Our Trip began in Venice…..

This past September and October, 2016, Tom and I undertook a very intense Italian road trip.  It began gently enough with nine days in Venice and five in Bologna. From Bologna we rented a car and drove down the east coast of Italy with side trips inland, ending in Lecce in Puglia. We have debriefed and have promised each other that we will remember how tired we were before setting out again.  That being said, we saw wonderful places, and met some terrific people.  Having had better than a month to recover…..we are talking about another trip next November 2017….with driving!

Our nine days in Venice were perfect, including the must do gondola ride, 

and a side trip to Burano and Murano. I loved drawing the colorful houses of Burano.

We lived in a great neighborhood in San Polo in Venice, looking out on the Scuolo Grande di San Rocco and the Basilica Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari.

Calle San Rocco

Our neighborhood canal view behind Scuolo Grande di San Rocco

Venice provided countless opportunities for sketching. Each time we stopped for coffee we tried to select a view for me.  Here are a few:

The Grand Canal, near the Rialto Mercato

Dinner view at Campo San Giacomo Dell’Orio

Our last day in Venice had to include San Marco

Two views in Cannareggio

Under the umbrellas at Arcobaleno

I’m going to save my sketches from Bologna, San Marino, Ascoli Piceno, Abbruzzo, and Puglia for future blog posts, promising not to take so long between posts in the future!