Wednesday 19 May  Assisi / Spello

Wednesday 19 May Assisi / Spello

Rise early, and out at 7.30 (check out of farmhouse) and head for Assisi. Easy drive, and park in probably the most expensive farmhouse in Assisi. Then an expensive coffee and pastry sets the tone for the day. Still, the farmhouse cost less than expected as it was...
Tuesday evening, back at Farmhouse

Tuesday evening, back at Farmhouse

…After the last entry, still spitting with rain, manage to draw very quick perspective of the Via delle Occhi (in sketchbook) and finish off in the car. Houses and all very similar to plate in EH, but neater and tidier, and a tree to the left, which helps the...
Tuesday 18 May –  Gubbio

Tuesday 18 May – Gubbio

Last night I was fed up, so I went to bed early, finished the ‘difficult’ sudoku from last Sunday’s Independent, then slept for ten hours to 8 o’clock this morning (but for the usual call of nature in the dark; the sleeping hills all around look wonderful at night,...
Monday 17 May 7.30am at the bus stop Perugia

Monday 17 May 7.30am at the bus stop Perugia

Well, last night was good value. After two more beers at the ‘Bar Olympia’ I was best friends with ‘Salvatore’, an enthusiastic local who engaged me in conversation; his English not much better than my Italian but we were helped by the girl behind the bar who had...

Sunday evening in ‘Bar Olympia’, near Perugia

..and the usual fun and games to the start of the trip. What did I expect? Why to arrive in sunny Italy, find a bus from Perugia airport to the main city centre, thence to get a bus to the ‘Perugia Farmhouse Backpackers Hostel’ as directed to on the website. Then...
Departure

Departure

Sunday 16 May At the airport (Stansted) Security checked, breakfasted, and texted to next of kin. On finishing my breakfast (in Frankie and Bennie’s) the Italian waiter commented “It’s good you are flying this morning; the airport is due to close again at 5o’clock...
Impressions of the Cities of Umbria

Impressions of the Cities of Umbria

Sunday 16th – Monday 24th May 2010 This was inspired by the purchase of an old book by the same name, written by Edward Hutton, and published by Methuen, in 1905, with 20 colour plates taken from original watercolours by ‘A.Pisa’. The book was found by chance in an...
Sketch of the Week

Sketch of the Week

Old folk sitting on a bench in Cirencester today! I took a surreptitious photo but was spotted by the old chap with glasses. The two ladies on the right were having a good old chat while waiting for the bus. And why not? I painted this first just with a brush, and...
Architectural Sketch of the Week

Architectural Sketch of the Week

These two ‘cottages’ are not actually within the Cotswolds, so it’s brick and brown tiled roofs, but they’re rather smart, and sit in nice sized plots. The development is still only just past the planning stage, so the building hasn’t yet started, but I’m pretty...