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Day 16 to 21 in Switzerland

Day 16
Our first night in Switzerland we had a wonderful dinner with my brother, his girlfriend and A. It was a really nice night, filled with great food, great conversations and lots of hugs. It was so nice to be with my brother and my niece again. I miss them so much when I am back in Canada. The next morning A. and I got up early and went to town. We went to a few stores, I bought her a volleyball, chocolate and some flowers. When we got home K. and my brother had just come back from a little drive and we all had lunch together. We spent the afternoon at the pool, playing in the water and having fun.

Day 17
I woke up early and went to the store to pick up some wine and flowers for my parents. Then we drove to Planchouet where my parents were staying at my aunts chalet. When we got there my mom was waiting for us and it felt so good to give her a hug. We spent a wonderful day up in the mountains with my parents and my godmother and her husband. We danced, drank lots of wine, had some great veal sausages and some raclette. What a wonderful day!

Day 18
After breakfast we drove to a lake about 1 hour away where we spent the day swimming, BBQuing, and just relaxing. My brother and K. were doing flips of a dock which was very entertaining! At night we went to an open air movie in the courtyard of the castle “Stockalperschloss”. The event is put on by the Tourism office of Brig where I used to work. I remember working those nights, setting up the chairs and selling drinks. It was just as much fun as I remembered.

Day 19
In the morning K. and I went for a walk through town, took some pictures and went to an art exhibition. I was able to show him my elementary school, my college, the restaurant my parents used to own and lots of other places that are close to my heart. It was nice to spend some time alone and share my childhood memories.

In the afternoon one of my brother’s friends came with us to the pool. I tried to teach A. how to do a flip. She almost got it in the end. We all went to my brothers after and had coffee. S. asked me to design him a tattoo, which I was very honored by. I am really looking forward to it!

Day 20
My brother, A., K. and I drove to another lake to get away from the heat. We spent the afternoon diving into the water. K. tried to swim to an island in the middle of the lake and he almost didn’t make it. 🙂

Day 21
We went for lunch at my parents place and then went swimming again. I know we pretty much went swimming every day. This time we went to the pool in my home town. Another place I used to work at. When I was 14 I got my first job working at this pool. I had to clean the pool and the surrounding areas, making sure that the water had the appropriate chlorine levels and I also worked at the pool’s restaurant. I had a lot of fun! I remember cleaning the pool early in the morning, the sun shining, the birds chirping, the rustling of the trees in the wind and the mountains all around me.

This first week in Switzerland was wonderful. It was great to see my brother and A., relax and just enjoy being at home. It really is strange how much more I feel like myself in Switzerland. I know that might seem like a strange statement, but I can feel my roots. My family has been living in this part of Switzerland for centuries and I can feel the power of the mountains all around me.

Ciao

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Day 14 and 15 Verona

We decided to leave Venice early in the morning instead of at night so we could spend a bit more time in Verona. We took the water bus to the station, changed our train reservation and were on our way to Verona. The train ride was around 1.5 hrs. long.

Once in Verona we walked to the old part of town where our hotel was located. After checking in we went to the arena, a massive Roman amphitheatre from the 1st century AD. Here is where wild animals once made a meal of gladiators, but today the entertainment in the arena is a bit friendlier. The venue is used for concerts, operas and ballet. Sadly nothing was playing that night, but we did enjoy walking around in the arena and we enjoyed the great view from the top.

We took a stroll down the traffic-free Via Mazzini, which is paved with pink-tinged local limestone embedded with ammonite fossils. Just absolutely beautiful! We spent the rest of the day walking around town and ended the night watching the worldcup final at a wonderful restaurant on the Piazza delle Erbe. Just a wonderful night with great soccer, interesting people watching, incredible food and wine.

After sleeping in a bit on our last day in Italy we walked to the Casa di Giulietta “Juliet’s House”, the 13th century home of the Shakespearean heroine. The courtyard walls were plastered with multilingual notes left by lovers from all over the world. From there we walked to the river, went across the medieval Ponte Scaligero, had some lunch and did some shopping on the Via Mazzini. We had a bit of time left before we had to catch our train to Switzerland so we walked around the city some more and stumbled across a great little store that was carrying lots of designer fashion from previous seasons. I found a trench coat that I had fallen in love with while watching a runway show a few seasons ago. The funny thing is that I went to Italy and I ended up buying Dsquared2. Here is a bit about Dsquared2 in case you aren’t familiar with these fabulous designers:

Canadian twin brothers Dean and Dan Caten have been in the international fashion business since 1984. After attending the Parsons School of Design they moved to Italy, launching a succession of runway shows that have captured attention for their combination of fashion, music and theatre. The mix of irreverent Canadian wit and refined Italian tailoring are the foundation of their philosophy. “BORN IN CANADA, LIVING IN LONDON, MADE IN ITALY”. I still can’t believe that I am the proud owner of an incredible Dsquared2 trench coat. Looks like Fall is here, so I will be able to finally wear it!

We were sad that our time in Italy had come to an end, but I was also super excited about seeing my family. The closer we were getting to Switzerland the more nervous I was getting. It had been almost 7 months since I had seen them. As soon as the train stopped in Brig, I jumped out and ran into my brother’s and A’s arms. I was so happy to see them.

Come back to read and see pictures of our time in Switzerland!

Ciao!

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Day 13 from Firenze to Venezia

I got up early so I could take another quick walk around Florence before we had to leave for Venice. I found it hard to leave this beautiful city! I will be back – I promise! Once we got to Venice we took a waterbus to our hotel, taking us out of the Canal Grande to the Laguna Veneta. We had some lunch sitting on a patio on the lagoon and then I packed my film and my digital camera and we started walking through the maze of small streets of Venice. I have been to Venice many times before. Most of the time while I was in Fine Arts. I would take a night train from Switzerland to Venice, spend the day taking pictures and then take the night train back home again. Venice is a really inspiring city visually. We walked through the Cannaregio area to the Canal Grande and followed it to the Piazza San Marco with the beautiful Basilica San Marco and the Palazzo Ducale (Doge’s Palace). The breathtaking Byzantine Basilica (San Marco) looks like a picture from a fairytale. It was constructed in such an ornate matter to be a fitting resting place for St Mark and also as a sign of the Venetian Republic’s power. One of the basilica’s highlights is the stunning Western Facade with a succession of domes, columns, arched and spires, interspersed with marble statues, screens and glittering mosaics. Just out of this world!

We spent a big part of the afternoon at the Guggenheim museum. Peggy Guggenheim was an American art collector. Born to a wealthy New York City family, she was the daughter of Benjamin Guggenheim, who went down with the Titanic in 1912 and the niece of Solomon R. Guggenheim, who would establish the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. Peggy’s father was of Swiss-German Jewish origin, and her mother Jewish, German, and Dutch. By the early 1960s, Peggy Guggenheim had stopped collecting art and began to concentrate on presenting what she already owned. She loaned out her collection to museums throughout Europe and America. Eventually, she decided to donate her large home and her collection to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation on her death. The Peggy Guggenheim Collection is one of the most important museums in Italy for European and American art of the first half of the 20th century. Pieces in her collection embrace Cubism, Surrealism and Abstract Expressionism. Peggy lived in Venice until her death. She was laid to rest in the garden of her home, the Palazzo Venier dei Leoni (Inside the Peggy Guggenheim Museum).

We spent the evening walking around to see different sites such as the Campo Santa Margherita, the Rialto Bridge and looking at beautiful Murano glass. We ended the night with a long water bus ride that took us from the Canal Grande to the Laguna Veneta, all the way around to the Canale di Fusina and the Canale della Giudecca back to Piazza San Marco. We walked around the Piazza, listened to an outdoor concert for a while and then started our walk across the city with another gelato in hand. Another great day in Italy!

Ciao!

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Day 12 in Firenze

Before we knew it, it was the morning of our last day in Florence. I was very sad about it as I have totally fallen for this city. Firenze is for sure another city that I am adding to the list of cities that I would move to within a second.

We started the day with going to the Duomo, which is a miracle of Renaissance engineering and architecture. The inside of the cathedral holds some Uccello frescoes but is otherwise pretty bare. The baptistery contained beautiful Byzantine mosaics and the breathtaking Gates of Paradise. Inside the Museo we got to see statues by Michelangelo, Donatello and Andrea Pisano. One of the highlights was climbing 414 steps up to the top of the Giotto’s bell tower. It was quite the exercise, but it was definitely worth it as the payoff was an incredible view of the entire city.

Then it was time to do a little bit of shopping. We went to the San Lorenzo Market where I bought a beautiful yellow leather belt and a nice cashmere scarf for the cold Canadian winters. I went into some more stationery stores fascinated by the locally made paper products and we ended up stumbling across a tiny little leather store with beautiful leather bags. The store owner explained some of their production methods to us and it was wonderful to be in a little store that wasn’t filled with tourists. I have to say I absolutely love Italian fashion and the shopping in Florence was amazing. Our next stop was Santa Croce, which is pretty much Florence’s Westminster Abbey. The church also contains the tombs of one of my favorite painters of all times “Michelangelo”, Giotto frescos and the world famous leather school Scuola del Cuoio, where we had the opportunity to watch the craftsman work on leather purses and leather-bound books. What an incredible art form!

We walked along the river Arno to the famous Ponte Vecchio bridge. There are shops hanging from both sides of Taddeo Gaddi’s medieval bridge. In the 16th century Ferdinando I evicted the butchers from the shops because he didn’t like the smell and they have been replaced by goldsmiths, silversmiths and art dealers. It is said that the economic concept of bankruptcy originated here: when a merchant could not pay his debts, the table on which he sold his wares (the “banco”) was physically broken (“rotto”) by soldiers, and this practice was called “bancorotto” (broken table; possibly it can come from “banca rotta” which means “broken bank”). Not having a table anymore, the merchant was not able to sell anything.

For our last night we went back to the Piazza della Signoria and had a wonderful dinner listing to an incredible opera singer who was performing on the street. Of course we ended our last night with some gelato.

Buona notte!

Ciao

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Day 11 in Firenze

This was a day filled with art museums. We had a reservation for the Uffizi in the morning and for the Galleria dell Accademia in the afternoon (make sure to get reservations if you are planning on going to these!).

Some of the Uffizi highlights were the “Birth of Venus” by Botticelli, “The Annunciation” by Leonardo da Vinci, the “Holy Family” by Michelangelo and the “Bacchus” by Caravaggio. My favorite was the Birth of Venus and in general the Leonardo da Vinci room (room 15). The museum is really beautiful and the views from the upper floors were really nice.

Then we were off to the Galleria dell’Accademia. On our way there we strolled through the cobblestone streets going into some beautiful stationery stores (one of my obsessions) and we went to see the Duomo (just from the outside for today). The Accademia di Belle Arti and the adjoining Gallery still occupy the premises that were assigned in Via Ricasoli, a former convent and hospice while the headquarters of the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno nowadays is Palazzo dell’Arte dei Beccai. The accedemia was the first academy of drawing in Europe. It was nice to see all the art students walking around. I wanted to go check out the school and walked into the court-yard. K. was walking a bit behind me and he got stopped as the school is not open to tourists. The advantage of being European and not looking like a tourist! I felt bad about keeping him behind so turned around as well. I would love to go back to school someday and take some classes in Firenze.

On our way out we went to see the “Contemporary Architecture in Finland” exhibition showcasing selection of contemporary Finnish architecture projects, installations of the Finnish designer Eero Aarnio, as well as various objects created by young Finnish designers. The projects featured focus on their ability to represent people friendly architecture. Very inspiring exhibition.

We were pretty tired after a day filled of art exhibitions and spent the evening walking around the streets of Florence, having a wonderful dinner on a beautiful piazza. On our way back to the hotel we enjoyed another incredible gelato. Good thing we walked so much!

Ciao

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Day 10 on our way to Firenze

We started our day by walking down to the beach one more time. I sat there with my eyes closed listening to the waves. I tried to take in the sound and smell so that I would remember it for a long time. And then we were on our way again to catch the ferry to take us off this beautiful island. It was a beautiful day and it was nice to feel the breeze on the ferry and enjoy the wonderful views. I couldn’t stop taking pictures of sailing boats passing us and the details on the deck of the ferry.

We took a train to Florence, which took us through more of the stunning Tuscan landscape. I fell in love with the city pretty much in the first 5 minutes of being there. The city lies on the River Arno and is the cradle of the Renaissance, the city of Michelangelo’s David and Botticelli’s Birth of Venus.

We spent the first night in Florence watching the World cup on an outdoor screen in a small piazza and spending time in the bustling Piazza della Signoria. The piazza was filled with people, live music and incredible sculptures. The atmosphere was absolutely breathtaking.

Make sure to come back for more pictures of Florence. Here are a few.

Ciao!

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Day 7 to 9 In Elba

We spent the next 3 days on Elba enjoying relaxing, going to different beaches, catching up on reading and sketching. It took us a day or so to get used to the slow pace but once we got used to it we embraced it and enjoyed every second of it. We visited Napoleon’s official residence in Portoferraio. The Palazzina dei Mulini is a national monument, situated between Forte Stella and Forte Falcone, which are the two Medicean fortresses of Portoferraio. It was the official residence of Napoleon and his sister Paolina. The museum houses several relics and from the garden you can enjoy a beautiful panorama on the Tyrrhenian sea. The museum is currently hosting an art exhibition of Napoleon’s niece “Charlotte Bonaparte” (1802-39). I was very impressed by her work (sketches, engravings and oil paintings) and it was nice to see the work of a female artist from the 19th century. After the visit to the museum we walked around the old part of town and I spent a few hours taking pictures. We had a wonderful time in Elba and when I think back to it I can still hear the waves.

I hope you enjoy the rest of the pictures of Elba!

Ciao!

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Day 6 – on our way to Elba

We took a train ride along the coast from Rome to Piombino. It was wonderful to see the mediterranean again – it’s been a while! Once we entered Tuscany the landscape was just like I had always imagined. Beautiful vineyards, lots of bright colors and of course cypress lined roads. Absolutely stunning and so inspiring. I have been drawing cypress trees ever since we got back from our trip. Once we got to Piombino we took a ferry to the island of Elba. We sat on the top deck and enjoyed the wonderful view while eating a prosciutto sandwich (fresh baguette). Oh so good!

Once on the island we took a taxi windy road up into the hills along the coast to our hotel. I was so surprised about how lush and green the island is. We spent the rest of the day swimming in the mediterranean and just enjoying relaxing. We ended the night with a beautiful 4 course meal at the hotel and a bottle of red wine from a local vineyard that was seriously the best wine I have ever had.

Here are a few pictures. More pictures of Elba to follow.

Ciao!

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A great week

I wanted to thank everybody for attending the opening reception of the “99 pieces of art on wall” show at cre8ery. It was wonderful to see so much support for local artists. I sold one of my photographs during the reception and yesterday I sold one of my oil paintings. It’s been a great week! The show is still on until September 3 so make sure to check it out if you haven’t had a chance to yet.

Tune in tomorrow as I get back on track with my entries about my trip to Europe. Here is a look at the pieces I sold this week.

Ciao!

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Day 5 in Roma

Our last day in Roma! We had pretty much seen everything we wanted to and also had enough time to just stroll around the different neighbourhoods.

We had been hoping for a bit of a cooler day to go to the Roman Forum and the Imperial Fora, but not luck. So went anyway and spent hours in the unbearable heat taking in the site of the once bustling heart of ancient political, judicial and commercial power. We had to take frequent breaks and we tried to find shade under some trees. At one point I sat down in midst a group of teenagers from Germany, which turned out really well because their teacher was telling them all about the history of this fabulous place. I enjoyed just sitting in the shade and listening to a mini history lecture in my first language. We ended our last night with a really great dinner. After dinner we walked to the Colosseum one last time and enjoyed the night.

Here are a few pics. Enjoy and see you tomorrow on our way to Elba!

Ciao!