Painting in Trapani

this is the view from my bedroom window - hello Rainbow Warrior!

​A happy little band of us flew to Trapani on October 21st. I'd never been there before so it was adventure all the way!
​
We stayed at the Belveliero Guest House, run by the charming Giovanni. Spotlessly clean, it is on the dockside, overlooking the busy little hydrofoil ferries running to and from the Egadi Islands. 
Malta could do with a few of these!

Giovanni has two guesthouses - the other is the Gran Veliero on the other side of the penisula. See some pics and info HERE

6 of my students from Friday mornings came with me, and we were all raring to explore and get painting.

We spent our first afternoon exploring Trapani - which is full of paintable delights, from baroque buildings, typical Italian architecture, a very active fish market, forts, castles and ooooh endless subjects!

Giovanni recommended our itinerary and I have to thank him for choosing some perfect locations.
​On our first morning we went up to the Medieval walled city of Erice, high above Trapani. We had a wonderful day painting there.

We could have taken a bus and then the cable car, but we opted for a taxi, which wound its way up the mountain road through the lovely Sicilian landscape.

On the second day we went off to the salt pans, first the ones nearby Trapani, and then further afield to Marsala. The piles of salt and the windmills were a good subject to practice limited pallette paintings on. Some went on a boat trip around the pans in the afternoon, but the rest of us carried on painting into the setting sun!

Next day we took a hydrofoil to the islands, stopping for the day in Levanso which is absolutely charming. Just a small village clustered around the dock. 

On the last day we painted in and around Trapani itself. We didn't even scratch the surface of subjects though. We'll just have to go again!