I've been home a week and still can't settle down from the most amazing trip ever! I took 1527 photos and painted 6 paintings, toured 3 major cities, 2 castles, 1 lunch at the count's country house, 1 winery tour and lunch with the owner, visited a famous artist at his studio and he took us for drinks and snacks at his local bar at 11 in the morning, visited a cashmere factory and a cheese factory, farewell dinner where a famous soprano sang to us, ate tons of gourmet food (all fresh-no additives) drank bottles of wine (no sulfates) and only gained 6 lbs, made 25 new friends, walked many wonderful miles including my daily morning walks through a quaint hill town nearby. We toured where tourists usually don't go and we had an interpreter with us most of the time.
I only just now looked at my photos, so many people, windows, arches, ancient buildings, hill towns, rows of wine vines and hillsides, people on scooters and bikes.
I painted on 11x14 linen canvas that I taped to a balsam board and rolled up in a tube to bring them home. I brought 24 lbs in art supplies (including the pack) and had no problems with baggage. The heaviest things are the pochade box and tripod, and tubes of paint, but it all adds up.
