Berlin, Germany

Berlin is the NYC of Germany. Complete with a hipster 'hood that could battle it out with Williamsburg, Brooklyn. We had no expectations and were happily surprised. There is a definite grungy, cool vibe to Berlin and it is so affordable that we were kicking ourselves for having only planned for a 3 night stay. We even met up with an old coworker of Rick's who currently lives in Berlin for a little friendly NYC face time. It's not necessarily a beautiful city given the history, but there is a lot of quirkiness to it like the random photo booths and did I mention they have Barbie's life size dream house? Enough said. We had to go.

We also went on a walking tour to see the major city sights. Most impressive was the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. The concrete slabs were "designed to produce an uneasy, confusing atmosphere, and the whole sculpture aims to represent a supposedly ordered system that has lost touch with human reason." (see last two photos)

Berlin, WE MISS YOU!!!!

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Reinheim, Germany

So our introduction to Germany was bumpy to say the least. Our quick 1.5 hour flight from Venice to Frankfurt via Ryan Air turned into a twice aborted landing (the worst turbulence) only to land in Cologne (WHAT?!?) where they put us all on a bus back to Frankfurt for 3 hours and we got into the airport around 1am. Did I mention that as we landed in Cologne due to bad weather, a full rainbow taunted us as we got shuffled onto shuttle buses.  (See below)

Lesson of the day? Never fly Ryan Air.

The next day we made our way to the city center where my cousin picked us up. Dad also made it out from California as we were staying with my aunt (his sister) so it was a lovely family affair.

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Lido di Venezia | Venice Part 2

So in hopes of laying around on a beach for a day near Venice, we took the ferry to Lido to find our way to Alberoni Beach. According to what I had read, we were to expect golden sand stretches with sand dunes. Instead, we found a pretty desolate, trash ridden beach with derelict buildings along shore. Kind of interesting photographically, but not ideal for beach bumming it.

We ended up settling on laying out on the rocky jetty as our beach dreams were crushed.

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Marseille, France

Our last two nights in France we spent in Marseille. Though we were both battling colds, we still made it out to see the sights. We stayed near Vieux-Port which is filled with outdoor cafés and docked sailboats you wish you owned. We stayed on land the first day and explored the Cathedral of Marseille. On the second day we hopped on a ferry to Château d'If & Port Frioul. Tip: If you head to Port Frioul, pack a picnic, blanket, and a bathing suit!

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Les Calanques - Cassis, France

Took a drive down to Cassis to check out the amazing Calanques on the Mediterranean. I would have loved to have gone for a dip but the water wasn't quite summer ready. We also stopped by a local winery for a tasting because this region is known for their Rosés.

A calanque (from the Corsican and Occitan words of pre-Indo-European origin calanca (plural calanche in Corsican, calancas in Occitan) with meaning "inlet" ) is a steep-walled inlet, cove, or bay that is developed in limestone, dolomite, or other carbonate strata and found along the Mediterranean coast. A calanque is a steep-sided valley formed within karstic regions either by fluvial erosion or the collapse of the roof of a cave that has been subsequently partially submerged by a rise in sea level.

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Montagne Sainte-Victoire

From our window here in Aix en Provence, Mont Sainte-Victoire is visible.Most notably known for being the subject of Cézanne's paintings (see below), we knew the mountain would be inspirational.Screen Shot 2013-05-29 at 8.28.56 PM

We took a drive around the mountain, stopped for a hike, and discovered vineyards at the foot of the mountain. Below is our route and all the inspiration the mountain poured into my camera.

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BARCELONA PART 1

Once we made our way from NY > London > Madrid > Barcelona (finally!), we found ourselves in love with this gorgeous city. Our first two days in Barcelona looked like this... Complete with meeting up with my dear friend Traci who just happened to be visiting Barcelona at the same time. It's always nice to see a familiar face in foreign places.

One more day to explore. Park Güell here we come!

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FOR THE LOVE OF PHOTOGRAPHY

_MG_7127 Photography is somewhat of an addiction for me (ask Rick who often finds me "shooting" up and suffering from withdrawals at all hours of the day). I discovered photography on my own and then later discovered that my dad was a closet photographer. Growing up I remember him taking photos and lugging a VHS recorder all over the world during our travels, but I thought that's just what dads did. It was only later when I became interested in photography that I realized he had old camera gear from the gods and hundreds of slides with images from exotic places. Upon this discovery, I had started scanning his slides and realized... WE TAKE THE SAME PICTURES! Whether it's the subject matter, the composition, or the shapes, we were in each others photos. Did I really discover photography on my own? Did all the years of being around his camera rub off of me? Or did he give me the photography gene?

How could I best illustrate this visual connection? Perhaps by putting our images side by side. A year or so ago I made him a book that showed the beauty of this discovery. See a few of my favorite spreads below. Dad's photos on the left, mine on the right. Ironically, I will be visiting a few of the same locales in his images below — Myanmar, India, Nepal.

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