Fifteen years ago, I got kissed on this spot in Pienza, Italy.

I was lost in the vista from this winding promenade high above a wall. The sunny Tuscan valley below didn’t seem to end as far as my eye could see. I dreamt of what it would be like to live in the houses along the wall and step out onto that flowered balcony to such a magnificent view every morning. This was definitely one of those out-of-body moments that I cherish when I travel.

Next thing I know there were arms gently making their way around my waist and my husband suggestively whispering in my ear, “We’re standing at the end of Via dell’Amore. You know what that means.” I turned to him and coquettishly shook my head no.

“Picture time!” he yells in my face.

Trance broken. Not the intimate romance-novel moment I was expecting. Instead, he called my son, Jacob, over to take a picture of us. Perhaps he saw the slight annoyance on my face or perhaps he had always been setting up the moment, but as the shutter clicked, he suddenly leaned in and gave me a long tender kiss on the cheek.

The photo of this moment sits framed on my dresser. It makes me smile because it reminds me how silly my disappointment at the time was. In the photo, our “amore”/love is there, the trance-inducing vista is there, the phenomenal sky is there, my son’s presence as photographer is there – everything is present that gives travel its richness and that makes me want to paint these places.

Pienza, July 2005

This summer, Dan and I are returning to Tuscany. I plan to revisit this spot with the proper expectations (okay, and maybe some Chapstick) in tow.

And I will paint it. But until then, let’s dream a little together about what it would be like to live and love on the evocative “Via del Casello, Pienza”.

“Via del Casello, Pienza” – 2.5″ x 2.5″ ink and watercolour

This original artwork can be acquired by contacting me directly or at my online shop here.