gluten-free rome, pt. one: pasta in piazza della rotonda.

so, by now you probably all know that i'm a bit of a travel addict. i am obsessed with experiencing culture, and for me, half of experiencing culture is experiencing new foods! but being a gluten-free eater, it's always significantly harder to find food i can actually eat while i'm traveling. i often find myself eating nothing but ice cream (not complaining, but some real food is nice on occasion!) fortunately, the whole celiac and gluten-intolerant movement is growing, so it's becoming even easier (remember how hard it was to eat last time i was in italy?) 

that being said, it's still not easy. especially in carb-heavy italy. though i read blog post after blog post reassuring me that it wouldn't be hard to find gluten-free food in italy-- that a lot of italians are gluten intolerant-- i wouldn't say that was really the case. although all of the restaurant owners were aware of celiac, it was actually pretty difficult to find restaurants that sold any sort of gluten-free pasta or pizza (anything different than just a salad or risotto or meat dish). 

and i mean, when you're in italy, you want pizza and pasta. am i right? 

so i'm going to share a few travel secrets from you guys of my favorite gluten-free tips and stops whilst on my around-the-world trip. and i'm starting with the most pleasant of lunches i shared with my lovely friend hannah in rome!

after wandering from restaurant to restaurant, searching for gluten-free pasta, we stumbled upon piazza della rotonda, which just so happens to be the home to the stunning pantheon. a charming italian waiter tried to sell us on the idea of eating at his patio in the piazza (directly facing the pantheon, might i add), but we were hesitant. as a rule, eating anywhere near a big tourist site in any european city is costly and often of low quality. 

but signore waiter showed us the menu (bruschetta + pizza or pasta + drink for ten euro), and we looked at the view, and we couldn't turn it down. 

so we found ourselves at restaurante neopoli, and i found myself eating gluten-free pasta in rome. 

really delicious gluten-free pasta in rome, might i add. 

the sauce was fresh and full of herby, tomato-y goodness. and the pasta was cooked perfectly. hannah had a delicious-looking (and she will back me up on this) bruschetta and margherita pizza (to be pictured on another post!) 

the warm march sun surrounded us as we enjoyed our food, the surroundings, and each other's good company. it really felt just idyllically roman, in the most touristy of senses. it was just simply pleasant. 

want to know a funny little detail? aforementioned charming waiter came over when we asked for the bill and said, "you don't have to pay." we said that we wanted to pay, and so he responded, "okay, you come back and pay tomorrow?" although he was pretty insistent on the idea of us returning the following day to pay (we weren't sure if he was part of the mafia and trying to trap us or just didn't really know how to flirt), we paid our bill and made our way to explore the inside of the pantheon. 

which, for the record, was incredible. 

moral of the story?: when in rome, do as the (celiaca) romans do. eat at neopoli's and visit the pantheon. 

more gluten-free eats abroad to come... next gluten-free friday! XO. 

product line release: calendars for a cause.

hey, you guys! i am so excited to introduce a new product line with you. 

i am always looking for ways to use my photography to give back and help the community. i have been lucky enough to work for various NGOs and volunteer at various service events both domestically and abroad, and i've thus acquired a plethora of photos from my travels and these events!

i'm asked quite often what i do with all of my images from my travels. why don't i enter them into more contests? national geographic? travel books? 

well, after much thinking, i've come up with a solution! i'm carefully piecing together my images and crafting a product line to share my work, to inspire, and to help give back. i am in the process of designing premium calendars, products, and press-printed photo books to share with you all. 

and the best part? 25% of the earnings from each of these products goes directly to the NGO/non-profit of your choice. i have worked with so many wonderful organizations; i'd love to keep supporting them through my photos! 

you can choose to donate to:

the DREAM project: poverty eradication and community building through education in the dominican republic

eagle-condor humanitarian: health, education, micro loans, + development work in south america

open arms malawi: orphanage in malawi, africa

the shine project: scholarship fund for inner-city teens 

i wholeheartedly endorse each of these organizations and would love to see them keep succeeding!

so today, i'm giving you a preview of my first calendar-- tropical treasures.

because who doesn't love dreaming of the beach 12 months a year?

11x17 premium calendars priced at $32.00 

pre-order today by e-mailing amgleave@gmail.com or join our mailing list for updates on future product design releases!  

and check out the "travel" tab of my website for some sneak peeks at future calendar/book designs! 

www.annagleavephotography.com

anna gleave photography is moving!

you guys, we're going to start seeing a lot of changes around here!

although i'm sad to separate my business from my personal blog, we've got big things in the work over on a new photo blog {we're talking pinterest, y'all!}

i've been working on loads of new projects and have so many shoots to share with you guys. 

i can't wait for it all to be ready soon! 

until then, i'll tease you a little bit with this gem:

recently featured here and here. 

www.annagleavephotography.com

diana + ana: the tale of two americanas.

this post has been sitting in my draft box for literally almost two years now. and considering it heavily involves one of my best friends in the whole wide world (whose birthday it just so happens to be today!), i figured there's no better time than the present to share! 

let's take it back to june 2011. 

madrid, spain. approximately 1:35 a.m. metro stop sol, red line. 

enter, these two (guapa) girls:

note: i'm totally aware that this photo makes me look like an alien, but i'm with a magnum bar, so i feel pretty okay about it. 

these two had recently become best friends, after sharing a 4x4 room in a suburb of madrid, spain for a summer. they may or may not have been out a bit past curfew on a weekend night (it was before the time of yolo, but they were a bit ahead of the curve, with the summer motto "always down"), exploring the city and walking the gran via. this evening exploration also just might have coincided perfectly with the victory of f.c. barcelona in the champion's league final. 

needless to say, the city was a liiiittle bit excited! cars honking their ways through the streets, barcelona flag's waving everywhere, and drunken men shouting cheers of celebration at every pub-- it was madness. 

as two rubias, they made it through the chaos without problems and stepped into the metro station to make their way back to alcalá, but as they waited for their train, they were noticed from across the platform. 

"ey! hola, guapas!" spotted. 

"AMERICAAAANAS! GUAPAS!" shouted another. 

it was as if a spanish boy band had stepped onto the platform and was anxiously searching some american backup dancers. but here's the thing; they actually looked like a spanish boy band. so dreamy.  

the girls had gotten pretty good at ignoring cat calls after a few months in europe, but their train was mere minutes away, and they were a whole platform away from these men, so they decided to have a little fun with it. 

after a few flirtatious exchanges lots of "te amo!s" (from the americans) and "I LOOOV YEW!s" (from the spaniards), their train arrived, and they hurried onto it...

only to be bombarded by heaps of blown kisses!
the only natural response to this was to blow kisses back, to which the spaniards responded by enthusiastically catching the kisses mid-air.

and then they were gone forever, the girls' spanish dreamboats... and their hopes of being in the next big latino music video.

carnival in the sacred valley.

at this point, i've seen a lot of really cool things and witnessed so many unique cultural experiences. 

but one that kinda sorta just might top the list?

carnival in the sacred valley of peru! 

carnival is a religious holiday that takes place all around the globe. 

it's especially big in south america, and where i was living [cajamarca] is actually one of the cities with the biggest carnival celebration! 

well, i happened to be visiting the cusco region with my parents during carnival this year, and so we took advantage of the celebration and stopped at a small town, pisac, that is nestled inside the sacred valley for the day to witness the celebrations.

from the market to the native costumes to the dancing, carnival was so full of vibrance and color. 

i think the coolest part of it all was that it was so authentic; it was no luau at the haitt!

 the people from many of the various surrounding indigenous tribes came down from their mountains, dressed in their traditional garb, and celebrated with their own traditional dances. 

they could have cared less about the few random gringos standing around with their dslrs (ahem, me) snapping billions of photos... because they were so excited to celebrate their culture in their own way. 

that being said...! once the water guns broke out to start the carnival water fight, us gringos were definitely taken note of. as attested to by my mom getting totally covered in foam when she tried to snap some photos of a "cute" five-year-old.

good thing my parents are as adventurous as i am! 

boundless.

we are boundless creatures.

-kobi yamada

i am so excited to start sharing with you some of the projects i've been working on using my international photography work.

i'm continually inspired by people i've met all around the world. 

and i think you could be inspired by them too!

thus, i'm starting a product line of calendars, books, and gifts featuring my international photos-- meant to inspire. 

and the best part? 25% of all purchases will be used to help those in need! i'm donating a quarter of all funds raised to one of the three non-profits i worked for internationally (you choose which one!)

more details to come. products available by the end of the month!

six reasons to be happy.

i think back to a few months ago, when i was traveling europe. i don't exactly know why, but i just have the most vivid memory of a precise moment in which i felt so alive, so young, and so, so happy. 

we were exploring stockholm, sweden, and paused for a second to photograph the ships and buildings along the sea. as i looked out on the baltic and munched on swedish candy, sun shining down on my face in the twenty-something-degree weather, i felt like i couldn't be happier. 

like life couldn't be better.

fast forward a few months, and i'm here in provo, utah... readjusting to life in the states, life beyond college, and a few new life stages.
 i'm having the hardest time reconciling my many worlds-- my life in utah with my life/experiences in peru. even though it's been over a month since i've been back, my brain just can't seem to wrap itself around the grand disparities, and i can't really bridge the gap between who i was before i moved to peru and who i am now, away from peru. i don't really know where i fit in, and i'm soon moving to a city i've never visited and will be attending a university in which i've never step foot. i also have absolutely no idea how i am going to pay for said university.

to say i am a little bit anxiety ridden would be an understatement.

so i'm trying really, really hard to choose to be happy. 

and today, here are six reasons why: 

1. every day, we're given the chance to start over. to begin again, and to create something new of ourselves. 

2.  we are more loved than we think-- more loved than we'll ever know.

3. no matter how much we experience, there's always more to see, more to learn, and more adventures to be had. 

4. we are better off than we think. 

5. we are and always will be beloved children of god.

6. street tacos will always make everything better, even if it's just for a second.