For our first wedding anniversary we decided to head to Italy with our good friends Elizabeth & Stephen for a destination anniversary trip we all would never forget. What vacation would be complete without some destination couples photos in some of the world’s most beautiful and breath taking locations? Italy surely does not disappoint. Every corner, every alleyway, every building and cobblestone street is inspiration to a photographer. For our whirlwind anniversary trip we headed to Rome, Positano & the Amalfi Coast, Florence and Venice. We travelled by plane, train, car and boat and immersed ourselves in the culture, the art, waaaay too much delicious food and even tried out our Italian language skills. Traveling with a group of great people who don’t mind stopping to take hundreds of photos of bridges in Florence, churches in Rome or who will wait by your gear in a dark alleyway while you set up your tripod when creativity sparks or who will take the time to actually learn from you how to take great portraits is truly a god send. A very special thank you to Elizabeth & Stephen for being the best travel buddies ever! Its going to be hard to top this trip next year.
Its hard to believe that only 1 year ago Ryan and I were standing infront of our friends and family at the Royal York Hotel for our wedding day. It has truly been an amazing first year, and we are so excited for what the future holds for us, our friends and families.
So if you are thinking about Italy for your Destination honeymoon, or anniversary, don’t think just do! You won’t be sorry, and don’t forget to bring your photographers so you can have photos just like these.
Happy Anniversary to my amazing husband, the love of my life.
Rome was a great adventure. In one night, somewhere between 10pm-2am we literally walked the cobblestone streets and saw The Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, The Spanish Steps, the Roman Forum and the Colosseum. We were all amazed by the amount of people just hanging out eating gelato at night.
Just down the street from the entrance tot he Vatican is Castel Sant’Angelo and beside that is an old timey carousel. I couldn’t resist taking about 100 photos of it.
Now Ryan and I are not the type to visit every touristy spot a city has to offer. Actually we are more the type to see it in the distance and find an obscure alley or street alongside it and explore for hours what the locals already know. But the Colosseum was such a surprise to us. It is so large and quiet. It completely overwhelmed us. So much so that we barely picked up our cameras. We bought the city pass called Roma Pass and skipped the line of 1000 people and were inside in 5 minutes. Worth every penny!
Welcome to Paradise! Positano, Italy is a stunner. You can’t look away from its hilltop towns, its impressive coast, and twisty roads. Our first day in Positano we just sat on our terrace and looked out at the vast beauty of the landscape. It is such a shame we can’t be here everyday.
While our friends were discovering the Florentine leather market, Ryan and I took a stroll towards Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore and along the way we saw an old camera shop. As photographers it is almost a crime to not stop and hmmm and haaa at the gear in the window. Suddenly a little old man in a white lab coat appears and speaks to us in strange British accented English and asks “Are you on your honeymoon?” to which we reply “Actually its our 1st wedding anniversary.”
“Ahhh” he says as he motions us into his shop. “I was once married, we honeymooned for 37 years. Don’t ever forget to love each other, and treat everyday like its your honeymoon.”
His name is Mario Baracchi, and he is the owner of Dei Ottica Fotografia in Florence. His shop is the oldest shop in Florence, partly by default that it was not bombed during World War 2. He told us stories about his wife who has since passed, and his children. How he grew up just down the street from his very store, and that he was baptized at the Baptistery of St. John with the famous gilded doors of Ghiberti’s Gates of Paradise. How his future wife walked into his shop while on vacation from the U.K and it was love at first sight (hence his strangely Italian British accent when he speaks English.) He showed us amazing photographs of the shop during the war, and during Florence’s massive flood in the 1960’s. Then before we left he gave us a few words of wisdom about marriage and life leaving us humbled and happy to have stopped in for a visit, and to have chosen Florence as a destination.
