All "Italy" Features
Switzerland Itinerary – Part 5 – Montreux to Bellagio, Italy
Ok, ok, I know Bellagio is not in Switzerland! When it came to planning our trip to Switzerland, I did not want to take any chances on weather. So, I diligently checked Switzerland’s weather statistics to make sure we were visiting the Alps at the best possible time to see them in all their splendor. [...]
The Real Bellagio
I am usually an eternal optimist. However, when it came to planning our Switzerland trip, I did not want to take any chances that all we would see was rain and heavy cloud cover. So, I diligently checked Switzerland’s weather statistics to make sure we were visiting the Alps at the best possible time to [...]
A Quick Bite in Milan, Italy
After three nights in Montreux on Lake Geneva, we stopped in Milan for lunch on our way to Lake Como. Although our stop in Milan would only last three hours, we needed lunch anyway and it was hard to resist trying to photograph the Milan Cathedral when it was so close to the train station. [...]
High Noon at Milan Station
How convenient that the clock was wrong when I took this shot in Milan’s central train station last week. It was actually about 2:30pm. In Switzerland this would never happen but in Italy you never know! Donna and I were waiting for our train to Lake Como when I decided to get the camera out [...]
“Portovenere View” Oil Painting
In Italy last summer, to escape the Cinque Terre tourist crush, we stayed just south of the five famous fishing villages in a town called Portovenere. It’s about a 20 minute cab ride on a twisty hillside road from La Spezia. The town was home to mostly Italian tourists, had a laid back atmosphere, and [...]
“Drying on the Line” Oil Painting
I couldn’t stop thinking about starting a new painting so I thought I would try to fit one in before another this weekend. When Donna and I visited Italy last summer, we made a side trip from Florence to San Gimignano and Sienna. Not wanting to rent a car and try to navigate our way out [...]
Lake Garda Hotel Sketch
This is a sketch of a really sweet looking hotel we saw while visiting Lake Garda in Italy last summer. It was a beautiful clear day and the harsh light on the building caught my eye. I am trying to focus on values and edges at the moment and sketching seems like the best way [...]
Two Days at the Palazzo Rosso Farm in Vicenza, Italy
While in Italy, we had the good fortune of staying at the Palazzo Rosso Farm, which is a sprawling 400 property 15 kilometers south of the historic city of Vicenza and 1 kilometer from the beautiful Colli Berici Hills. We were the guest of one of Donna’s long-time friends from high shool who recently decided to [...]
The subtle charm of Siena and San Gimignano, Italy
While in Florence, Italy, we took a day trip to the Tuscan hill towns of Siena and San Gimignano. Not wanting to rent a car and attempt to get out of Florence in one piece, we elected to take a tour bus to both destinations. We stopped in Siena first after a 90-minute bus ride, [...]
Venice, Italy Photo Series
I have a few things to say about Venice beyond this post but I think I will wait for them and focus on this Venice photo series, which is a compilation of a few of my favorites from our visit. Venice is all about walking, which gave me a great opportunity to shoot and reshoot [...]