Ciao, Italy. Ciao, Texas.

After a little Ricky and Lucy routine this morning (ohmygosh, we're on the wrong subway, how can this be, I swear I read the sign pointing us this way, we have to get off and go the other way, here it is, let's get on, wait, this is not the right one, GET OFF RIGHT NOW! ohmygosh, we were on the right one the first time) we headed out to the Vatican and St. Peter's Basilica. We had our personal guide, so we were two of the special people who got to get in line with the hundreds of other special people, which I guess is a lot better than being in line with thousands of un-special people. Upon our guide's suggestion we raced through the secret passageways to the Sistine Chapel first for a few relatively quiet and unpopulated moments of reflection and observation before starting the main tour. It was a wonderful tour through the magnificent complex that is so rich with history.


Here's a little reminder of where we're going tomorrow, pardner.


And here's a lake at the Villa Borghese, which is a lot like Central Park in its pathways and scenery. A good, serene way to end this wonderful trip.

Thanks for coming along with us. Hope you enjoyed this blog as much as I did putting it together!

It's just around the corner and 132 steps up.

Seems like wherever we go, we're going up and down stairs in this city. And all over Italy, for that matter. Arthritic mountain goats, if you recall.

OK, so about 10 people told us we really should see the Borghese Gallery, so we finally got the idea it's something to pay attention to. But you need reservations. They only let a certain number of people in at 9, 11, 1 and 3, and they kick you out after 2 hours. So our hotel concierge said, call at 8:30am and see if there are any openings for the day, maybe you'll get lucky. So we went online this morning and worked our way through the Italian ticket sales website with the help of the concierge, and at 8:45am she said, the only tickets available for today are at 9am, so you should get a cab and go NOW. So we raced over there, only to find when we got up to the admissions desk, the grouchy ol' ticket-taker said our reservation didn't go through. I was about to cry. Suddenly when you are in a hurry and you feel lucky, you REALLY want to get in. Anyway, he said, come back in 20 minutes and see if there are any spaces left. We came back in about 10 minutes and a much friendlier clerk was there with two tickets in hand and ... we were IN!

And by the way, while standing in line, the people behind us saw the red rash on Chip's legs....they look like flowery ankle bracelets... and the woman said, "I got the very same thing after we went to Florence." Well, so did Chip. And he had a second conversation that day with someone who also got a rash after Florence. So we're calling it the Firenze Fire. Or the Firenze 'flammation.

And also, by the way, Chip had on his Longhorn shirt and cap, and several people said, "Hook 'em" or "I'm from Austin, too!"

Anyway, the Borghese is truly a wonderful gallery even for someone like me who is not easily impressed by sculpture. Beautiful pieces by Bernini, the rock star of Italian sculptors.

You can see some of the pieces if you Google Borghese Gallery.

After that we rode the tour bus around town, got off at a couple of stops, went up and down a zillion more steps, and saw the highlights. Including Michelangelo's Moses in the St. Peter in Chains church.

I didn't take any photos today....you all know what the Colosseum looks like. But I'll close with another close-up of the Trevi Fountain.

Tomorrow, our last day in Italy, we wrap it all up with a tour of St. Peter's Basilica and the Sistine Chapel.

Rome Roaming

After bidding arrivederci to Amalfi and our painting friends, we drove into Naples, boarded the train for Rome, and arrived about 2:30 pm at the Hotel Alexandra, which is situated within walking distance of the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, Piazza Navone, and the Pantheon. All of which we saw on a great walking tour this afternoon. Rome is all about magnificent buildings and sculptures appearing around every corner. Great ravioli Borghese for dinner. Ah, Roma. Can't you just see Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn hanging out at the Trevi?

"Grazie mille, I love you!"

We waited almost an hour for a bus this morning, only to learn that the tour bus was blocked by the city bus that was "broken down" parked in front of it, the result of a country-wide bus strike. The tour bus isn't part of the strike, but the city buses don't want any other buses running. So we hired a taxi for $10 Euros apiece, which at that point seemed like a really good deal, and our driver, Angelo, was a very handsome, very chatty guy who pointed out all the sights and commented on all the restaurants and ceramics factories and such along the way. He drove us home at the end of the day as well, and by that time he was telling us all, "I love you!" And we loved him.

Ravello was our destination again today, but we went to the Hotel Ruffalo this time. We painted in a large shaded patio area full of scenic vistas. Then we had a delicious lunch and a chance to do some sightseeing. Because of the bus strike there were very few tourists, which made for a quiet and peaceful afternoon. The Villa Cimbrone is a 20-minute walk down a hill and is full of beautiful gardens and places overlooking the sea. The photos above were taken there....a young (pre-hunk) David and some interesting flowers and doorways.

The last photo is of one of many brides who appeared on the town square this day.

Sam, our instructor, had each of us spread out all of our paintings for the week in chronological order, for a final (supportive and encouraging) critique and thoughts on where to take our drawing and painting from this point. He has suggested I take photos and enlarge them and work on representing little parts of the photos with simple, free strokes to create impressions. "Alla prima" (one stroke) painting is a great technique to learn when mastering watercolors. We were all proud of our work and excited to see the progression throughout the week.

Tomorrow we drive to Naples ("city of garbage" at the moment, due to a strike of a different sort), and board the train for Rome.

Is this heaven? No it's Mama Agata's in Ravello.

Ravello is about a 15-minute zigzag up the mountainside from Amalfi. Today was spent entirely at Mama Agata's home and gardens, where we were greeted by Mama Agata, her daughter Chiara, and other members of the family. They run a cooking school, which Chip was a part of, and they also gave us free license to roam the grounds looking for painting subjects.

We were warmly greeted by Chiara, who has recently published a gold-medal-winning cookbook, seated at a long table of beautiful place settings, and served capuccino and the most luscious, moist lemon cake we've ever tasted.

On the grounds there are groves of lemon trees, herb gardens, kumquat trees, lavender, and much much more.

The painters set about painting, and the cooking students set about cooking. After maybe 90 minutes of demonstrations, the entire group was seated at the table (which is on an outdoor shaded porch overlooking the sea) for a 3 1/2-hour, seven-course meal of fritters (fluffy pancake-type batter with salami, zucchini, cheeses mixed in and deep-fried to a puffy, light texture), fried zucchini flowers (dipped in the same batter, stuffed with cheese and proscuitto), eggplant parmesan (like no eggplant I've ever tasted), spaghetti with tomato sauce and arugula, some other pasta with sausage and parmesan, lemon chicken with rosemary and basil, and more lemon cake with limoncello (a liqueur made from grain alcohol and lemons).

I simply cannot believe how much food was served up, and all of it extraordinary.


The eggplant parmesan.

The spaghetti with arugula.

Mama Agata (left) and daughter Chiara autographing her cookbook.

Tomorrow is our last day in Amalfi, and we are returning to the town of Ravello for our final day of painting.

Capri Cruising

Yesterday dawned another crystal clear day, and the group hired a boat to take us to, and around, the island of Capri (the locals pronounce it "CAP ree"), with its famous Blue Grotto. We didn't see the Blue Grotto because it would have added at least an hour of waiting time, as tourists have to wait to ride into it in small boats. There are smaller grottos, as seen above, that have the same magical, luminous effect.
Who knew that lemons grow everywhere in southern Italy? Capri is no exception.


What magnificent scenery, eh?

Painting in Amalfi

Early this morning (the sun rises by 5am but 8am was the earliest I could get out) we set up on a pier that stretches out across the bay. The view of the town of Amalfi is fabulous at this hour. Here's what my painting set-up looks like, and the crucial component is that umbrella that clamps onto the leg of the easel. Without it you bake in the sun very quickly.

Knowing my time was limited made me paint faster, which apparently generates better results because otherwise I get too controlled and obsessed with detail. So here is this morning's product and I was quite happy with it.


Tomorrow we leave our paints at the hotel and head out for the island of Capri. Can't wait!