Florence, Siena, and RomanTICs!

As anticipated, following our return from the second study travel trip our time was consumed by finishing our final projects and preparing to return to the States. A highlight reel of the trip:

• In Florence we saw Brunelleschi's Dome and Michelangelo's David, shopped along the Ponte Vecchio, and explored the Uffizi Gallery.
  
• In Siena we slowed down, enjoyed the Piazza del Campo, saw where the new James Bond movie was filmed, lost at least two sketchbooks, and the girls and Chris L. went horseback riding through the Tuscan countryside.
  
• In the hill towns of San Gimignano, Pienza, and Montepulciano we dodged rain and bought expensive wine. But mostly hid from the rain.
  
• In Orvieto we saw the cathedral, the underground city of caves, and St. Patrick's well, and bought lots of painted pottery for souvenirs and gifts.
  
• In Rome we saw the Roman Forum, the Coliseum, the Vatican, the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, EUR... and Sara got eaten alive by bedbugs at our hotel.

Overall, it was a full, exciting trip dampened only by that "little" bedbug problem at the end. Unfortunately, our hectic schedule upon returning didn't leave anytime for sharing our sketchbooks, so you'll have to see them for yourself when we get back home!

Study Travel Trip Two

It seems like just yesterday we were returning home from our various independent travels. Now we are setting off again as one group for our second extended study trip. We leave tomorrow morning for Firenze, Siena, Tuscan hill towns, Orvieto, and Roma. I am posting the basic itinerary again for those of you following our travels from home.

Saturday November 1
Depart Genova at 8:52 am. Arrive Firenze at 12:33.
Explore Firenze for the rest of the day.

Sunday November 2
9:30 Reserved visit to Museo Uffizi
2:30 Reserved visit to Museo Accademia

Monday November 3
9:30 Reserved visit to Museo Bargello

Tuesday November 4
Depart Firenze at 10:10. Arrive Siena at 11:38
Free day

Wednesday November 5
Free day in Firenze

Thursday November 6
8:30 Leave Siena with a private rental bus to visit the Tuscan hill towns of San Gimignano, Pienza, Montepulciano.
Transfer to Orvieto in the late afternoon.

Friday November 7
9:00 Welcome Presentation at Centro Studi Citta di Orvieto
11:00 Guided tour to the Cathedral and to S. Brizio Chapel with Luca Signorelli.
12:30 Free time
6:30 Guided tour to the Orvieto Underground
7:30 Dinner at Parco delle Grotto

Saturday November 8
Depart Orvieto at 11:28. Arrive Roma at 12:48.
Free time in Roma.

Sunday November 9
8:30 Walking tour with Professor Stefano.

Monday November 10
9:00 Tour of EUR with Giuditta Poletti

Tuesday November 11
Depart Roma at 1:46 pm. Arrive Genova at 7:08 pm.

As usual, go to our various photo sites to follow along with the trip! When we get home I will post some excerpts from our sketchbooks again.

Study Travel Trip One

Back in September we enjoyed our first study travel trip through Venice and the surrounding area. The trip was extremely well-documented in photos, which you can see at the various photo-sharing sites listed in an earlier post. Here is a tiny sample of some of our sketchbooks from the trip. Professor Bruhns challenged us to produce at least 6-7 sketches a day, and the results were a great record of our trip. This sampling shows some of the different sites we visited, and the different drawing and recording styles each of us have. In my opinion, one of the most valuable parts of the trip was sharing our sketchbooks when we returned.


Some pages from Shana's sketchbook, which was full of color and journalistic-style text.



Sara's sketchbook, with a careful attention to architectural details and precise drawings.



A few pages from my sketchbook (Erica), of Venice, the Rialto bridge, and a bridge in Prato Della Valle in Padova.


Brian's sketchbook (well, one of them), showing his range from carefully constructed floor plans to the amazingly random "In Between Spaces at Castelvecchio"



These are from Karyn's sketchbook, one of our most prolific sketchers. I think she had over 100 sketches by the end of the trip, so detailed they read like an itinerary of the trip. Impressive!


There are so many more in each of these sketchbooks, and even more in the other students' books too. Ask about them when we return to the States!