Travel sketches (and one painting)

As I mentioned in prior blog entries, I joined a group tour in Provence organized by an art professor. Everyday, we went site-seeing in the morning and painting in the afternoon - though I spent several of those afternoons taking a long nap to recover from the gargantuan French lunches.

In the few non-sleeping hours I had, I managed to get one painting mostly done by the end of the course. I also got a few sketches done on-site at the places we visited. I'm sharing them here along with other travel sketches I've accumulated along the way. As per my usual caveat when I show my drawings, just remember that I'm only a student. This stuff is more personal than my comfort level would normally permit me to share and I do it now because it was such an integral part of the whole travel experience.

On a side note, I highly recommend any traveler interested in art to take the time to sketch on-site. Just find a nice place to sit, take a look around you, and get a few jots down on paper. It'll give you a visceral connection to your surrounding space in a way taking a photo never can.

My painting assignment: Monk under prayer flags. The original inspiration for this piece comes from this picture I took in Nepal .

Checking in from Spain

I have less than a week left before the end of my trip and I've started seriously winding down in anticipation. It's causing me to reach all new levels of lethargy and inertia. Is it possible for a person to mentally check out of their own vacation? Cause that's surely how I feel right now.

Here's a quick recap of what's happened since my last post on Slovenia. If I find the energy later, I'll post more details on some of these events.

May 29: Trained into Venice where I stayed in a rented apartment.

June 1: Flew to Marseille in France and spent the night in a town called Avignon.

June 2: Bused to Saint-Remy-de-Provence where I spent the next week-and-a-half in a luxury hotel and joined a group tour organized by my art professor. The days were split in half between site-seeing and painting.

June 11: Trained to San Sebastian, Spain - yeah I know, Spain wasn't part of the original itinerary. Call it a detour.

June 16: Bused to Bilbao, Spain. Here are a couple pictures from this cute little town:

Giant flower puppy by Jeff Koons

Guggenheim Museum Bilbao

What's up next for this week: Train to Barcelona for a couple days' stay. Fly to Prague for another few days' stay. Fly home. Weep for the end of my journey.

How I fell in love with Slovenia in a week

First off, I have two recommendations for anyone planning to travel to Slovenia.

• When you want to move between cities, see if anyone is driving that route on prevoz.org. It's a car sharing website (similar to Sidecar in San Francisco). You'll end up paying much less and getting there way faster than if you take public transit. And it's the most liberating feeling in the world to be able to secure a ride to just about anywhere you want in a matter of minutes with a cool person you can chat with along the way.
• If you make your way to Ljubljana and are interested in a good night out, definitely see Metelkova. It's more than just a bar scene. I'd describe it as a microcosm of Communist utopia. But I'm just a naive American who is easily impressed by any amount of anti-corporate behavior. Make the judgement for yourself and have some good drinks and conversations while you're at it.

Slovenia turned out to be a different kind of place for me for many reasons. The people were exceptionally nice and the stops were beautiful. Everyone and everything was laid back in a way I could understand. It's an unexpected treat to be so enamored with a country and it gave me a much needed second wind for the rest of the trip.