they're similar. In this case, they were very different! You see, there was a sliding door for starters, and as you walked into the small space known as the bathroom it was normal...until you looked in the shower. In the shower there was this big circular window! Now let me ask you this, how in hell can you shower where a window is at boob height and your roommate is on the other side of the window? You can't! Nope, just not possible.

Laughter was the first thing that was done, then it went to brainstorming. How could we block the window without a curtain? Paper? Clothes? In the end we used the binder that was in the room and filled in the cracks with a scarf and papers from the binder.

Sometimes the simplest things that you think are universal, aren't.

In The Clouds.

March 2014, Mount Pilatus, Switzerland.

A mound of rocks, very tall rocks also known as mountains.

High up in between the clouds, looking off into the distance and seeing nothing but more mountain peaks surrounded by clouds. It's one thing to be soaring above the clouds in a plane, but to be able to see clouds below you and above you is a whole different experience. You're just standing there, watching the birds fly around you, feeling the cold breeze hit your face and all you can think is 'I did it, I managed to do this, I'm here.'

The birds flying around, being free really made me think of where I was and how I got there. I did everything I could to get to the top, I worked my butt off making sure I was able to go on the trip, after all it felt like a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Closed eyes, breathing in the cool air, relaxed.

A Simple Bicycle

March 2014, Lucern, Switzerland

Bicycles. Bikes. A way of transportation.

Everywhere I looked there was a bike, parked or in motion. The ones in motion usually had a person motioning for you to get out of the way, and you would just barely step out of the way. Saved from another bike-person collision, win.

Purple, pink, grey, blue, it doesn't matter the colour of the bike because the only thing that mattered is if it got you from point A to point B, and they usually do.