Inside the villa

Our bedroom on second floor

Another bedroom

each bedroom had its own bath

bathroom

One of the two living rooms

Another living room

The ceiling and light in above livingroom

Office

Informal dinning room

Kitchen

The Villa...http://www.fattoriapoggioasciolo.com/

Our Tuscan Villa was beautiful and the couple who owned it were great. Simonetta and Aldo were very available and hands on to help the whole time. Each Sunday evening, Simonetta and family would prepare a beautiful meal for those of us who wanted it. The meals were well worth the extra cost each week. Beautifully prepared, served, included fine wine or beer, appetizers, entrees, and desserts. Usually a three or more hour event!

Formal Dinning Room

Vessel for Olive Oil from long ago. Unused now.

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Some Sundays the Meal was served outside and into the evening, under the Tuscan Moon!

Week one in Tuscany

A wonderful visit to Venice, Italy.

 Venice was beautiful and the beauty of the age of all the buildings and churches added to all its charm.

 We had a wonderful guide lead us through the city and reminded us of the sinking of this wonderful place. I learned that Venice was built on a marsh and that the water beneath the city is slowly seeping back and rising.

 And oh the gelato! So many flavors so little time!

 Mosaic floors of a Bascillica

Our visit to Venice

Once settled in the villa we began to do some exploring. One of our group planned the Venice trip and arranged for guide and found a wonderful hotel overlooking the canal. There were nine of us making this trip! We drove to a nearby town to catch a train to Florence to catch a fast speed train to Venice. We found using the train was far more reasonable than driving since parking was at a minimum in places where tourists enjoyed gathering.

On the water bus

 The water travel in Venice was shared by all size boats. We even saw one carrying someone's furniture during a move!

 The Gondolas were decorated on levels, some were ornate and others not so much.

Week One in Tuscany

Once we landed in Florence Italy and got shuttled to the Hertz Rental Location we got off the bus to an unexpected and lovely surprise. There were our friends from home! Our Utica connection, as we
began calling ourselves! Our flights didn't even leave from the same states and our connections were in different countries! If we tried, I'm sure we could never have planned meeting them at the rental place, and yet here we all were hauling our luggage around and trying to figure out how to get our cars! OK, so off we go in our three different cars, trying to follow each other to our Villa destination in Italy where the signage and language are all so confusing! But hey, we found each other, right? Well, within minutes all three cars were going in different directions!

I won't even try to describe the nightmare we experienced trying to find our Villa! Once we left the metropolitan area of Florence and entered the Pisa Providence and Tuscany rural area, we found no
one spoke English! And as you can tell from the pictures; the path led up and up and up. Our Villa Fattoria Poggioasciolo is situated on the side.... more like at the top of a Tuscan hill, a very very steep hill!!!!!

Week One in Tuscany

We flew from Miami on Air Berlin.....Big plane! I guess I'm not used to over seas flights! They offered beer and wine down the isles! Guess who had nice cold beer instead of soda or juice? Yep, Me!!!

This was a bar in the airport in Dueseldorf, Germany, where we had a five hour layover.

Tuscany

Well friends, I am so sorry I failed the blogging test!!! I had such great intentions of trying to journal my way through Tuscany, all while sharing it with you. The explanation is rather simple. The Villa
was very remote and the communication was spotty and very unreliable. It did allow me to post on
FB,( I'm not sure what that means ) but it would not allow me to post on this blog! Any how, I'm
going to "after the trip" journal for the next few weeks, so if you're still interested, I'd love it if you
joined me!!! Stay posted and this time I promise it will work!!!

Four more days!

Soon I'll be blogging from Europe and Bruce will be taking beautiful pictures to post as well. Finished my last little "Florida" painting for awhile. Switching from oils to acrylics in Italy. It just seemed easier not to have to deal with mineral spirits and the wait time for drying. I should be able to bring all my work back with me.

daily painting

Oil on 4x5 inch panel

I just finished another shell painting this morning. They seem to be going smoother, however I see that my compositions are looking a little lack luster so the next one shall be from an interesting angle or possibly magnified. I'm especially enjoying the star fish....maybe I need to find sea horse to paint!

More shells!

 I'm not sure if I feel like I've progressed but then I believe
there is much I like about moving along a warp speed compared to my 5 foot canvases.

 The painting with the star fish is by far my fav
so far. I do love my oils. It will be back to acrylics while in Europe and Plein-Air Painting!
My plan is to enjoy a well balanced daily routine of painting and eating!!!!!!!!!

Another little shell composition!

New Shell Daily Paintings

Underpainting

Finished Painting

Shell Series

Well, I've prepared four more 4x5s for painting. I love oils but I'm feeling a bit cramped by the
smallness of the surface. Also I'm finding shells to be rather static. My love for color wants to
play! I think I shall read more Carole Marine and try to get more inspired!!!

Finished!

Oil on wood 3"x4"

Taking care of last minute travel details. So happy my art supplies have arrived and that I'll be able to begin as soon as I arrive! Making chicken soup today and working on a "little" of shells. I'm trying to
do daily painting before I leave.