Monday, May 7, 2012

Wedding Bells and Stairs.

It has been a very busy few days here in Italy.  Saturday was the wedding ceremony for Jake and Mickey.  Everything came together nicely for it, the weather was great and the ceremony was a very nice, rather informal affair.



One of the many shots from the wedding day.

After the ceremony we shot a bunch of photos, then all went out to a nice dinner at a restaurant overlooking the city and the ocean.

Sunday I rose early for my typical sunrise walk/shoot.  Sky was not quite as nice as Saturday morning, but not too bad.  Walked down to the main beach in town and found a nice spot on the beach to shoot.



This was a nice spot, until it started to rain on me,  had to take shelter under a rock overhang for a bit to let the rain move through.

Sunday we spent most of the day bumming around town, doing a little shopping.  There is a hike up in the  mountains called the Path of the Gods.  We had wanted to do this, and the only day that was looking possible was Monday.  Unfortunately, the weather looked like rain for most of the day, so we were trying to figure out what to do.  We had decided we were going to do it anyway at some point in the day.  The hike is suppose to start in a town not too far away and conclude near Positano.  We decided to go get some food to take along the next day with us.  We went down the 200 stairs to the road and started towards the market when Jake had the epiphany that the weather is beautiful right now, and if we left right now we might make it up high enough for a good sunset.  We decided to try it, not knowing if we would even make it to the start of the trail in time.  It was about 5:30, we raced back to the apartment and packed up our things, went back down, got some food, and we were off by 6pm.  We moved at a very fast pace and somehow found the entrance to the trail by 6:30 pm, we had covered alot of ground in only half an hour. 

The main reason why most people use Positano as the end point for the trail is the 2000 or so stairs down to the road into the city. For us, this would be the starting point.  2000 stairs up a mountain...hmm, this sounds familiar, stairs seem to be the theme of my travels this year, first the Inca Trail, now Positano.  At least here its not all above 11,000 feet, and I don't have a hiking pack full of gear.  We made it up the 2000 stairs in about an hour and arrived in the little town of Nocelle.  The views from here were spectacular.  We proceeded trough the town and continued on the trail for a bit to scout out a place for sunset.  We found a couple of possibilities, snagged a few shots, ran like crazy up and down the trail,  but in the end the view from a terrace in Novelle was the best option.  We raced back down to the terrace and set up for sunset.



A shot from the path beyond Novelle

Sunset from Nocelle

Sunset from Novelle.

After sunset we headed back down the 2000 steps and back to Positano.  Walking through the streets we noticed the moon rising over the city.  Fortunately we were in a good spot, and I tried to get a few quick shots off before it was too high to shoot with the town.



We got back from the hike around 10pm, ate a delicious home made dinner then went to bed.  A long, but excellent day.

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Positano in the Morning

It has been a busy few days here in Italy.  Positano is a beautiful and charming city, even with its thousands upon thousands of stairs.  Yesterday morning we set off with the goal of hopping a bus to Sorrento then a train to Herculaneum.  We stood at the bus stop and waited, waited, and then for a change of pace, waited some more. After nearly an hour and a half, and no bus, some old guy finally stopped to tell us that the bus was not going to Sorrento.  Great.  Stopped in a hotel not to far away and asked the front desk what was going on.  Apparently there was a landslide on the way, and the public busses were not running due to liability issues.  All the other cars and tour buses seemed to be going, but not them.  The bus was still running to the south, so instead we headed down to the town of Amalfi for the day.  It is a nice town, but we all prefer Positano.

This morning was a particularly enjoyable morning for me.  Rising before sunrise I headed out on a walk down to the coast.  There were finally nice clouds in the sky, something to provide some drama and some color to the sunrise.  I should have left the villa a bit sooner, but, I think things worked out alright.  On my way down to the coast I shot the following of the town and the sun.

Positano Sunrise


I proceeded to wind down through the town to one of the beaches, the clouds were not quite as well lit any more, but still not too terrible.



Took a few shots on the docks for the ferry's that take you to different places.





Oh, and I am sure you all will be so happy to know that I did indeed find a good Italian beer.

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Oh, Good Morning Italy.

We arrived in Frankfurt Germany at 8am yesterday. What better way to start the trip than with a beer for breakfast.  We found a nice little cafe at the airport, sat by the window and watched the planes and never ending procession of baggage cars, random cars, and other airport vehicles flying around in some sort of organized chaotic tango. 





A380




I am in Italy because of these two, Jacob and Mickey. They are going to have their wedding ceremony here and have asked me to come with as the wedding and trip photographer.  Can't pass up a chance to do that.

Our villa is quite nice, great views, plenty of space.  The only complaint we have is that we have to climb up 209 stairs to get here.  25 pound camera backpack, 7 pound laptop case, and a 46 pound suit case, let me tell you, it was a good time for sure.  Jacob definitely had the worst of it, two big rolling suitcases slung over his back.  We had to do this a couple more times as other people arrived, we definitely got our workouts for the day.  We had a nice dinner at a nearby restaurant,  with my pizza I naturally had to have beer.  I must say, Italian beer definitely leaves much to be desired.  It was not terrible, but a bit like a Heinekin.  We bought a bunch of 3,50 euro wine and a little grocery store and it was not bad at all, so, I guess I will have to switch my attention to wine for this trip




I will post photos of the villa eventually, but for now I must get ready for the day. We are trying to organize a trip to hercalanum today or tomorrow, it is one of the towns buried in the 79a.d. eruption of Vesuvius.