Tasting Tuscany

I always have doubts when I’m packing my sketching bag for a trip, and so it was while preparing for the short family trip to Tuscany. From my experience, there are not many opportunities for sketching on family trips. Other family members don’t like “wasting” time, time is too short, places are too beautiful, and each one wants to see something a bit different. Finally, I decided to bring small 10-paged soft-cover sketchbook with nice paper, and it fit perfectly!

So here they are, some memories I succeeded in “stealing” during the trip. Most days I had some free time at the beautiful Tuscany Villa we stayed at. There are also some “eating time” sketches – another opportunity for sketchers not to "waste" time during trips. And there are some places I forced my family to wait for me – a few iconic spots in Florence and Sienna where I couldn’t not sketch.

This was my second visit to Tuscany, and I had some magical memories from the Piazza del Campo in Sienna. My memories didn't disappoint me. When I led my family from one of the narrow streets of Sienna to the square, it came back to me - this very day almost 20 years ago at the same square! So we joined the crowds of tourists, sat down on the floor, I opened my sketchbook and time stopped...

Another iconic spot I had memories about from my fist trip WAS Piazzale Michelangelo - from where you have a breathtaking view OF red-roofed Florence. It started to rain when we arrived there, but this didn't stop plenty of tourists taking endless photos of themselves and... some view ;)

This trip was very beautiful and tasty but left me very hungry for more sketching. Anyway, I am grateful for what I’ve captured, and am just waiting for the next time.