Our journey to Croatia last week began with a ferry trip. We drove a few hours south to Ancona, Italy and then took an overnight ferry to Split, Croatia. How cool is that? As we left Ancona we were able to enjoy a beautifully colorful sunset on one side of the ferry and an equally amazing full moon rise on the other. 
Warm Adriatic Sea breezes washed over us as we enjoyed the twilight on the top deck of the ferry. Then, off to bed in our little 4 bunk cabin and woke up the next morning in a new country – what a way to travel!
Always Looking In
It seems I’m always looking in. Into windows, courtyards, towns. Capturing the evidence of the lives of people in the places we visit. I love windows like this one from Split, Croatia… so full of plants the shutters won’t close. Full of the day’s laundry drying. Full of texture and rust, of times past caught along with the current moment.
Isn’t that what photography is about? I guess it is, at least from the Kat Eye View!
So, what’s your view?
Everyday Life with History
We just returned yesterday from our week-long road trip through Croatia and Slovenia. What a crazy trip – we travelled so much – visiting Split, Dubrovnik, Korcula, Plitvic National Park in Croatia and Bled, Postojna and Slocjam in Slovenia. We saw lots of wonderful and amazing places, and arrived home tired from the travel. Lesson learned – don’t travel quite so much in one trip. Downtime is needed.
Today’s image has a different message than that though, this is one of living with history. You see, in Split, Croatia most of the old city was built up inside of Roman emperor Diocletian’s palace. The palace walls were once the city walls and the medieval old city is a wonderful little place where Roman ruins are just part of the life around them. I love this image for what it tells you of this place. Look at the building – grass is sprouting from the roof and the stone is all cracked. You can just glimpse an arch of the Roman palace gate in the background and see the ruined wall beside it. But look closer, there is something in the attic window. Look closer, at the brand new shutters. Someone lives here. Someone lives in this house that looks like it could fall down tomorrow. Someone lives with this history, as part of their every day.
Just Because
An image I love, just because of the green and brown. Just because of the depth of field and the light. Just because of the contrast of budding, growing life against the peeling paint and grungy pot. And maybe just because there is peeling paint involved. Enjoy this image from Braubach, Germany. It could be from anywhere, even in your own little corner of the world. Can you go out and find your own “just because” image today?
PS – I’ll be disappearing from the blog for a little over a week as we travel to new places. I’m already anticipating much creative excitement, poring over photos upon my return, and sharing them with you here. Ci vediamo! (Which roughly translates as, we’ll see each other later.)
Into the Wilderness
Images of this place, Vintgar Gorge near Bled, Slovenia, have been popping into my head recently. Honestly, I hadn’t looked at them since downloading them from my camera last summer. But the were filed away in my head somewhere, and lately they call to me. “Come back,” they whisper, “Revisit us. We have something to show you.”
I have moved into a new phase of my creative journey, I have moved into the wilderness. I hesitated on the threshold of this new land, of the unknown, for a while. But my journey calls me onward, and so I move into the uncharted territory. I’ve been acting with confidence in this new territory for the last week, forging ahead, diving into new things with a sense of purpose and as if I know the outcome, as if I know what I’m doing.
But today, I feel fragile. I feel alone in the wilderness. The fears are coming up. The realization that this is a journey that only I can travel, and that I truly don’t know where it will end. There are places that I hope it ends, but life has a way of offering twists and turns when you least expect it. I can only move forward, one step at a time. I will have to face my fears, be lonely at times.
Today’s image does have a message for me, I just had to be ready to hear it. It shows me that there is a path in this wilderness. There is beauty. It might look rugged at times, I might not be able to tell exactly where it leads or how long it will take, but I will get somewhere. And in the process, I get to experience this beautiful place and all it has to teach me. It tells me that it’s ok, to rest for a moment and acknowledge the feelings inside. When I take the next step I’ll be refreshed and ready to go.
Fresh and Juicy
So red. So fresh. So juicy. So delicious. I’m not usually a big cherry fan, but even I like these cherries. We picked them up last week, while driving through the hills outside of Vicenza. We just wanted to see the countryside, and it turns out we were in a region that grows cherries. And they were ripe. And we saw a roadside stand. So, since Patrick loves cherries we did a u-turn back to it and bought their minimum amount for 10 Euro – 3kg (for us Americans, that’s 6.6 lbs). That’s a lot of cherries!
I took this photo for a photo challenge with the theme of “fresh” and it makes me smile. Maybe it’s the color. Maybe it’s the story. Not my usual shot, but at least they are Italian cherries!