"The River Arno at Florence"

So I was sitting here one night, feeling remorseful that we have such a sterile environment here in the deserts of eastern Washington in terms of things to draw and I went back to one of my favorite places:  googlemaps.com.  I highly recommend this site to anyone who wants to go places they can't get to in the very near future.  Some of my favorite places to "tour" are found in Europe, so that's where I headed out to, on the computer . . . at googlemaps.com. 

I landed in Florence, Italy, a lovely place to actually visit.  In fact, it's much more ideal to go there in person, as I have in the past, than it is to sit here, even with a glass of iced bourbon, and move about the streets with my fingers, but I digress (isn't that what they say?). 

Anyway one of the literally thousands of things to see in Florence is the Arno river, and in particular is the bridge known as the "Ponte Vecchio."  The allure for this bridge is that one, the Nazi's didn't knock it down during WWII; and two, it is lined with shops, mostly selling jewelry.  And I guess if there is a third, it would be the sheer beauty and fascination of such a place. 

There are two bridges in this sketch that you can see:  in the foreground is the "Ponte Lugarno degli Acciaioli"; and the famous "Ponte Vecchio" is in the background. The bridge you are viewing this scene from is the "Ponte alla Carraia."

This piece is hanging in a cheese shop here in our area, and it was for sale, until someone purchased it.  Hated to see it go, but I do have the image on my hard drive and I do retain the copyright...

The reference photo for this drawing can be located at this site.