Time feels as though it’s accelerating with my PhD. And so my novel has taken a backseat for the moment, though I’m almost done with edits on it. I might be posting an excerpt soon, so stay tuned…

It’s been a whirlwind of deadlines since I got back from Antwerp and Venice a few weeks ago, but I wanted to share some photos from my research trip.

Here’s the interior of Antwerp cathedral, which had some really lovely sculptures inside (I’m studying 17th-century sculpture by the way).

Here is one of the many funerary monuments inside, dedicated to a 17th-century bishop of the cathedral. Gotta love Baroque, am I right?

Here is the main square of Brussels at night. The Gothic architecture was incredible.

And now for a few Venice pictures….

Sunset the first night.

Here’s a sampling of some of the sculptures I’m writing about in my dissertation.

My second to last day I climbed up to the top (ok, I admit, I rode the elevator….that’s the only option anyway) of San Giorgio Maggiore’s campanile, and was greeted with this brilliant view of the city.

The square cloisters here were once the monastery, but now it’s a library. You can see the the island of Giudecca stretching away in the distance. (I had a very strong urge to climb along the rooftops – Assassin’s Creed-style – but I resisted).

San Giorgio is a very peaceful island, with whispering cypresses and sailboats rocking against the pier nearby.

Unfortunately I can’t say too much more about my research, and I can’t post the pictures of the documents I was working with at the archives (just picture mostly unintelligible calligraphy and lots of dust…), but I’m planning to post more soon. Thanks for stopping by!