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26 September

I didn’t write an entry yesterday, and I wholeheartedly apologise, because it was a very wonderful day. We went to the beautiful Capitoline Museum, near the Forum, where we met Richard Heizer, the director of this whole shindig. I can’t begin to describe to you the wonders inside. Sculptures I had only seen in photographs were merely metres away from me, sometimes even closer. Yesterday was a bit slow, to compensate for everyone’s jetlag, but today was full on. We started it bright and early at 07:00 and from breakfast we walked to the Forum. My favourite was the Arch of Titus. I sketched it a bit, but we had to continue on. I’ll be perfectly frank: it was overwhelming! The sheer wonder of seeing marvel after marvel… Ruins everywhere… It was extraordinary. After that we separated for lunch. I ate my composite leftover meal right in front of the Arch of Constantine. Once the group gathered, and after watching a hilarious skirmish between street vendors and the police, we did the standard tourist event. We went to the Colosseum. I cannot say anything more poetic than the last person, but it was amazing. This wonderful day closed perfectly with a frolicking night in the empty Pantheon amongst what I can tell are going to be quite great friends. A bloke could get used to this.

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Awoken by Italian bickering and glass bottles shattering, I decided to draw at 03:00 this morning. As quiet as I tried to be, I unfortunately woke Becca and Melissa. When I came back into the room from drawing in the study, the two girls were in their beds talking. We all stayed up talking until 08:00 or so, when we fell back asleep. After catching up on our sleep, we checked out of the hotel and ventured out, in search of the Residencia Zanardelli. We wandered up and down the streets but finally discovered that the large wooden door we had passed several times was in fact the entrance. When we got up the stairs we, at last, discovered some familiar faces. Students from Rocky Mountain College were there. Ben, my flatmate for this adventure in Rome, needed to get art supplies, as he had been travelling elsewhere before Italy. So we all went out and, after getting some margherita pizza, explored the streets, looking for art supplies. Although the art store was closed, we weren't too disheartened, for merely around the corner we stumbled upon the Pantheon, completely by accident! We then got gelato and retired back to the hotel. Jim Baken, one of our professors, arrived, but the other professor and nearly half the group had not yet arrived. We waited all night. We got dinner without them and then we got back to the hotel and they finally got there! There were many various complications with their travels, but they made it!

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22/23 September

Where to begin? Today was a day of travelling. It was also a day of bizarre mishaps. After a seven hour flight over the Atlantic, my travel partner, Melissa and I landed in grand old Amsterdam. As we went through customs, I continued to make the alarm go off. After three tries of removing various metal objects, I was pulled aside for a pat down. Well, it was more of a rub down. I swear, that was no search, that was a sensual massage. He didn't even make me dinner or offer me a cigarette. Anyhow, we got on the plane to Italy. When we arrived we were guided onto a bus and taken to the baggage claim, where we were supposed to meet our other travel partner, Becca. However, Becca was not there! Long story short, we spent two hours searching for Becca until we finally found her, just as we were about to give up. So with Becca newly added to the party, we took our shuttle to our hotel, the Hotel Navono, but alas there was trouble there too! For some reason my reservation for us three never got confirmed. So we had to travel through the incredibly dodgy alleyways to find an incredibly dodgy hotel. And now, here we are! Sore, tired, and sweaty. But hey, that's what adventure is all about!

Postscript. I woke up at 3AM to the sound of Italian bickering and glasses breaking outside our window, so I decided to go out into the foyer and draw in my journal since trying to do so before I went to bed proved difficult. Unfortunately, I messed up the skin tone on the drawing terribly so I tried to wipe it away and ended up just scraping off a layer of the homemade paper. So excuse the apparent skin defect/scarring this caricature seems to have.

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21 September
Well, here we are. I embark on my extravagant adventure to Italy tomorrow. I can’t say I’m not excited, but I can say that I’m terribly anxious. My two concerns are luggage and language. I’m worried I may not have packed light enough, despite packing as little as possible. I’m also apprehensive about going to a country that speaks a language in which I only know how to say “I have a cat. The cat drinks milk.”* That being said, I’d like to say my worries are outshone by my excitement and eagerness to start this new chapter in my life. Goodbye old chapter! You were fun, but I may have left my bookmark there too long. Oh! My grandfather is at the door! This is the last time I’ll see him for some time, so perhaps I will invite him to join me in my last dinner in this country. Arrivederche for now (oooh, see I know that one too)!
*Io ha un gatto. Il gatto beve latte.

Postscript. Remember, you can click images on the blog to make them larger.

Supplies!

There are only four days until I embark on my thrilling journey! Here is my journal, watercolours (one cheap traditional student set and one pack of good quality water colour pencils... cheating, I know), brushes, and writing/drawing utensils (Top slot we have all my pens and markers, middle we have my mechanical pencils and charcoal, and bottom we have my pencils, ranging from 6B to 6H, along with rubbers and pencil sharpeners... Note, however, that in my sketch journal I intend to only use ink and watercolour.)

To be honest, I'm a bit anxious about starting this journal. I hope that each entry turns out well enough to my own satisfaction, especially since I'll be posting the pages here for all to see! I think once I take the first step and make my first entry, my nerves will mostly be settled and I can draw carefree.

Journal for Italy

Ciao!

This blog is for the purpose of my sketch journal for my travels in Italy.

But of course, I have not left for Italy yet, so as of now the blog is slightly uneventful.