July 11,2009 -Venice

Sunflower Blown Glass Chandelier

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This morning we all got picked up in a nice boat taxi that took us over to the Mazzega Glass Factory. There they blow glass making chandeliers, vases, sculpture, and much more. We watched a vase and a horse be blown out of glass. It was amazing to see what went in to just making one little vase. I can’t imagine making a whole chandelier. I bought a small orange vase that will be fun to use at home. I also found a little frog and monkey around the town. I spent some time sketching and then we went on water taxi to St. Marks. This cathedral by far had the most amazing mosaics. After walking back to the hotel I took a short nap and worked on my blogging. Later I went out and sketched some windows on a building. Then I went with a group on a gondola ride. It was just lovely. It cost 20 euro but it was all worth it. We went kind of later at night so it was very peaceful smooth ride. I got some cool night pictures of the lights reflecting on the water.

St. Marks

View from Gondola Ride

Canal

Blown Glass Sculpture

July 10, 2009 -Venice

View of Venice

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This morning I went to Rubellis. Rubellis is a textile company here is Venice. They have a few different collections of fabric. The business was bought by Lorenzo Rubelli in 1889 and has been going strong since. Rubelli has been through five generations so far and continues to create “fabrics that are a fusion of past and present, and of craft and industry, with total respect for the company’s history.” After lunch we took a water taxi over to Fortuny’s textiles. Fortuny first started producing in the early 1990s. Their fabric has a unique and secret quality to it. The colors go from light to dark within the fabric. All their fabric is printed giving its unique quality. It has been interesting to see so many different fabrics. There are almost endless possibilities when deciding what fabric to use. Later I found some fun masks and glass rings to add to my souvenir collection.

Rialto Bridge

Window

Fortuny Fabric

Building along the Water

July 9, 2009 -Venice

A Canal

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This morning I did some more shopping. Then later I meet up with everyone at the hotel to go to the train station to depart to Venice. To get to our hotel we took a water taxi. This is what Venice uses as a metro. There are buildings lining the water in all different sizes and colors casting beautiful reflections in the water. So far I have only seen boats used as transportation within the city. It would be so different to go out of your door and drive your boat to work. Our hotel here is very nice. My roommate and I ended up with one of the suites and it is quite the awesome room. It has a green theme with a king size bed, sofa, sitting area, upholstered walls, and 15ft ceilings. After checking in we walked over to the Rialto Bridge. It is on the grand canal and has one of the best views of Venice. Tonight I tried a calzone for dinner, it was not good at all and was a waste of money. I am very much ready for American food again.

View from Rialto Bridge

Hotel Room

Clock Tower

Building

July 8,2009 -Florence

Ponte Vecchio

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I decided that today would be a good day to take it easy. So I slept in and got ready and got some homework done. Then I went out and sketched a dome of a church. Then I went shopping and found some black beads, a purse, wallet, and some scarfs. There are so many different unique buildings, doors, and light fixtures throughout the town. Later I went with a small group up to the lookout point again and sketched the Duomo. I tried on some fun masks on the way. Today we actually watched the sun set completely. The whole city was a glow and the reflections on the water were amazing. Then we got some gelato at Grom again. I tried milk mint and extraordinary chocolate. Again it was very yummy.

Mask

Unique Rings


Dome of a church

House Bridge

July 7, 2009 -Florence

Baptistry Ceiling

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Today we started off at the Uffizi Gallery. It is full of paintings done by Michelangelo, Giotto, Da Vinci, Rueben, Raphael, Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Botticelli, and much more. It is so inspiring to see the actual paintings after studying them in my art history class. Looking in a textbook at those paintings is just not the same and doesn’t give them justice. Then we headed over to the Academia. This also houses many paintings but is famous for housing Michelangelo’s statue of David. We stayed a sketched the statue of David which gave me a better appreciation of sculpting. It was hard enough to just draw him on paper; I can’t imagine carving him out of marble. Then we made our way over to the Baptistery. It is full of golden mosaics. After the Baptistery we all went into the Duomo. It was quite plain compared to the outside and other cathedrals that I’ve seen. Then with the group we went on a sketching adventure. We started off at a bridge and did a perspective sketch of the Ponte Vechico. Then we had some sketching classes and sketched some different architectural details. Then we went on a hike up a bunch of stairs to a lookout point to see all of Florence. The view was beautiful, I just had to stand still for a moment and take it all in. The sun was starting to set which helped make some great modeling pictures. For dinner we went to Adqua Al 2. I had the pasta sampler which consisted of five different pastas. The spinach ended up being my favorite. Then I got a sample of cheesecake, fruit pie, and chocolate cake for dessert.

View of Florence

Duomo


Interior Dome in Duomo

Statue