in the highlands

   One of the most spectacular parts of the trip to Scotland was traveling through the Scottish Highlands on our way to Skye. Even though the weather was a bit grey, it was the exact atmosphere I had pictured in my mind when I thought of the Highlands, so I was pretty excited to be able to experience it this way. The scenery was breathtaking and I can safely say this is in my top 10 favourite places I’ve ever visited. Summer is almost at an end now and I’m so behind with getting photos developed. I hope I can share some pictures from my summer here in Canada soon.

 

glasgow

A lot has happened since I last shared anything on here. In mid may, Eric and I moved back to Vancouver which has been a bit of an adjustment but overall it’s quite nice to be back. There are a lot of new things we’re discovering, and moving home made me really appreciate things here a lot more.. especially the nature that really makes the Pacific North West what it is. Before moving home we did a trip to Scotland, the first part of which we spent in Glasgow visiting some friends of ours. These are just a few shots from around the city. After Glasgow we headed into the Scottish Highlands which was a really amazing experience. I’ll share more photos from the trip soon. Hope you are all enjoying the summer.

dresden

 It’s been a long time since I’ve posted anything here.. I blame it on work and bad weather for photography. These are some photos from Dresden, part of my vacation in Germany this past summer. Some big changes coming my way.. my time here in the Netherlands is finally coming to an end it seems. My internship is almost up and after that it looks like I’ll be heading back to Canada and see where things take me from there! I’m both excited and really anxious about the move. I’m really used to life here now so I think it will be a bit strange being back home at first but there are definitely some things I’ve missed since I’ve been living here. Anyways, I want to try to make the most of my last few months here so I will try to take as many photos as possible. Hope to share more soon.

baker lake

 Just a few photos from my camping trip in September.. what a great way to spend a sunny afternoon. These were taken at Baker Lake in Washington State.

bastei

 This summer my family came to visit me for my graduation and after we went on a 2.5 week trip to Germany. We spent the first few days in Berlin, then traveled south to Saxony [Freistaat Sachsen] and spent almost a week there before returning to Berlin. These photos were taken at the Bastei, near Kurort Rathen. The landscape here reminded me of one of my favourite paintings, Der Wanderer über dem Nebelmeer by the Romantic period painter Caspar David Friedrich. It was really beautiful up there.. I realized that since I moved to the Netherlands I find myself missing the mountains a lot. Overall the trip was great, plus I got some much needed German practice in. More photos to come soon!

a town called concrete

 One of my best friends back home has a cabin in Washington state and the nearest town is called Concrete. There are about 700 people living there and although it’s not the most happening place we still had fun exploring the ‘downtown’ strip. These were taken back in September already.. I’m missing the West Coast terribly, even though I was just back a few weeks ago for Christmas!

 

venice III

Venice is probably the most surreal city I have ever visited. Both times I’ve been there, I’ve left Venice with some kind of inexplicable feeling. In its age and history Venice seems so real, almost hyper realistic..you can see every weathered brick and stone. And yet the city is permeated by the modern tourism industry at an incredible scale. It almost has a “Disneyland” feel to it at times, especially while walking the almost deserted streets at night. One of the most interesting experiences was standing on Giudecca at night and watching a giant cruise ship sail by and dwarf the city in its sheer enormity. Isola San Michele, the cemetery island, is both an escape from the city and a direct reflection of Venice. The cemetery is divided into zones, chronicling the history of the city and its inhabitants, from ancient crumbling gravestones to the newest edition designed by architect David Chipperfield [who was coincidentally this year’s curator of the Venice Biennale]. All this being said, if you ever get the chance to go to Venice, go!

venice II

 I finally got my photos from Venice developed from back in October. A few professors of mine organized a workshop at the Biennale so a group of about 40 students went to Venice for 6 days, and I was lucky enough to be able to join. It was amazing to be back in Venice and I was able to see and experience a lot of things that I missed out on last time. We were also pretty lucky that we were there a week or so before it flooded pretty seriously, although that would have been cool to see. Will post more photos soon! Hope everyone is having a great holiday!

christmas time

 Merry Christmas and happy holidays everyone! Hope you’re all having a great time with whatever you are [or aren’t] celebrating!

mitte

 More photos from Berlin this summer. I’m really missing that city.. hope to find an excuse to go back soon!