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notes on italy, 1

May 24, 2011




















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i had the good fortune to spend last week in italy (my first visit!) for a much-needed vacation. i was near the sea for most of the week in liguria (in and around camogli, a small fishing village near portofino), then i took a short trip to cinque terre, and then on to florence/tuscany for 3 days.

and what a week i had. the bulk of my time was spent eating (the food! man oh man), drinking wine, exploring, snacking on focaccia formaggio di Recco, taking hikes to small swimming holes along the rocky coast, reading, sunbathing, swimming, daydreaming. it was incredible. i’m feeling rested, inspired, and very lucky.

this week and next, i’m going to be sharing photographs and stories from my trip with you here. i hope you’ll enjoy it.

103 Comments
  1. May 24, 2011 12:28 pm

    Ahh this was just what I needed to look at first thing in the morning before work. LOVELY. You were in a place close to my heart since I spent half a year there during college. Would you make these available to purchase as prints? I need that woman in the head scarf please.

  2. Christophe permalink
    May 24, 2011 12:28 pm

    Yea, (*shrugs*) looks okay I suppose… ;-)

    Beautiful stuff mate…can’t wait to hear more about it.

  3. May 24, 2011 12:29 pm

    Lucky you! I can’t imagine how life could be without the possibility of going to Italy! Yet I still have to work out how to make it this year…

  4. May 24, 2011 12:30 pm

    Woah.. Those first two are amazing. Italy is my dream destination…

  5. May 24, 2011 12:37 pm

    You have such a great eye for capturing the small details of a place. Can’t wait to see more photos — especially from Florence. It’s one of my favourite cities in Italy.

  6. May 24, 2011 12:42 pm

    ah! Incredible. I think these are my favorite photos I’ve spotted on you blog in a while. Would love to see more. would also love some writing, Italia, so intriguing–you know?

  7. May 24, 2011 12:42 pm

    Josephine hit the nail on the head. You see things others of us miss. You make ordinary things lovely, much lovelier than we might assess them simply with our eyes. In fact, some of your best photos are of those things we might otherwise overlook. I think your influence makes me look more closely and evaluate differently. Who are you, Brian Ferry? And where did you acquire that skill…or is it just a grand gift? I think probably the latter.

  8. May 24, 2011 12:45 pm

    very talented mr. ripley. which is a very good thing. beautiful photos.

  9. May 24, 2011 12:53 pm

    ITALY. FOREVER.

  10. May 24, 2011 12:57 pm

    You captured Italy beautifully. I’ve never been…I hope to visit someday. :)

  11. May 24, 2011 12:57 pm

    fantastic. all of it.

  12. May 24, 2011 12:59 pm

    Awesome! I’ll be looking forward to living the experience through your photos.
    :)

  13. May 24, 2011 12:59 pm

    Bliss!
    Your photos make me ache for another visit to Italy very, very soon!

  14. May 24, 2011 1:10 pm

    This looks awesome. I miss Italy.

  15. May 24, 2011 1:12 pm

    all I can think of to say is wow.

  16. May 24, 2011 1:20 pm

    Totally awesome. I’m glad you hauled so many cameras with you. I can’t wait to hear more adventures.

  17. May 24, 2011 1:27 pm

    I went to Italy at the start of the month and it was so amazing. I really can’t wait to go back! I went to Pisa and Florence. I keep meaning to post photographs on my blog but my internet connection is so hit and miss – when I think about starting to write a post about the trip my connection has disappeared!

    I’m hoping to go back in September and do a coupel of vineyard tours!

  18. May 24, 2011 1:30 pm

    these are superb. what a wicked sounding holiday :)

  19. May 24, 2011 1:39 pm

    really great photos. make me want to go on holiday, obv.

  20. May 24, 2011 1:43 pm

    I truly look forward to each of your enchanting posts. They are simply one of the little joys in my life right now…thank you for that!

  21. May 24, 2011 1:47 pm

    Isn’t Liguria fabulous? It is one of my favorite places in the world. And you’ll be sharing more. Exciting!

  22. Christie Brewster permalink
    May 24, 2011 1:49 pm

    I’m going there this weekend!!

    • May 25, 2011 2:33 am

      How I envy you all…….I am in China….and it takes large amount of money to Italy………I suppose I had to try my best to earn more money….How exciting it is…!!!!

  23. May 24, 2011 1:55 pm

    How lovely! The colors and motifs show a great holiday. I like Italy a lot, and I travel frequently, especially at the lake garda. Your photos make me want to leave immediately. Wine in the evening, beach walks, sunsets on the sea and sleepy little Italian villages. La dolce vita.

    I particularly like the second photo.

  24. Nina permalink
    May 24, 2011 2:17 pm

    i love your photos (all of them). i love italy. your photos of italy: double-love.

  25. May 24, 2011 2:24 pm

    I love the picture with the blue lounge chairs

  26. May 24, 2011 2:24 pm

    I love it, love it, love it there, we just came back and I wrote a about too.

    My Italy…… in 4 days!

  27. May 24, 2011 2:24 pm

    Thanks for the treat! Soul-stirring – sounds alarmingly like a cliche, but they speak to more than the eye.

  28. May 24, 2011 2:28 pm

    Fantastic photos! We’ll be there this fall- you have made my mouth water with anticipation!

  29. May 24, 2011 2:28 pm

    Simply stunning. Enjoy every moment :)

  30. May 24, 2011 2:31 pm

    Very beautiful photographs. I absolutely love them. You are a marvolous photographer and i hope to see many more following. This made my soul want to jump straight into the pictures to be back where my ancestors were.

  31. May 24, 2011 2:45 pm

    i’m so with mary.
    happy times, it seems!

  32. May 24, 2011 2:57 pm

    The photos are awesome! i hope to make it to italy one day….congrats on being freshly pressed too!

  33. May 24, 2011 3:00 pm

    fabulous pictures:) thanks!

  34. May 24, 2011 3:06 pm

    Your photos are amazing- they could be from a travel magazine!

  35. May 24, 2011 3:07 pm

    Sounds outstanding! I’m a sucker for pictures of boats – yours is so lovely.
    Looking forward to more (including food?)!

  36. iamlenise permalink
    May 24, 2011 3:08 pm

    Loved your photos…very refreshing (esp the one at the very top)…hope to visit there soon someday :)

  37. May 24, 2011 3:08 pm

    Oh man, incredible. Italy is pretty high up on my list of places I would love to visit, for the food alone, but also because I am pretty sure my heart belongs to southern Europe…

  38. May 24, 2011 3:11 pm

    The light! Those sherbet colored buildings. Lovely, lovely pix.

    The lounge chairs are a classic image. Well done — and thanks for sharing your excellent eye.

  39. May 24, 2011 3:25 pm

    So excited to see more and hear more! I spent a few amazing days in the Cinque Terre a few years ago, and I still think about it often. Especially the foccacia!

  40. May 24, 2011 3:28 pm

    Sounds like the perfect week. Gorgeous photos!

  41. May 24, 2011 3:38 pm

    Love the first pic!

  42. May 24, 2011 3:48 pm

    Beautiful pictures. It makes me want to visit even that much more. The second picture and the picture with the drink on the window sill are my favorites. Great post.

  43. May 24, 2011 3:51 pm

    Que linda! Love the photos!

  44. sueysong permalink
    May 24, 2011 3:55 pm

    it’s inspiring,

  45. May 24, 2011 3:59 pm

    Welcome back, Brian! Can’t wait to see more.

  46. May 24, 2011 4:11 pm

    Sigh…..

    My wife and I visited Cinque Terra, and these pictures are exactly what we remember — wonderful, wonderful. Thank you.

    mac mccarthy\

  47. May 24, 2011 4:28 pm

    Beautiful. I especially like to photo of the woman in the blue scarf. Great use of color.

  48. May 24, 2011 4:43 pm

    I feel photos of Italy are chasing me :-) ..Just yesterday saw photos highlighting shades of Roman Empire!!! Now today I find myself in the lap of Italy again!!! Anyway, nice pics.

    -Arvind K.Pandey

  49. May 24, 2011 4:59 pm

    How lovely. Your photos are gorgeous. I just returned from Italy too and seeing your site today gave me just the lift I needed. Thanks!

  50. liz279 permalink
    May 24, 2011 5:01 pm

    I love living in London BUT my mother just sent me an email saying that there are 30°C at home (northen Italy, Milan countryside), she, my brother and my uncle are in the garden sunbathing and they are already all black and.. me.
    Well, I’m in London, stuck in my flat, studying for my math exams and daydreaming about my 3 days back home sunbathing as soon as my exam will be finished.

    Love 5 terre, nice memories I’ve got of that place.. beautiful pics! You haven’t pictured any person.. I would have included some.. especially there in Portofino!

  51. May 24, 2011 5:10 pm

    Beautiful photo’s. Congrats on Freshly Pressed.

  52. May 24, 2011 5:21 pm

    Gorgeous!!!!

  53. thor27 permalink
    May 24, 2011 5:23 pm

    You’ve got some beautiful pictures !!! Very nice indeed !!!

  54. May 24, 2011 5:31 pm

    Magnificent!!! I can’t wait to go to Italy myself ;)

  55. May 24, 2011 5:46 pm

    It IS sooo nice :) I love Italy, just amazing :)

  56. lyoism permalink
    May 24, 2011 5:49 pm

    the sceneries are so beautiful ^^

  57. May 24, 2011 6:18 pm

    lovely photographs…

  58. May 24, 2011 6:32 pm

    Great pics, thanks for sharing them with us! I’d love to visit Italy one day, but I don’t see that happening anytime soon! :D

  59. May 24, 2011 6:54 pm

    Gorgeous photos Brian, will love to visit Italy after this.

  60. May 24, 2011 7:07 pm

    great photos! makes me want to go to Italy even more!

  61. Manuel Lopez permalink
    May 24, 2011 7:08 pm

    Buenas fotos, felicitaciones

  62. winsomebella permalink
    May 24, 2011 7:25 pm

    Love it when pics make me feel a place. What a feeling you’ve shared. Thanks.

  63. May 24, 2011 7:50 pm

    Great pics – I really like how many of these are not your typical “I’m in Italy” photos, but they still capture that Italian charm. LOVE the one of the woman with the scarf. Congrats on being freshly pressed!

  64. omc permalink
    May 24, 2011 8:01 pm

    I stumbled onto these and wow! You have a fantastic eye for framing – are you a professional photographer?

  65. Big Ideas, Little Blog permalink
    May 24, 2011 8:12 pm

    I just found your site through the word press homepage…what a great find! I look forward to seeing more of your photos.

  66. Janet Amateau permalink
    May 24, 2011 8:15 pm

    These images are so, so Italian (that’s a compliment). Italy is always such good medicine for the soul. Even long after you’ve lived there long enough to feel like you’ve had enough, you know that’s really an impossibility and that you’ll be back. For years now, from the terrace of my little restaurant on the other side of the Med I watch the Grimaldi Line leave Barcelona each evening for Rome and wonder when I’ll be able to hop back on one myself to see and do and hear and smell and eat and just take in so many things and places and people that I hold so dear just a few hours east of here. Been too long – tengo scariño.

  67. May 24, 2011 8:16 pm

    I too stumbled on your blog via wordpress… awesome photos man! Really great job.

  68. stylembe permalink
    May 24, 2011 8:41 pm

    Beautiful.

  69. Ariana Ladew permalink
    May 24, 2011 8:42 pm

    Beautiful! I’m so jealous.

  70. Peter permalink
    May 24, 2011 8:42 pm

    Bellissima.

  71. May 24, 2011 8:52 pm

    I loveeeee Italy. My parents went there and they loved it. I wish I could go!

  72. Julia permalink
    May 24, 2011 8:58 pm

    These pictures are beautiful!

  73. margaret permalink
    May 24, 2011 9:00 pm

    these are great. i’m jealous just thinking about the food you ate while you were there. SO happy you got to take some time off and hope it was very relaxing.

  74. May 24, 2011 9:20 pm

    Oh how I love Italy :) And seeing your photos reminds me of my time there- can’t wait to see more!

  75. May 24, 2011 9:27 pm

    Out of this world. AMAZING!

  76. May 24, 2011 9:27 pm

    beautiful photos!

  77. May 24, 2011 10:39 pm

    These photos are amazing Brian! I love Italy and can’t wait to see more photos and hear more stories about your trip. :D

  78. May 24, 2011 10:44 pm

    It is so incredible to see this and be left in awe of how beautiful the world is, and how all those gorgeous little things make such wonderful pictures… the wine on the windowsill, the woman with the headscarf…
    Thank you! Such a lovely collection.

  79. May 24, 2011 11:00 pm

    These pictures are absolutely beautiful. Italy is on my wish list to visit. Oh and by the way from I lived in Brooklyn for 36 years!!!! Looking forward to some more pictures.

  80. May 24, 2011 11:32 pm

    Gorgeous photos, Brian. Love this set – your eye for detail and light captures me every time!

  81. May 24, 2011 11:37 pm

    That foccacia sounds amazing. I’m hoping to go next year to Florence/Tuscany and I cannot wait. My favorite photo ( dare I pick one) is where the window is open with a glass of wine resting , beckoning a drink.

  82. brontejackson permalink
    May 25, 2011 12:43 am

    I loved your photos, especially the woman in the head scarf. Seems to have appealed to a lot of people. I have just returned to Australia after living in Italy for 17 years (on a whim) and these photos really capture so much about Italy. Thank you and well done. Check out my blog on Italy called Roman Daze at brontejackson.com if you are interested in further Italian life stories. Thanks for sharing.

  83. Meg permalink
    May 25, 2011 1:40 am

    you take excellent notes.

  84. May 25, 2011 2:25 am

    I like the mood in your photos. It’s slow, relax and quite..

  85. May 25, 2011 2:32 am

    Bravvissimo. Mi piace molto le foto.

  86. Clay permalink
    May 25, 2011 2:42 am

    Just got back from the same part of the world, Brian. My girlfriend and I loved Camogli… like almost didn’t come back loved it. Thought I was looking at my own photos! Thanks for the memories.

  87. May 25, 2011 3:09 am

    Love those , this place looks great

  88. May 25, 2011 3:28 am

    Italy is one of my favorite foreign countries to visit! I could not agree with you more about the food, the sights, and the experience. By the way, you posted some really great pictures! Thanks!

  89. May 25, 2011 3:37 am

    Wow beautiful photos

  90. May 25, 2011 3:58 am

    amazing. i cannot wait to travel to europe and make a stop in italy. you captured a great story here. i look forward to seeing more!

  91. May 25, 2011 4:11 am

    Expect more sharing from you :)

  92. heather permalink
    May 25, 2011 4:48 am

    our family has a home in italy and we go about once a year (from the states), but i have never been as tempted to impulsively book tickets as i am tonight after looking at your beautiful photos. they are the best i’ve seen in italy, and i’ve seen thousands.

  93. May 25, 2011 4:52 am

    Love these. Is that Camogli after the cacti?

  94. May 25, 2011 5:27 am

    Last photo. <–

  95. May 25, 2011 5:41 am

    I’m a little bit homesick now….34 days to go! :)

  96. May 25, 2011 5:55 am

    w00t! Such exquisite photographs. Thanks for sharing.

  97. May 25, 2011 5:57 am

    Amazing pictures. Really, I liked it very much. I’ve been to Italy, and I totally see what you mean by ‘the food’.

  98. May 25, 2011 6:04 am

    I’m in the midst of posting my honeymoon pictures too! well, im not very disciplined though.. haha

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