Walk in the door, and you instantly feel at home with the friendly smiles, comfortable seating, deep blue walls, and the distinctive coffeeshop smell. Ugly Mugs Coffee & Tea serves locally roasted Drew's Brews (also in East Nashville) plus fine teas from around the world and even the world-famous Cafe Au Lait from New Orlean's historic Cafe Du Monde.

For this show, we'll be featuring framed images of dog photography featuring some of the most adorable faces we've ever met. East Nashville has a wonderful group of dog lovers, and we're currently working on the official East Nashville Dog Calendar to raise funds for neighborhood dog rescue and fostering needs. The final day of photographing for the calendar is Nov 1 at Art House Garden on Woodland, across the street from the post office.

Hope to see you at Ugly Mugs this month or at Art House Gardens on Saturday. ~gregory

For this shoot, I invited hair and make-up stylist extraordinaire, Mizzie, to the set and we kicked around a creative direction for this fashion shoot. She recruited wardrobe stylist Talitha Sha to keep things rolling in the wardrobe department while Mizzie did her thing with Inna, our model for the day. Inna has runway modeling experience, and this was her first print modeling session. She was fantastic with presence, and her Eastern European features rock. Great job on your first print shoot. Inna definitely should spend more time in front of the camera, and I look forward to creating more images with her and the creative team.

Big thanks to Nathan for sending these videos. After the first video, I've posted the still shot that we were making in the video clip, and a composite of four other favorites from the shoot is posted at the end.

Hope you enjoy a quick behind-the-scenes look at our fun fashion shoot. Cheers. ~gregory byerline

In addition to its uniqueness, Venice follows suit with other Italian cities with its collection of landmark historic cathedrals, home to saints of ages past and pilgrims of ages present and home to a treasure trove of the world’s finest art across the centuries. Capstone of Venice’s cathredals is Basilica San Marco, “a monument made unique by both its wealth of history and the magnificence of its façade and interior.”

Touring the Basilica is a “no foto” endeavor, so there are no interior shots to share here. Its distinguishing Byzantine character appears particularly on the great mosaics illustrating St. Mark’s tales, as well as the scenes of the Old and New Testament.

With one full day to visit Venice as our final destination on our personal Giro d’Italia (tour of Italy), we ventured into the maze of walkways after visiting Basilica San Marco. Many times, the walkways narrow to arm’s width, adding to the likelihood that visitors regularly get lost.

Getting lost in Venezia is a wonderful way to see the city. We got lost regularly, but that was part of the city’s charm for us. Each corner we turned brought new adventures and discoveries that we may have overlooked by simply sticking to the major tourist sites.

One of our favorite surprises comes from a local musician quite skilled in playing an array of drinking glasses tuned with various levels of water. How I wish this photograph had an audio component because this music was truly gorgeous. Beyond words. The idea at first seemed kitschy, but his masterful skill and classical approach to a beautiful song stopped us in our tracks.

Completely taking in the Venetian experience simply must include a gondola ride through the small canals twisting through the city. For 30–60 minutes, gondoliers are your personal tour guide telling stories about palace after palace that line the waterways, and, in the case of our gondolier, they can enhance your gondola experience with musical interludes through his thick Italian accent.

While on our gondola ride, we passed previous homes of Giacomo Girolamo Casanova, reputed as the world’s most famous womanizer, Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (pictured below), composer of the world-renowned Four Seasons from the Baroque era, and a host of other historically important buildings.

Just before our gondola ride ended, we floated beneath a fashion photo shoot in progress above us on one of the city’s 400+ bridges. The gondolier didn’t recognize the model as a public figure or musician, so it’s likely that the photo shoot was for a suit designer or sunglass company. With my own camera in hand, and with an easily distracted model who began working this second camera, I was able to fire off 6–8 frames as we floated by, and two are shown here:

Late in the afternoon, we paused at a little café … yeah, shocker … for cioccolata calda (hot chocolate) and a pastry. Italian hot chocolate is quite unlike American hot chocolate which is typically made by opening a package of mystery powder and pouring hot water into it. Italian hot chocolate is thick. It’s quite literally melted chocolate made on an espresso machine. Drink it too slowly or without stirring regularly, and the cup of hot chocolate will become more like chocolate pudding. Truly, a chocolate lovers dream.

After one long day of siteseeing and walking nearly eight miles through this unique city, we have only scratched the surface of all that Venice has to offer. Guide books recommended spending at least three hours to properly visit Basilica San Marco; we buzzed through in nearly 30 minutes. Several more museums and historical sites outline Piazza San Marco, and we didn’t have the opportunity to even step inside. Our trekking through the city made is fall in love with Venezia. While other cities top our Favorite Italian Cities list because they are “more Italian” than Venice, Venice definitely sits atop the Most Unique Cities list. We deeply enjoyed our Venetian excursion, and it made a great conclusion to our Tour of Italy over the past ten days. Tomorrow, we take a train across northern Italy to Milan where we simply stay overnight and catch an early flight the following morning.

Looking forward to resettling at home and getting back into our normal everyday life flow. Our trip to Italy was a much-needed vacation as a time to get away together to celebrate our 10th anniversary and visit a much-loved country for the first time. Italy is a spectacular place. We’re honored to have this experience, and we highly recommend Italy as a vacation destination for all of our family and friends.

Thanks for reading these trip updates. We hope you’ve been able to experience Italy in some small way, even if only vicariously.

Ciao.  ~gregory & meghann

Buona notte.  ~gregory & meghann

After a good night’s sleep, we awaken to another 4–5 hours to visit Verona before our train departs for the next stop. Time for another “Italian speed” stroll along the city’s riverwalk, away from the hustle of tourist activity.

Il Duomo di Verona, unlike those in other cities, sits in a quiet section of town. Built in the 12th century, on top of a pre-existing medieval church, Verona’s Duomo (cathedral) has a Romanesque façade and gothic elements.

Directly across the street, we found a quiet café with a courtyard enclosed by a high stone wall, further isolating itself into a relaxing culinary destination. Avid coffee drinkers that we are, we were easily lured in, creating another opportunity to make what has become on of our favorite kinds of travel images:

La Casa de Giulietta (House of Juliet) is one of the city’s most popular tourist spots which wasn’t high on our to-see list, but then we happened upon it whilst walking so we popped in for a few minutes during a lull in tourist traffic. Here’s quick shot of the famed “wherefore art thou, Romeo” balcony.

What we found more interesting than visiting the balcony itself is the arched passageway leading to the balcony courtyard. This passageway contains literally thousands of couples’ names written on the walls and plastered with Post-It notes in true lover’s fashion.

Describing Verona in these brief updates with a handful of photographs does little justice to the city’s unique charm. There’s just something about this town that is different from other Italian cities on our trip. Verona feels most like home. Not so much in a way that it reminds us most of our hometown in the U.S., but it just feels like home. We feel like we belong here more so than our previous destinations. Siena would be a close tie. On this note, we’ll conclude this travelogue with a couple more views of fair Verona.

Next, we’re off to Padova, a small, stopover stay just outside Venice.

Ciao for now.  ~gregory & meghann

(1) Fodor's Essential Italy: Rome, Florence, Venice & the Top Spots in Between

After an overdue nap, we recommenced our Florence walking tour by strolling along the River Arno toward Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge), built in 1345 to replace an earlier bridge that was swept away by a flood. Originally, the shops atop Ponte Vecchio housed butchers, grocers, blacksmiths, and other “common” merchants. In 1593, Ferdinand I threw out the common merchants and installed 41 goldsmiths and eight jewelers. The bridge has been devoted solely to these trades ever since. (1)

With city streets being so narrow and congested, walking along the river offered opportunities to see wider views as well as the calming nature of water. This riverwalk is popular among the locals too as evidenced by the number of runners and cyclists utilizing the special lane set aside for relief from motorized vehicles.

Our stay in Florence was too short, and it was made even shorter by our need for rest and sleep. We’re starting to learn the difference between “American speed” and “Italian speed” relative to pedestrian traffic. In the morning of our departure from Florence to Verona, Meghann took another stroll along River Arno and captured this lovely image. Arrivaderci Firenze.



Cheers.  ~gregory & meghann

(1) Fodor’s Essential Italy: Rome, Florence, Venice & the Top Spots in Between

First, we meet Gino, our tour guide, who reminded us of a sedate, Italian version of Robin Williams, with thick accent and an even thicker passion for wine.

Gino introduced us to Pierro, the castle gardener who, for over 40 years, was the head winemaker at Castello di Verrazzano. “Now he can-a make-a vee-no!” Gino exclaimed. Upon retirement, Pierro’s love for the vineyard’s hills and life runs so strongly that he is quite content keeping the gardens trimmed, colorful, alive, and well.

Gino guides us through the history of Castello di Verrazzano, which dates back several centuries into the Estruscan era. He guides us through the history of Chianti and discusses Sangiovese, the main grape used in making Chianti. Then he guides us through the cellars where grapes are dried, stored, and cured to perfection over a 3–5 year period before bottling and shipping.

After cellar tour, Gino directed us to the dining room for our opportunity to taste six of their exceptional products. Castello di Verrazzano also produces extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar so we knew a treat awaited us at the table. Italians eat formal meals in many courses, and this special lunch was a five course extravaganza starting with Verrazzano Rosso, the vineyard’s everyday wine, fresh bread with their own extra virgin olive oil, and four cuts of cured meats and salami.

Second course included Castello di Verrazzano Chianti Classico with pasta pomodoro.

Just when we thought it couldn’t get any better, the third course included Castello di Verrazzano Chianti Classico Reservo, the vineyard’s “special occasion” wine with tenderloin of pork accompanied by fava beans. Fans of the movie Silence of the Lambs will appreciate the subtext here. If it doesn’t hit you, rent the movie.

At this point, let me also note that this “wine tasting” lunch, which typically means a sip or two of each wine, resulted in several empty bottles at our table as we were poured a proper glass instead of a mere sip. An empty bottle is a happy bottle.

Fourth course included a chunk of fresh Parmesan cheese paired with a teaspoon of Castello di Verrazzano Balsamic Vinegar. When mixed together in your mouth, to call this an explosion of flavor is quite an understatement. We’ll try this at home when we return, but I fear it will be a mere shadow of this experience given the fact that a 100ml bottle of their balsamic vinegar (about one inch around and five inches high) sells for €45, roughly $65. Quite simply, the single best balsamic vinegar we’ve had … ever.

Fifth course included a lemon sponge cake with Castello di Verrazzano Vino Santo (“holy wine”), the vineyard’s white dessert wine that, of course, was fabulous. We don’t even like sweet wine, but this is one well-deserved exception. The photo below shows the drying process of grapes that will become the next vintage of Castello di Verrazzano Vino Santo.

At lunch, we met a family from Sydney, Australia who became fast friends over the succulent food and exceptional wine. “That’s the thing with wine,” Gino says. “The grapes were here before we were. The earth and soil was here before the grapes. In centuries past, wine was more pure than drinking water, and winemakers crafted a gentle product deeply tied to the earth to bring people together for friendship.”  Our table was last to leave, a full 90 minutes after others had departed.

Mid-October in Central Italy’s winemaking region of Tuscany where Sangiovese grapes are crafted in Chianti wine brings a colorful change of seasons. A time when grape leaves turn a bright yellow as the earth prepares for winter slumber before starting the growing process all over again.

At tour’s end as Gino expressed his passion for life and wine … a passion that expresses itself in a retired winemaker turned gardener, a passion about the simplicity of wine which “was first made by primitive man” many centuries ago … we exited a door bearing this simple handle, and its subtle significance appropriately concluded the festivities.

So, when in the right time to drink wine? In the great words of Gino, “Een a few mee-neets.”

Cheers.  ~gregory & meghann

At the highest point in town stands, Fortezza di Montalcino, the town’s fortress. Inside the fortress courtyard, we found an enoteca (wine restaurant) and indulged in the tastiest lasagne we’ve ever experienced as well as two varietals of Brunello di Montalcino paired with three aged cheeses.

Culinary heaven, I tell you. Culinary heaven. Tomorrow we drive through Chianti to tour a premier vineyard and winery at Castello di Verrazzano, likely a culinary heaven in its own right.

Cheers.  ~gregory & meghann

Nightfall on Piazza del Campo (town square) literally glows from city lights and rings with friendly merriment of families, couples, the elderly, and children of all ages. As a tourist attraction, one can hear many languages while walking about the piazza. Once again, the glowing piazza is beyond description, so luckily, Gregory is a huge fan of letting photography do the talking.

In the top photo, the Gothic Palazzo Publicco, focal point of Piazza del Campo, has served as Siena’s town hall since the early 1300s. Yes, the 1300s, over seven centuries. It now houses the Museo Civico (civic museum) with walls covered in early Renaissance frescoes. These two photographs show only ~30% of the entire piazza. Experiencing in person is a must.

A visit to Tuscany is incomplete with discussing its food and drink, and Siena warrants high marks in that regard. So, as requested by a friend back home, we bring you photos of the food. It’s even more delicious in person, but feast your eyes:

La dolce vida! Ciao for now. Cheers.  ~gregory & meghann

We covered the basilica’s entire public space from top to bottom, literally. Luckily, our active lifestyles helped us climbed 300+ meandering steps and up spiral staircases to view Rome’s “skyline” from atop the Cupola (dome).

Then, we descended to The Grotte Vaticane (Tombs of the Popes) beneath the Basilica floor where monuments and headstones memorialize popes throughout the centuries, including Giovanni Paolo II (Pope John Paul II) who passed in 2005. Much of the Grotte was off limits to photographs in order to keep crowds moving through, so I was only able to make images at the start (Madonna icon) and the end (arched crypt).

After a full morning of touring all things San Pietro, we wandered into a residential neighborhood for some authentic Italian daily life, which, of course, included great food and drink. Trastevere could one day become our home if we had our way. Away from the tourist parts of the city, this neighborhood of narrow, winding cobblestone streets, restaurants, and residences felt authentic Italian cosmopolitan. We lunched at another roadside café, complete with the occasional car driving by our table. Definitely odd, definitely common, and definitely not a big deal in this city.

Capping off our afternoon, it was time for cappuccini. We found yet another quaint sidewalk caffé in a different part of town lined with retail shops, relative to Chicago’s Michigan Avenue but with a distinctive Italian flare.

In Europe, dogs are allowed pretty much everywhere, even in restaurants and cafes, and this makes the dog lovers in us quite happy, especially when we miss our own furry girl.



After dinner at Al 34 Di Mario De' Fiori, including the most wonderful white cream sauce over pine nut filled ravioli … (pause inserted here to wipe away the drool) … we completed our Roman Holiday with a gelato and espresso at Fontana di Trevi, the circa 1720 fountain known as the world’s most spectacular wishing well. Trevi Fountain was featured in the 1954 film Three Coins in the Fountain as well as Fellini’s La Dolce Vita.



In the morning, we board a train for Tuscany. Arrivaderci Roma. ~gregory & meghann

Today we tackled the Musei Vaticani (or, Vatican Museums) housing over 90,000 works of art through the ages: sculpture, pottery, tapestries, frescos, paintings, relics, sarcophogi, mosaics, floors, ceilings, walls, and doors. Pretty much everything in this complex is a work of art.

With that said, I bring you several selected photographs from our daily excursion (in chronological order):

Sculpture above doorway to the Vatican Museum.

Mummy of woman from a lllooooonnnggggg time ago.

I've always loved rotunda of domes. Started photographing them at Illinois State Capitol as a teenager, and this one at the Vatican Museum took me back a few years.

One of many beautiful marble statues lining a long corridor. Most were of male figures and personalities. Her features and strength distinguished her from the masses.

Huge huge huge huge huge.

When in Rome ...

Rafaelo's work throughout the entire room. Think basketball court size of a room, folks. Impressive indeed.

Bootleg capture of Sistine Chapel. Part of Michelangelo's magnum opus. The top/center frame is God creating Adam, which lies in the center of this vast and grand room. I've seen it with my own eyes finally. Chill bumps galore.

Another from the "I see things" department. The swirling lines and motion stopped me in my tracks. Thanks to my lovely bride for enduring my photo excursions, even on our vacations.

Five of the myriad columns surrounding Piazza di San Pietro (St. Peter's Square). I also made an image with the tourist cropped out, but I wanted to include her in this one to show the scale of this grand structure. Seeing is understanding.

As with most Roman architectural wonders, "one of many" describes this gorgeous bridge.

Continuing the "one of many" items, these al fresco ristoranti (restaurants with outdoor seating) are everywhere. And I mean EVERYWHERE. The funny thing is: so are cars and vehicles. Notice the tire markings on the cobblestones in the lower left corner. Yep, at any given moment, whilst dining on your pasta, a car could whiz by your back at a mere four feet away. Despite the traffic and congested streets, we saw ZERO accidents to vehicles or pedestrians. Saw a lady almost tip over her scooter in a corner turn though, but she kept the greasy side down, making full use of the sole of her flat pumps.

Ciao for now. ~gregory & meghann

In an effort to acclimate to the new time zone (seven hours ahead of Nashburg), we decided to stay awake that day and sleep when the Romans sleep. This meant we would be awake for nearly 36 hours, not counting the few hours we napped on our flight.

So we hit the streets and found ourselves at The Coliseum with nearby Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum. The architectural ruins are wonders still. As the nerdy photographer/traveler that I am (can't help it), I made over 150 images in the first 3-4 hours of visiting this ancient city. A few pics of The Coliseum are posted below.

These trip updates will be a combination of tourist shots and "wow this is a beautiful country" shots with a mixture of images from the "I just see things" department. 8)

Meghann and her gladiator hero

Standing. Still.

Coliseum collonade.

From the "I see things" department: walkways inside The Coliseum.

Check back later for a Day 2 update. Sifting through images is quite the task, and my laptop battery is about to die ...

Ciao.  ~gregory & meghann

Here's to a great week everyone! ~gregory byerline

This morning I ran in my first competitive 5K in 3-4 years, and I'm excited to share the results. The event, called Shelby Bottoms Boogie 15K/5K, benefiting CASA of Davidson County (Courted Appointed Special Advocates).

CASA provides trained community volunteers to advocate for the best interests of children who come to the attention of the court primarily as a result of abuse or neglect. Last Year in Nashville, close to 2000 children were caught up in the court because they were abused, neglected or abandoned by those they loved and trusted the most. These children find themselves in foster care or temporary situations, often bouncing from home to home to home. Juvenile Courts must make critical decisions about these vulnerable children's lives, often with a disturbing shortage of facts.

After several months of training for a marathon or half-marathon, I decided to test my fitness at this 5K event. Glad I did. I finished the race in 12th overall with a time of 22:37 (7:18 pace per mile) and 1st place in my "hanging on to youth as much as possible" age group of 35-39.

Great time to test my race fitness and assess how my training is going. Pretty excited at the progress to far. Now it's time to do that pace on longer distances (ouch).  8)

Congratulations to the Nashville Striders and specifically to Jenny Magill for the hard work to make Shelby Bottoms Boogie 15K/5K a huge success. Beautiful morning for a great run.

Cheers.  ~gregory byerline