Our trip to Italy was so much fun.  We spent six days exploring this beautiful place, and were able to experience a bit of Verona, Venice, Rome, Florence, and Pisa.  The first three photos below are from Verona.  Verona is the famous setting of Romeo and Juliet, and home to some beautiful architecture.

No my lens is not dirty–the little spots all over the sky are birds.  Those little guys were going crazy up there!

Our second day was spent in Venice, the city of bridges.  There are no cars or bikes in the historic center of Venice, just canals and bridges that meander through tall buildings set right against the water.  We took a boat taxi into the city center, spent the day exploring the area, and enjoyed a nice gondola ride.

Here is our gondolier.  It is amazing how these guys can maneuver so gracefully through such tight spaces.  I kept thinking that he was going to bump a corner or scrape the side of the boat, but he always left just enough space.  This is my favorite picture from Venice.

Look at that sweet face.

Mmmmm…gelato–we kind of ate a TON of this stuff while we were in Italy.  We had to lick fast–this soft, creamy delicousness melts super quick in the heat, not to mention they pile a huge amount of ice cream on top of those cones.  As you can see, I took care of mine in no time…I take my ice cream pretty seriously ;-).

Our day in Venice ended with another boat taxi ride–I took this shot on the ride back.  Next, we headed straight for Rome…which is where we’ll pick up with some more new photos, so stay tuned!

Summer in Germany = awesome festivals almost every weekend.
A festival in Germany is maybe a little bit like the county or state fairs we’ve all been to, but that’s really an understatement. Each fest is packed with rides, music, artwork, and a delicious assortment of food and goodies–our favorites are the gebrannte Mandeln (sugar roasted almonds), the traditional Bratwurst, and a good Weißbier (wheat beer). So far this summer we’ve gone to the Wilhelmstrassenfest and the Johannisfest. The first set of shots below were taken with our point and shoot camera at the Wilhelmstrassenfest a couple weekends ago. This fest takes place on the Wilhelmstrasse (Wilhelm Street) in downtown Wiesbaden. The last three photos were actually taken right before we headed over to the festival, but I knew you all would love to see our beautiful faces, so I included them too ;).
Also, we just got back from our trip to Italy a few days ago. I’ll be posting some photos soon, but wanted to put these up first!

Last Saturday it rained all day long.  As evening approached, the thick grey sky gave way a bit and the low sun peeked through for a little while.  Jason and I were walking back from the grocery store and we didn’t have a camera on us–luckily we were nearly home.  I didn’t even set a muddy foot into our apartment.  I gave Jason the bag I had been carrying, he grabbed both cameras (the 5d and G9), handed them to me and I was off.  I walked across the street to the gardens and took a few shots before the light faded away.

Here are a few more shots from our trip to Prague.  As I was posting these, I felt like they were such a random assortment of photographs–a little nature, some architecture, a bit of portraiture–but they do all have at least one thing in common.  Each photograph reveals a glimpse of the Prague that we discovered during those few days.  I often shy away from photographing just the major “sights” of each place that we visit.  We can all simply google a few words and those photographs pop up on our screens within seconds.  On the other hand, this tree, for example, just caught my eye as I was walking by it in a park by the river, so I photographed it.  The apartment building below intrigued me with the block letters painted there and it’s weathered feel.  As I look at each photo, I remember the moment that surrounded it.  Each photograph that we take reflects our personal experience with each and every place that we are so fortunate to discover.  This is the world through our eyes, right here and right now.