After meeting up with Dan at our casa particular (Cuban version of a B&B)  in Havana, we went off to wander the streets. Dan immediately showed his “awesome travel buddy” status when it became apparent that he already knew his way around and we didn’t constantly have to check a map to navigate. He took Danielle and I to the main squares and I just gawked at the beauty and personality of the city. I loved that everywhere we walked, live Latin music could be heard somewhere nearby. I wanted to photograph every person we passed – everyone was such an interesting character. The crumbling architecture made me think of the song “Let Go” by Frou Frou when she sings, “There’s beauty in the breakdown.”

That night, Dan took Danielle and I across a wide canal to sit on an old stone fortress wall with a view of Old Havana and the Malecon boardwalk, stretching 8 kms down the coast. It was such a beautiful view. After that, we meandered over to a nearby castle and Dan bribed the guard to let us go down and walk around in the dried up old moat. We then headed back to our Casa Particular and hung out on the beautiful rooftop patio, listening to music, talking and dancing.

The next couple days in Havana were filled with exploring and experiencing the amazing ambiance of Havana. I loved poking around the street markets and bought a cool camera from 1945 as well as some neat old photos and a pair of earrings. We checked out a really cool camera obscura high above Plaza Vieja, ate at outdoor bistros with live music, and meandered to our hearts content. With a lack of advertising, chain restaurants, and brand name labels, Havana really felt like its own little world. I’m glad we went in January as it’s apparently normal for it to be 45 degrees in the summer. One cool thing I wouldn’t mind seeing in the summer though is one of the crazy downpours where the streets flood and kids play in the water, surfing on pieces of styrofoam while holding on to the back of buses.

On our last night in Havana, it poured rain for the first half of the evening and we enjoyed it from the rooftop of our casa. The rain poured heavily on the tin roof while sheet lightening flashed outside. I love rainstorms on a warm evening. When the rain died down, we caught a beautiful old taxi with a bright red interior (a 1950′s Chevrolet, I think) to the Casa de la Musica to enjoy a live band. The band didn’t come on until after 1:00 a.m. but we stayed and danced for awhile. Everyone was paired up dancing salsa like professionals and Danielle and I made our way up to the front and did our own crazy dancing. haha. I’m hopeless at learning dance steps and wouldn’t try to out-salsa a Cuban anyways! Not possible. Afterwards, we went back to our rooftop patio, put some music on the portable speakers Danielle had brought (genius Danielle) and danced in the rain puddles on the roof. The night staff at the casa lit candles for us and made us drinks. Our very own DIY Havana nightclub. : )

Our last morning in Havana we had delicious cheap pizza for breakfast and got picked up by our taxi driver Rainel, who had been referred to me by an avid Cuba traveler before I came. I’ll leave off here and continue my next post with our journey to Trinidad, my favourite place we stayed in Cuba. Stay tuned!

I don’t know if you can quite see it, but the lady below is smoking a cigar while doing her laundry. =)50 cent churros! YumCute little girl doing her best to wait patiently for the above churros.We stayed at a Casa Particular (Cuban version of a B&B) in Havana called Casa Emilio. The rooms were very simple but the cool lounge and our awesome rooftop patio made this place a winner in our books! Also, the food was awesome!Danielle (left) and I (I was having a bad hair day, ok? Cuba is humid! haha).Left: Dan & Danielle. Right: Random person checking out Danielle’s tattoos. This happened constantly and was highly amusing. Cubans found Danielle pretty fascinating! Tall, beautiful, blond and covered in tattoos – she stood out a mile away! haha.

Oh, Dan and Danielle. I love you guys. Traveling with these two was so incredibly fun. They have the best love story ever! I am not going to do it justice so I will just give the quick version. Twelve years ago, they were each others first kiss. They kept in touch over the years and really started to reconnect a few months ago (pretty sure they kept Skype in business in that time). Dan has been traveling for the last decade, working as a scuba diving instructor and was not too far away in Guatemala when he decided to come meet us for our trip in Cuba. It was obvious pretty immediately how perfect these two are for each other. It was pretty fun having front row seats to one of my best friends falling in love with a guy who has fast become a really good friend of mine too. I felt like I was watching an awesome romantic comedy the whole trip (where was the popcorn, Cuba?). I mean, just look at that grin on Danielle’s face in the photo below. She’s little-kid-in-a-candy-shop happy. : D I made sure to get lots of photos of these two as I thought it would be pretty special for them to look back on someday.

We stayed at Flamingo Beach Resort in Playa Flamingo, Guanacaste, Costa Rica. We loved the smaller size of the resort and the fact that it was right in the town of Playa Flamingo and across from Flamingo Beach, the public beach, so we didn’t feel like we were in a total resort bubble. We also chose not to do the all-inclusive food plan (except for breakfast) so we could go out and experience the ambiance and cuisine of the restaurants in the area. Many of the restaurants even offer a free pick-up/drop-off service in the area which is such an awesome plus! Some of our favourites were Carlos & Carlos (Amazing Italian with thee best service. Try the Exotica Anana C cocktail!), Papaya Restaurant (awesome tree-house ambiance, complete with a hammock area. Best spring rolls I’ve ever tasted), and Nibbana Beach Bar & Restaurant in Tamarindo (great ambiance right on the beach with yummy, fresh food).

We spent our days exploring the nearby towns and beaches as well as relaxing on our own beach of Playa Flamingo. My favourite outing was when we did a Sunset Snorkel tour through Manta Ray Sailing. We got picked up from our hotel and taken to a beach where we hopped in a small boat that took us to the Manta Ray Catamaran. Lila also did a day trip on her own to the Monteverde Cloud Forest where they also stopped at a coffee plantation and hummingbird sanctuary that she loved.

I felt so at home in the province of Guanacaste, Costa Rica. I loved the Pura Vida (Pure Life) lifestyle that everyone lives by of not focusing on consumerism and owning things. It’s all about being positive, enjoying the little things in life and time with your friends and family, as opposed to a materialistic lifestyle. It really inspired me and I just felt like, “These are my people!” haha. I may even go back to Costa Rica for a few months next winter in my off-season, I loved it so much! I’m looking forward to photographing more weddings here as well.

Below: Flamingo Beach Resort in Playa Flamingo, Guanacaste, Costa Rica, where we stayed.Doesn’t the below, right cliff look like a turtle?Sunset view from the Manta Ray Sailing snorkel tour we did. I highly recommend it!Playa Conchal beach! I did a Trash the Dress shoot here a couple years ago when I photographed a wedding in Guanacaste and it was great to come back. Instead of sand, part of it is made up of tiny little seashells. Gorgeous!The final stretch of road to the beach is… a beach. Haha. We walked the 2 shorts kms but lots of SUVs and horses passed us as well.Fishing with the Pelicans.Tamarindo, is an awesome surfer town in Guanacaste with lots of character.Me (left) and my sister Lila at sunset. Anyone who knows me knows that this is my favourite time to shoot.Time for a bunch of beautiful sunsets! There was a stunning sunset over Playa Flamingo beach literally every night we were there!

Taking the bus between towns on the Amalfi coast is quite the experience. You constantly feel like you are about to careen off a cliff and they pack the buses as tightly as rice in a roll of sushi. haha. I saw one woman clutching the curtains of the bus windows at one point, and heard another couple worriedly called out, “Is this a one way street!?” as a car came towards us on the narrow road (it wasn’t a one way street- just your average skinny-as-a-noodle Italian road). I have so many funny bus stories from the Amalfi coast. On another bus ride I took, the bus suddenly stopped and I didn’t know why until I saw goats wedging themselves between the bus and the cliff face beside the road, their faces practically smooshed against the glass like in a slapstick comedy. The whole bus gave the driver a round of applause at our destination for his expert driving and he bashfully waved it off with a pleased look on his face. hehe. I wouldn’t recommend taking the bus in Amalfi who are prone to car sickness, fyi. haha. The ferry in between towns is a much nicer way to travel whenever possible, take my word for it (unless you also get sea sick)!

Amalfi:

I caught the ferry from Positano to Amalfi and it was such a pretty ride. Not to mention refreshing on a hot day. You don’t have to go far to find beauty in Amalfi. The church with the tall steps going up to its doors is super stunning and there was lots of pools of shade provided by the tall buildings, once inside the cozy streets.

Ravello:

I caught a bus from Amalfi to reach this gorgeous little hilltop town. Despite being filled with tourists, it had a quiet, intimate feel to it. It’s also a huge destination wedding spot in Italy. Perhaps the most popular destination wedding spot on the Amalfi coast.

Agerola, Italy:

My home base on the Amalfi coast. I’m so happy I chose to stay here. It was much less packed with tourists and you were left to soak in the ambiance of the colourful locals pretty surroundings. I did a lot of enjoyable people-watching in the town square a few blocks from my hotel. People playing cards outside a cafe, a grandpa buying his grand-daughter ice cream and a man riding his horse down the middle of the street, to name a few.

Below is a photo of the charming breakfast area at my hotel Nido Verde (and the yummy plums and delicious breakfast pie they make for guests). They really went above and beyond at this hotel. One of the owners, Roberto, even drove me to my bus in the morning to get back to Rome for my flight home.Exploring the streets of Agerola while on my way to a panoramic view of the coast that Roberto recommended. I picked up some 4-footed companions on the way.

The look-out point for the amazing panorama where I took many lunches and dinners to enjoy the view.A small section of the incredible view. This is also a view of part of the Path of the Gods (Sentiero Degli Dei) trail that I hiked while there. Click here for my post on that.Another view from the Agerola lookout point. You can see the island of Capri in the distance. I visited Capri in 2004 when I au-paired in Italy and it is such a gorgeous island! If you skirt around the edges, you feel like you are in a pirate’s paradise.There was a bike race or trip of some sort passing through here and these guys saw me with my camera and immediately waved their hands for me to come take a photo of them. hahaha. Sure, why not.

Positano:

The streets sing with colour in Positano. I skipped all the tourist shops (there are SO many) and found a cute little antique store where I bought a huge old key the size of my forearm. I really should have taken a photo of it in its element…

After exploring Positano, I dipped my feet in the sea while waiting for the ferry to Amalfi to arrive. Someone had passed out in the heat near the loading zone and they had to rope off the area and wait for a helicopter to come lift the person out. All ships were stopped until the helicopter had come and gone. Hope the person was okay! There was even a bride and groom in full dress waiting with us. I wonder if they had their wedding in Positiano or if they were catching a ferry to get married in another town. I should have grabbed them for some photos but I had just finished the Path of the Gods trail and was filthy and too tired to switch into photographer mode. haha.

Click here for photos from the rest of my trip on the Amalfi Coast.

I always find saints in the most interesting places in Italy.All sorts of neat broken-down houses along the trail.View of the little town of Praiano.A funny story goes along with the photo below. The bottom of the photo is the trail you are supposed to take. The very top of the photo (it’s much higher than it looks) is where I ended up somehow when I took a wrong turn on the trail. I suddenly realized “I have not come across a single person on the trail for the past hour, this is strange.” I went to a nearby cliff edge, looked down and saw a bunch of hikers way down below on the trail I was supposed to be one. So I had the quite the interesting and long experience trying to navigate my way down this old vertical vineyard that separated me from the main trail. Each row is about 5 feet high and you can’t see the row of steps to the next row until you are directly beside it. haha. It was a vineyard labyrinth – so much pacing back and forth on each row trying to find the stairs to the next row. I was chuckling at myself the whole way down. Man was I dirty by the time I got to the main trail again. The end of the trail, coming out into the little town of Nocelle. A little old Italian woman watering her flowers took one look at me and handed me her garden hose. I was covered in dirt from the trail (it was so dry it would rise up in a cloud with every step and stick to my skin) and I was sooo thirsty so the garden hose was like a gift from the Universe. haha. It was all worth it though!Another saint discovery in Nocelle.These guys were delivering a bunch of paintings and helped me find my way to the bus stop. So much cool Amalfi Coast art. Seems like every other store in Positano sells them.

I took the photo below at the church where Serena and Marco got married, when they first showed it to me a couple days before the wedding.  The church, built in 1007, is called San Liberatore a Mailla.Serena and Marco’s good friend Luigi, took me to such a cool area of Pescara on one of his days off. This amazing broken-down church was just sitting on the side of the road and I asked Luigi to stop so we could check it out. Gorgeous! This would be so cool for a wedding ceremony…Luigi then took me to the area of Campo Imperatore. So different than the landscapes I usually see in Italy! Wow. The area is apparently known as Italy’s “Little Tibet.” Luigi said an old Clint Eastwood movie was even filmed on these planes.K, this was awesome. This is Il Castello di Rocca Calascio and it’s the castle from the old film Ladyhawke, starring Mathew Broderick. As a huge fan of 80′s movies, it was pretty fantastic to see in person. : DNext, we went to the picturesque town of Santo Stefano di Sessanio. This town has an amazing history. It was left in ruins for years (after an earthquake, I believe) until a man by the name of Kilgren, funded the restoration of a large portion of it. He turned the town into a series of vacation apartments called Sextantio Albergo Diffuso. Other parts of the town are continuing to be restored.Ancient door (left) with what looks like a cat door in the bottom.Luigi took us on a different route back to Spoltore, over the grasslands of Campo Imperatore. Absolutely gorgeous and stunning. It’s a popular place for bike trips.

The man in the photo below was so friendly to me and even brought me inside his home to proudly show me the historic exposed beams in his ceiling (it was too dark to get a shot unfortunately). Before leaving, I took his photo and he gave me a huge hug and kiss on each cheek.While in Spoltore, I stayed at the charming Ottocento B&B. The light was so beautiful in my room and I loved the arched brick ceilings. It had been beautifully restored. The B&B was made up of 4 levels, with a room and little living room area and bathroom on each floor for each guest. It felt like having my own little apartment in Italy since the owner didn’t live at the B&B. I loved it!This was the actual key for my room at Ottocento. Le sigh. : )One day, Serena’s good friend Ambra’s boyfriend, Riccardo used his day off work to show me some towns in the area. Such a fun guy and a great day. Driving with Riccardo is like a ride at a carnival. haha. He drives super fast along swerving country roads with his knees while using his hands for his phone or to change a CD, etc. I found myself clutching the door a few times. haha. He is a good driver though – I don’t know how he does it!

First, Riccardo took me to the beautiful fishing village of Ortona. This area is famous for trabocchi, which are extremely cool fishing contraptions on stilts. I found them really fascinating.Such a cool, barnacle-covered anchor!Many of the trabocchi have restaurants right on board so you can eat the freshest of fish. Too bad I don’t like seafood. I’m sure I missed out.More trabocchi lined up along the coast.A collection of treasures, fished out of the sea.Forgotten nets and used nets.

Riccardo stopped so we could take a closer look at a vineyard (and steal a bunch of grapes!). I noticed most of the vineyards in this area of Italy grow their grapes in a tented fashion. It would be fun to have a picnic underneath the shade of a row.Next, Riccardo took me to the town, Lanciano.Another night in Spoltore, Serena and Marco’s awesome friends, Luigi and Daniela, took me for dinner at Pizzeria da Osvaldo. I got a margherita pizza and oh my goodness it was amazing. The owner, Osvaldo (seen below) is 88 years old and apparently still goes to work every night in an I Love New York T-shirt. Adorable- I love this man. Buonissimo pizza Osvaldo!After dinner, Luigi and Daniela took me to this amazing gelateria, L’altro Gelato in the city Pescara. It was voted one of the 10 best gelaterias in Italy! I believe it. I tried a mojito-flavoured sorbet that tasted spot-on and the 3 ice cream flavours I had were so creamy and delicious. Italians are amazing hosts. I had tried to pay for dinner at the pizzeria and Luigi and Daniela wouldn’t let me, so I ran to the till at the gelateria to pay and the girl working knew them and said, “I’m sorry, but they will kill me if I let you pay,” drawing a finger across her throat for emphasis. Too funny.Daniela (left) and Luigi (right) with L’altro Gelato owner, Livio (middle).I know I could have gotten a way better shot of this ice cream but I was much too eager to eat it.

I thought it would be fun to post some photos of the few days I got to spend with them and some of their friends. Of course, being the photographer, I wedged myself behind the camera so you won’t see me in any of the photos below. haha. I really need to hand over the camera a bit more so I’m in the odd photo. I had so much fun capturing these candid moments though.

Love you Christine and Lisa!

Our breakfast every morning was so yummy!Hanging out on the roof of Lisa’s apartment.Toby (below right) had just gotten a new bike so naturally everyone wanted a turn riding it. I’ve always wanted a sweet green bike like this.I love these girls.

All ages and body types welcome- you’re all gorgeous and I’ll prove it to you! : ) Don’t worry ladies, I know all the flattering angles and am fluent in Photoshop. Melissa Craven will be putting her awesome makeup skills to work as well!

Also, it’s completely up to you to give me rights to post some of your images on my blog or not. It’s completely fine if you want them for your eyes only! : )

 Limited spots available! Everyone gets their own private time slot. Email me at jzaisphotography@gmail.com to reserve your spot.

Click here to view my boudoir website.

I was thrilled when weddingbells magazine contacted me, asking permission to print some images in their Spring/Summer 2012 issue of Courtney and Mick’s wedding. It’s always a pleasure to get recognition by wedding publications and weddingbells is such a great magazine. The new issue is filled to the brim with gorgeous dresses and savvy tips. In stores now – check it out!