What a fantastic five days of sketching we have just had in Farindola, Abruzzo, Italy.

Ten of us flew to Pescara and one came by train from Switzerland. After one hour’s transfer we arrived to a warm welcome from Thomas and Marco at the beautiful B&B Altrocanto www.altrocanto.it  This is where half the guests stayed and where we dined for three nights on delicious locally sourced food. (Gnocchi with asparagus and Pecorino cheese cream, parpardella filled with ricotta and artichoke…..) Our evening meals were one of the highlights of this short stay!

Elayne’s family house was home for the rest of the group and we loved our home from home with amazing views over the valley.

The Spring came and went with in Farindola before we arrived but it continued to test us with sunshine and rain, quite a lot of rain, but Carmen, Chris, Glenda, Ivan, Karen, Klim, Anne, Debra, Val and Birgit came to sketch and so they did! They also climbed mountains, took tea with Maria, had a birthday party, cooked a fantastic meal, attended a private showing with the artist Paul Critchley and viewed properties for sale!!

Most sketched in concertina sketchbooks which really lend themselves to the winding streets and mountain panorama views. You can see some beautiful pages here.

Next sketching week is September 24th-29th. Coming? www.acy-holidays.com