The last stop of my trip was 7 days in the most picturesque place of all, Venice. When we arrived we were greeted with a beautiful light and rainbow. This might be my favorite post, it feels bittersweet that this is the last of them! This post is a long one, I hope it brings you happiness :)
Obviously I had to open with a Venice photograph, but this one of the little girl I accidentally forgot from Milan's post. And I realllllly wanted to share it. I will always remember it as a really special moment of my life. I knew the language would be a barrier in Italy, it was much harder than I thought! But this little girl and Erika went back and forth copying each other making silly faces and funny gestures, no speaking at all. She was so giggly and I just remember sitting on the bus thinking how special it was to communicate only through giggles and silly faces. I'm so glad I got to capture it.
My teacher Jim. This guy is so smart, I'll say it again. I learned so much on this trip.
The color in this city... I think at one point I called it a "watercolor world". I'm cheesy but who cares!
I was so in love with this little family. They just looked so good in this city. I hear saloon music when I look at this man walk. The one above is one of my favorite photos I've ever taken, it feels like a movie still to me.
This is St. Mark's Basilica, and unfortunately it was under construction so we couldn't see it in it's full glory. But walking through this square I literally started to sweat because of how nervous I was walking through all the birds... They fly right by you and I didn't want to get pooped on... although 1 person from out group did!
I have always been so in love with foreign music, and hearing the musicians on the street play was truly amazing. Sometimes we could hear them playing down the alley from dinner or we'd walk by hearing popular classic songs and would dance a bit in the street. This guy had the cutest smile as he played.
We visited the Peggy Guggenheim collection in what used to be her house. The collection was ginormous and full of names we all know. I noticed Barbara Morgan's signature on her photograph, and it looks so similar to my grandma - Barbara Moran's signature. The best cursive :)
The colorful scene Venice is known for... everything kind of looks similar here, so it's easy to get lost along the skinny winding roads. And the only way to get around is walking or boats - the Vaporetto!
When you walked at night the moon would literally be your biggest source of light. I felt like in Venice is when I saw the biggest and brightest moon I've ever seen.
We went to the Venice Bienalle, one of the most famous international art shows in the world. Each country has 1 or 2 representatives for their own exhibition, and this is the most art I've seen in 1 place - we were overwhelmed!
Walking over this bridge everyday gave us some of the best views. The golden hour in Italy was always on point.
How freaking cute are they!!
I became obsessed with seeing laundry lines everywhere! It made it even more colorful and cute :)
1, I need to work on my faces while I take photos. They're a little silly. and 2, this cute woman waved to me! I loved seeing people look down at the streets from their windows
This was the first day we had free - so we had to go to the beach! My dad studied in Italy for a bit when he was younger, and the best thing he can say is, "dov'è la spiaggia" which is "where's the beach?", I said it until we found it ;) I'm also terrified of oceans... I know, weird. But I did go in and swim with my girlfriends!
I caught them laughing right after Sophie threw some figs that exploded and splashed on Lucia!
One of the biggest reasons I transferred was to be able to study abroad. I am so thankful that this happened for me and especially to bring it back and share with you all.
I will say that I cannot believe I didn't take any pictures of my food! What as I thinking? If you know me, you know I suck at trying new foods. I'm picky and a little scared, but! my friends helped me while there and here's a few things that I definitely could have conquered in America - and instead did in Italy: artichokes, anchovies (not a fan), macaroons, sake and chop sticks for a whole meal (we needed a break from pasta), and the weirdest of all to me was black squid ink! Ah!
It's almost a month since I've been back. I had horrible jet lag for a week! The one regret I have is not writing on this trip. I think that my mind was filled with new knowledge but also new feelings from traveling. I wish I had documented what was going on more in my mind.
And lastly, I know that I am not the best artist, I stick to photographs. But in Italy part of our projects were to draw. To sit, slow things down and really understand what you were looking at. It was a complete test for my eye. While I still struggle with perspective and tones, I think color was my favorite thing to work with.
The left drawing of the Vatican was the first drawing I did with charcoal. The next 3 are rubbings from the ground of churches and walls. Bernini's is from his grave!
I did these 2 sketches at dinner. I saw two men on a scooter and loved it - no pressure makes it easier!
I am really proud of that baby's right foot haha. Drawing churches is so hard! I cannot wrap my mind around the perspective and I start to draw things that aren't actually there.
I painted on some post cards :)
I want to thank everyone who takes the time to read these!
This is a trip I will always remember. Until next time, Italy :)