Five Cities, Seven Days

::edit::I began this post two days after I returned from northern Italy -- this past Sunday. But I haven't been able to finish it to my satisfaction. I'm too wordy.

SO...

I gave up with words after a while and posted pictures instead. Hahaha... Enjoy!

::/edit::

Home sweet Rome! I'm back from my week-long vacation from vacation.

On Friday night, I returned from traversing northern Italy, from Firenze to Milano and a few cities inbetween (Venezia, Verona, e Vicenza). We spent about 2 days in every city, save Verona (where we stayed for a few hours), going from place to place by hopping on trains, running on platforms, and then walking or riding a bus to our hotels before freeing ourselves from our heavy bags.

First up was Firenze! Once we dropped off our bags at Hotel Giada, we got started. Right off the bat, we pulled out our sketchbooks while sitting in front of Santa Maria Novella and sketched proportions. After 30-45 minutes of sitting, I still couldn't stop. So many squares! The facade is gorgeous because of it...

Afterwards, we did what everyone should do when in Florence: visited Santa Maria del Fiore and Brunelleschi's Dome. It was even more massive than I was expecting. After about 15 minutes of climbing, we reached the cupola.... We were immediately greeted with one of the best views of Florence, topped only by the view from Piazzale Michelangelo (it was quite a hike to reach the top of the hill from where we stayed, but.....wow.... The view was spectacular).

The train ride coming home was 3 hours longer than it should have been (yay for trains breaking down on a bridge half an hour after departure), but even then we were all in good company with each other. It's a much better experience when you have 19 friends and fun teachers in the same situation.....Those playing cards came in handy. And of course, being who we are, Eric gave us a new game in which a group of people each contribute to a growing parti/conceptual sketch by adding a move, be it a straight line, a curve, a figure, etc. ... . We got pretty creative and passionate about it rather quickly.

What do you see?

(Picture taken by Steph Coxe)

After analyzing and studying several buildings every day for a week, architectural sketching has become such a regular exercise that I'm beginning to be selective about everything I see. I don't see in pictures anymore. I see potential sketches. Proportions! Perspectives! Axons! Even diagrams....

And you know what? It's wonderful.

I'm lost for words. I'm not really sure how to express myself. Pictures won't quite capture the essence of the trip and my personal experiences, either. Yes, they speak a thousand words, but nothing compares to first-hand experiences. There's just so much to take in...