We Happened Upon Paradise on Earth - Los Angeles Travel Photographer

It's been known that we love traveling and do travel a lot.  The question that we get the most is where our favorite city/country is.  Our honest answer has been that there is no one favorite.  All those countries and cities that we (personally selected to) travel to bring so much in terms of culture, personal interactions and unique architecture/landscape/sceneries.  We love them all and have considered retiring in more than one country. :-)

As our taste has grown increasingly "wild", our trips have taken us further and further away from the so-called "beaten paths".  Towards the end of our last trip in Italy, the winding road with hairpin turns one after another lead us onto the little village of Castelluccio di Norcia.  Perched at 1,452 meters' altitude, it is the highest settlement in the Apennine Mountains.

The village has roughly 150 residents and given the special geographic condition, the people here have cultivated lentils for generations.  Despite that it was still early for lentil flowers (or most any flowers) to carpet the "Great Plain" (Piano Grande) underneath it, I knew I was in for a treat when my eyes met these painterly mountains and the grazing animals that don't even care whether we were there. :-)

Horses-Grazing-at-the-Foot-of-Painterly-Mountains-Castelluccio-di-Norcia-Umbria-Italy-Copyright-Jean-Huang-Photography

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Parma is Not Only Prosciutto - Los Angeles Travel Photographer

To be honest, I first tasted prosciutto (prosciutto crudo di Parma in Italian) before the name Parma even hit my ears.  My love for food, combined with curiosity on anything, led me to the realization that the dry-cured ham is one of the two famous types of Italian prosciutto crudo and earned itself the D.O.P. designation (Denominazione di Origine Protetta), which literally means Protected Designations of Origin in English.

I followed my nose and taste buds to the Emilia-Romagna area.  While the food (more than) satisfied my quest for authentic gourmet food that's prepared in ways that show respect to the food itself, its history and art amazed me.  Had you followed me around, you'd hear me "wowing" me way through the region, one of the locations being the Palazzo della Pilotta in Parma.     

The complex of edifices was originally built for the family of then Duke Ottavio Farnese between 1583 and 1622, including the breath-taking Teatro Farnese (Farnese Theater).  Sharing the same fate with many Italian historical sites, the complex was heavily bombed in WWII and the Theater was almost completely destroyed.  

Today, when I stand in the corridor of this repaired/restructured complex, I do not see the pain and damage brought about by the war.  I see elegance, age, and then, I see a child, in all his well-deserved fun-seeking manner, swishing right by in front of us.

Child-on-Scooter-Swishing-through-Arches-of-War-Damaged-Palazzo-della-Pilotta-Parma-Italy-Copyright-Jean-Huang-Photography

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Photography Requires Strong Will Power - Los Angeles Travel Photographer

Rialto Bridge (Ponte di Rialto, in Italian) is one of the most photographed landmarks in Venice.  I get its historical significance being the oldest bridge across the Grand Canal.  Personally, I don't think it's that artistically done.  Take a look at how its clunky body blocks most of the view into the water-way and the buildings behind it, you'll see my point.  But, it does offer an opportunity to get above the water.  And water is what I love.

So, despite all the touristic activities around me, I saw a perfect canvas on water which I could create on.  For me, staying laser-sharp focused in that setting is not that difficult.  But if you are interested in going to the Rialto Market only to rub shoulders with many other tourists that followed the tour guide books there, sitting by the canal to sip wines and watch people (mostly tourists, again), feeding one of the many pigeons that have infested Venice, or rescuing the sunglass that went down the the bridge (this was supposedly an accident), you'd need some (really strong) will power to stay focused on the beauty that makes Venice Venice.  

I hear music gliding across the surface of the water.  Do you?

P.S. Give a holler, in the comment below, if you want to see more images made from Venice. :-)

Gondola-in-the-Warm-Hues-of-Reflections-Venice-Italy-Copyright-Jean-Huang-Photography

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