My pre-Google "jobmoon" in February was a weeklong trip to Italy.

We ate bucatini and pasta carbonara and savored crispy artichokes. In Vatican City I sketched the tourists craning their necks skyward in the Sistine Chapel.



What a place! I'm glad I'd read Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling by Ross King. It's a fascinating account of how these frescoes came to be.

No trip to Rome is complete without a trek to the top of the Spanish Steps. I took advantage of a brief period of sunshine to sketch the scene below.



Rome was lovely and picturesque, but it was Naples that stole my heart. Our hotel was right across from the Castel dell'Ovo, with stunning views of the bay. Fellow urban sketcher Lucia Marinelli and I met up to draw the scene despite the chilly wind.



Naples is narrow alleys and breathtaking views. I stamped my sketchbook in the Moleskine store at the train station - fun!





And who can forget the artisanal pizza, the sfogliatelle, the gelato?



On the flight back I read Andrea Camilleri's The Shape of Water, featuring the irrepressible detective (and foodie!) Inspector Montalbano. Sicily calls!