It’s finally done! I compiled many of the shots taken this summer into one video. My hope is that it inspires everyone to travel more often because honestly there are very few things in life that are so incredibly rewarding. Without further adieu please enjoy this summer video of 2013:
Thank you to everyone who followed this blog over the summer!!
With our plane leaving from the Milan airport at 10pm that night, our last day in Italy was a trip to the Italian theme park “Movieland”.
This park was, more or less, a complete knock off of Universal Studios and Hollywood films – featuring rides such as “Back to the Backstage”, “Hollywood Tower”, and the “John Rambo Action Show”.
Joining us was Brando’s little brother, Francesco. Brando had made a strong connection with the owner of the park after he visited the park around 100 times (not an exaggeration) in his early teen’s. Because of this, he was able to put the ride “U-571” on hold for about 10 minutes while he got some shots of his brother playing Tin-Tin for his trailer remake of “The Adventures of Tin-Tin”.
Without explaining much to Aryeh or myself, the four of us walked into a large dark room which resembled a submarine dock. Loud noises started to fill the room and the lights above started to tremble. Aryeh and I stood there having no idea what’s going on, while Brando filmed his brother on the other side of the set.
Here’s the promo video for the ride made by Movieland:
One of the original trailers for “The Adventures of Tin-Tin”:
After that, Aryeh and I got on the “Back to the Backstage” ride, a monorail that took us behind the scenes of the rides while also giving a great view of the lake.
Pose on top of a DeLorean time machine: bucket list check.
Falling from the Hollywood Tower:
(Yeah, I took the risk. Worth it.)
Hey look… a parade!
Bro shot on our way out
The plan was to drive to the airport after we left Movieland, however due to new information from Brando’s mother, we learned that there was heavy traffic all the way to Milan and there was no way we could make it in time by car. So, she quickly bought Aryeh and myself train tickets to the airport. In our entire time in Italy, Aryeh and I had not had good luck with the Italian train system so this plan was a little terrifying.
Stay tuned for one of the final posts:
HOW WE ENDED UP IN ICELAND
There’s a sunrise and a sunset every single day, and they’re absolutely free. Don’t miss so many of them.
After visiting the Normandy Cemetery and Omaha beach, we stopped for the night at a quaint French hotel just a little down the road. Here it is the next morning… the open window on the third floor is our room. It’s also where I snapped that sunrise picture 🙂
Only a few minutes walk from the hotel was Gold beach,a couple beaches down from Omaha.
Gold Beach 69 years ago:
While we were there several tractors were pulling boats in and out of the water… for fishing, I assume.
Cute scene on the beach
After that we started our journey east towards Italy, however we planned to stop at Saint Michael’s castle on the way. More on that in a second. First, we stopped in this random hay bale field on the way to take some shots and pictures. It was a success.
Brando Benetton. Getting the shot.
This dog though.
Right before we got to the castle we stopped near a field with sheep.
Naturally we had to explore.
Silly sheep.
Okay – Saint Michael’s castle. This castle dates back to the 6th and 7th century and stands today as one of the most remarkable examples of medieval architecture in the world.
Tragically the picture below is not my shot… but it gives you a better idea of the terrain surrounding the castle. In certain seasons the area is totally flooded and you can only access it from the road-bridge. When we went, the water was more subsided into a few select rivers around the castle.
Entering the castle
View from the top
Sorry my camera kind of… died after this. But you should totally come here an experience it for yourself!
By the next afternoon we were home safe in Verona, seven dogs and all.
Special thanks to Starbucks for assisting us on the trip.
June 6th 1944, also known as D-Day. We’ve all heard the historical story of how American, British and Canadian troops landed on the beaches of Normandy in an effort to liberate Europe from Nazi rule. Many think of the graphic scenes portrayed at the beginning of Saving Private Ryan or perhaps were alive at that time and can remember seeing headlines in newspapers. A cemetery and several monuments were installed on the beach shortly after in remembrance of this dramatic event in history.
We thought it would be worth the stop to check it out on our drive south from Paris.
Very sleek and modern visitor’s center, constructed in 2007.
The inside of the visitor’s center was equally modern looking and had many facts and informational pieces about the battle at Normandy.
Walking through the place I started to feel saddened thinking about the effects of conquest and war. This quote at the end seemed to put everything strait though.
Infinity pool outside
Approaching the cemetery
Most of the graves had a name and date on them… but I did find this unlucky fellow.
There was also an interview going on… I imagine it was for a documentary of some sort. Or maybe they’re making Saving Private Ryan 2? Who knows.
View from the cemetery
Film geekin moment… the path used for the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan:
(this is the last time I’m going to bring it up, I swear)
After that we took a short drive down to Omaha beach.
For those with normal eyesight and lower, let me clarify what the monument says:
“The allied forces landing on this shore which they call Omaha Beach liberate Europe – June 6th 1944”
The beach was beautiful.
Sunset that night
I realized later that a visualization of our trip might be helpful. SO HERE YA GO.
Verona to Paris. In total the drive was about 9 hours, which we split over two days. This post is part 2, AKA day 2.
We started that morning at the border of France and arrived at our hotel outside Paris by that night. Our hotel was to Paris as the Bronx is to NYC. Not exactly IN the city, but pretty darn close. Not to mention much cheaper per night. Today I want to share two stops we made that day… both of which were unplanned.
The first stop was early in the morning while driving through the beautiful mountains of France. We were driving around a bend when I saw a building in ruin with a glistening lake in front of it. WE GOTTA STOP I said. So we took the exit and checked the place out. I have no idea what this place is. I think it’s just some sort of old abandoned factory… also known as a photographer’s dream land.
View from the building:
Inside: (crazy!!)
We spent about an hour and a half there just ogling at all the pictures and videos to take. Speaking of video, I think it’s time for some GIFS.
Okay no but really:
Moving right along…
The second stop was a little later in the day when we were looking for a place to stop for lunch. We get off some random exit and started driving through a town, which ended up being this ridiculously picturesque French village.
Seriously? A carousel? I swear if you were to go on the internet and download ‘french town background music’, you would get a recording of this town. Anyways, we obviously decided to grab lunch here. I felt it necessary to order a plate of cheese with wine. That’s called French winning.
Adventures in Paris coming up next 🙂
Soldiers are ones who conquer. On Friday morning, we set out to conquer the route from Verona, Italy to Paris, France. This five-day trip (there and back) would consume a large chunk of our time in Europe, so we knew we would have to be precious with our time. We planned many stops along the way, but also made many stops we did not plan. In retrospect, I would say it was the stops we did not plan that ended up being the most incredible. Minus the Eiffel Tower (which we did plan)– holy crap is that thing is huge!
Today’s post covers day 1 of the roadtrip. We left Verona that morning and made it just past the border into France by that night. The bulk of these pictures were taken within 30 minutes of the border, where the most incredible scenery lies. Tragically my camera cannot show you the full wealth of these views… but hopefully it can get half way there.
And please, SCROLL SLOWLY. These pictures deserve a moment of viewing.
Until this day I didn’t know how real these places really were. Little villages tucked away in the high mountains… one would think I was on set for The Lord of the Rings.
You’re scrolling too fast. Slow down.
Right before crossing the border from Italy into France:
Once we crossed into France, we stopped at the border parking lot.
View from the parking lot:
This is an example of one of those stops we didn’t plan but ended up being incredible. “Hey look there’s a path over here”, Aryeh said. We decided to hike down a little bit, and then we found this:
And then we found this:
Side note: I got this shot… I guess I can just retire as a filmmaker and die now.
And then we found this:
(can you spot Aryeh?)
Oh… there he is 🙂
“Guys, I think this calls for a group picture.”
close enough.
Aryeh posing with Starbucks:
The next day we continued our drive towards Paris with more unexpected, slightly life-changing adventures. Stay tuned!
After waking up to the sunrise in Utah, we continued our drive north towards Boulder, CO. On the way, we passed Arches National Park which is right off of I-70 and highway 191.
A massive rock wall we saw while driving through the park… for size reference see the car in the bottom left.
We went on a 2 mile hike to check out the famous Delicate Arch, as seen on Utah’s license plate.
Tragically, in order to make it home in time, we had to keep driving… but the west is the west, and scenery never stops!
We spent the night with Aryeh’s friend in Boulder only to get up early the next morning to continue our drive east. The plan was to meet up with our friend Spencer in Omaha, Nebraska for the next night. Aryeh hadn’t told Spencer we were coming… instead, we got another friend of Spencers to set up a dinner outing with him so that we could surprise him.
The reaction was fantastic. I wish we captured a video of it……….. OH WAIT.
(please forgive the 10 seconds of black at the beginning)
We couldn’t let him know we were coming, so thankfully he let us crash on his couch on very short notice.
The drive after Omaha was very flat and very bland… however I did manage to get a few visually stimulating pictures.
That night we stopped in Pennsylvania at our friend Erin’s house. She refuses to read the blog so for now let’s just consider her “The Loser”. Anyways, leaving early from The Loser’s house gave me the opportunity for some sexy sunrise shots.
The next night we finally arrived at my home in New Hampshire. The official end of one adventure, and the start of a new one.
Pictures of my flight to Italy coming up next!
Hats, coats, glasses over here. But hurry please, we have so much time and so little to see. Wait a minute… strike that. Reverse it.
Okay but seriously I have a lot to show you and time is limited so lets gets down to it. On a cloudy July 26th morning Aryeh and myself officially left Los Angeles and started our trip east towards New Hampshire (and then towards JFK to fly to Italy).
The first stop on our trip was at the Grand Canyon in Arizona. Aryeh was getting very excited.
After a 5 hour drive from LA we finally arrived. Bam!
The immensity of the view kind of slaps you in the face… one picture could never do it justice (but Google Images definitely helps).
There was a railing at some parts for people to hang on to and enjoy the view.
I’ll say it again… there was a railing at some parts.
“Dude… I think I’m insane.”
Quick! Point at the old Asian dude holding the camera!
Bam. Photogenic brilliance.
Oh… didn’t see you there camera. How you duin?
It’s gif-tastic.
After the Grand Canyon we hopped back in the car and continued our drive into Utah where we stopped at 1am somewhere on the side of the road. The next morning I realized we had parked by some oil wells and a beautiful view. Naturally, we had to check out the sun rise. And by that I mean I had to drag Aryeh out of the car at 5:30am so I had a model for the picture. Worth it.
Kind of looks like a car commercial…
Wait. Yup. Yup, definitely a car commercial.
We might just be the coolest people you know of.
I’ll save the rest of the road trip for the next post (which may be a few days seeing as I’m about to get on a plane to Italy). But more pictures are coming soon! Unless my plane crashes on the way to Italy… then not so much.
Today I start my journey back east to New Hampshire. But the adventure is not over yet! On August 1st, my friend Aryeh and myself will hop on a plane headed to Italy. Well… technically Russia with a six hour layover in Moscow, but THEN we’re flying to Italy. Brando (creator of the Kick Ass trailer) owns a house in Verona which is where we will spend most of our time. We will also be traveling to Rome, Germany, Switzerland, France (hopefully), and any other adventurous place we can fit into a matter of two and half weeks. Before I say farewell to LA, I’ve got a few last minute pictures to share. I got approval from Oops Doughnuts to show a few pictures from this summer’s internship. Remember Oops Doughnuts?
Yeah. This place. As you may remember they’re currently working on a new Disney show called “Liv and Maddie”. Once or twice a week they took us to Hollywood Center Studios where they film the show. We were able to meet the cast, watch the run throughs, and sometimes watch them filming. The only rule is that I can’t show the shows’s logo with any of the pictures…. soo if you want to see that, look elsewhere I guess! 
Andy Finkman, head of Oops Doughnuts and director of the show:
Compared to other Disney shows I thought this one was pretty funny. I may have a biased opinion because I watched them filming though…
Here’s an interview with the show’s star, Dove Cameron:
http://watch.accesshollywood.com/video/dove-cameron-dishes-on-disneys-liv-maddie/2551771416001
For anyone looking for more information on the show feel free to check out this promo:
(Disclaimer: You’re about to OD on “Disney”)
http://video.disney.com/watch/disneychannel-new-series-4e03f58ba62dd061b79e1012
For the next week or two I’ll be doing a lot of traveling so internet will be shaky. Updates may become less consistent, but in a few weeks I think I’ll have some awesome stuff to share…
🙂
TTFN Los Angelus.
Ahh Dodger Stadium. This behemoth, first constructed in 1962, can seat a whopping 56,000 people making it the largest baseball stadium in the world. Not that it gets much competition fro other countries….
We took the subway downtown, and from there a designated bus took us to the stadium for free (with a valid Dodger’s ticket).
Arriving at the stadium:
I was on the second or third balcony but the 300mm lens let me get right up in the action. Also… damn that shutter speed is sexy.
Cool screen setup. Can’t beat that view either…
Doin’ it right.
Sunset
Before…
After!
Slloowwww mootttiionnnn
ended up being a double play
Fan photo.
Taking the subway home…
B and W version.
Except I kind of liked the color one….. hmm… “why not both?”
Oh! I almost forgot. You’re probably wondering if the Dodgers won or not. The answer is no. Not all at. Phillies beat them 16-1.
Canon Goes Everywhere 