Living the Dream with Tuscany Easy Travel
“Meet Marradi” … the people, the town, and the spirit of a special village in Italy. This is the place where I live, work, and play.
When I am asked about my story and how I arrived in this small town of Marradi, Italy. My response is always, “Marradi found me!” When I say that, I most certainly mean “I.” There is no other way to put it into words.
My goal in this blog entry is to give you an idea of how truly lucky I am to be part of this community; not only because of the people, but also because of the beautiful area, and a way of life I have fully embraced and can not imagine life anywhere else.
The first person I want you to meet in my “Meet Marradi” blog is my friend Ellen. I am so thankful to have her as my friend and business partner. When it comes to providing me with professional photos, she is “eccellente” (how about that, I just taught you an Italian word – “excellent”). Because we are both ex-pats, she is a person I count on when I need a hand and when I feel the need to speak a little English.
Ellen experiencing her photo session style on the other side of the camera.
Ellen Brandwijk is originally from Holland, and has lived all over the world with her husband Lex, who worked in the oil and gas industry. The couple, and their three boys, has lived in Texas and California, as well as in South America and the Middle East. Lex and Ellen have been vacationing in Marradi for over 40 years. Along that unique and interesting path through life, Ellen worked on developing her passion for photography. She is mostly self-taught, has shot photos utilizing a variety of styles, but a few years ago she started specializing in magazine style portrait photography. After working in the Middle East as a portrait photographer for six years, she has settled in Marradi and has a studio here.
When you look through the Tuscany Easy Travel website, you will see her photos. Ellen’s photos have her copyright/watermark embedded in them. She will be the photographer for the segment of this blog, “Meet Marradi.”
Ellen will be available to my guests if they wish to schedule a photo shoot while in Italy; in studio or on location. What a wonderful way to commemorate your experience in Italy with a one of a kind professional portrait. Have a look at her page www.facebook.com/EllenBrandwijkPhotography to get an idea of her work. She is currently working on a new website.
From my personal experience she makes you look and feel better in a photo than you thought possible. Here are a few of her photos that I am sure will capture your interest. I am so excited to see how we work together to promote and capture the people and places of Marradi.
Below: Ellen’s photos documenting an authentic cooking class at Palazzo Torriani in Marradi.
One of my photos from the professional photo shoot with Ellen
