ciao from Lucca!

After a very long couple days of traveling, I finally made it to Lucca! I got here on Tuesday afternoon with only a couple minor hiccups along the way. My 10 hour layover in New York was AWESOME! I was able to meet up with an old friend I haven't seen in years. So much fun visiting a city I haven't seen since High School with a friend I hadn't seen in about as long! 

It was a little bit of a pain but I'm so glad I just traveled with carry-on luggage. Completely worth not having to wait at the baggage claim or risk my bags getting lost in Ireland along the way! So far no jet lag effects either...after 2 days of very little sleep and constantly moving, I passed out for 10 solid hours my first night in town! 

I'll do a more in depth post and a big update on the Quarto progress in a few days. I've been sketching like a fiend and making very few photos. Hoping to remedy that over the weekend, which happens to be the Lucca Antique Market too! Yay! 

1. The first sketch!!!! Killing time at the Santa Barbara Airport waiting for the first of FOUR flights! 
2. Flying into New York after the red eye, and creepy vein-y looking cloud filled lakes below...
3. My friend Amanda showed me around New York, including eating some Murray's bagels up on the High Line (new favorite part of the city!), a little shopping in Chelsea, and quick stop at the Flatiron Building! 

4. On the train through Tuscany! This place is scary pretty...even on a rainy day on a high speed train. 
5. At sunset in Lucca on the first night. This is the church of San Michele in the main piazza in town. 
6. First watercolor in Quarto! I was saving the first watercolor for these walls...I could spend all day on them...

Alrighty, I'm off to get a cappuccino and sketch! A presto!