Self-Portraits (Part II)

After our last post showing how skilled we (mostly Ali) are at taking pictures of ourselves, whether by tripod or arm-extension, we received a few comments asking us to ask others to take pictures of us. It's not that we refuse to do it, we've just run into a few problems with people who apparently have never seen a camera before.

At the Roman Forum, we asked a nice lady to take a picture of us. I think she was from Germany. Perhaps somewhere in Eastern Europe. She was very kind and did her best, but seemed to miss the point that we wanted a picture to show that we were actually at the Roman Forum.


She seemed to think that we wanted a picture commemorating the fact that we in fact exist and do not mind standing next to each other.

Then today in Barcelona we reached the very top of Parc Guell with a sweeping 180+ degree view of the waterfront and the city. We asked a nice young lady to take a picture of us. She skipped over the requisite "Just push the button?" question and went straight for the shot. She then asked if it took, and upon checking I realized it had not. Yet despite this warning and the fact she seemed to be aiming over our heads, we let her continue.



She opted for the disembodied heads levitating over the city photo. Unlike the lady taking the picture at the Forum, this girl apparently thought we wanted our heads to not to be a distraction from the beauty that is Barcelona. At the very least, I feel like it gave me a great idea to cut out the messy part of traveling by superimposing our floating heads on pictures of famous panoramic views.

In all fairness, we are very grateful for the help of people, some of whom go out of their way to offer and most of whom to a very good job. But it's always awkward when you don't like the picture that came out and have to either ask for another or move on. Most of the time, we know what we are looking for better than the person who is taking it. The tripod and timer help us set it up. Sometimes we end up in mistiming it or in awkward poses and with the frame a little tilted, but we're usually pretty happy with the results.

Vernazza, Cinque Terre, Italy (September 6-8)

After Venice we both realized we were a little sightseed out and neeeded a break. We had a great time in Vernazza (a.k.a. Rick Steves Land, seriously, he probably owns it. If you can walk 5 feet without seeing someone walking around carrying Rick Steves Italy 2009, it's because it's 2010 and they have that one. We had one person accost us and ask if we went to see the Canoli brothers for breakfast: "Didn't you read Rick?"). Seriously, though, it has been one of our favorite places. It had crystal clear cool deep water, beautiful hills, good food, inexpensive and comfortable lodging, and lots and lots of relaxation. Strangely, it almost reminded me of home. I think it was just the ocean and the tourists though, because focaccia at home is nowhere near as good as this was. I ate nothing but plain focaccia for an entire day, every meal one day.

Apparently you can hike in Cinque Terra. I say apparently, because we did not. After the Varenna Odessey to the Castle, we decided we deserved to not have to hike. Also there was a wildfire raging on the other side of the hill, causing the "easy" hiking trail to be closed. The "difficult" trail went all the way around to the point of land you see in the distance. Uphill. It was 80 degrees out, the water was fine, and we are not German. Instead we walked to the trailhead, got this beautiful picture, and took the opportunity spend the rest of the day swimming right at the curve of the breakwater here, betwen the boats and where it curves in was the popular swimming/diving spot, with 15 foot deep water, pretty fish and huge under water boulders, and lots of Italian kids doing cannonballs 3 at a time.
















Kevin took this of himself. I'm not kidding. Mini Tripod rocks my world. He was next to me one second, didn't say a word, then hopped up and jumped in with a huge smile. After he popped his head up he yelled "Did it work?". Yup. It worked.
















Then he took one of me. Far less exciting.

One night we had a romantic Cliff Top dinner at Sunset.
















Another night we went to a few of the local markets and put together a feast of fresh mozzarella, pesto, spicy salami, and sundried tomatoes, all on top of more delicious focaccia. Picture is blurry because one of us touched the lense on the camera. Nothing to do with the wine. Promise.

This was the view from our room. We liked waking up here. Definitely the prettiest view we've had so far.
















It was also very convenient for doing laundry (I hid all my panties on the inside of all the clothes) . We hung out at "the pool" most of the day, ocasionally checking to make sure our clothes weren't blowing down the street.
















See, we have other people take pictures of us, too. This is the town going up the hill behind the harbor.


Another gorgeous sunset in Vernazza. . . You can't really tell, but the smoke from the fire made for beautiful sunsets every night. Great colors. Also the Indiana Jones look alike fire planes dipping in to the ocean to douse the flames every few minutes were very exciting. Almost as exciting as the number of old men in Speedos. And again, mini-tripod rocks my world.

Dedication to her Craft

Ali doesn't want me to post these, but she's sleeping in and I need to clear the pictures out.

If you look through our pictures, you'll notice we don't have a ton of pictures of ourselves. Neither one of us really likes to ask other people to take pictures of us unless the circumstances really call for it. For less important things that we still want pictures of we (mostly Ali) have become quite proficient at alternative photo methods.

First, Ali is really good at the hold out the camera with the right hand and snap pictures approach.

But for larger scale pictures, that just doesn't work.

When you want to get in from of the Leaning Tower for example:


Or when you want to take a picture in Boston but don't want to seem too touristy by asking:



Fortunately, before our trip to Mexico last year, my dad was kind enough to give us his flexible mini-tripod that can stand almost anywhere to take pictures. Combine that with the ten second timer and you can take a picture We've rested it on walls, trashcans, and the ground.

Fortunately, Ali is extremely dedicated to the artistry involved in the mini-tripod:



That's how you get a picture of us in front of the Leaning Tower.

Or a picture of the entire bell tower in Florence.



Or sunset pictures in Vernazza


...even if like the one above there are about a dozen American tourists around laughing at us as we run back and forth for five minutes trying to get the right picture, any of whom could have easily taken the picture if we had just asked. Sometimes the pictures come out off centered or we don't get the timer right, but at least it's fun.