I spent a month in Florence taking a painting course at Charles Cecil Studios. The atelier still teaches the sight-size method, where you set your easel beside the subject, step back to look, and paint only what you actually saw. I painted in the mornings and took live drawing classes in the afternoons.
The photo is from the studio. That is Andrea, my model, next to his portrait.
We also went to soccer games, including Fiorentina against Milan, and I learned that Florence takes its team personally.
One weekend we went to Montecatini and stayed at Grotta Giusti, a spa hotel built over a thermal cave. It is one of my favorite hotels I have ever been to. Truly magical.
The best meal was at a trattoria with no menu, where the owner simply told us what we were having. He was right.