(Give this post a week, I'm still adding to it. Hit refresh). 28 days have gone by so quickly yet I've had a rainbow of experiences and am ready to feed it forward into even longer trips. I was seriously depressed and bummed to come home. I could have gone on travelling forever. But now... Continue Reading →

I can't find a reference that the Cosmati family specifically worked on these floors but they are the same age and would have been similar quality regardless. I spent over an hour admiring these floors. The designs, the color choice, the exacting stonework, the pieced borders, are stunning. Quite worn in places, obviously repaired in... Continue Reading →

I ended up making 2 posts for part 19 Bottura/Francescana on Saturday, check em both out. This post here happens to cover Sunday and Monday. Sunday Oct 4 Rehydrating and blogging at the beautiful Bologna train station as I wait for the 1:30 Frecciarosso to Firenze. Love bullet trains. Didn't realize the trip was gonna... Continue Reading →

Note: there are two part 19 posts. Some things are universal, like the desire of old men to shred: They were damn good Quick walk thru town before the journey to the country. I redeemed myself from the poor sketch of the Duomo from yesterday. New book, natch And then across the square - a... Continue Reading →

OK, the food. 179 euro All the classics, which is what I wanted to try. Anticipation shot just before the first course arrives Simultaneous serving of the first course as the table gets to know each other. Mont San Michele - Oyster, sea flavors in the foam, and beef Tartare cubes underneath. Not an oyster... Continue Reading →

N.B. I just noticed I misspelled tiramisu in several of the past posts (horrors) so please reload the pages to update your cache. I've corrected typos also. Again sad to leave this beautiful city of Bologna. My 8 nights here flew by. I found all my favorite corners of the City, my favorite breakfast place... Continue Reading →

September 30 To look up: Matt Armstrong; Emilia car driver I woke up feeling like absolutely crud today but there was no way I was going to miss my 500e (yes) tour of Lamborghini and Ferrari today. I downed 2 Tylenol and got on the bus. We walked the Lamborghini Usus factory (post chassis). Usus... Continue Reading →

It was a busy weekday morning and the taxis are taking a while to arrive at the hotel. No time for breakfast! Get on the train, we're going to Ravenna! On the platform the train was closing it's doors before I realized it was my train!  You must pay attention at the station! The train... Continue Reading →

First off, Im proud to say I must be absorbing the city, cuz several times now strangers have said, scusi, Italiano? Up and out at 815am for breakfast, this time at Bar Burreria Mercanzia with a view of the Piazza della Mercanzia. Today I'm meeting Winema one of the USK Bologna admins. Lovely person and... Continue Reading →

(some pics didn't upload, trying to fix) I'll say it again, I never thought I could draw these huge panoramic scenes, they were way too ambitious for me. This class showed me it was possible. I learned so much about color, shading, on-page blending, perspective, scale, limited palette... This was the most spectacular location I've... Continue Reading →

The clothing shops are not afraid of chartreuse in this town! Digging it, my favorite color! Gorgeous macchiato breakfast at Roxy bar, 9am, much better sketch today of the tall Torre. Gonna do Roxy every morning. This nerd had to visit Chieso San Petronio to check out the Meridian line. The church plan was aligned... Continue Reading →

A 730am meet time is a bit savage, no time for macchiato so i scarfed down a Kirkland protein bar as we waited for the tour bus. Even the taxi driver that picked me up at my hotel knew I was going to a Food Valley tour. These tours know their clients and they don't... Continue Reading →

(The part 10 post for the workshop is in the works) Took a slow morning to recover from class and from transit. I'm enjoying my fancy hotel after the last town. The marble bathroom is bigger than the room my bed is in. One challenge with Civita was no grocery, no convenience store, no bottled... Continue Reading →

Checkout is 9a - 1030a, don't miss it! Van to Civita scala, 2p, don't miss it! In between, sketch like hell! Great day to hike the hill I didn't expect a smaller town such as Orvieto to have a Cathedral so magnificent. Interestingly the bronze fore door was crafted in the 60's to replace the... Continue Reading →

Wish I'd taken a pic of this guy but my taxi driver was the very picture of Italian insouciance. Huge black Dolce Gabbana sunglasses, loose white linen top, rolled up green khaki pants legs, low profile sneakers, huge 5in stack of manly chunky silver bracelets. You know, shouldn't try too hard for that Thursday morning... Continue Reading →

Just as I'm getting used to making my way from hotel to Piazza, it's my last full day in Florence on this leg. "Super Chianti" tour today. But the meeting point is not in town and after exhausting the front desk (no reply) and the Taxi App (won't accept online booking), I end up at... Continue Reading →

Back in Florence for a few days before transit to Orvieto/Civita. Goals today: sketch the town and visit Rivoire Firenze. Breakfast across the river at Ditta Artigianale Riva d'Arno, sketched the view of the river. Is the service slow or are they ignoring me? Its a fine, fine line, so I'm gonna accept Slow Travel... Continue Reading →

Breakfast at Bar San Michele under the compassionate eye of the Madonna. Lescaut wasn't open, too bad, the walls and doorways near there are extremely sketchable. Instead I'm in the direct sun. I love the personalized napkins and sugar packets at the cafes, I've started collecting them like a damn tourist. The last of the... Continue Reading →

I've wanted to dine at Pasticceria Pinelli since I saw this place, with a tiny Roman arch'd patio with 8 tiny tables near the outdoor bookstalls. Cappuccino, chocolate roll, iced mini baguette. On a side street, but plenty of people watching even at 830am. The Slavic couple, in transit to their witness protection program location, noticed... Continue Reading →

Gorgeous quiet morning in Lucca, ham omelette breakfast at Cafe Manon Lescaut in the courtyard near Puccini's birthplace. This place deserves a repeat. Just get there before 9am. The ball of my right foot - bruised. Heavy shoulder bags have never worked for me. That heavy backpack did a number on me. Need a down... Continue Reading →