Photos: Salzburg

My travels also took me to Salzburg, Austria for a couple days. Salzburg is a very small and peaceful city. The buildings are all very beautiful, and the view from Hohensalzburg Castle was outstanding! But, I felt like the youngest person there as there were so many senior groups there at the time.

Salzburg is also Mozart’s birthtown so I had to visit the museum, which is in the house he grew up in. Many things were on display like his musical instruments, his hand written symphonies and even locks of his hair! My favourite things in the museum were the love letters written to his wife:

“Adieu — my love — my only one. Do catch them in the air — those 2999 1/2 little kisses from me which are flying about, waiting for someone to snap them up.”
~ Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to his wife Constanze 

Wow… talk about amazing! He was quite the catch! Haha.

This was the first time I’ve traveled alone. I didn’t know what to expect, but everything turned out great. I navigated Italian/Austrian bus/train connections on my own (almost missed my bus out of Venice!), and I stayed in a dorm room in a hostel to force myself out of my comfort zone by socializing with complete strangers. I thoroughly enjoyed my time discovering the city at my own pace. I would totally travel by myself again!

Photos: Venice

Venice is the most beautiful and unique city I’ve ever been to.  It feels like a medieval city mostly because of the Venetian Gothic style architecture and it’s 100% pedestrian only; boats operate like buses/taxis.  The city planning has no rhyme or reason… streets go every which way with dead ends all over the place. I got lost all the time!  The tourist merch was quite classy compared to the other cities I visited — Murano glass, theatre masks and leather gloves.  My only criticism is that the city was so filled with tourists that it felt a bit like a theme park.  I don’t know if I saw any true Venetians in their daily life (not that I’d know what they’d look like anyways, but I’d imagine super classy!).  In the evening most of the windows were black which suggested to me that people generally don’t live in the city (maybe because it’s too expensive, or because of ‘acqua alta’; the intense flooding that happens in the winter). Other than that it was incredible and I would love to go back!

While I was in Venice I visited my friend Peeta who has a studio in Mestre, which is on the mainland across from Venice.  His studio is located in old military fort that is surrounded by a moat (!).  The military is long gone and the buildings are either falling apart or used for art studios, restaurants (serving the most amazing food… the beef, OMG!) and café’s.  It was such a treat seeing Peeta’s studio where he creates his canvasses and sculptures.  The space is very industrial and smells of paint, which reminds me of my Dad’s old workplace. 🙂

The sculpture below is titled ‘Courage’ and is planned to be painted…

Peeta + I drove out to Bassano Del Grappa in Northern Italy to see an art exhibit.  BDG is a very old and small town located near the Alps.  It was so gorgeous and picturesque… going there felt like I was visiting the real Italy after seeing touristy Venice.  For lunch Peeta + I shared the most amazing local meat and cheese plate I’ve ever had (after scooping out the moth that flew right into the soft cheese – haha)! BTW, Italy prefers round-abouts over stop lights, so be prepared to know EXACTLY where you’re going, or you’ll be making a lot of last minute decisions!

The “Urban Hero” sculpture carved from wood was my favourite piece in the exhibit. ❤

I totally recommend visiting a city or town that’s off the beaten path… it might not be in the guide book but you just might be pleasantly surprised!

Drawings: Random Girls

Here are some sketches I’ve done lately.

Orange Girl with robe was drawn at Kid Koala’s latest album launch.  Pink Lady is based off of a sculpture at the V&A museum.

These two colourful sketches were done on my iPhone with SketchBookX.

These ones were done at work while waiting for a playblast to finish.

These last two were done for fun.  I think I have a thing for drawing ladies! ❤

 

Photos: The People of Rome, Italy

I recently went on a trip through Europe for a couple of weeks. My first stop was Rome, Italy. It was so hot there, around 30C during the day! I visited a ton of ancient sites that were just fantastic, but the pics I wanted to show are the candid pics I took of the people I saw there.