Europa!

Okay so I've been a little quiet recently when it comes to blogging, but for good reason as I just got back from a trip to Europe! This trip was a combination of something my husband has always wanted to do in addition to a photo safari for painting. Over ten days we hit four different cities, starting in Northern Italy and trekking across the southern coast of France, ending in Barcelona. Fifteen hundred photos later, I am still trying to sift through to find the truly photo worthy ones, but in the meantime, here are a couple personal highlights.

   

We started in Lake Como, in the lake region of Northern Italy.  It was raining when we got there, but this rainbow over Villa Melzi was definitely worth the clouds!  Maybe it was raining because George Clooney and Matt Damon had just left from a weekend visit to Clooney's villa..:-P

The streets of Bellagio in Lake Como.  I love the rainbow umbrella going up the steps!

Villa Balbianello...I love the gardens, and my husband liked it for the fact that this is where Princess Amidala got married in Star Wars.

Hiking in Cinque Terre, five coastal towns on the West Coast of Italy.  The hike takes all day and is absolutely gorgeous.  We stopped for lunch in Monterosso al Mare for a bite on the beach.  

Nice, France...look at that water!!!!  I think this one will become a painting.

Monaco...we were able to see the Formula One practice session while we were there.  Beyond cool!

Barcelona...amazing architecture (and tapas!)

The whole trip was a total whirlwind, and I'm still processing it to be totally honest.  It was so tiring but so much fun and such a unique experience.  I can't wait to turn some of these images into paintings and will be sure to put up pictures of the paintings as I go along!

Coming up in future blogs I will be talking about a cool volunteer opportunity I had at ArtSpace Herndon to help select artwork for the Art in the Windows project, and information about the Four Seasons of Oatlands show and sale!!!  Stay tuned and until then, ciao! (and adios & adieu!)