Quintessential Tuscany and the very definition of picture-perfect.
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Location: Val d'Orcia (Tuscany), Italy ★
Photo courtesy of Jarrod Castaing
I'd never heard of European White Nights until this year. What an amazing festival. I was just reading up on the 2010 Nuit Blanche in Paris over at Prêt à Voyager. Check it out!
As to this 2007 Robert Stadler installation and photographic capture, fantastique, les deux!
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Location: Paris, France ★
Photo courtesy of Dom Dada
I just learned that a number of my photographs will be used on a ritzy project in Abu Dhabi. Mum's the word on the details, but, in the meantime, I wanted to surf on over to the emirate and get a lay of the land.
Verdict: Lavish. Lovely. Ornate. In other words, great!
Your comments on this image are welcome, and encouraged! And a question for the photographer - bevoabroad - if s/he is so inclined: Is there anything special about this moment, day, trip, or place beyond what you've shared on Flickr that you'd like to add or comment on here? Along with other vivaca visitors, I would love to know more!
Location: Abu Dhabi, UAE ★
Photo courtesy of bevoabroad
A wedding in Venice. What could be more wonderful? And I love this shot. The light, the candid joyful expressions, and the reflections all come together for a beautiful capture. And a fabulous wedding day memory.
Auguri e buona fortuna to the lucky couple!
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Location: Venice, Italy ★
Photo courtesy of calanthabonnissent
Well, it's the first weekend of fall (or autumn, if you like) and I've been enjoying watching the robins gobbling up all the ripe little red berries on the bush-tree-thing outside from the comfort of my living room perch. They are hilarious. Always entertaining, I thought I'd see what their cousins across the pond look like at this time of year. Yes, it seems the same scene abroad. Though North American robins are much bigger and more burly than their UK relatives.
And while I was watching the birds, I thought, why not re-berry my blog so that I can feature larger format photos. Well, after hours of tinkering, I've settled on what you see today. Not so much finished as set aside, because I'm not entirely jazzed with the results. But with so much else to do before sundown Sunday, I figure I'd better leave it be and move on before it's too late to get anything else accomplished.
Plus, with my nose down in the computer, I've been missing the action outside with the berries and the birds ...
Your comments on this image are welcome, and encouraged! And a question for the photographer - Wales Birder - if s/he is so inclined: Is there anything special about this moment, day, trip, or place beyond what you've shared on Flickr that you'd like to add or comment on here? Along with other vivaca visitors, I would love to know more!
Location: Wales, UK ★
Photo courtesy of Wales Birder
When you've lived in a city or an area for an extended period, it's easy to stop seeing what's so special about the place. I often look at the tourists I encounter here like, "of all the places you could take a vacation, why here?" As a local, I stopped getting it a long time ago. And as a photographer, I rarely take pics of my surroundings because I am oh so uninspired.
Until I happen upon other people's inspiring pictures of this place. Like this one!
Speaking of which, check out these eight perspectives on the city of San Francisco and get yourself inspired. It's working for me!
Your comments on this image are welcome, and encouraged! And a question for the photographer - bennetthall - if s/he is so inclined: Is there anything special about this moment, day, trip, or place beyond what you've shared on Flickr that you'd like to add or comment on here? Along with other vivaca visitors, I would love to know more!
Location: San Francisco, California ★
Photo courtesy of bennetthall
One day I'd really like to meet this cheerful-looking tricolor trio. Until I randomly stumbled upon these colorful buildings, I had no idea there were German towns that looked like this. I love the architecture. It reminds me of a style you might see in Amsterdam, or elsewhere in Holland, but different. Anyway, I love it. Particularly these three!
Your comments on this image are welcome, and encouraged! And a question for the photographer - Vinc.A - if s/he is so inclined: Is there anything special about this moment, day, trip, or place beyond what you've shared on Flickr that you'd like to add or comment on here? Along with other vivaca visitors, I would love to know more!
Location: Schwäbisch Hall, Germany ★
Photo courtesy of Vinc.A
In scouting pictures for the day job, I happened across this cool piece of mixed-media collage art that is or was featured in the Hotel Gansevoort, NYC. I love it! I wish I knew who the artist is so that I could look him or her up to view more of their wonderful work.
Your comments on this image are welcome, and encouraged! And a question for the photographer - stephanieklein - if s/he is so inclined: Is there anything special about this moment, day, trip, or place beyond what you've shared on Flickr that you'd like to add or comment on here? Along with other vivaca visitors, I would love to know more!
Location: New York City ★
Photo courtesy of stephanieklein
Over the weekend I saw The American, starring George Clooney and the Italian town of Castel del Monte in the Abruzzo region. George Clooney was fine, and the movie was just okay, but Castel del Monte stole the show - and my heart; added to the ever-expanding list of must-see cities in Italy!
Your comments on this image are welcome, and encouraged! And a question for the photographer - Peppe De Cristofaro - if s/he is so inclined: Is there anything special about this moment, day, trip, or place beyond what you've shared on Flickr that you'd like to add or comment on here? Along with other vivaca visitors, I would love to know more!
Location: Castel del Monte, Italy ★
Photo courtesy of Peppe De Cristofaro
Life is wonderful. Particularly in Paris. And even more particularly, when lost in Paris.
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Location: Paris, France ★
Photo courtesy of tofz4u
Wow. Now that's what I call a giant cocktail party! That's what the French call it, too. Though, the apéro géant is getting hammered, of late. Pun obviously intended.
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Location: Paris, France ★
Photo courtesy of voilafoto
One day, this is going to be me. And I know I'll be beaming from ear to ear, too!
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Location: Paris, France ★
Photo courtesy of gram ma
And now for something completely different.
Because I already *know* that tomorrow's going to be too busy to post, I'm transporting you this evening to my two favorite European city centers, courtesy of Euromaxx.
Bienvenue à la Place Charles de Gaulle Etoile in Paris and St. Mark's Square in Venice. Bon voyage and buon viaggio!
Location: Paris, France ★
Photo courtesy of Moi!
I have always wanted to go white-water rafting. I don't know what I've not got around to it yet. Man. This looks crazy dangerous, but crazy fun. Right?
Your comments on this image are welcome, and encouraged! And a question for the photographer - Van Man1 - if s/he is so inclined: Is there anything special about this moment, day, trip, or place beyond what you've shared on Flickr that you'd like to add or comment on here? Along with other vivaca visitors, I would love to know more!
Location: Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe ★
Photo courtesy of Van Man1
I know that all public transportation has its strong and weak points, but I'm about at the end of my rope with AC Transit here in the San Francisco Bay Area. It took me two hours to get home from work tonight. Two hours! When things work, it's more like 30 minutes from door to door.
Whether we're talking transbay commuter service or local rides, it has been a fail the last few months. And it's costing me extra time and money - lots of pricey BART rides to make up for lost time - that I don't have to waste.
Oh what I wouldn't give to live and commute in Paris these days. Even if one does have to contend with the constant threat of metro strikes.
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Location: Paris, France ★
Photo courtesy of swigadelica
Perfect pensive travel-perspective portrait! I strike a lot of this pose when I'm abroad, myself. Both with, and without, camera in hand.
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Location: Paris, France ★
Photo courtesy of CapsLK
A friend of mine in Paris sent me a few of her own pics from the greening of the Champs-Elysées in late May of this year. It looked incroyable, to say the least.
Read more about this event, staged to bring attention to the plight of France's farmers and the agricultural sector overall, here.
Your comments on this image are welcome, and encouraged! And a question for the photographer - v.dieudonne - if s/he is so inclined: Is there anything special about this moment, day, trip, or place beyond what you've shared on Flickr that you'd like to add or comment on here? Along with other vivaca visitors, I would love to know more!
Location: Paris, France ★
Photo courtesy of v.dieudonne
One of the nice things about living in the San Francisco Bay Area is that when you're nostalgic for Venice, all you have to do is pay a visit to Oakland, where you can take an authentic gondola ride. Really!
Experience Venice in Oakland on your next trip to California, courtesy of Gondola Servizio on lovely Lake Merritt.
Your comments on this image are welcome, and encouraged! And a question for the photographer - tora12 - if s/he is so inclined: Is there anything special about this moment, day, trip, or place beyond what you've shared on Flickr that you'd like to add or comment on here? Along with other vivaca visitors, I would love to know more!
Location: Oakland, California ★
Photo courtesy of tora12
I am so there!
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Location: Monterosso (Cinque Terre), Italy ★
Photo courtesy of WanderingtheWorld
Yesterday it was love at Széchenyi. Today, it's love at the Louvre.
Your comments on this image are welcome, and encouraged! And a question for the photographer - laineriley - if s/he is so inclined: Is there anything special about this moment, day, trip, or place beyond what you've shared on Flickr that you'd like to add or comment on here? Along with other vivaca visitors, I would love to know more!
Location: Paris, France ★
Photo courtesy of laineriley
I could really go for a dip at Széchenyi today. With or without a sizzling side session of public tonguing.
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Location: Budapest, Hungary ★
Photo courtesy of paulo.maxim
He who doesn't wait for the tram walks, or, rather, climbs! And I thought the streets here in San Francisco were steep. That looks brutal. Though I see the "sidewalk" is stepped. Wonder why he prefers the tram lane over the little stairs.
This one's for you, Rosia. If you don't have powerhouse thighs before Portugal, you certainly will, after. If you take a cue from this guy and trek it around town from time to time over 24/7 tramming it.
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Location: Lisbon, Portugal ★
Photo courtesy of angelo greco
In all my trips to Venice, I've never gone up to the loggia level in Basilica San Marco to enjoy this bird's eye view of the piazza below. People as pigeons and pigeons as people. What a great take on this classic shot.
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Location: Venice, Italy ★
Photo courtesy of Stefano Liboni
I've always wondered what Shipwreck Beach looks like up close. One always sees the gorgeous shots of the beach and the island from afar, but seldom from the sand, next to the ship. Love this shot. Makes me feel like I'm right there.
Your comments on this image are welcome, and encouraged! And a question for the photographer - Halasi Zsolt - if s/he is so inclined: Is there anything special about this moment, day, trip, or place beyond what you've shared on Flickr that you'd like to add or comment on here? Along with other vivaca visitors, I would love to know more!
Location: Zakynthos, Greece ★
Photo courtesy of Halasi Zsolt
At the end of August, I featured another photo from Rome of another modern building, which, from the chosen shot, didn't necessarily look particularly modern. The MAXXI Museum - the new National Museum of XXI Century Arts - is an unmistakably a modern structure. Something that, so I hear, is not a typically welcome development in the more ancient, classical, medieval, renaissance, etc. architectural styles that dominate Rome. If one imagines, say, Venice or Siena or some other European town that is famous for not updating its buildings to anything remotely 21st Century, then I can see why Romans are so against changing the look of their city with pointedly new designs.
Perhaps MAXXI has been or will be better received as the years wear on. Just like I.M. Pei's pyramid - actually, pyramids plural - at the Louvre wasn't widely applauded when it was installed and then grew to be accepted and just another lovable Parisian landmark, I can see the MAXXI Museum's look being similarly loved in time.
As I've never been to Rome and have essentially zero idea what the building looks like in context, I can't speak on this with any real authority. But simply basing my hunch on how interesting and appealing it looks in this artsy image, I hope that there is potential for this unique structure to fit in and find a little love from Romans and visitors alike.
Your comments on this image are welcome, and encouraged! And a question for the photographer - stefano cipriani - if s/he is so inclined: Is there anything special about this moment, day, trip, or place beyond what you've shared on Flickr that you'd like to add or comment on here? Along with other vivaca visitors, I would love to know more!
Location: Rome, Italy ★
Photo courtesy of stefano cipriani
I have a quick trip coming up to Seattle for a friend's wedding. It's been quite a few years since I was last up yonder, and I'm looking forward to the visit. As is my Lensbaby! So in looking for a little inspiration in anticipation, I was particularly pleased to come across this awesome Lensbaby Composer shot of the city. Don't know that I'll get out of wedding mode much to take city pics, but if I can, I hope to capture something half as gorgeous as this evocative sunset view.
Your comments on this image are welcome, and encouraged! And a question for the photographer - Cap'n Surly - if s/he is so inclined: Is there anything special about this moment, day, trip, or place beyond what you've shared on Flickr that you'd like to add or comment on here? Along with other vivaca visitors, I would love to know more!
Location: Seattle, Washington ★
Photo courtesy of Cap'n Surly
I just read that the Indonesian volcano Mount Sinabung in North Sumatra appears to be calming down. Which is good news for a coworker who is - supposed to be - on her way to the island nation this week. Having experienced my own vacation plans erupt this spring due to the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull, I couldn't be more sympathetic to her plight. Though, when traveling to Indonesia - the ground zero hotbed of earthly Vulcan activity - I suppose there's always a pretty good possibility that one of the country's 130 active volcanoes will throw a smoking hot - or molten, even - wrench in your travel plans.
Deadly beasts, but so beautiful too, right? Particularly when they're dormant, like the painterly volcano in this serene sunrise.
Your comments on this image are welcome, and encouraged! And a question for the photographer - foogray - if s/he is so inclined: Is there anything special about this moment, day, trip, or place beyond what you've shared on Flickr that you'd like to add or comment on here? Along with other vivaca visitors, I would love to know more!
Location: Indonesia ★
Photo courtesy of foogray
I found this striking photo today truly par accident - in passing on the street on my way in to work, I caught a snippet of a conversation between two older gentlemen. The one commented to the other, "I loved Paris. I found it to be, well, amazing." Made me smile. So, of course, I wanted to post a Paris pic today. But my search on 'Paris' led me somewhat - and happily - astray to the portfolio of Alain Paris and his breathtaking portraits of African women.
So, not a Paris post and a Paris post, both.
Your comments on this image are welcome, and encouraged! And a question for the photographer - alain paris - if s/he is so inclined: Is there anything special about this moment, day, trip, or place beyond what you've shared on Flickr that you'd like to add or comment on here? Along with other vivaca visitors, I would love to know more!
Location: Africa ★
Photo courtesy of alain paris
