Category Archives: travel

Travel: Athens, Greece

Travel Tuesday and I am taking you back to Athens, Greece with me. This was one of my favourite trips when I was growing up because it was my first time in a different without my parents. We were currently living in Stuttgart Germany where I attended Patch American high school for seventh and eight grade. One summer while we were there I joined the teen group to Athens, Greece. What made it really special was I got to go with my best friend Hamishe. Her family is Greek and her mother was leading our group.

Traveling to Athens, Greece was almost as fun as the time we spent in the city itself. We drove from where we lived in southern Germany into Italy and took a ferry across the Adriatic sea to Greece. Nothing like sunbathing on the ferry to get ready for the amazing adventure that awaits. In lieu of staying in a hotel we camped on the the beach which to this day is one of my favourite camping trips. The views were beautiful and the water was so clear that you could see and count the ripples of the sand on the ocean floor below. Of course we tried a lot of new foods and ate quite a lot of gyros. There were the occasional things you do not plan on when traveling into another country. We had to get off the trolleybus when a cable snapped free and stopped working. One of the girls with us got really sick and we had to take a detour to the hospital. Then there was the shopoholic (me) who spent all her money and had nothing to eat but peanut butter and crackers (that my mum packed me) by the time we got the greek ferry back to Italy.

I have shoe boxes filled of photographs and in times of nostalgia go through them over and over again. They are much different from the photographs I take today with a DSLR and years of professional photograpy experience under my belt. They may not clearly show the food we ate or acurately show of the sites to see when traveling. But these photographs below are memories of my childhood. A childhood I spend living and traveling abraod as a third culture kid. Enjoy.

Would love to hear your thoughts!

Make sure to also check out the other travel posts for

Travel Tuesday with this link below:

I am linking up with ‘Travel Tuesdays’ and you should too!

Travel: Père Lachaise Cemetery

29 Replies

On my return trip to France there was one place I had marked down on my list of ‘must see places’ in Paris: Père Lachaise Cemetery. As the largest cemetery within the city of Paris it is thought to be one of the most visited cemeteries in the world. When the eternally resting occupants include Oscar Wilde, Jim Morrison, Moliere, and Chopin it is no wonder that hundreds of thousands visitors pay their respects every year. Though I named a few, many more are buried here that enriched the country of France over the past two hundred years. Edith Piaf, the popular French singer who died in 1963, was at the top of my list as my favourite ‘La Vie en Rose’ played in my head. While it only boasted about a dozen graves when it opened in 1804 it became popular as a final resting place with the first few celebrities.

Now a days it is very hard to be buried here with restrictions to having lived and died in Paris. With very few plots available the waiting list I have heard is quite long. Together with the famous Whose Who’ of France are not one but three World War I memorials. Suffice to say that you cannot walk the cobbled stone paths without feeling you are being immersed lifetimes of history, culture and life. I will say that it can be quite easy to get lost. My advice before you arrive is to research online and if you want to be really prepared bring with you a map noting the different graves you would like to see. Alongside the most famous celebrities there are also many notable people whose headstones are like art and they mark not just history but interesting stories.

That is my visit to the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, France.

We actually stayed at a place via https://www.airbnb.co.uk/

which was only a short walk away and in a beautiful and quiet neighbourhood

if you are looking for a place to stay in Paris.

Have you been to this cemetery?

Would love to hear your thoughts!

Make sure to also check out the other travel posts for

Travel Tuesday with this link below:

I am linking up with ‘Travel Tuesdays’ and you should too!

* For information regarding the use of photography by Bonnie Rose and photographic services contact bonnie[at]bonnie-rose[dot]co[dot]uk

Photography: ‘Inside a Dream’

6 Replies

Throwback thursday and I bring you today my concept shoot ‘Inside a Dream’.

This was one of my very first shoots back in 2010 on Oahu, Hawaii.

For those of you hoping to travel to Hawaii some day,

know that there is much more to the island than just the beaches of Waikiki.

My husband and I had done some location scouting

on one of our hikes in the Nu’uanu area with our kids.

Amongst the amazing Hawaiian jungle and waterfalls is

the Kaniakapupu ruins, reminders of Oahu’s ancient past.

It is an amazing and beautiful area and brought to my mind

a feeling of being lost inside storybook.

My concept was to bring together two characters

lost in a dreamworld.

Models: Alysha Busha & Rob Bozada

Make up: Dhyana Leung

Wardrobe: JAM Design

Assistant: +Ryan Aherin

Hair & Photography: +Bonnie Rose

* For information regarding the use of photography by Bonnie Rose and photographic services contact bonnie[at]bonnie-rose[dot]co[dot]uk

Travel: Dinner with mia familia in Napoli

8 Replies

I am very passionate about Italian food.
To the point that if you take me to an Italian restaurant outside of Italy,
I will tell you it is not ‘real’ Italian food.
My in-laws insist that that the family owned Italian restaurant
in their small midwest town is authentic because the owner is ‘I-Talian’.
However both the pizza and pasta sauces are so sweet,
you could have fooled me with a jar of processed Prego sauce.
Both do not sit well with my palette or my years from growing up in southern Italy.
I am convinced that any Italians cooking in America cook for the American palette.
Any American-Italians that cook food are cooking ‘American-Italian food’
which is not Italian food.
Which is great. Just do not confuse the two as one.
I am also a purist and I believe that you need certain ingredients like the
salty Mediterranean air to make anything truly authentic.
However I did find one place in Malibu, California that served the closest to the real thing.
I liked the food so much that I made sure to give my compliments personally to the chef.
He was Italian and I give him props for sticking with the pure tastes of Italy.

My husband has had to hear my views on Italian food since before we began dating.
We were in a traveling theatre group at our University and while on a trip
I held my foot down to our group for stopping at Olive Garden for dinner.
I will admit it: I am an ‘Italian food’ snob.
Ten years later my husband finally gets his first (and second and third…) taste
of this amazing food I have not stopped bringing up in conversation.
‘You were right’ he said.
Now he shares my burden.
The burden of all people who have lived or traveled to Italy
and have eaten their hearts out on the beautiful, mouth watering, delicious food.
When you live else where in the world and crave a pizza.
Not just any pizza but pizza from Italy.
Or for us we crave real Neapolitan pizza.
Any kind.
As my husband told my sons yesterday,
‘I’ve never had a pizza I did not like in Naples’.
It is comforting knowing I’m married to man who gets me
and who is equally passionate about Italian food.

The one story I used to tell him about often was eating at the houses of
Ada and Maria, two of the women at our Italian church on the coast of Bagnoli.
How the pasta was the best you would ever eat.
How you would be given seconds and thirds.
Followed by courses of salad, cheese, meat, and dessert.
You would eat past the point of being full, unable to tell your host ‘no more’.
It would be amazing.
This past summer my husband got to finally experience that with my church family.
I will admit I was busy eating and savouring each bite to document the food fully.
But below is a little glimpse into some of the best food and memories
that a girl who grew up in Italy could ask for and then some.
Enjoy.

The busy city of Napoli, Italia became my home twice in my life for a total of six years.

The meal being prepared by Maria and Ada.

You will never leave hungry. Quite the opposite.

Must continue to brush up on my Italian vocabulary to keep up in the passionate fast talking conversations.

Delicious foods that were the ensemble to the main pasta course.

*photographs belong to Bonnie Rose Photography © 2013 All rights reserved. | www.bonnie-rose.co.uk
**Please contact if you want to use any photographs or for more information regarding photographic services.

Travel: Crossing the Channel

8 Replies

We left the island of Hawaii to live on the island of Great Britain. While I thought I would never us the term ‘mainland’ again (when referring to the mainland of the USA), I sometimes do revert to that label when I refer to Europe. While England may be set off in the ocean, just like Japan is off of Asia, it is quite easy to travel to the ‘continental Europe’. We traveled back home this way from Paris last Summer. We took a ferry from Calais, France across to Dover, England where you can see the beautiful white cliffs. We would really like to return here with our boys to explore the beauty and the history of those symbolic white cliffs.

For us the experience of using the ferry was very easy and accommodating We were able to get through customs fairly easy and the waiting period to board was met with a nice waiting area with vending machines if needed. The prices would be as expected on the ferry for food and refreshments and I cannot comment more than that as we brought our own for the voyage. The trip seemed shorter than I expected or remembered as a child and we were able to just enjoy the trip and relax. We had traveled through Italy and France up to this point so just being able to kick our feet up was a great ending to our travels. While flying may be a lot easier or quicker, we really enjoyed taking the trains and ferry back. The view as we came in of the white cliffs were just breath taking. Whether you are traveling by train or car, I definitely recommend checking out crossing the English channel for the views and the experience.

Our view from the ferry of the white cliffs of Dover.

My husband chillin’ on the ferry as we enjoy our view.

Watching the sunset as we arrive back in England.

**Please get in contact with bonnie[at]bonnie-rose[dot]co[dot]uk for information on photographic services.

Italy and the Path Less Taken

4 Replies

Having spent a significant part of my childhood in Italy has left

an equally significant part of my heart in Napoli.

It meant so much to share this corner of the world

with the man I love and with whom I share life.

I cannot wait to bring my sons home to Italy

To watch their eyes light up as they taste pizza.

To which Napoli is the birthplace.

Though I may be biased I always recommend Napoli as a travel destination.

There are so many sightseeing stops for tourists.

The islands of Capri, Ischia, and Procida. The coast drive of the Amalfi Coast and Sorrento.

Mt. Vesuvius, Pompeii and Herculaneum. Not to mention all the museums and churches.

Sometimes its about taking a more organic approach to traveling

which gives you a more rounded experience in another country and culture.

Take the path less traveled or not traveled at all.

One of my good friends Liisa, from our time together in Hawaii,

was living in the heart of Napoli last summer when we visited.

She took us on a walk I had not experienced in my time growing up in that city.

It was on narrow pathways up to the top by way of many cobbled steps.

There was both beauty and destruction to be found.

Art to behold in many facets on our walk.

I was constantly snapping photographs with my camera

just to remember and nto let any details get missed.

We saw some posters of a self portrait put up by a local photographer my friend knew.

Remnants of old mixed in with the fingerprints of the modern world.

To top it all off was the stunning view from the top before we made our way down.

The bay of Napoli with Mt. Vesuvius in the background.

Perfection not to be missed.

** If you are interested in using photographs or for more information about photographic services, contact bonnie@bonnie-rose.co.uk

The Roman Baths (Bath, England)

5 Replies

This weekend our walk led us not into the English countryside but into our town of Bath, England. This is the home of the historic Roman Baths and location of a natural hot springs. The history stems before the Romans built their temple in 60-70 AD to the Celtics who built a shrine here dedicated to the goddess Sulis, and whom the Romans identified with as Minerva. I had come here a very young girl, drank the water, and I do not remember a moment of that occasion Needless to say it was a wonderful place to re-experience with my family as they came here for the very first time.

As residents of Bath we were able to cut the lines of tourists and apply for our Discover card, which got us into the Roman Baths free of charge. The electronic handheld tour guides are complimentary and come with a variety of tours which you can follow at your leisure. With two sons who would gladly play their Nintendo DS all day, this was a huge hit with them both. We ended up spending three hours touring the sights and we could easily come back to see and hear more at another time.

I definitely recommend coming to Bath, England not only for the lush and beautiful views of the country but for the historic sites in town like the Roman Baths. You can also check out the Jane Austen Museum. We have not been yet but plan to go especially during this year of anniversary. After viewing the Baths you can kick your feet up and relax at the modern day thermal spa and enjoy the natural hot springs as the Romans had many years before.