Tuesday, September 15, 2009

My Italy Sketchbook.Day One...Venice

Hi! I have missed updating my blog! David and I just returned from our 10th Anniversary trip to Italy. It was just fantastic. We had gorgeous weather almost the entire time and visited three wonderful cities - Venice, Florence and Rome. Armed with my camera and my sketchbook, I was determined to learn and see a lot! I am planning on sharing both my sketchbook drawings and my photos - a little bit from each day of our journey (it took a while to narrow down the 634 shots I took! Thank goodness for digital!) Please enjoy!

The first shot is out of the airplane window as we approached Italy - the Alps were gorgeous from the air! Little villages were tucked in valleys thru out.

When you arrive in Venice, you might consider having an escort meet you - from the airport, we had an escort take us to a water taxi and assist in transporting our luggage. (As we walked from the airport to the water taxis, we passed Viggo Mortenson on his way towards the airport! For the next two days I kept saying "You know who that is - that is Viggo!" like the guy from Ghostbuster's 2...

Our first glimpse of Venice in the water taxi!
The Rialto Bridge - one of the most famous bridges over the Grand Canal in Venice. Our hotel was right next to it.
We were very lucky that when we arrived at 9:30 am local time we were permitted to check into our room early...both of us were ready for a power nap after not sleeping at all on the 7 hour plane ride from NYC! Much to our dismay, our room was SO bright! The only window coverings were sheer white curtains! I couldn't sleep at all.
Little did we know...and David did not discover this until 3:am that night when the voices outside woke us up...that there were wooden shutters that you could close! You had to open the windows, reach out, and pull them shut! So, if you ever arrive in Venice early in the morning and need a power nap...close the shutters!

A view from the top of the Rialto Bridge.

And a view from the side steps.

David and I standing atop one of the many other bridges connecting the 118 small islands that make up Venice.
Walking down a narrow alley between the buildings.
One of the narrow canals in between the islands.

A gorgeous reflection of some colorful Venetian buildings.

David standing in the very busy St. Marks' Square. (I have lots more from St. Mark's square...I'll share that in the next entry!)
A view across the water from St. Mark's square - San Giorgio Maggiore
The sun setting on our first day in Italy.....

7 comments:

Jamie Ribisi-Braley said...

How beautiful!! I went to Italy a couple of years ago but did not visit Venice. Love the colors there (and in all of Italy)! Can't wait to see your other photos from Florence & Rome!

I was just commenting to my hubby the other day that one really nice part about Italy was that you could open up your windows all the way and there was no screen. It was just open to the elements but there weren't any bugs at all (at least when we were there in November). It was so different that here in the States. I loved it! And I love all the little villages!

-Jamie

HD said...

Great pictures of Venezia. Reminded me of our trip to this wonderful city in 2006. - I am looking forward to your pictures of Florence and Rome. And I am looking forward to your sketchbook pics. - Take care, HD

Bridget said...

wow what a lovely anniversary vacation...thank you for sharing your trip & great photos

Pegi said...

What beautiful pictures! Is it possible to take a bad one in Venice? And Viggo!!!! Have you ever seen his paintings? He's really good! They have his paintings at the beginning of that movie he did with Gwenyth Paltrow and Michael Douglas.
Glad you're home! We missed you!!

Krystyna81 said...

Hi Jamie-

I agree - the lack of bugs was a real bonus! Once we figured out the windows, we did enjoy the air...the colors were so beautiful. I took so many pictures of buildings whose colors I loved - the combinations of the reds and blues or greys and yellows...so inspiring!

Krystyna81 said...

Hi HD and Bridget...I'm so glad you like the photos!

Pegi...I kicked myself for about a day and a half for not just trying to shake Viggo's hand and say "I loved your paintings in "A Perfect Murder" " ! I loved that movie and his work...oh well! And you are right - it's hard to take a bad picture in Venice! And I have about 200 of them to prove it :) I actually had to force myself to PUT THE CAMERA DOWN!

Michelle said...

Watch out for the bugs in Florence! All Italy is not bug-free!! This is the PERFECT time of year to visit. All the best to you!