Day 4

Today we woke up around 7:15 a.m. I had breakfast, got ready for the day. At 9 we gathered in the large living room on the third floor apartment for a small discussion about Saturday's events (Punta Della & Accedemia).

After discussion we walked to St. Mark's Square and to Doge's Palace. We didn't go inside the Basilica today because the line was really long, but we will do that another day. We walked through Doge's palace. We saw some really large ceiling paintings and Emily and I walked through the chambers/prison cells. I think I enjoyed the outside more than the inside, personally. We sat oustide in the courtyard and sketched the architecture for a few hours. It was funny because people kept taking pictures of all us students sitting there drawing. I also got a kick from watching all the tourists pass through and see how they interacted with eachother and the environment. I was really frustrated drawing at first. Then I talked to Matt and bascially what I got out of the conversation was to map out what was going on instead of focusing on what is darker/lighter or just on one object. That was really helpful, and I feel like I got two fairly decent drawings out of it.
We took a lunch break after the drawing session. We came home and ate some leftovers, then Emily and I went and got gelato and walked around for 45 minutes. We did A LOT of walking today. My feet hurt and I need better shoes.
At around 4:30 p.m. we all walked over to the Pantalon to see the Fumiani ceiling paintings, which I was kind of excited for...but the church was closed! Matt's guide book was apparently out of date. We had the rest of the day to do what we wanted. Lilly, Mckenzie, Emily, and I walked around San Polo (a "cheaper" are for shopping). There were a lot of touristy shops around Rialto bridge, and only a few clothing stores that were less expensive. I found a nice blue sun dress that I am going to wear tomorrow to the Cemetary Islands. I was excited for that because today I wore my jeans and that sucked! I still need to find a skirt to wear with all the tops I brought, and some new shoes, and bag for carrying my money and sketchbook. I thought it would be easier to find things I liked here. We kind of joked as we were walking by the Versace, Dolce & Gabana, and Fendi stores. We saw men in black with radios on their ears, guarding the doors, and if they were in those stores we knew we couldn't even afford to step into one. Sad, but true!

The night was relaxed. I think everyone was tired from all the walking around.

Day 3

I'm going to try and keep publishing at the end of each day, just so I can remember how amazing this experience was years from now. I also swore to myself that I wouldn't turn this blog into a diary of sorts, but this trip is an exception, considering it's for art. So here you go.

We woke up late today...really late. It was 11:30 before we finally got out of bed. But, within an hour, Emily, Lilly, and I were ready for the beach. Lilly is the new friend we made, that attends the U of U, and is also on the study abroad trip. We got on the vaporetto on the grand canal, got off on the wrong stop, got back on the vaporetto, then got off on our correct stop: Lido Island. It wasn't even 5 minutes from the stop that we found a bike rental shop, and within another 3 minutes we had ourselves 3 beach cruisers. We rode around for at least 45 minutes, almost purposefully misguiding ourselves even though we had a map directing us right to the "best beach on lido." As we rode around, I just kept repeating, "this is so amazing (beautiful, incredible, add any adjective of the sort in there)." I probably annoyed them both but I could not help myself. I could live like that every day. If I could move to Italy, I probably would. When I get back to Utah (and have recooperated enough funds), I am buying myself a bicycle.

At the beach we layed in the beautiful sun, swam in the mediterranean sea, and talked for a few hours. We got a later start than we had hoped for so we didn't spend a whole lot of time lounging around, but it was enough. I did some sketches and took some pictures. It truly was "Le dolce vita." The sweet life. We are definetly going back this weekend when we have another free day. Emily and I agreed we would much rather spend 20-25 euro on a beach day than over 100 going to Rome (which would require a 14 hour round-trip train ride--no thanks). We are probably going to Florence on the last weekend though. There's plenty to see in Venice as it is.

Returning back to the apartment we decided to cook dinner together (everyone else was out and about doing their own thing). We made pasta and a really tasty garlic sauce, and some roasted veggies. We drank some wine in there too. Suddenly our floor was the happening place, everyone was in our tiny kitchen talking and eating. It was fun. After dinner and cleanup, we sat in the living room and I drew Emily. My drawing turned out okay except for her head I think. I'm not good at faces :( Eve drew me at the same time and that came out pretty good.

I swear it's basically impossible not to want to create art while you are here. It is something in the air. I had no desire back in Utah to do anything after school was out. Now I want to draw every day, and I'm considering (and probably will end up) buying some conte crayons or pastels from an art shop around here. Maybe even some watercolor to get some good color images from this trip. I am going to go look tomorrow.

This trip has been worth every dime. I have been saving for years and I would do it all over agin. It has been the trip of a lifetime and it's just the beginning. I just hope at the end of this I can bring something back to my own work. Nicole, you would be kicking yourself in the face right now if you knew how much you were missing out on!!! Love you friend :)


Until tomorrow...

Venezia! {Days 1&2}

I am in Italy! Finally.

It is still surreal, and hasn't quite settled in. But we are here, AND have already seen so much. Wed-Fri were very long days (May 25-27). We traveled what felt like forever, and I was a little bit ill when we finally got into venice. My ears never popped ascending and descending on the planes, so I can't hear that well. My right ear finally popped yesterday, but my left is still no good, and I am a little bit congested today, however, I feel 100% better than yesterday. Friday, we all just kind of settled into the apartment, which is absolutely beautiful. We walked around, ate lunch at a little cafe where I had my first Italian pizza. Matt took us by St. Mark's Square and Doge's Palace. We didn't stay too long, just looked around to get out a bit. We also went inside of a church but I forget the name...

Today was a busy day. I feel like we have already seen so much and it's only day 1 officially. We went to Accedemia and looked at the old master's work. Some "big" names we looked at were Tintoretto, Bellini, and Veronese. We walked around for a few hours I think, and we did some drawings, and I sketched in my sketchbook as well. After that we took a break and grabbed some lunch. Emily and I got fruit cups from a little stand outside the museum and then went to a bakery and got "Pizza Margerhita," and some pastries.

Work by Bellini - quite possibly my favorite piece from Accademia

After lunch we went to the Punta Della Dogana Museum. This was a really awesome exhibition and it was my first "big time" artist show I have ever been too. I saw some Jeff Koons, Donald Judd, Julie Mehrtu, and Subodh Gupta work. Plus, tons of others. It was incredible to see all this work in person from the past and present. I can't believe what I have seen in just two days. I picked up a catalogue in the gift shop after we went through the whole exhibit.

We came back to the apartment, relaxed awhile, went to a cute little grocery store, and then we all (most of us) went to a great seafood dinner. I had a Salmon & potato dumpling dish in cream sauce, with white wine and gelato for dessert. All for about 15 euro. Italians are really funny to watch and to interact with. When dining, if you don't ask for a check you will basically sit at a table for 3 hours. They will just keep walking by and look at you. It's not like in the U.S. where your severs want you to free up the table as soon as your done. They expect you to take your time. Italians move at a glacial pace, and it's kind of nice to slow it down a bit. We did a lot today, but it doesn't seem like it just flew by. It was a fun day and I'm ready for tomorrow. Ciao!