Giardino

Italian gardens are typically very geometric in design like this one. I think this makes them interesting to photograph. As far as flowers, we're seeing climbing wisteria and peonies, and the roses are just starting to open- they all smell nice!

Sunshine!

Finally a sunny day! And we’re back early enough to get out another post. We visited a nearby walled village with a tiny church from the 11th century- so cute! I think Joel got some really nice shots today too. Hopefully we’ll have decent weather tomorrow- we’re off to Siena. Ciao!

www.joelwolfson.com

Tuscan Rooftops

Here’s a view over some rooftops into the valley. This shot was Joel’s idea- to include the lichen covered rooftops for some contrast with the vibrant greens of the Tuscan countryside. Looks like we’re getting a break in the weather today! It’s a sunny morning, hopefully it will last. Our dinner last night was one of our best yet, homemade gnocchi that melts in your mouth! Mmmmm... Ciao!

www.joelwolfson.com

Wine Country

We visited a beautiful walled city complete with a fortress (fortezza) at the top. Admittedly, the sky was a boring shade of gray all day with intermittent rain, so Joel didn’t shoot much. He was able to get some interesting people shots, window boxes and architectural details. The views around the winery we visited were amazing- endless Tuscan hills in the background and vines everywhere! Of course the wine was quite good too... Ciao!

www.joelwolfson.com

A Rainy Day

Although the weather has gotten quite rainy, we’re making the best of it. I have to give Joel credit for continuing to get great photos under less than perfect conditions... I guess that’s part of what he’ll be teaching in the workshop! Of course, one of our favorite things about Italy is the food and wine- and we’re certainly making the best of that! Today, we visit a walled city and a local winery... we haven’t decided who’s driving today!

www.joelwolfson.com

Toscana

We visited a medieval village nearby yesterday and drove around the countryside... beautiful. We're supposed to get more rain today, but we've got umbrellas and it is no less beautiful in the rain- just wet! While driving on some back roads yesterday we saw some local cuisine as well- wild boars- which we later sampled in some pasta sauce for dinner! Quite tasty...

www.joelwolfson.com

Morning in Pienza

We're staying in Pienza, which is in the Val d'Orcia, a UNESCO World Heritage site- this is what it looks like... very storybook. Through UNESCO, development here is very restricted, so it looks much the same as it has for centuries. We consider ourselves very lucky to be here. Now that we've recovered from jetlag, I think we'll do some more exploring. Ciao for now.

We're here!

After many hours of travel... we had a beautiful drive from Rome to Pienza, Tuscany. When we arrived, we asked a couple of locals for restaurant recommendations and in classic Italian style one of them wrote down the name of a restaurant- the other guy said something in Italian obviously not-so-good about the restaurant in question, they argued a little, and the first guy agreed and actually scratched the restaurant off our list! They definitely take their food seriously... as do we :) I took this photo on our walk into town for dinner... a little bit of rain is sometimes a good thing!

Dogs

It was a beautiful sunny day today so we just HAD to get a picture of the dogs for the blog before we leave! Aren't they cute? We'll miss them...

Preparation...

Buon Giorno, here's the first post! We're currently prepping all our gear, creating packing lists, etc. I'll be posting as often as possible once in Italy, given internet access. All photos posted will be my personal snapshots, unless otherwise indicated... We leave April 23rd- so my next post will likely be from Italy :) Ciao!