One of the dreams I had, before I set off on my ventures, was to paint in Italy. I can now say that I’ve done it. Italy, itself, is rich with exquisite architecture and countryside. There is only so much that you can do in a limited amount of time though. I based myself in Florence, visited an art shop, and let Tuscany tell me what to paint. Thank you to Zecchi Colori Belle Arti for being such an astoundingly well stocked art materials supplier.

Ponte Veccio

This bridge is one of the most iconic places within Florence. The area was flooded with tourists and I was lucky to be able to find a perch on the arched wall nearby. Pro tip: don’t look down.

The Ponte Vecchio consists almost entirely of jewelry shops but this isn’t due to the tourism of the area. There used to be many such bridges, each with a different selling purpose. When Hitler was trying to stop all routes to Northern Italy apparently he didn’t want to destroy this particular bridge due to its historical relevance. Instead, everything was bombed in wide arcs around it. If you visit, you’ll notice that this is the only non-modern looking bridge in the vicinity.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa

For some reason, unbeknownst to me, I had previously thought that the Leaning of Tower of Pisa was its own individual thing. I was very confused when I saw it next to a church and even more confused when I remembered that nearby buildings aren’t allowed to outshine the beauty of said religious buildings. Then I realised that it was the church’s bell tower and it all made sense.

20EUR to go up the tower made the train trip worth it. I suddenly felt like I was back on La Flaca again, the angle tricking my body into thinking that I’d only had a short reprieve from the yacht. Leaving the tower, I felt land sick but this time I actually quite enjoyed it. Land sickness is far preferable to sea sickness it can be said.

All bought tickets for the monuments in the area also give you free access to the church. My advice? Take a half day trip to Pisa or do it as part of a larger tour. I walked around Pisa but their focus is clearly on the leaning tower.

But of course, one of my main reasons for visiting was to paint. It was a bit cool for my liking (I’ve definitely acclimatised and will not be able to deal with Manx weather when I return), so I sketched the tower onsite and painted it when I got back to the hostel.

Michelangelo’s David

My last painting (for now) was of the renowned sculpture of David, after he had killed the giant, Goliath. I have found out far more about David after googling him than I did in the museum and a lot of it I think I was better off not knowing while I did the painting.

The reproductions of David invariably portray either his head or his full body (or, if you walk around Florence, his genitalia). I didn’t want to do either of these so, instead, I did a reproduction of his hand.

Unfortunately, despite my best efforts at adding a quick dry medium, the painting was still wet when I was due to get on the plane. Here are my wonderful efforts at trying to protect it, made from rubbish and random materials I had:

I can confirm that somehow, amazingly, this worked!

I feel like I have unfinished business with Tuscany though. There are still many things that I want to paint and still more that I want to see. For example, I never painted the countryside which appeared far too complicated for the time that I had left. I’ll leave you with a ‘fun’ fact (and the promise of a pasta making post soon): the Cyprus Trees, that are so iconic of Italy, were planted every time a family member died. This means that every time you go up someone’s drive you are being greeted by the whole family.