Italy travel journal / by Esther Loopstra

We just got back from our trip to Italy which was full of inspiring images, colors, food and art.  I tried to keep a bit of a sketch journal as we travelled.  We were pretty busy, driving from Venice to Sorrento and then back to Rome, but I managed to sketch a bit. Hope you enjoy these!

Our first stop in Italy was Venice, I had jet lag so I was awake early and listened to the birds chirping outside our lovely window in our hotel. I love seeing all of the windows and flower boxes of the houses in the neighborhood and the clothes hanging on the lines.

After a long day of walking around the canals of Venice, we took a break and got a "caffe" and watched people.  I got this sketch of Tony sipping his caffe latte. This little bird was obviously used to scrounging crumbs because it became very friendly.

In Florence,  day 5 it was raining in the morning.  We decided to go to the central market, and it was amazing!  Fresh vegetables, fruit, pesto, cheese and hand made sandwiches and bruschetta.  I loved these mushrooms!  I also decided to try using some color pencils that I had brought along.

We took a drive along the Amalfi coast and it was beautiful!  Here we are sitting at a cafe in Amalfi, watching all of the tourists and eating gelato.  That area is known for it's lemons, so we tried the special lemon flavor gelato!