The European Honeymoon (Sept. 2009)

PRAGUE, CHECK REPUBLIC.

Prague was #1 on my list for this experience. I knew immediately that this was the place I wanted to see most. This city was full of old buildings, lots of style and very interesting sights. The Pope was in town, so unfortunately he was visiting the Prague Castle while we were there, so we were unable to visit it. That will be my excuse to head back there some day.

We spent most of our time in Old Town Square, which is an area loaded with sights to see. from Cathedrals to towers and bridges, this city has lots to see. This is the Tyn Cathedral at night. Prague was the most beautiful city we visited at night. It felt the most alive at night, people were dining out later, and enjoying wine in the Square.

I found it really interesting while in Europe how buildings just seem to appear from out behind other buildings and trees, almost hiding even in their large stature. This was one of the examples, as it rises from behind some buildings, looking as if its on top of them.

We also found a great place to pick up our 4th painting, thus completing the goal of getting at least one painting per stop we made.

One nice thing about Prague was also that nobody seemed to care about taking pictures from inside churches and historic buildings.

I shot this picture while Stephanie was taking in the amazing detail inside this hidden gem. The pictures just don't do any justice.

It was nice to see that the city (at least the tourist parts) were fairly close together and that made visiting places much easier.

We enjoyed this stop a lot, and the weather was pretty good, if not a bit cold. But it didn't rain at all, so that was a bonus.





This last picture is of the Prague Castle. I shot it from the Charles Bridge with my 200mm lens. That Building is massive. It was one of the more ominous, gothic-looking buildings that just made this city stand out as unique from the rest.

We enjoyed pretty regular food, and had a nice stay in a massive Hilton a mile or so from where this shot was taken. We both left with favorites, hers was a wine, mine a beer....

In conclusion, I shot over 800 pictures while on the trip, and loved everyone of them. We covered a ton of ground in the two weeks we spent in Europe, and were beat by the time we got back home. It was nice to see the limo though, knowing, in a short 30 minutes, we would see our own bed again.

The European Honeymoon (Sept. 2009)

VENICE, ITALY

It took me a few days to get this shot. But it captures Venice in a way that transcends words. This is the Grand Canal at the moment that sunset is about over.

We waited to take a Gondola ride until after dinner so that we could have a quiet, romantic ride and not share too much of the water with tourists.

Venice was packed with people, and was our most people-laden stops (not shocking).

San Marco Square was loaded daily with people trying to fill their cameras with images, and their brains with memories. This picture was the two of us having dinner along the river (In San Marco's Square) just across from our hotel.

Speaking of hotels, this was by far the best one of our trip. It was first-class all the way. It was not a tough stay. Stephanie and I were able to shop, and shoot for days.

One of the highlights was when we were able to spend a few hours in Doge's Palace. Unfortunately, like many places along our trip, I wasn't able to shoot pictures of the insides of the buildings. I found it frustrating because its just something you HAVE TO SHARE...but after seeing it first hand, its something you cant just explain...its so much deeper.

While in the Palace I was able to head down a super-narrow stairway and see where prisoners were held during trial. Dreary, damp and dark....but cool to see. (I have pictures of that! Not a fun place to end up.

This is one of the buildings (St. Mark's Basilica) that anchors San Marco Square. Its one of the main attractions of Venice, and is simply amazing to see up close.

There were lines daily to get into these buildings, and its easy to see why. Venice was also very warm, and had NO rain! We enjoyed every second while we were there.This stop was one of the most scenic, and most photogenic of all of the stops we would take.

Venice is one of those places that you can keep coming back to. I would like to go back some day and spend more time in that one area. However, of all the places we went, it was probably the easiest to see everything important, and fast. Romance was everywhere in Venice. The food was romantic, the scenes, the mood....everything.

It was getting tougher to comprehend that there could be a better stop on our trip. So far, it has been simply breathtaking. When it was time to go, we called a water taxi and headed back to the mainland to catch a plane to our next....and last stop. Prague.

The European Honeymoon (Sept. 2009)

NICE, FRANCE. This was our "relaxation" stop, a place were we could slow down, catch up on rest from the busy wedding and Barcelona stop. We had a hotel right on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. It was beautiful...The area was so laid back, and had a calm feeling to it.

One nice thing we noticed was there was actually a lot to see there. From Churches that were hidden among trees, or buildings, to the many statues throughout the city.

One unique thing that we found was the awesome market. It was packed with people buying fresh seafood and fruit, as well as paintings and just about anything else you could possibly want.

The food in Nice was incredible. Stephanie was on a mission to find a Crepe. Fortunately, there were a million places to find one and we sat down near a shopping area to try one. It was my first. A very interesting food, but it was sooo good. It passed Stephanie's taste test (I asked her if it was up to her standard).

We had dinner while sitting along the street across from the beach, and just chatted the night away as waves crashed the shore. I could retire there.

We spent some time walking around the rim of the ocean headed toward Monaco, unfortunately we couldn't just walk there, it was 20km or so down the road. We did however get to walk through the marina of Nice, and I was in heaven. There were some massive yachts docked there, and I was able to drool. Stephanie was giving me the stink-eye because I was shooting pictures of yachts as much as I was the rest of Nice......oh, and of course a lone Ferrari didn't escape my lens. After all of the relaxing, we realized it was time once again to head to our next stop....VENICE!

The European Honeymoon (Sept. 2009)

BARCELONA, SPAIN

After the hustle and bustle of the wedding week and weeks leading up to it, Stephanie and I were ready for a long break. And break we did....all the way to Europe. Our first stop was Barcelona, Spain.

While the weather was on and off (it rained daily, but only spot showers each day)...the area was beautiful.

Stephanie and I covered a lot of area throughout the city while we were there and had trouble deciding what we liked most about the first stop of our trip. One thing was for sure, if this was a hint of what we would see at each place we visit, it was going to be an amazing trip.

The picture on the right is of the La Sagratta Familia. A Gaudi-designed/built Cathedral that is still under construction today. We were able to go inside the building and walk around on our own, and I have to say, its the most breathtaking building I have ever been in.

I just cant put it into words how awesome it is.


Here is Stephanie enjoying a view of Barcelona from the Catalunya Museum over looking the city. (right above her head and to the left are the towers of the Sagratta Familia)

The Museum was full of artworks from some of the most famous artists in history. It was a long walk out to it, but of course, well worth it. This was also a day when the weather was perfect and we enjoyed being out in the city enjoying all the sights and sounds of Barcelona....

We couldn't wait to head off to Nice, France after seeing such amazing buildings, churches, and food. We boarded a plane and landed in....

The Wedding (September 12, 2009)

Here we are, the day is finally here. It has been a long road, but we traveled it really fast. We spent just over a year planning it, and just a few short days living it. People aren't lying when they say that the wedding flashes by in a heartbeat.
















This is a picture of us about to say "I DO". It is one of my favorites because it was a really emotional moment for me. It is the moment I had waited for...and it was finally here.

Stephanie looked so beautiful in her custom-made dress that when she came around the corner before I saw her, I almost lost it.

This day was so special and we were so happy to have all of our friends and family in town to enjoy the moment with us. It was a TON of work, but worth every second of chaos.

My cousin was our photographer, and so we were blessed with over 1,000 shots that were AMAZING! Of course there are too many to post here, so head on over to my Flickr page for that gallery.

The Engagement Pictures

It has been a busy few months, so we are way behind on this thing. So I will take you back through a short trip down memory lane to get caught up. The picture here is of our engagement pictures. They were actually shot just weeks before the wedding, because we were just to busy, and with Stephanie out of town on project, didn't have the time to get them done.

The shots were taken by a friend of the family just a block or two away from our Venue for the wedding. We had a great time taking them, but it was HOOOOOT! Jeans were not a good idea. This was our "tune up" for the barrage of pictures we would have done at the wedding in a few weeks.

They turned out awesome, and we had a tough time picking the winners! Here are a few of our favorite pictures out of the many that we had taken of us. There are plenty more pictures on my Flickr page.

Coming up....The wedding!

Weekend Update....

It seems to be forever until I get my blogs going. I seem to do it once a month and forget about it.

Stephanie and I have 54 days until the big day! Time has flown bye so fast in the last few months. The plans are coming together, the places and people are picked. The invitations went out this week.

Stephanie had her first bridal shower for some family in PA a few weeks ago, and her second shower is this weekend here in Atlanta. My family is flying in on Friday, as is her sister from Texas. My dad is coming out and we are going to spend some quality time together since we wont have that luxury when the wedding is here.

Work is going well, Stephanie is currently working in AZ, and I am plugging away here in Atlanta. Both of us have higher expectations career-wise and after the wedding settles and we get comfortable, we will probably both be looking for new places to work. I recently thought about pursuing Photography more. Preferably something in the Sports category. We'll see, I might be a decent photographer, but I have lots to learn.

Its been a fabulous 1+years since we got engaged, and the leadup to the wedding and our honeymoon in Europe has been long. We are both ready to have it all done, and ready for the next step in love.

Mother-in-law asked us the other day how long we were going to wait to have babies...hahaha. We plan on having at least a year to ourselves...then...we'll see.
We do have names picked out.

I hope this finds all happy and well.

Love,

Andy

Happy New Year 2009....240 days and counting!

Happy New Year everyone! So I heard tonight that several people actually read this....and its way, way behind. As you can see from the pic, Stephanie and I where in Vegas....for Christmas. Who needs snow? We had poker chips!

It was a great visit, Stephanie's first....we got to see alot of new hotels, some we hadn't ever been in and ate some awesome food. We also went to the Hoover Dam, which I didn't realize would be so awesome. To me it was a huge wall of cement....until I got to it, and took part in the reality of its size and power. I have some awesome pics of it on FLICKR.

After we returned home to reality, some of our closest friends came over to celebrate the new year, our wedding year! finally, it is 2009! There are a few pics of the get-together on FLICKR as well....not my finest hours...hehe, the Crown was flowin' nicely.

Stephanie is busy working in Newark, NJ these days, so I get all excited on Thursdays when she comes home. Lately we have been tackling a wedding detail or two each week, so that we can knock em' out. My work has been going well, but the holidays kinda burned me out and I am currently at the tailend of being sick. I look forward to getting better, so that I can get back on the bike and get my fat belly down to a minimum so I look like hotness in my tux in September.

That is about all for now, just a quick update. Love to all.

-Andy