Italy Part 3: Florence

This was drawn after a very rainy morning. I need to design that urban sketcher sit-upon. Only cooler than the ones we made in girl scouts though.

Here is a vine video sketching on location: https://vine.co/v/bdbu6ubdLwn

I was sitting on the steps of the Duomo for this one. There were throngs of people around and lots of students eating gelato.

It was very cold. I sketched until my hand was numb.

Vine video: https://vine.co/v/bdnxVt3H6q2

Christina Wald view of the Duomo from the tower

Florence, Italy Part 2: Greve in Chianti

Wine tasting platter. We each got one...

As promised, more Italy. These posts take a lot of time so are less frequent. There is so much to sort through. I can only really show the shadows on the wall so to speak.

My cousin Maria and her husband Tom arranged for a wine tasting and tour of the Chianti area of Italy. We were driven around in a van and went to the adorable town of Greve in Chianti. 

 (We bought some sausage with truffle oil tin the town which was very addictive...)

Shop in Greve in Chianti

The aging hams for prosciutto also called Parma ham

Glorious cheese Gromit

The winery

Logo

We left the town and our guide Gianni took us to Castello di Verrazzano for the sctually wine tasting and tour.

More of the estate...

Touring the grounds...

We had a wine tasting plate (seen above), four types of Chianti, and finished with a cordial of Vin Santo with biscotti.

The pour

The four varieties

The finish...

Our guide owns a restaurant called Ristorante Academia Firenze. We ate dinner there a couple days later.

More soon!

If you rub the boar's nose, you will return!

Florence Part 1

Family who traveled with me: Tom, Maria, Gaby, Susan(Mom), Rosie and me peeking from behind. This was in Greve in Chianti as part of our wine tour. This is the Chianti Rooster. Only wines from this region can bear the black rooster seal.

The official Chianti seal

I just got back Tuesday. What a wonderful experience. If I had my druthers, I would only sketch and travel, but occasionally will have to do.

We left Monday, March 11th. As part of the urban sketching fun, I took Vine videos of my locations. Here is the airport one: https://vine.co/v/bwP25FH9avd

Sketch while waiting to fly to JFK from O' Hare

We arrived in Milan early Tuesday. It was rainy, but that is spring for you. We took a high speed train to Florence. I so wish we had these types of trains in the USA. Imagine a train ride to Chicago in under 2 hours from Cincinnati. One can dream...

The train station in Milan is a fortress. It was built in the 1930's by Mussolini.

Quickie sketch in Milano Centrale

We finally reached our apartment behind the Medici Chapel. This is the awesome view from our apartment. https://vine.co/v/bwl0aObi0qt

Medici Chapel from our apartment...

Pano of our apartment dining room and living room