The journey is the destination

After a whirlwind tour of Italy last year (6 cities in 16 days), my wife Lisa and I knew that we wanted to return to Firenze for an extended trip. Lisa wanted to "live like the locals" and I was seeking new locales to further develop my photography skills. As retirees, we're fortunate enough to be able to take a long trip. And with Airbnb and many years of accumulated airline / hotel points, it was surprisingly affordable

We arrived in our beautiful apartment in Piazza Strozzi on Easter weekend 2019. The neighborhood itself was gorgeous. Centrally located and full of designer shops (Gucci, Prada, Cartier and many more), it was a recipe to quickly blow the budget. Fortunately, Lisa is very practical and didn't walk inside any of them.

And it didn't cost me a dime to get this shot of the Louis Vitton window. Unless you're counting the cost of the camera. And the lens. And the Platypod. And ... did I mention that Lisa is the practical one?

Plans are nothing; Planning is everything - Dwight Eisenhower

As the weather began to clear we took our first (of many) hikes up the hillside to Piazzale Michelangelo. It's on the other side of the Arno River (a neighborhood known as Oltrarno). It's about a 20 minute walk from Piazza Strozzi and then about another 20 minute hike up the stairs when you get there! Well, not quite, but there's a whole bunch of stairs of varying heights and widths - just to keep you on your toes.

The goal of this hike was to scope out the view for the sunrise the next morning. It's a common misconception that these shots just crop up out of nowhere. That you just walk up and - BOOM - there it is! The right landscape at the right time with the right colors. I used to think that way myself. Until I started capturing photographs. And then I realized that it takes a lot of planning to get THE SHOT.

The first real shot that I wanted to capture was a sunrise from Piazzale Michelangelo with a view of Florence. Here's a selfie from the Piazzale as we scoped out the location. And, yes, it's a Piazzale not a Piazza. If somebody can explain to me the difference, I'd be forever in your debt.

And here's what I captured the next morning with the sun rising over my right shoulder and casting a beautiful glow onto the morning clouds.

Luck is preparation meeting opportunity - Oprah Winfrey

So, it's all in the planning, right? Nope.

On this morning, as I had my eyes glued to the viewfinder continually adjusting my settings, I heard a voice in the distance. First it was very faint. "Honey ... oh Honey ... yo honey". As my brain was going through all the permutations of ISO, F-Stop and Shutter Speed, I thought the voice sounded a bit familiar. "Scott ... SCOTT ... DUDE!!!".

With a reflexive "Yes, dear" I glanced over my shoulder to attempt to understand what could possibly be more important than what was right in front of me. Well, how about what was directly behind me. Which brings me to one of those unwritten rules of photography: take your nose out of the camera once in a while and look around.

As I glanced in the direction of the rising sun: I. Was. In. Awe. (Apparently that's a style that's becoming popular these days to emphasize the words in a sentence.) A. Period. After. Every. Word. I'm not sure what style guide that's from, so I'll try not to use it again.

With the clock ticking and the sun rising (time moves quickly during sunrise) I grabbed my tripod, spun around and ran to the other end of the Piazzale. And then I truly experienced it. The famed Tuscan Sun. The hills of Fiesole. The fiery Arno River. At which point I warmly embraced the "lucky shot".

Too few people understand a really good sandwich - James Beard

After an awe-inspiring, spine-tingling photo shoot, what could we possibly do next? Well, after a bit more walking, we were certainly up for a bite to eat. Not just anything, but the sandwich. Not just any sandwich, but the famed 5 Euro sandwiches from All'Antico Vinaio. Believed by many to be among the best sandwiches in all of Italy. Believed by me to have the longest lines of any sandwich shop in the world.

Was it worth it? Oh yeah. L'inferno for me (porchetta, arugula and ***spicy*** secret sauce) and La Summer for Lisa (prosciutto, mozzarella, basil and ***fresh*** tomato). Bring an appetite if you go. And patience. The lines are long.

I can see for miles - Pete Townshend

When in Florence, you have to visit the Duomo. You can't miss it. It's the big church with an orange Dome. In a piazza known as Piazza del Duomo.

Last year, we climbed to the top of the Giotto Bell Tower. It took us a year to recuperate and get in shape for the climb to the top of Brunelleschi's Dome. Truly an engineering marvel. And a work of art. But a lot of - you guessed it - steep, uneven steps! But we made it to the top and we have the selfie to prove it!

And since we were there, why not turn around and get a shot of the city. This one was taken from the top of the Cupola at around 8:30 AM. Within an hour or two, the streets would be flooded with tourists.

I think you have to be born with a sense of humor and a sense of timing - Carol Burnett

The next day, the weather was clear enough to get some shots of the Duomo from the outside. But how do you get daytime shots of the Duomo without the throng of tourists? Easy ...

1. Wake up early
2. Wait for the first hint of daylight
3. Have Lisa Lengel distract the street sweepers

Follow this formula and you can get a shot like this on one of the most crowded streets near the Duomo (Via dei Servi) without having to use Photoshop. Huge thanks to Lisa, because my Photoshop skills suck.

Now I was addicted. I wanted to get a shot of Duomo from every angle. Like this one from the Farmacia in Piazza del Duomo as the sun was setting behind me and casting a beautiful light cast on the Baptistery, Tower, Cathedral and Duomo.

And then this one as it got darker from the corner of Via dei Martelli. Take a left and go down this street to get to Eataly. But I don't recommend it. It's a reverse tourist trap. An American invention inexplicably filled with locals.

I almost got the shot without any tourists, because it was - surprise - another rainy night.

Carving is easy, you just go down to the skin and stop - Michelangelo

Of course, we also spent plenty of time in the art museums. But I don't find pictures of paintings very interesting, so you won't see any here. But we did sneak out of the Uffizi Gallery to take a quick selfie on the terrace. That's the Palazzo Vecchio behind us in Piazza della Signoria.

Which inspired me to capture a shot of Palazzo Vecchio at blue hour. With the Loggia della Signoria on the right. That's a replica of Michelangelo's David in front of the palace. The real one is in the Accademia d'Arte. There's also a bronze replica in - surprise - Piazzale Michelangelo.

And how about that emergency vehicle streaking by us during the shot. The timing couldn't have been better. Lucky shot.

Man, I really like Vegas - Elvis Presley

Just a short stroll from our apartment was Piazza della Republicca. We spent many an evening here after wine, dinner and gelato. Our favorite Coffee bar (Gilli) is located on the corner.

I've come to realize that Florence does Vegas almost as good as Vegas does Vegas.

Since I couldn't get a great shot of the sunrise over the Ponte Vecchio, I tried another day to get a shot of the sunset from the Ponte Vecchio. If you're looking for this shot, plan on getting here about an hour before sunset and park your butt on the bridge at the edge of the wall facing west. Then be sure to hold your ground from the pushing, shoving selfie zombies.

This shot was taken shortly after a torrential thunderstorm from the Ponte Vecchio looking towards Ponte A Santa Trinita.

And then I captured this lady ...

At a truck stop ...

Leaning over a guardrail ...

To get the shot ...

If you are caught on a golf course during a lightning storm ... hold up a 1-iron. Not even God can hit a 1-iron. - Lee Trevino

We also took many side trips, including Pisa, San Gimignano, Bologna and Siena where I captured this handheld shot from the top of Museo dell'Opera del Duomo on another cloudy day in Tuscany.

Nature always wears the colors of the spirit - Ralph Waldo Emerson

We took a trip to Cinque Terre via train from Firenze Santa Maria Novella to La Spezia at which point we changed to the Cinque Terre Express. Our destination was Vernazza, where we stayed in a stunning Airbnb overlooking the harbor.

We hiked up the trail to Monterossa where I did some experimentation with long exposure photography and was able to capture this shot of the village of Vernazza at blue hour.

I had to eek out every inch of the balcony to get a good angle for that shot. I figured these rocks have been in place for centuries (probably longer); what were the odds they would give way at this instant?

Another 4:00 AM wakeup call the next day to get us in position for a blue hour morning shot of the harbor. The colors in this town are amazing!

As the sun rose over the village (in the back and to the left of me in this shot), I was able to capture this one from the beach looking back out to the harbor.

While I was capturing this shot, Lisa was tending to the seagull that crashed into the seawall and cracked his skull. She's such a great caregiver.

At this point I was like a kid in a candy store. The setting was from a storybook. The lighting was incredible. The skies were clear. The colors were amazing. I didn't know which way to turn or where to position myself.

Fortunately, Lisa had the good sense that we climb back up the trail to Monterossa and see if we could capture another shot of the village of Vernazza. The light and colors change quickly this time of day. The window to capture the shot is very small.

So there we go again, quickly packing up the gear and rapidly making our ascent. Heavy breathing, sweating, sore legs ... kept pushing through it. Those Spin and Tabata classes were beginning to pay off!

I quickly went through some exposure calculations in my fuzzy mind, set up the camera, manually focus as best I can ... and captured a few shots while I still had the lighting. The result is our favorite shot from the entire trip.

I'd rather be first in a village than second at Rome - Julius Caesar

I knew we wouldn't be able to top Cinque Terre in terms of natural beauty, but we had one more side trip ahead of us. And, all roads do indeed lead to Rome. But we took the high speed Frecciarossa train, because it was 1. fast, 2. luxurious, 3. pretty darn affordable.

The weather was a bit "unsettled" in Rome as well, but on one morning the skies cleared for a bit and I was able to catch the morning sun just over the roof of the Pantheon.

In the afternoon - during a break in a rainstorm - I was able to catch the sun peaking through the Oculus of the Pantheon. If I was any good at Photoshop, I think I could make this image scream.

As a photographer, sometimes your luck is just bad. That's why - as Scott Kelby says - you can't apologize when you do get a lucky shot.

Here's a great example. My attempt to capture the Trevi Fountain was a complete fail. My lens was not wide enough, I couldn't get in a good position and I didn't have a good ND Filter for a proper long exposure.

But at least Lisa captured a shot of me making the attempt. While being completely clueless to the obvious shot that I could have had if I only bothered to take my eye out of the viewfinder and look around.

At night I was hoping to capture the sun setting over the Vatican, but the clouds and position of the sun just wasn't working for me. So, I waited for the sun to set, moved up closer and was able to capture a long exposure of a fountain in Saint Peter's Square with the Vatican in the background.

I really wanted to capture a shot of the Roman Forum. I've always been fascinated by Roman history and architecture and culture and am amazed that much of the ruins remain. But it's not immediately obvious where to get a good shot of the Forum in a good light.

I realized that the best time of day would be sunrise, with the sun rising behind me. So one (rainy) afternoon, Lisa and I trekked around the windy (both meanings of the word applicable in this situation) streets in search of the location to get the shot. After hitting lots of dead ends and repeating the same wrong turns over and over, a little birdie told us exactly where we needed to be situated.

So now we had a plan. 4:00 AM wakeup call, Uber to Piazza del Campidoglio, climb the steps, head down the alleyway keeping Palazzo Senatorio on your left, set up on the wall and wait for the sun to do it's thing.

Have patience. It will be worth it.