St. Sulpice Church in Paris
The church is located in the Saint Germain neighborhood of Paris in the 5th District which was around 40 minutes away via Metro from our hotel. We had up to now visited many of the prominent landmarks which played an integral part in The Da Vinci Code film and the last location on our map was St. Sulpice Church.
If you recall from the film, this is the church were Silas traces the Rose Line to an obelisk, hoping to find a keystone leading to the Holy Grail. Aside from housing some of the finest sculptures, this huge 17th century church is renown for containing the largest organ in the world which you can see in the far top of the photograph. Vanessa and I are inherently early risers when it comes to sightseeing so we can beat the rest of the anxious tourist like ourselves, hence the lack of guest at 8am in the morning when I took this shot.
Low light photographs are generally difficult to pull off when you’re not relying on a tripod to provide you with that steady and detail shot you’re hoping for but I managed to secure one decent one from the 7 that I took.
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Walking Away from Vatican City
I felt dizzy when we arrived. Perhaps the sudden change of temperature from an air-conditioned tour bus to an 85 degree heat wave in that massive plaza that I instantly recognize from Angels & Demons had something to do with it but regardless of how exhausted or how sweaty we might have been, we were still deliriously happy to be standing in St. Peter’s Square.
We’d been taken to the many other well-known landmarks across Rome but the anticipation leading to visiting Vatican City was as great as everything we ate. I have to believe that because we were in Italy, everything you can possibly see and eat had to be unquestionably good and if you thought otherwise, then you were just wasting your time not appreciating the remarkable culture and history around us.
I don’t say I’ve seen all of Rome but I’ve seen enough to convince me to want to visit the place again. In instances like this, you almost have to just experience being in a place without over thinking what is the best way to tell a story either with your writing or your camera. Let the adventure accumulate to a point where what you shoot or say is based off on what you know so far and not just driven by sheer novelty of being in a new setting.
Generally when I arrive at new place, that instant urge to photograph doesn’t set in until I’ve at least walked the area a bit. It’s like sipping a great wine. You pour a small amount to admire the aroma before getting wasted with the rest of it. I like to take my time shooting and it’s a characteristic that drives my wife crazy because she’s more of a shoot and keep it moving person. This was the last photograph I took in St. Peter’s Square as I walked backwards not wanting to turn away from a place I didn’t have enough time to examine.
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Photo Essay: Unforgettable Dubrovnik
A lot of folks are not even familiar with where Dubrovnik is but what I can assure you is that once you visit the city, you’ll not only know how to pronounce it correctly but you’ll be destined to never stop thinking about how remarkable the panoramic views are everywhere you turn.
Dubrovnik is situated at the south of the Croatian coast along the Adriatic sea and it was one of the last port of calls as we toured the Mediterranean onboard Royal Caribbean. With the exception of the other major cities we visited like Rome, Venice and Florence, Dubrovnik was the one destination I wasn’t too acquainted with so my expectations was not nearly as high but it turned out the city is one of the highest visited in the country.
When you arrive, instantly the most recognizable feature of the place is the magnificent history you see from the enormous walls that surround the whole city. Walled cities are generally architecturally impressive but Dubrovnik is on its own in this category. There’s a big wall, now what?
If you’re adventurous enough and since you’ve already made it this far to visit the place, the ultimate highlight of your day will be trekking along the wall to marvel at the countless red rooftops, the hidden monastery courtyards and the vibrant blue sea waters along the coastline. You’re also likely to get a glimpse of the damage to some structures that hasn’t been rebuilt from recent wars.
We spent over 2 hours walking the wall because it’s inevitable not stopping to photograph and to rest. There’s many stairs involved, the walk is strenuous but the views are worth it. I suggest going in the morning because there less of the hoard of tourists who disembark from the cruise ships as we did and because it’s not nearly has hot as it will get in the afternoon.
Another chunk of advise for your visit is to not be afraid to get lost in the town. Not just visually put physically because as captivating as the massive main squares may be, it was in the narrow polished limestone streets that we found the most homelike shops, cafes and restaurants where you’re more likely to pay less in comparison to the ones located on the main streets.
After all the touring and all the photographing, our favorite past time in the evening before heading back to our cruise was just sitting at one of those street cafes enjoying a glass a wine and an order of chocolate strawberries with my wife as we enjoyed the atmosphere and realizing the surrealism that we felt in being part of a golden era for that day.
You can view the rest of the photographs from the assignment.
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The Shades
Four years ago, I stayed away from wearing any type of shades because I always felt uncomfortable sporting them. The experience was comparable like your first arrival at a gym, where your mind is more on imagining how many people are looking at you when in reality nobody really cares.
The insecurities stemmed from thinking I didn’t have the “face” to wear any type of shade but the problem was that I wasn’t wearing ones the right ones to compliment my face type in the first place. Eventually my wife convinced me to get over the nervousness in wearing an accessory that others confidently display, especially since I would need some form of eye protection for our Mediterranean honeymoon cruise at the time.
I’ve always been an admirer of the classic aviator shape but I’ve never believed in paying the ridiculous amount that some name-brand aficionados do. I went with these from Banana Republic and the 50% off employee discount made the purchase even sweeter.
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Deck Relaxing in Cannes
I can’t recall the last time we deviated from our customary routine of flying down to Miami to board a cruise ship for a vacation. Most people are deterred by the belief that cruise vacations are all about the free food and gambling but the truth is that those are merely some of the many attributes that characterize being on one.
Advertisements for cruises are no longer filled with photographs of casinos and passengers holding alcoholic beverages the way they use to. Cruises are now literally a floating resort with everything you might expect from one that is inland.
With regard to Caribbean cruises, we have an unwritten rule of not booking anything less than 7-days. For Mediterranean cruises, nothing less than 12-days. It’s the perfect amount of time to enjoy anything without feeling rushed and deprived from amenities that have already been paid for and that you should take pleasure in. Nothing gets more carefree than being on a cruise. It’s one convenient package where if all you want to do is lie back and read your Kindle on the deck, then that’s what you do and that’s what I was in the middle of as we sailed away from Cannes.
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The Streets of Paris
At this point, I can’t think of anything I haven’t said about how incredible Paris is during the Summer other than to state that it can be quite the opposite experience during the Winter season. It’s extremely cold, so surviving that arctic temperatures is all about what you wear and what you put into your body to sustain as much warmth as humanly possible.
We visited during the month of January and in that week, I had never consumed as much hot chocolate or coffee as I did to stay warm as we walked the somber streets from our hotel to the Metro. As for the beverages, the good part about the cafés we visited was that they were all clever enough to invest on outdoor heaters but you had to wonder how mad you have to be to drink anything outside.
Call me old fashion but I have a soft spot for warm places and if you’re willing to explore a city that is nevertheless captivating during anything time of the year (but much cheaper in the winter), then be my guest and think about what you’ll see and not so much about what you’ll have to endure to appreciate it.
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