My Italy Sketchbook. Day Three...from Venice to Florence

So our weekend in Venice has come to an end...on our last morning I did a quick, and not very successful, watercolor sketch of the Rialto bridge. If I'm brave I may post it later! This is the view from our water taxi as we headed to the train station. Arevederci, Venezia!

We arrived in Florence on a beautiful, sunny afternoon. Our travel agent had said to just "take a cab ride" from the train station to our hotel. So we did. It was the shortest cab ride ever. Our hotel was right around the corner! Oh well...at least that's the only cab ride we need in Florence. It is so easy to walk everywhere...we really saw a lot during our 4 days in the city. After a nice dinner we walked along the Arno River. Behind me is the Ponte Vecchio. All of the little shops on the bridge sell jewelry, in case you are interested!

Apparently Italian canines appreciate the view, too!

Another bridge over the Arno.

We only walked for a short while before we realized traffic is CRAZY in Florence! Most of the people drive very small cars, such as this three-wheeled yellow car, or little Vespa scooters. Everyone drives fast, and when a HUGE tour bus rounds a corner, no one slows down - they SPEED UP and dare to cut in front of the enourmous bus!

The Piazza Ognissanti.

Only a couple blocks from our hotel was the Santa Maria Novella, a beautiful church. We visit the church later in our trip.

We crash early...tomorow we head out on a Chianti Wine tour after exploring the Boboli Gardens.

My Italy Sketchbook. Day Two...Afternoon in Venice

So after a lovely morning exploring St. Mark's Square and Murano glass, David and I were looking forward to a relaxing afternoon. We were very lucky...we happened to be in Venice the day of the Regata Storica. Also....we were staying in a hotel right next to the Rialto bridge...with a balcony...where we could watch the whole thing! The first picture shows the Grand Canal as we approached the first part of the program - the parade.

This is a picture of what the canal usually looks like - LOTS of boats! Motorized and otherwise - all driven by men who never go less than 30MPH on the water - including while they are parking! They speed into a dock space then slam it in reverse. And they cut each other off like maniacs! I thought it was crazy...of course, that ended up being mild once I experienced a cab ride in Rome...but more on that later!

So as the parade and race was getting under way, we saw many of the teams warming up - here is a team in blue shirts and an orange boat - I loved the colors!

Here is a shot of the Rialto bridge as the crowds began to gather. I felt so awful for all of the spectators who perched atop the bridge to watch - as the race got started, the cops removed everyone from the bridge! The streets became very crowded.

As the afternoon went on many spectators appeared in the windows up and down the canal...

Here is our group watching from our perch. I think we ended up spending 7 hours eating, drinking, reading, watching and talking! It was a lovely afternoon.

The parade was wonderful - all of the teams participated as well as several boats in a "pageantry" style - lots of colorful costumes, as if they were royalty from long ago arriving in Venice.

More parade shots...

I hope this works - this is a short video of the younger competitors rounding the marker. As the teams make the turn, you can hear the announcer call out the order by team color "rosso verde bianco celeste".

I do have a couple of sketches to add - I'll post those later!

My Italy Sketchbook. Day Two...Morning in Venice

Our second day in Venice was very busy. We started the morning with a tour of St. Mark's Square, or Piazza San Marco. It was a wonderful tour with a native of Venice as our guide. Before I get into the portion of the tour in St. Mark's Square, a bit of info she shared about gondolas...that have always been painted black.

Also, gondoliers have always been male. Currently, one woman is in training to become a gondolier. Her father was one as well. When asked how the Venetians felt about this, she said...in all honesty...that most people feel that gondoliers are more than just men driving a boat - they have almost a mythical status, and have always been male. I got the impression that as a female Venetian she wasn't all that thrilled with the idea.

As our tour got started we talked a about the Basilica, which housed St. Mark's tomb. The remains were stolen in the night...there's even a mosaic depicting the theft!
The outside of the Basilica has more than 400 columns, of all different kinds of precious marble. It really was beautiful.When large buildings were being constructed, trees were buried under the ground to give additional support. Many refer to this as "the forest under Venice". There was a great picture in the square depicting how trees were placed close together, buried in the ground as the base for the heaviest buildings. It was also explained that if someone cut a tree down without authority, they were hung on the next closest tree and left on display for three days. (Our guide explained that this is also why it is considered bad luck to walk thru the two columns at the edge of St. Mark's square...it mirrors walking between the two trees where the accused would hang) We then went inside Doge's Palace, stopping in the courtyard to admire the architecture. In the lower left, you can see one of many large well heads that were used to collect fresh water. Providing fresh water to the people has always been a challenge for the Venetian people. If one was caught tampering with the precious public supply, they would be hanged.

A beautiful staircase in the courtyard.

This carved face shows one of the elements of Venetian government. If you wanted to accuse someone of a crime, you would write the accusation, sign it, and have two others witness it. Then, the accusation could be placed in the mouth. If the accusation proved to be true, the accused would face justice and the accuser would remain anonymous. However, if anyone ever falsely accused someone, everyone who signed that paper would be in big trouble. I'm pretty sure more hanging from a tree was involved...

Inside Doge's palace...the gorgeous LaScala d'Oro, or Golden Staircase. (Photographs were not allowed after this section.)

Me standing next to that amazing staircase in the courtyard.
After our tour of the square, we were invited to take a boat ride to the Murano Glass factory. Once we made sure that we would get a ride back (there are many free rides over there - but you have to buy some glass if you want a free ride back!) we decided to hop on the boat and head over to the factory. The view from the boat heading away from the square.

Inside the Murano Glass factory, we watched as a master glass artist, who I believe over 40 yrs of experience, create a vase and a small glass figure. Glass blowing is becoming an endangered art in Murano - in the 1960's there were over 60 glass artisans, now they have only 15. It's sad to think that these respected artists (click on the Murano link to learn more) have fallen prey to a common problem - to study to be a master glass maker requires time and commitment, often with very little pay, and many of today's youth are unwilling to do that. As our guide said "most want to play soccer".

I have my own theory as well...our whole tour of the factory was one long sales' pitch to buy, what I thought, was very "dated" and "tacky" looking glass. Very little was said about the history of the factory, it's place in the Venetian history, it's legendary glass making techniques. The master glass blowers must feel like they are trained monkeys at this point, shilling for the tourists who pour thru rather than creating "art". But I digress...(oh and there's the one shot I got of inside the showroom before I was told "no pictures!")Waiting outside the factory for our boat.

The sidewalk and shops near the glass factory.

Well all that was before 1:PM! I will have to share our afternoon in Venice watching the Regata Storica in the Grand Canal in my next post!

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.....

I *heart* dooce

Ok, if you are familiar with the blogging world or twitterverse at all, you have seen the name dooce once or twice. You may have even read her blog. I am not a daily reader, but I do stop in for a dose of dooce from time to time. Last night I woke up at 3 am and by 4 am gave up trying to get back to sleep and grabbed my laptop (hey, you never know what's going on in Etsy's forums at 4 am!) And in my journeys I came across this post on dooce's blog, which is basically the best thing I have read in a while. Not Cormac MrCarthy's "The Road" or anything like that...but it's got a little bit of everything that makes a story great - laughter, love, a few curse words, a heroine, a villain, and best of all, a happy ending. Oh yeah, and my favorite line ever about sex with a major appliance (it's a short list of lines, but the top spot is highly coveted)

http://www.dooce.com/2009/08/28/containing-capital-letter-or-two