I can never get tired of admiring Paris.
Photo by Cristina Nogueras, edited with Piclab
Tag: photography
Witnessing wonders, in more ways than one | Plitvice Lakes, Croatia
This is the story of how I was a crucial part in the most important moment of the lives of two strangers, in Croatia.
While in Zadar, my boyfriend and I decided to take a tour to visit the Plitvice Lakes. These had been highly recommended and all the pictures we had seen looked amazing. Honestly, I did not believe what I saw on the pictures, I just thought it looked too fake. Boy, was I wrong.
The Plitvice Lakes, part of a national park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, are truly a place full of wonder. As you will see from my pictures (no edits, no retouches) these waters are clear and intense at the same time. We were actually able to drink from the springs and it tasted even better than the water in our bottles. My fear was to get a stomach bug or something from drinking it… nothing happened.
Our tour was a one-day excursion and it allowed you to get to know the people in the tour with you. Sitting next to us during the bus ride was this super nice Canadian couple, just around my age. We were talking through the trip and while on the lakes, helped each other out by taking couple pictures of each other, cheesy but believe me, super practical.
By the end of the tour, we reached the waterfall below.
The view was truly amazing and as it had become the custom, I told the Canadian couple I would take a picture of them there. The guy went to hand me the camera and said, “Actually, take a video, I’m going to go propose”.
Needless to say my reaction was a mixture of “OMG I want to scream right now” and “OMG I forgot how to use all technology”. My boyfriend rapidly jumped away knowing he would mess up the video under pressure, so I was strong and agreed to take on the task. Let me tell you, I have a new found respect for wedding photographers.
As the guy went up the rocks to “take the picture” I felt like I was about to witness something amazing. I also felt like I was creeping on two strangers, but whatever, I had a job in my hands. I was not able to hear what he was saying, but the look in her eyes told me he was promising her the world she always wanted. She started tearing up and nodding profusely. Thank God she said yes, that would have been one awkward ride back to Zadar.
In case you were wondering, I was able to tape it all! I didn’t get the couple’s information or anything, I don’t remember their names and I probably will never see them again, but for one moment there I was a part of their lives. Isn’t it weird how life works sometimes?
Feel free to contact me for quotes on proposal videos.
Wordless Wednesday: Back Streets of SoHo
Back streets can hold beauty too | Photo taken and edited by Cristina Nogueras ©
“Sure, I would love a mansion to use only three months out of the year.” – My visit to Newport, RI
Have you heard of the Gilded Age? Call me ignorant or whatever, but I had not heard the official term until last month when I visited the astonishing mansions of Newport, Rhode Island.
In United States history, the Gilded Age is a period approximately spanning the final three decades of the nineteenth century; from the 1870s to 1900. The term was coined by writers Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner in The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today (1873), satirizing what they believed to be an era of serious social problems disguised by a thin gold gilding.
Thank you Wikipedia, you’re the best.
Interesting where we stand right now, I want my life easier not more elaborated. Fancy dresses are uncomfortable and I can’t imagine having someone do every single thing for me, I actually enjoy cooking.
How did people live in such an age? I bet their attention span was intact and their knowledge of history was more maintained, with all the time they had in their hands I would not expect anything less. I bet if they come to our time now they would be beyond overwhelmed and wouldn’t know how to deal with it.
What’s next for people then? How can it get more intense, more technological or more progressive?
I think we are going back to basics in many aspects of life. Are we losing connection with ourselves? Are we going back to times we thought of as grand? Is that what every generation does? The Gilded Age line of thought was to replicate and bring back the grandeur of Europe, especially France. Are we always, in some way, looking back to the successes of the past? Will all of this Google glass technology mindsets collide with a simpler way of living?
I guess what I’m wondering is, what will future generations look back and see from our times? What are they going to want to replicate and what are they going to laugh about (besides Justin Bieber’s music)?
I’m going to let you think about that for a while.
On a lighter note, follow my Newport journey through my pictures below! 🙂
Walking around the ocean drive
This is just the backside of the Marble House. Mind you, this was supposed to be their summer house. Imagine where they lived all year.
This was their tea house. Tea house. A house for tea. I have a box for my tea bags, but these people had actual buildings for tea.
The front of the Marble House is even more amazing
Breakfast at Beech Tree Inn, such a nice stay!
This might not be the most flattering picture, but this dinner at The Mooring was absolutely delicious!
You have to drive by the ocean drive, it’s such a beautiful view… and this is not even summer!
I feel like I should remember this mansion’s name… potato, potato? There are so many mansions!
Cliff Walk -Some of it is still closed due to damage by Super Storm Sandy
Even when it’s not sumer, even if there’s a cold breeze, this walk was still worth it.
The Breakers, just your average American summer cottage. Seriously? This is basically a castle.
Going down the Forty Steps…
Wordless Wednesday: Newport Waters
It doesn’t have to be summer for the ocean to be beautiful…
and that guy is pretty cool, too
Newport, Rhode Island
Wordless Wednesday: Convergent Points
Hoboken and Manhattan come together in this shot taken from the Newport boardwalk in Jersey City.
Phot and edits by Cristina Nogueras
Wordless Wednesday: Winter Wonder…not
Before there was slush all over and the snow truck practically swept me away with a wave of ice and water… I took this picture.
Photo by Cristina Nogueras – Hoboken, New Jersey
57 Days of My Life, Lost to Facebook
Thank you Time Tech for bringing light into my life with your recent article, painting a nice picture of the time I’ve spent on Facebook.
In my defense, it’s 57 days since 2006 and I bet most of those hours can be allocated to college finals and procrastinating at the Syracuse University library. Not that it makes it any better, that’s still an average of one week a year, for the last eight years. I’m not gonna lie, that number made me want to jump from my seat and set sail in a new adventure to the unknown (or Central Park).
Here are 10 things I could have done instead of spending 57 days of my life on Facebook:
- Learn German, just because
- Take wine appreciation classes so I actually know what I’m ordering from the wine list
- Read that New York Times best selling book that everyone has been talking about and is not a YA novel
- Learn to make that delicious recipe that I saw on Pinterest when I decided to take a break from Facebook
- Train a baby dragon
- Bike from New York to Los Angeles (according to Google maps it takes 260 hours)
- Read the whole Game of Thrones book series
- Plant a tree. Actually, plant a bunch of trees
- Take a photography class instead of staring at pictures for hours
- Volunteer at an animal shelter (without stealing any puppies)
See how much time you’ve lost on Facebook here, then get on Grupon or Living Social and sign up for tango lessons or yoga, your pick.
Image credit – http://louisetaylordrawings.blogspot.com/2010/04/losing-time.html
Wordless Wednesday: Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico
Photo by Cristina Nogueras ©
Wanderlust problems and other itchy feet musings
Once upon a time, I was blessed to call France my home. I would ride a bike to school, have lunch by the river, come home to a dog and a warm family and drink good, cheap wine with new wonderful friends.
The thing about wonderful times is that they end, and as sad or exaggerated as it sounds, you never get them back. There’s something so bittersweet about it that I can’t help but smile. Sure, I could technically book a flight to France next week (I do have a credit card) but in reality it can never be the same. People and places change, but most importantly, you change as well.
That’s why we need to keep creating adventures, so you don’t miss the old ones that much. You will never get your old times back, but that is what makes them magical and timeless, the rarity and exclusivity of things that are gone.
It sure didn’t feel magical when I was stuck in my desk studying for a final exam, sad because I had ran out of money and my camera had broken. It sure was not exciting when I had to eat ham and cheese sandwiches for a week because I spent way too much money on my week at Spain, but once you leave and look back, it all sounds ironically perfect.
Sometimes things get even better when you have to look back to enjoy them. It’s almost risky though, to look back too often, as you tend to unconsciously edit the memories, add filters and suppress the mishaps (bike falls, broken cameras, hangovers, dry lunches, too cheap wines, boring lectures, train delays and scary flights).
Still, you know you would do it all again and in your future attempts to somehow really do it all again, you will get new, exciting adventures that will keep the cycle alive.
Humans are never satisfied and our thirst can’t be quenched that easily, so let’s drink on.
All photos taken by Cristina Nogueras © – Do not take without permission or credit
Beaches & Brie 
