Thoughts and Thought Provokers
"You know, I'm sick of following my dreams, man. I'm just going to ask where they're going and hook up with 'em later"
-mitch hedberg
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cait. studyin in italy. 21. from the 'burbs of chicago. studying earth systems, environment and society and italian. flowers. photography. nature. water. food. half serious. half joking. all crazy.
Items tagged "photography":
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Mossy wall in the mountains of Giazza, Italy
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Moss growing on barbed wire
Asiago, Italy
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Little jellyfish at the Lake Guarda aquarium
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A little wine and biscotti from our wine tour
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image I took of my friend Mike during our Photography studio sesh.
I’M OBSESSED.
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pictures taken in our Photography teacher’s studio
i’m a hottie, right??
MODEL BEHAVIOR
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Crystal clear blue waters off of Capri, Italy!!
photo taken by yours truly, Cait Ireen. no editing needed!
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#capri#beach#water#coast#ocean#beauty#beautiful#photography#picturesque#study abroad#vacation spots#vacationInfo
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La Marina Piccola, Isla di Capri, Italia
(Small Marina, Isle of Capri, Italy)
photo taken by yours truly, Cait Ireen. no editing needed.
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#marina piccola#capri#isla di capri#isle of capri#italy#beach#water#ocean#beachfront#picturesque#photography#study abroad#travel#travelling#tourism#beauty#beautiful#water#waterfrontInfo
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spring break 2012, part 3: capri
We woke up early on Thursday and headed to the place I was looking forward to seeing the most: CAPRI!!
In order to get to Capri, we had to take a ferry (pictured above). It was so much better than I expected it to be… I was expecting to get sea sick and queasy from the ride, but I could barely feel that we were moving! Sarah and Candice didn’t even realize we had gotten to Capri… they hadn’t even thought that we had left!
We quickly realized that bus would be the best way to get around… it was only €1.80 per ride, and it would take us to Anacapri, which is the western side of the island, where our hostel was. The buses were about 1/4 the size of any other bus we had been on so far. They have to be so small because the roads are tiny and the turns are sharp all over the island.
The tiniest traffic circle I have ever seen:
We arrived at the historic center of Anacapri, and then had a 15 minute walk to our hotel. Yes, a hotel! We couldn’t be in a hostel because the island didn’t offer any! So our hotel was the cheapest that was offered. It was spectacular though… so pretty, and the lady at the front desk was very helpful.
The view from our hotel:
Big room!!
Courtney and I went outside on the sun deck and took a little nap before we starting touring for the day while the other girls went and got some food, and I got a sun tan from sleeping in the sun for an hour! I knew I was gonna love that place right then and there ;)
We met up with the other girls and, because we got advice from the lady at the front desk, decided to take the chairlift to the top of Mt. Solaro, which was supposed to have an amazing panoramic view of the island. I immediately started to freak out because we were going to be going so high with so little protecting us!! The chair only had a bar over it, so it seemed like nothing:
The ride was actually incredible. The views we got to see were awesome and it was relaxing. It took 13 minutes to get up, and I enjoyed ever minute of it!
Me on the ride up… myspace shot!
High view of Anacapri on the way up:
Once we got to the top, my breath was taken away. The blues of the ocean near the coast were spectacular. I couldn’t get over it!
View of I Faraglionin the famous huge rocks off the southeastern coast of Capri and then the town of Capri on the left side:
Courtney and me with Capri in the background:
The ride down was also very nice and calming, and it offered some more great views of Anacapri. I was the first one down, so I got a few pics of the other girls on their way down:
After the chairlift, we took a bus to Il Faro della Punta Carena, the lighthouse on the southwestern tip of Capri.
There we set up a little picnic:
and watched the sunset. It was sooo beautiful!!
There was also a little fort nearby, so I explored it for a little… and conquered it!
That night, we took a bus back towards Anacapri. We were all starving, so we decided to get some pizza to go. It was sooo good! I got margherita pizza with broccoli. Such a good choice!
Pizza party!
The next morning, we headed to La Grotta Azurra, or the Blue Grotto. I have literally been wanting to go here for the longest time. It is a tiny hole in the cliff side, and it goes into this little grotto. The entrance is kinda scary because it is quite tiny! Courtney freaking out:
Right when you get into the grotto, you don’t see anything; it seems black. But then, when you turn around, it is a spectacular blue color!!
The color is made from the sunlight being reflected through the water. It was the most wonderful natural phenomena I have ever seen.
After La Grotta Azzurra, we headed to La Marina Piccola to hit the beach. We got dropped off at the top of the hill and then had to walk down about a billion stairs to get down to the bottom of the hill.
Walking down with Melissa and Courtney:
All of that walking was so worth it. It was sooo beautiful at this beach!
The water was FREEZING, but we all still went in. How could we not?!
Me and the girls in the water:
Solo shot with the water and cliff side… so beautiful
Courtney and I doing our photo shoot:
Laughing pic out on this seaweedy rock out in the water:
The view on the other side of the beach, where you can see I Faraglioni:
After our beach time, we were going to go on a hike, but everyone wasn’t really feeling it. We were exploring the streets of Capri though, and found this old looking staircase. We followed it, and even though it wasn’t an official path, it had definitely been walked on. We continued on it, and there were some extremely old looking stairs, so we continued to follow them. We soon realized that we were on the edge of a cliff, overlooking a magnificent view of the water. It was pretty clear that tourists shouldn’t have been here, so it made it even more awesome that it probably wasn’t allowed!! It was sooo dangerous, but so worth it. It was amazing.
We decided not to push our luck too much, so we headed back up to the main road, and tried to find the official lookout for I Faraglioni, which we eventually found.
After that, we were all starving. So we headed back to the hotel and got ready to go out for our last night of our vacation. We went to a place nearby, and we all got pasta. I got pasta with an olive oil and garlic sauce with cheese and potatoes, and it was magnificent. We headed back to the hotel afterwards, and hung out looking at pictures. It was so sad that it was our last night!
Our beautiful group:
The next morning we hopped on a bus and just made our ferry by sprinting to it, and we were off to Napoli for our flight.
Ciao Capri!!!
E ciao Napoli! (Look at the crazy clouds off of Mt. Vesuvius!!
Once we got to Napoli, we were going to walk to the train station and just stop somewhere for margherita pizza, because Napoli is where it was first made. It just so happens that the place we stopped at was the EXACT place where they first made margherita pizza: L’Antica Pizzeria (literal translation the Ancient Pizzeria).
It also is the place that is featured in Eat, Pray, Love when they visit Napoli!! I walked on the street they walked on! I was at the pizzeria they were at!! Sooo crazy!! :))
We waited for an hour for the pizza, and it only cost €4.50. The cheapest pizza of the entire trip, and it was the most authentic and delicious by FAR! We got our pizzas and walked to the train station where we ate them as we waited for Courtney’s train.
Courtney eventually got on her train, and we headed off to the airport to catch our flight. Once we landed, we took a bus to the train station, and then a train back to Verona. After 12 hours of travelling, we finally arrived back to Verona-home.
It truly was a spectacular Spring Break!! I will never forget it :))
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spring break 2012, part 2: sorrento & amalfi
After Pompei, we spent three nights in our hostel in Sorrento. The first full day that we had, we tried to hit the beach. Sorrento is basically built on the edge of cliffs, so there really wasn’t much of a beach to hang out on. We did find a concrete pier to lay out on however, and, after trekking through the cliff side (yes, through), we made it down to the water. We were greeted by this sight right before heading down to the water… it was just beautiful:
Here is the view of Sorrento from the water… you can’t see much because the town center is a little further away from the water:
On Wednesday, we took a day trip to the city of Amalfi.
Waiting for the bus with some of the freshest oranges I have ever tasted:
The ride from Sorrento was to take 1.5 hours, and it was by bus. UGH. The ride was beautiful, from what little I saw of it. The majority of the ride was right on the coastline, which meant that there were several sharp turns and winding roads. Our bus driver was a maniac: he was whipping around every bend, and breaking and starting very suddenly. I got sooo queasy that I didn’t get to take any pictures of the ride, nor did I see a majority of the beautiful sights throughout the drive. Sad day! But, once we got off the bus, it got better. We were dropped off right near the beach, and right next to some beautiful houses on the side of the mountains:
We laid out and tried to tan for a bit, but it got chilly around 3 pm. So we gave up and walked around the ton for a bit, and I found a pin to add to my collection. We got to see the church in Amalfi and it was very beautiful:
The bus ride back wasn’t as bad as the bus ride there, but it still was kinda tough. We made it back to Sorrento in time to catch the sunset, and it was a very nice way to end the day.
This was our last night in Sorrento… the next day we were heading to the Isle of Capri!
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#study abroad#spring break#sorrento#amalfi#italy#scenic#landscape#photography#tourism#touring#water#ocean#picturesqueInfo
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spring break 2012, part 1: pompei
Last Sunday, March 18th, I took a train to Venice from Verona, where I took a flight with Sarah and her friends Claire, Melissa & Candice to Napoli for Spring Break!! When we arrived in Napoli, we took a bus to the train station, where we met up with my best friend, Courtney, and from there we took a train to our first destination: Pompei!!! I was super excited to see Pompei… ever since learning about it in elementary school it has been a place that I’ve wanted to see before I die. The first night that we got there, we laid low after dinner because we were so beat from our whole day of travelling. On Monday, we headed to the ruins to tour around. We were immediately greeted by this fantastic view of Mt. Vesuvius with the ruins in the foreground:
I of course had to get a solo shot:
In southern Italy, stray dogs are like stray cats in the U.S. This was a sign outside the entrance to the ruins because of the crazy number of dogs running around… it was kinda funny:
We started our walk around the ruins by walking around the southern edge, where there were a variety of crypts and tombs:
It was amazing how everything was excavated everywhere we went… we learned that the majority of the area that was the city of Pompei isn’t even excavated yet… they’re still working on it! Just thinking about how long it would take to work through walls like the ones below:
We were allowed to go into some of the shops and houses that were excavated, so we could see some of the pottery that was used during the time. It was almost like people were still living there because of the parts of the house that were still in their place:
Another amazing part of the ruins were the drawings that were still intact on the wall. Also how vibrant some of the paint was on the wall without being restored!
It was so much fun having Courtney on the trip with me:
Dancing in the streets of Pompei:
I had heard about the casts of people that were made, but it was so much crazier and surreal to see them in real life:
Me in the main square by the Temple of Jupiter and Mt. Vesuvius in the background:
There was a whole room filled with pottery and other items that were excavated from various sites around Pompei. My favorites were these pots that had a pointy bottom… they just seem so strange to me!
Our group, sitting in the Basilica:
(from left to right: Courtney, Sarah, Me, Melissa, Claire and Candice)
Just hanging out in more of the ruins:
Me in the Amphitheater:
After a long 4 hours walking around in the ruins, we were famished. We ran into Sean, a guy we met in our hostel the night before, and he mentioned that there was a place he wanted to try out that he found on TripAdvisor for lunch. We were so hungry that it sounded perfect! We literally had the best time of our life at this restaurant. The management was so uber friendly, and the food was absolutely fantastic. I got gnocchi alla sorrentina, which is gnocchi with a tomato and cheese sauce, and it was spectacular:
We also got to sample some of the local liquore like the one below, which was made from cantaloupe. It was sooooo good… I want to buy some now!
Courtney and I with our liquore:
After our delicious lunch, it was off to Sorrento by train to check into our hostel.
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We Are Young lyrics by Fun. feat. Janelle Monae
picture taken and edited by yours truly, Cait Ireen
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Proof lyrics by Coldplay
picture taken and edited by yours truly, Cait Ireen
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Paradise lyrics, by Coldplay
picture taken and edited by yours truly, Cait Ireen
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I MISS CHICAGO!!
photo taken and edited by yours truly, Cait Ireen
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