The Collio Hills and More

Today was the first time I have ever been on a motorbike. I could tell that I was a little cautious, leaning with my driver slightly, feeling the wind blowing through my hair, giving a fresh breath of air in my helmet where I had to lift the protectant plastic when we stopped so I could breathe again. The view was magnificent. Nothing separated my view with the breathtaking landscape of The Collio Hills but the little plastic that covered my eyes to protect me from the massive amounts of air blowing at my face when I leaned over the shoulders of Iacopo, my wonderful Italian friend.  I could finally understand why my high school IB English teacher made us all read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values our senior year. I cannot only understand how the author describes being on a motorcycle, but also the “quality” of writing (for me the quality of writing about it). My experience today was something I can try to describe, but the words traveling through my brain on the 4 hours we traveled were lost every time I thought about how dangerous this was for me. I am not a person to take risks. I plan everything step by step, train ticket to hostel. For me, this was something I had to do while I was here and luckily I had an opportunity that was given to me.

Autumn is finally here. Burgundy, gold, oranges and a slight hint of brown with still many areas of dark greens filled the Collio hills. Vineyards raced for miles. Once again, all I could do was breath. The air was fresh. The sky was clear and all I could think about was how lucky I am.

We started our ride from Pieris and traveled through the town of Gorizia, in Friuli – Venezia Giulia, to ride through the Collio Hills. We took a back road called the street of wine “strada del vino.” The first place we stopped was in San Floriano Del Collio, where I was able to get off the bike the first time to stretch my legs and of course shoot the lovely wine country.

After traveling through the Collio Hills, I could only imagine what Tuscany will look like this coming weekend when I travel to Florence on Wednesday. In the afternoon we arrived in Grado, a small town off the coast of Italy. We walked through the old cobble stone streets named “Calle” which reminded me much of the labyrinth roads of Venice. This area in Grado that we explored is named “Grado Vecchia” which means old Grado. The seaside was spectacular. The soft blue covered the horizon making it difficult to see where the sea ended and the sky begin. It looked almost like a painting I have done last semester. The beach was empty and the pier had a few quiet footsteps occupying the space.

 

Once the blue became dark, and the streetlights appeared, we drove to a small town named San Martino d’Aquileia to partake in the Pumpkin Festival where an area of the town brought back the look of medieval times.  The smell of fire and food filled the crisp air of fall.

I had a brilliant Saturday.

To view more photos from my day please visit Hannah Swick Photography- Collio Hills

-Ciao

Breathe

Inhale…

Exhale…

Sometime all you need to do is breathe. To me, the most relaxing thing to do is taking a breath of fresh air in and holding it as long as you can. Feeling the oxygen traveling through your body, calming every nerve cell and telling yourself that you are amazing.

Now imagine yourself sitting on top of a mountain, no one is there but you. What is there to do? Think about life. Think about family. Think about breathing.

Watching the sunset with my newest friends was like breathing. It was relaxing and all I could think about was inhaling the fresh sea air and allow it to travel through my body, calming all my worries and all my thoughts. I am blessed to be here. Able to travel. Able to walk. Able to enjoy life not just in one city or one country, but one world. We are all the same. Although we do not speak the same language, we still communicate with smiles, tears, laughing, and breathing. No one knows how much they are living on the edge until you travel somewhere you have never been and have to meet new people and those people you can then call friends.

Next time you don’t know what to do, just…

Inhale…

Exhale…

Just Breathe.

-Ciao

Muggia, Italy

Have you ever wanted to go somewhere that not a lot of people have been and find out that it is one of the most beautiful places you have ever been? This weekend I traveled by car to Muggia, Italy, just a few miles from Trieste. Waking up early and leaving before most people were awake made the adventure that much more exciting. Luckily I have met some amazing friends here who enjoy bringing me places only locals go to. Muggia is one of them. This place was almost a mini Venice.

Walking around I couldn't help but notice how many plants were everywhere and how clean the streets were. It's not a big town at all. There isn't a tourist attraction that would bring people there besides of wanting to visit a small town.

The colors of fall are starting to show here in Italy yet the smell of spring time lingers in the air. The smell of honey suckle filled the small raining streets. It was amazing. Although I haven't traveled much in Italy yet, all the small towns around Trieste are beautiful. People are kind everywhere and everyone is happy. It's like they all know they live in a historic country and that's all they need to know.

I can just imagine myself with a small cottage in the hills with olive trees and vines everywhere filled with grapes that hang over my patio in the summer time. It would be a place where I could relax and enjoy the beauty of my country. 

Enjoy the photos from Muggia, Italy

-Ciao

Sailing Away : Barcolona 2013

Being someone who has never grown up with the water by their side, I can honestly say everyone is missing out. The beauty of the sparkling sunset over the horizon is breathtaking, especially when you are sitting with friends talking about how blessed we are in life. I would never take back my experience here in Italy, not for all the missed wifi, family, movies, cars, or anything else in this world that I am lucky to have back in the states. Being abroad now for 40 days, I do miss home, but the places I have seen and the friends that I have met make everything seem like my new home.

For everyone following my blog, I wish I could write more, but the internet takes me a few hours to upload any photos, I'm trying my best!

This weekend was Barcoloana here in Trieste, Italy. It is a sailing race where people from all over the world come here to race. It was a beautiful sight. I found two boats from Florida and I was just excited to know someone else here is a foreigner! Photos cannot show at all how beautiful the sea is when it is full of Sail Boats!

Trieste is a place where something is always happening. Every weekend I have been here something has been going on. One weekend there was a festival about Austrian rulers back with Trieste wasn't a part of Italy. This weekend was Barcolana. Cruise ships stopped here to let people enjoy the beautiful sites of Piazza Unita and all the other shopping areas to visit. This place is a busy place. People are always coming and going. Even I feel like I always traveling throughout the city, finding new places to go. I didn't stay in Trieste all day to watch a race that you can technically not see since its in the Adriatic Sea, but I was there for the start of the race and also was able to view the city and the race above off the side of a road where there were other spectators who wanted to see the race from a different view. Looking out over the water and seeing hundreds of tiny triangles floating around, wondering if they are actually moving or not, is a beautiful sight.  One of the boats from Florida was named "True Love" and I believe the sailors on that ship know exactly what it means to love to travel. They can go anywhere the water cant take them.

Please enjoy the Beautiful photos from Barcolana 2013 here in Trieste, Italy

-Ciao

City of Love

“Getting lost is the only place worth going to” – Tiziano Scarpa

There is so much to stay about a city on water. On Sunday the 29th of September, my last day of summer vacation, I traveled to Venice for the day with a few friends and a new friend from Venice Mestra. When I stepped off the passenger train and walked out of the station to view the outside of Venice for the first time with my naked eyes, I was stunned at how beautiful it was and I hadn’t even ventured into the walls of the secret city yet. At first we crossed the canal and decided to follow the signs to S. Marco Church. Arriving at 9:04am, there were hardly any tourists yet, for the morning was early and the weather was brisk. I never feel like a tourist for some odd reason even though I am lugging my five-pound camera around. It felt like a dream. We stopped at a small bakery named Majer for croissants and cappuccinos to wake up our sleepy bodies from the two-hour train ride from Trieste. Coffee is good for the soul. Continuing our walk to S. Marco’s Church, we took our time viewing the homes to hundreds of locals who deal with tourists visiting their city everyday. We arrive to the Grand Canal of Venice and it looked just like every photo I have ever seen. The colors were vibrant and the gondolas were full of tourists and singing Italians. The misty sea air created a fantasy atmosphere. I could stare at the city on water forever. We looked at Venezia Masks and handmade glass; walked the outside of the city until we were tired of the busy bodies surrounding us. For me, I was tired of walking like a slug, pressed too closely to other tourists all trying to just buy silly souvenirs rather than enjoying how beautiful this place really was. It was time to get lost.

I’ve never been afraid of being lost. To me being lost is just a way of finding new places and things that you wouldn’t have other wise seen. With the others following me, I walked where I wanted. A small cobble stone street looked beautiful, so I would take it. I would see a door I wanted to photograph, we would walk that way. There was nothing stopping us until the path we took led us to a canal we could not pass, or the path ending at a doorstep. It was relaxing having no one around but the locals in their homes making lunch for the families and the quiet sounds of raindrops.

The most beautiful sound was listening to the clattering of dishes in the locals lofts. It was like I was walking through a dream, and no one noticed we were there. I wish I could have walked into one of the homes and introduced myself asking how long they have lived there. People of this town fascinate me.

Traveling to historic places makes me feel like I am not living in 2013, but traveling through books like the 1994 20th Century Fox movie The Pagemaster, on my own little adventure trying how to find the "exit" of my story when I will arrive back in the States in 2014. I want to see where my story can take me in different places around the world and Venice was just in the middle of everything. 

I can only say so much about a city when visiting for the first time. I know that it was surely not the last Venice has seen of me. 

To view more beautiful photos of Venice, Italy please visit Hannah Swick Photography- Venice, Italy

-Ciao...Fino alla prossima volta i miei amici