First off, congratulations to the happy couple! You look beautiful, as does the weather and Highclere Castle!

As one of many Americans currently swept up in the current Downton Abbey craze, it's lovely to see the castle in everyday use when it's not being used to film the popular show. Looks like a truly amazing place. Hope to see it one day, in person!

Your comments on this image are welcome, and encouraged! And a question for the photographer - sweenpole2001 - 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: Newbury, England ★
Photo courtesy of sweenpole2001

Thinking of Syria today and the future of children like these two lovely girls, and all of the people who have been senselessly killed there in recent days and months by their government. I hope peace and justice come swiftly.

Your comments on this image are welcome, and encouraged! And a question for the photographer - Free Syria - 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: Syria ★
Photo courtesy of Free Syria

Happy Year of the Dragon!

I love this painterly dragon dance, "A blended image made from 9 separate still images taken in rapid succession with a handheld camera." Beautiful work.

Your comments on this image are welcome, and encouraged! And a question for the photographer - Tony Kemplen - 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: Sheffield, England ★
Photo courtesy of Tony Kemplen

I decided to go to Shenzhen today, because I wanted to see something of daily life in this sprawling Chinese metropolis that manufactures so much of what we in the West consume in the way of high tech treats. An important city that so few Westerners have heard of. Thanks today to Mr. Daisey, I now know Shenzhen and a little bit about what exactly goes on there in firms like Foxconn that makes iPods, iPhones, and other handmade products. Oh yes. Handmade. Apple *could* sell its wares on Etsy, or didn't you know?

Your comments on this image are welcome, and encouraged! And a question for the photographer - Rock_Reborn - 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: Shenzhen, China ★
Photo courtesy of Rock_Reborn

Oh, delight! Looking for photos of Nice, I somehow stumbled upon hein1234's delicious stream of images taken with a Hasselblad 500c and Kodak Portra 400 film. I'm so glad there are still folks out there shooting film. The resulting images are so wonderful in a way that is still different and special as compared to digital, though it's getting harder and harder to discern.

Your comments on this image are welcome, and encouraged! And a question for the photographer - hein1234 - 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: Bangkok, Thailand ★
Photo courtesy of hien1234

Liguria is a riot of light and dark, of wide open spaces and narrow lanes. I love the contrasts it offers.

The beach at left is Bonassola, and the passageway on the right is one of Genoa's famous caruggi or tiny alleyways. It is said that Genoa has the largest labyrinth of these medieval old streets in all of Europe.

Location: Liguria, Italy ★

Probably the most popular of the Cinque Terre towns with Americans, Vernazza is jam-packed with tourists during the day. I hear it's nicer at night when the majority retire to other towns, but I wouldn't know because I've never stayed that long. I just can't handle the throngs. The town is too tiny on the main drag to really enjoy with the number of visitors it routinely packs in.

I think Rick Steves is pretty much to thank for its popularity. At least with the American set. His guidebooks are the most used in Europe by Americans, I believe.

Location: Vernazza, Italy ★

One of the ornate Palazzi dei Rolli that I strolled through, adorned wall-to-wall with paintings pint-sized to palatial.

Location: Genoa, Italy ★

Another peek at Rolli Days, when Genoa's many pretty palaces - the UNESCO recognized Palazzi dei Rolli - are open for all to explore and enjoy, gratis.

Location: Genoa, Italy ★

Still on the topic of trompe l'oeil, the most enchanting applications aren't hidden behind palace doors. Instead you can find them outside, gracing the exteriors of traditional residential buildings and churches throughout the region.

The example on the left was a pleasant surprise after a long climb to the top of Sori, and the two on the right are in equally steep and soulful Camogli.

Location: Liguria, Italy ★

For those of you who admired the shadow of the laundry hanging out to dry in yesterday's post, here's the bigger picture. There's the colorful laundry line and just to the left of where the guy in red is sitting is where my guy in blue was standing and posing for his portrait.

Location: Camogli, Italy ★

I met this dapper gent on the first day of my trip in my favorite Ligurian fishing village, Camogli. Our conversation was entirely in Italian, so it was entirely a miracle that we seemed to be having a conversation at all. I didn't catch his name, but did learn that he is a transplant to Camogli from Abruzzo, after the war, which I gathered to be WWII. We marveled at the perfect weather that morning and he wondered how Camogli could be in any way superior to California. I assured him that in many more ways than one, it was. He didn't seem convinced. Perhaps if my command of Italian wasn't so limited I could have swayed him.

For the next little - or long - while, since I've been so badly neglecting this blog, I'm going to post a photo a day - I hope - from my recent trip to Liguria. This is good incentive for me to slowly go through my photos and share pieces of the experience publicly. I'd normally whip everything into an immediate post-trip blog post on Notes but life is so busy lately that I just can't make that happen. Plus, it'd be nice to share bits of my journey without the pressure to compose a more journalistic detailing of events. I'll save that for later when I truly have the time. And I don't necessarily want to make available or feel that these image are ready for purchase, so my Fotomotologue is also the wrong place to publish them at present. So in the meantime, I hope you enjoy a look at Liguria here, day by day (or as close to day by day as I can manage), as seen through my eyes this spring.

Location: Camogli, Italy ★

Wow. Searching images of Noli on Flickr, I was swept away by this beautiful shot of the Med, and it was a good way into my serene staring that I noticed the guy rock climbing! Wow! Looks precarious, to say the least! Great photo though. So many wow-worthy layers.

Your comments on this image are welcome, and encouraged! And a question for the photographer - firefox319 - 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: Noli, Italy ★
Photo courtesy of firefox319

Alas, life has been far too busy lately. Not enough time for so many things, including this beloved blog! But finally I've found a moment to post a pretty picture. In this case, an enchanting image of Camogli. One of the towns that I am thrilled at the thought of revisiting on my trip to Italy later this year.

While there are so many magical towns and villages dotting this strip of the Italian coast, Camogli is undoubtedly one of the loveliest. Words and images don't do it justice. To truly appreciate its charm and beauty, you've simply got to get there and experience it firsthand for yourself.

Your comments on this image are welcome, and encouraged! And a question for the photographer - luca.martellucci - 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: Camogli, Italy ★
Photo courtesy of luca.martellucci

Lindsey has captured the magic of Paris and of Rue Montorgueil here, magnificently. I find this picture particularly charming for its focus on the woman with her back to us and the rest of the frame softly melting into thin air. The viewer is left to dream into sharp focus who these people are, what they're talking about, where they're going ...

Your comments on this image are welcome, and encouraged! And a question for the photographer - LostNCheeseland - photo - 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 LostNCheeseland

Hello, heaven.

Your comments on this image are welcome, and encouraged! And a question for the photographer - tania-60.c - photo - 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 Fruttuoso, Italy ★
Photo courtesy of tania-60.c

Love the Lensbaby action. Love the vantage point and composition. Love Venice.

Your comments on this image are welcome, and encouraged! And a question for the photographer - patti | dearmissdoll - photo - 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: Venice, Italy ★
Photo courtesy of patti | dearmissdoll

The Cattedrale and Piazza di San Lorenzo is one of the places in Genoa I'm most looking forward to visiting - and photographing - this spring. Man. What I couldn't give to be there for the next pillow fight! Looks like far too much fun.

Your comments on this image are welcome, and encouraged! And a question for the photographer - ^JAN^ - photo - 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: Genoa, Italy ★
Photo courtesy of ^JAN^

All I know is I did a search on 'Paris' and this popped up. And so glad it did!

Your comments on this image are welcome, and encouraged! And a question for the videographer - L'Ogre - photo - if s/he is so inclined: Is there anything special about this song or video beyond what you've shared on Vimeo that you'd like to add or comment on here? Along with other vivaca visitors, I would love to know more!

Location: Venice, Italy ★
Photo courtesy of L'Ogre

Space hoppers in Venice!

Your comments on this image are welcome, and encouraged! And a question for the videographer - bayougirl - photo - if s/he is so inclined: Is there anything special about this video beyond what you've shared on Vimeo that you'd like to add or comment on here? Along with other vivaca visitors, I would love to know more!

Location: Venice, Italy ★
Photo courtesy of bayougirl