Ferrara, Italy

Hi friends! How is everyone's Monday going so far? Today I have some photographic inspiration to share with you, some of my own photographs that I took a few years ago. When I was living in Italy and going to school there I was based in Como but being in Italy you have to travel around to experience as much of the insanely beautiful country as you can. Today I'll share a few of my pictures from Ferrara a small, medieval town in Emilia-Romagna (close to the Veneto). 

I spent most of my weekend editing these images and compiling them into a Blurb book. This will be my second book with Blurb. I just loved seeing my Amsterdam pictures bound together so I'm on a role now with my second one. Hopefully a third, fourth, fifth will all come soon after too. For years these images lived on my external harddrive but I wasn't able to appreciate them. Now these books can sit on my shelf and I can open them up whenever I need a pick-me-up. 

Ferrara is the perfect, quaint Italian town. The historic center is easily walkable and bicycles are everywhere (it's the Amsterdam of Italy!). There is fantastic Renaissance architecture, as well as even older buildings. Cars are not allowed into certain parts of the center so it is quiet and very pedestrian friendly. It is not a main stop on Italian tours but I am so glad that we stopped there. 

We were part of the bike culture and rented our own. Hours of entertainment ensued.

The old city walls are now converted into a raised walkways for bikers and pedestrians. You can see up over the city and get away from cars. Such a nice spot. I wish my walking route looked like this every night. 

And yes, that is me on a zipline having the time of my life. We found this children's park on the edge of the city with this mini zipline and an oversized slide. Good thing there weren't any kids around because these twenty-somethings sure got a lot of use out of these toys. 

Aw, these pictures make me happy. A good way to start off a Monday. Has anyone ever been to Ferrara? What spot are you dreaming about this week?

Twelve by 2012: Blurb Book progress

Hi blog readers!  Today I wanted to give you guys a little update on one of my Twelve by 2012 project goals...you know, to help hold myself responsible for the things I want to accomplish.  If I'm not held responsible things will never get done (sad but true).  In 2008 I studied abroad in Europe and basically ever since coming home I have wanted to put together some kind of photo book to highlight my trip and to get my photos out of my computer and into physical form.  Although digital is such a nice and convenient form of photography, it usually means that pictures stay locked up in some folder or external hard drive forever.  Nothing about this is particularly inspiring and I rarely find time to glance through my pictures.  

Blurb is definitely the right platform for me and after downloading the software earlier today I am ready to start laying out some pictures.  I like that Blurb offers more freedom when it comes to layouts, unlike sites like Snapfish which are super limiting for the design conscience.  Tackling all of my Europe photos, probably thousands of photos, is much too ambitious for now so instead I am taking on just one city that I visited: Amsterdam.  My friends and I were there for a long weekend so putting together a quick book with these pictures doesn't seem like an unachievable goal.  I'm excited for the project and it's fun looking through pictures which I haven't visited in some time.  Here are a few favorites that represent my experience in Amsterdam...

Gorgeous row houses...I want to live here!

Boats are everywhere.  Bicycles and intriguing Dutch architecture are common sights as well.

 

Are your photos like mine?  Do they live inside your computer?  One of my favorite past times is looking through my grandmother's photo albums of my Mom growing up.  All of her photographs are neatly organized in these oversized albums, complete with cute photo corners.  Sadly because of the change in technology, I don't have albums like this.  Blurb books aren't quite the same as my grandmother's but the possibility of having something to display my shots is so inspiring.  A good goal don't you think?  I'll keep you all updated.  Happy Thursday friends!