Friday, September 15, 2006

We were going to head into Pistoia, but it turned out that there was a bus strike in Pistoia, so it was very difficult to pull off moving a group around odd bus schedules. Everything that was planned in Pistoia for the day was cancelled, and we had classes at the villa in the afternoon instead.

We had the morning off, and I decided that it would be a very good time to catch up on things I needed to do like get my journal up to date. I wasn’t quite there, but I got a lot closer.

I was not feeling very good, so I ended up spending the morning and part of the afternoon making potato soup that I would be able to eat. I had not been feeling well, and I was not able to eat anything that we were having for dinner. John started working on the soup, and I took over.

I missed writing class because I was making soup, but I went to Drawing, Photography and Painting after. It is nice to get back in the groove, but we are reviewing things that I have heard twice already. It will be nice to be in Paros with the ability to work soon.

We had a lovely dinner, but I wasn’t able to eat very much of it, so I ended up eating apples.

Jeffrey talked about the things that we would need to do the next day in Siena after dinner.

A student that was here when Nicole Alba and Savana Kretchmar were here came with her portfolio that she had used to complete college with. The photos were all photos that had been taken while in Pistoia and in Greece, and it was really nice to get an idea of the quality of work that had been done in the past. It was very educational.

Thursday, September 14, 2006

We again decided to trek off to Florence. It feels like we have been at the villa for a long time, and it feels like the days are moving very slowly, but it is just the fact that we have fit so much activity into the days. We have been only together for 12 days, but it feels like it has been much longer.

The big days that we have in Florence have been amazing. My whole life I just keep running into the fact that the things that I want to see are all to be seen in Florence. Boticelli spent most of his life there, and as an avid follower of his life and his work, it has been amazing to walk the same streets that he was able to walk.

The first thing we did was going to the church of Santa Maria Novella. The church is right next to the train station, so it was an easy walk to get to when we got there. Of course, we stopped for the morning coffee with Jeffrey.

When we got to the church, the façade, was completely covered up and being restored, so rather than be able to lecture in front of the façade, we had to buy a postcard of it and get what details we possibly could from what we could see in the post card. The church has a graveyard around it as well as cloisters that the nuns lived in when it was an active convent.

The first thing we did was walk around the cemeteries where the noblemen of Florence are buried. When we walked in, we took a look at the space of the church. It is fabulous. It is really well decorated inside, and it is the most inviting church we had been in to. The space was so inviting and the Pisan Romanesque stripes were stylized in a method that really appealed to me. I really liked the church.

We spent time in the church looking at the architecture itself. I was very impressed with it. Above the main door in the back is a painting that is in the Boticelli style, and has been attributed to him. I was happy to see it. His work is more abundant than I originally thought, and that has made me very happy and filled me with surprise.

We then walked up to the front of the church and looked at some rater odd frescos by Filpo Lippi. We also got to look at some amazing Ghirlandio frescos that are painted in the area of the church where the main altar is. He is an incredible master, and the frescoes made me understand his work and come to respect him almost as much as I respect Boticelli. One of the other very neat things was that Michelangelo learned how to make and paint frescoes working on those exact paintings. They were a really wonderful experience.

Santa Maria Novella has a lot of other incredible things like a painting by Massachio that was one of the first to illustrate perspective and a wooden cross by Brunelleshi that was also very fabulous.
Santa Maria Novella was by far my favorite church in a lot of ways that I never would have expected.

We then walked across Florence to the church of Santa Maria del Carmine. Inside a chapel are some amazing frescoes done on a collaborative effort by Massachio and Masalino. The frescoes were some of the most influential of the Renaissance, and were the first to illustrate perspective. Every artist after that time (including Michelangelo) learned to draw from those frescoes. I enjoyed the time we got to evaluate them.

It was then lunchtime. We had quite a bit of time, so I decided that I would go to the Medici Palace and check out that area. I have read a lot about the Medici, and the palace was mentioned quite a bit in my book about Michelangelo. It was one of the most influential palaces because of its architecture, which all later palaces in Florence copied. Additionally, it housed the family that acted as the guardians of the Republic of Florence and the Fathers of the Renaissance.

Most of the Medici Palace is now used as office space, but enough of it is open to get a good idea of the way that it was set up in earlier times. The courtyard is full of the crests of the family, and the garden is very nice. The garden is the one where Donatello’s David was commissioned to stand, and it was the place that Michelangelo saw it standing. The Medici Palace is also the place where Michelangelo got his start as a sculptor. I’m sure it has changed a lot, but it was nice to get a feel for the way that it used to be.

The one room that has not been changed is the chapel. There are some frescoes on the wall of the chapel that were commissioned by Cosimo (father of Lorenzo). They are very beautiful by Fra Angelico, who is the teacher of Boticelli. There are some portraits of people in the family in the frescos that were very amazing to see.

In the garden there was a sculpture museum with some sculptures from ancient Rome that I was able to look at. I enjoyed them quite a bit.

After the Medici chapel, I walked around the San Lorenzo market and bought some shirts and a tie for Jared for his birthday. It was nice to get something for him that was going to be useful, and he will really like them.

I was also finally able to find some post cards that show important buildings in Florence that I didn’t get good photos of, and that I wanted to show to others. I was very happy.

I met Jane and the rest of the group on the steps of the Duomo and we went to the art store to get some art supplies.

Of course I got home with little time to spare for dinner. Dinner was gnocchi, chicken, potatoes and vegetables, salad, fruit, cheese, fig cake.

We almost finished Dante after dinner, but Jeffrey decided to put it off for a little bit longer.

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

It was our last day in Venice, and we had the morning to ourselves. On the long ferry ride we took the first day to Burano, we ran into a photographer/architect that was taking photos on the ferry. He pointed out a place to us that didn’t have any tourists but was very pretty. We decided to spend the morning in that area taking a lot of photos.

It took a little while to get there, and we were happy to be on the ferry early in the morning. It is very surprising how wonderful Venice can be in the middle of the morning with the lovely golden light shining on everything. We were surprised by the incredible authenticity of the place. There were no tourists to be found, and we saw lots of streets with Italian people and markets. There was also a lot of laundry hanging on lines between houses.

We decided to walk slowly back toward the main church and then take the ferry to the hotel to get ready to go home. We walked along the waterfront looking for things to buy at tourist’s shops, and we finally just settled on eating gelato and getting on the ferry.

Unfortunately, we ended up on the line that goes the opposite direction than what we were looking for, so it took us about an hour to get back. It was nice to tour the outside of Venice, and we got to look at a lot of the facades of the churches and other buildings. It was definitely worth it even though we did it by mistake.

The rest of the day was spent on the train on the way to Pistoia.

Dinner was again at the villa. We had vegetable soup, chicken, baked zucchini, mashed potatoes, salad, fruit, cheese.

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

We had breakfast delivered to our room again at 8:00 because we needed to head off to meet Jeffrey. Christy was very tired, so I did end up eating by myself and then heading off to the market. It was a lot more set up when I got there than it had been the day before, and I spent time taking photos of the octopus, squid, tomatoes, plums, nectarines and flowers. I really enjoyed my time there alone. At the end, I ran into Christy, so we headed back together to meet the group on the middle of the Rialto Bridge.

While we were waiting for the group, I just stood there watching the sun come up and the light flow over the buildings of Venice. I liked watching people on their morning commute via boat. Some of the people working on the boats amused me because they would go about driving their boats with a cell phone and cigarette in hand. I was very amused to watch it all.

Jeffery spent the morning with us in a church called The Church of the Glorious Saint Mary. I really enjoyed the church. It was elaborately decorated. We got to see some paintings that I really enjoyed. We also fulfilled an Aegean Center tradition of throwing a red rose on the grave of the founder of opera music. It was really fabulous. The church was very amazing, it definitely did help me add more pieces to the puzzle I’m working on called the Italian Renaissance.

After the church, I got together with Matt, and we headed out to Torcello. We had a good boat ride together just relaxing and talking about frivolous things. When we got to Torcello, we went in one of the churches and then walked around taking photos before we ran into a group of Aegean Center students. He went up in the campanile with the group, and I stayed down and took quite a few photos. I was impressed there was such a fabulous church in such a remote location.

I decided to head off to Murano and maybe look at some glass. On the way, everyone went their separate ways, so I ended up on Murano with Lindsey. We walked around for a while, but since I had spent a little time there the day before, we looked only a little and walked back to the boat to head to meet everyone for dinner.

I got back a little early, so I took off alone with my camera to take photos of people riding in gondolas. I got some gelato, and had just a really nice walk before dinner.

We met everyone at 6:30, and we were going to go to dinner, but a lot of people wanted to go in gondolas, so a group of them got together to do that. I went for a walk with Georgie to find a supermarket because I was pretty sure that I wasn’t going to go out to eat for dinner.

When we got back from the market, we caught up with everyone getting off their gondola ride, so I decided to go and head out to eat with Mark, Matt, Liz, Marilyn, etc. I decided finally that I was going to eat, so I ended up eating an entire pizza by myself. Matt and I went for a walk to talk about some girl problems while we were waiting for the food to come, and I did the best that I could to help him out.

At dinner, the food was not very good. It was actually very comical. The service was very bad because the waitress did not speak English and wasn’t will to work with our Italian. She got almost every order mixed up and tried to pass off a meal with polenta and cuttlefish on three people in the group. It was kind of comical. We ended up just laughing about it.

I went to the bar with the group after, but decided the best thing was to again be the boring one and head off to bed alone. It was just fine.

Monday, September 11, 2006

After the long morning, it was time to get up and get going again. A funny thing to think was that it was in fact the anniversary of September 11, 2001, and I thought to myself as I woke up in the morning that I was very glad to be in a country that wont be spending a lot of time buying in the drama of the whole thing. I took some time to remember that there was definitely some work still left to be done in the world and again vowed to renew my purpose in that. I think that was a just remembrance of the day.

We were supposed to meet Jeffery at 9:00 at the door of the Academia. We were also told that before that if we wanted to do something interesting that we could walk to the market to take photos. Christy and I had breakfast delivered to our room at 8:00, and we left early to head to the market.

Venice looks amazing in the morning light, and I took photos of the local people getting up and getting ready for the day in their beloved city. The market was still setting up, but I did take photos of the vegetables and fruit in the morning sun, and I was quite happy with some of the photos that I did take. Christy and I admired the boats all going down the canal, and I watched the local people take gondolas across the river. It was very lovely.

We took the boat to the Academia stop, and we ran into Liz and Jeffery in the coffee shop right next to the museum. It was fun. We spent time talking to them because we were early, when John Pack and John Van Buren showed up. I was surprised to see John because I didn’t know that he was coming. I was glad to see him though because I knew that part of the scholarship John was able to give to me was in part due to the kindness and determination of John Van Buren. He is an amazing man, and he deserved to spend time in Venice with us. I was told that he was actually going to spend the rest of the Italy session with the group, which was very nice.

The Academia Museum did have some very good masterpieces in it, and we had a lot of fun looking at them. I must say that I am a Florentine Renaissance woman. The Titian paintings were interesting, but I can’t say that I am the biggest fan. The paintings we did look at helped me to piece the Renaissance together in my mind, and a lot of them are Masterpieces. It was a very enjoyable museum visit.

After the Academia, Jeffery said goodbye to us for the afternoon. Part of the theory of having so much free time was so that we would be able to go out and get a feel for Venice on our own. I decided with Christy that I wanted to go out and visit some of the islands just outside of Venice. One is known for lace called Burano, one is known for glass called Murano and one is known for its church called Torcello.

I used my map and some advice from Jeffrey to head on out to the islands. Unfortunately, we took the long way, and we ended up going from stop to stop transferring boats, and it took us about two and a half hours to get there. At that time, it was too late to be able to go to Torcello and have a lot of time to go to the museum, so we went to Burano, and it ended up being the best decision.

I do have to say that Burano was one of my favorite places on Earth (even close to Bruge and Paros). All of the houses are colored and the method of transportation is still boats because it is built on canals outside of Venice.

There were almost no tourists there, so we had the place to ourselves. We walked around the entire island, and it was really wonderful. I have a lot of photos of the colorful houses.

Christy took some photos of me, so it is even documented that I did go there.

We decided to head over to Murano because Burano was so cool, but by the time we got there, we were so tired that we ended up just heading back to Venice to be with the group.

When we got back to the hotel, we ran into a group that was going out to eat, so we decided to tag along. We found a nice but expensive restaurant in a quiet area. The food was not very good, but it was nice to sit out in Venice and have some good time with friends. I had pasta with tomato sauce and some bread.

After dinner, I was headed off to bed to avoid any more drama like that of the night before.

Sunday, September 10, 2006

It was time to go to Venice. It is very often one of the major important parts of the Italy Semester for the Aegean Center, so we were all very excited. I had always heard very bad things about Venice about how dirty it was and how the canals were all smelly. Having my expectations very low had me very surprised when I got there because it was very amazing.

We got up early and then took the coach bus from the front door of the villa to the Florence train station. I had been trying to stop taking medication for my morning sickness, so I hadn’t taken it the night before. The trip on the bus was very hard. I was sitting up front, but despite my best efforts, I was feeling very ill and unhappy. As the bus wound through the back streets of Florence, I felt very sick, and was dizzy.

We finally arrived at the train station in Florence, but I was feeling very ill. We had quite a bit of time before the train was to leave, so all of the students were allowed to leave their bags with Jane, who was at the station as a guard, and they were given free reign to go and do something exciting. I was not feeling good, so I just sat in the train station with the bags and felt awful. Eventually, I did manage to get up and take a walk, but on my walk out of the train station, some man ended up spitting on me, so I had to walk to the park across the street and get that figured out. Needless to say, it was not really exciting having someone spit on me in the middle of the train station when I was not feeling well.

Eventually, all of the students returned, and we ended up on the three-hour train to Venice. I was sitting with a very lively crowd, and I was playing games with them in between heading to the bathroom to throw up any attempts to eat food that day. We played a game that was a lot of fun and had a hilarious result. I will keep it in mind for future reference, but we had quite a lot of fun.

I was so surprised when I stepped out of the train station in Venice and saw that canals. People were really being carted around in gondolas and there was so much that was going on that was exciting.

Of course, we had little time to get to our hotels and check in before we had to head off to meet Jeffrey and the group for a tour of the church.

Our hotel was in a very lovely location right off the Rialto Bridge. Venice is so amazing. I hope now looking back that I have taken enough photos for myself to be able to remember exactly how lovely the city is. It is full of canals and amazing buildings. The city had been built in such a lovely style because the Venetians at one point in history were amazingly smart and unconquerable. They had conquered quite a bit of Europe, and in every area that they conquered they brought back treasures for themselves. The city is built on a sand bar and is almost impossible to attack, so it has a very lovely appearance because it could afford it and because there was no danger of it’s treasures being stolen.

The hotel was very lovely. It was a three star hotel, so it was decorated in a very nice way. I made a comment to some of the other students that John did a very good job booking the hotel because I definitely wouldn’t have chosen such a nice place for myself if I were traveling to Venice alone. It was nice to stay somewhere nice when we were on the road.

The students all headed to meet Jeffery for the afternoon lecture. We were going to go to St. Marks Square. The square was beautiful. It is definitely one of the most famous areas in the world, and it was loaded with pigeons, tourists and pigeons on tourists. The buildings around the big church of St. Mark were all very nicely built. Of course, a city with so much money would hire an architect that could do such a rich city justice.

We looked at the façade and the campanile of the church. The façade is amazing and is covered in expensive mosaic with a lot of gold. It is very impressive.

The church is so popular that it was very strict about its entrance and the route you were supposed to take when in the church. There was a mass going on, so we were filtered quickly through the church quietly with a large crowd. Even though we were battling the crowd, it was amazing. The church had a feel very different than the feelings I had gotten in other churches. It was much more like the Hundred Doors Church on Paros.

After walking around the church, we went to the top of the church to a museum that was filled with all kinds of original works from the church. Also, it gave access to the balcony that ran around the top of the church, so we were able to go out on the balcony and get a better view of Venice. I took quite a few photos from up there even though I was feeling quite tired.

When we came down from the church, we spent time looking around the square. Jeffrey spent time explaining the architecture of the Duke’s Palace that was right next to St. Mark’s Church. Jeffrey also pointed out the architecture of the building right across from the Duke’s Palace because it was built as a fantastic library. We ended the tour next to the water where there were a lot of picturesque gondolas.

I was just simply impressed by the afternoon tour. It gave me more information about Venice, and got me in the mood to spend three days there.

After the tour, Jessica, Christy, Matt, Danielle and I headed off to get some food. I shared a pizza with Christy, and it was pretty good. We had an enjoyable evening.

After dinner, everyone wanted to go out to the bars, so I followed along with them to see if someone would want to walk me home a little later. We found a bar that was able to charm them all into staying, so a while into the night, I left and went back to the hotel alone.

Christy stayed behind, and I ended up letting her into the room later that night. Apparently, she had more to drink than she wanted, and we spent part of the night handling her being sick in between her telling me about some of the drama that had occurred with the other students while she was out with them.

The drama of that night was enough to last for quite a while.

Saturday, September 9, 2006

We had the chance to sleep in on Saturday morning, but of course, there was an exciting alternative, which I decided not to pass up. Christy and I got up early and decided that we were going to go into the central square in Pistoia to see what the market was like.

We were told that the market had been going on continuously for hundreds of years on Saturday mornings. It is a good place to go and hang out with friends, but it is also a good place to find wares and clothes for a much cheaper price than may otherwise be available.

Christy and I decided to go and hang out down there and see if we could get some good photos, but we also decided to do some shopping.

We got there early enough that they were actually still setting up, and we spent about an hour and a half walking through all the booths looking at clothes and jewelry and kitchen wares, etc. It was a lot of fun. I ended up buying a sweater that has long sleeves and that has a very flattering shape that I will be able to continue to take advantage of when I have a much bigger belly.

At 10:00, we all met at the office of the commune to go and meet with the mayor. We were taken up into the 700-year-old building for a nice meeting. He gave us a talk in Italian about how important it is to continue quality inter-cultural communication to avoid things like 9-11 in the future.

When we were done with the mayor, he gave us gifts of hats, pens and miniature cutouts of Pistoia. Then we went and had some good food.

The afternoon was time to be off and get some things caught up. I spent some time working on my journal, but when I got tired of writing, I ended up spending the rest of my time out on a blanket next to the fountain in the back reading my book about having healthy children.

It was nice to lie in the sun and talk with my friends.

When the sun got lower in the sky, the wind was blowing, so Christy and I decided to take a walk around and see if we could make ourselves photographically useful. We took a walk around the outside walls of the villa where we found another farmhouse with a garden. I spent some time photographing the beautiful grapes that were in that garden. We walked around, and I took photos of the olives and the olive trees.
We got trapped in the outer walls of the villa, and the only solution was to climb the fence at one point. We decided to climb the gate because it was the most sturdy and had the most places to grip and stand, but the top was very pointy. I made jokes with Christy about her allowing the pregnant woman to climb the fence, etc. It was kind of funny.

When we got back to the villa, I ran into Morgan. I asked her if she wanted to model for me, and she said yes. I ended up taking her into the fields of olives in front of the villa and photographing here in the late afternoon sun. I think that I got the effect that I was looking for. Just when I told her that we were done, the sun went down. I was satisfied.

Dinner that night was spaghetti, mashed potatoes, green beans, chicken, fish, salad, cheese, fruit and cake.

After dinner we skipped Dante and ended up talking about the Venice trip we were about to undertake. We got a general itinerary and then we studied our maps so that we wouldn’t get lost.

I was very tired when we were done talking, so I went directly to bed.

Friday, September 8, 2006

We went to Florence for another adventure into the wonders of art that it has to hold. Jeffrey set it up so that we had a spare morning to do whatever we wanted before we were to meet at 12:00 for our reservation in the Uffizi.

A group of us decided to get up early and head to the Academia to see the David and all the other treasures there. We took the long trip in to Florence and headed in that direction. Since we got there pretty early, the line wasn’t that long, but it was definitely a slow-moving line. We stood there for quite a while waiting to get in, and we were finally able to manage it.

I was told that there was a lot of things to see in the museum, but it was smaller than I thought. We were immediately filtered into a room with about 8 unfinished sculptures by Michelangelo. At the end of the room, was a dome with the David sitting in it. The image of that sculpture stole my attention even though I was trying to look at the other works. I finally decided to pay attention to the demanding sculpture before looking at and evaluating the others. I was quite thrilled to see the David. I had just finished reading Michelangelo’s autobiography by Irving Stone, and it seemed that the creation of the David was so important to him as an artist. I think that it really deserved the place that it got. There were a lot of people there looking at it, but it was worth the crowd. I was so moved by the experience of being there that I was almost in tears. I was in the room with a living, breathing piece of art from 500 years ago. In fact, we went to see it on the 502 anniversary of it’s unveiling by the artist himself. When I return to Florence after this trip, I will be visiting the David again.

When my attention had been sucked dry by the masterpiece that is the David, I was able to look at and evaluate the unfinished works by Michelangelo from different projects. I got to see a lot of the unfinished figures that were to go on to Pope Julius’ tomb. I also got to see the first unfinished sculpture that he was commissioned by Florence to do of the 12 apostles. He got called to Rome before he was able to finish even one, but I got to see that one.

After the Academia, we headed over the Uffizi. We were going to be in there for 2 hours looking intensively at paintings that were the important turning points in the history of Art. Jeffrey took us to the first room, which showed the first paintings before the Renaissance, and then led us through all the way up to the Baroque. I saw paintings by, Giotto, Ucello, Leonardo Da Vinici, Fra Angelico, Filpo Lippi, Boticelli, Carravaggio, Titian, etc.

The work that I saw in the Uffizi really moved me. One of the most important things for me was the fact that I was able to stand in front of many Boticelli paintings that I had admired and studied for years and years. One of his major paintings was missing, but I was able to see Venus and Primavera. The intense emotion at seeing those paintings in person really overcame me, and I was unable to choke back the tears of joy. I got to spend a good deal of time in front of them, and I felt like the connection I had made with Boticelli earlier on in life strengthens.

We spent some really intense time in the museum, and it was relaxing to finally be filtered out through the gift shop. I did take the chance to actually stop and buy some post cards of the art that I had seen that had inspired me.

We walked back to the train station slowly ensuring a stop at the best gelato shop in Florence.

I used the Internet in Pistoia to my great frustration. That experience made me decide that I would not attempt to use the Internet until we get to Paros. When I got back to the villa, I talked to Jared on the phone, which was very nice.

Dinner was corn grits, rice with zucchini and celery, fried grits, calamari and shrimp, fish, salad, cheese, fruit and coffee cake.
Of course, Dante followed Dinner.

Thursday, September 7, 2006

I had talked to Liz about getting up early at some point and going down to look at the beautiful light of Pistoia. I was excited when she announced that this was going to be the day.

We met earlier than all the other students and headed off on the bus together. It was nice to see the photo group together, but I must say that it is a lot bigger than it has been in other semesters, so it may be interesting trying to vie for time with Liz. I’m sure that I will be able to manage though.

The photo class walked around Pistoia for a while looking at the way that the light hit different buildings in different light. We then spent quite a bit of time evaluating and photographing two particular subjects.

I eventually convinced Liz to take us to the food market. Even though the lighting wasn’t the best, it was fun to take some candid shots of people as they buy and sell food. I enjoyed my time there. The class then headed off to the photo store called Foto Lux in Pistoia.

We met Jeffrey later on in the morning in front of one of the churches. He took us in. It was a very simple church. I liked the feel of it though. It wasn’t big and full of ornate things, but it gave the feel of a holy place and the art in it was fabulous. One thing of note was the masterpiece of Della Robia . Della Robia carves things out of terra cotta and then glazes it to look like marble. The sculpture that we saw by him was really nice.

When we left the church, we went to another building that has been turned into a museum. It used to be a church, and in a recent restoration, it was discovered that there were some really amazing frescoes. They were well preserved. We spent quite a bit of time looking at them and trying to make out the scenes that they depicted.

We headed up to the villa at about 13:00. Lunch looked really good, but of course I was not feeling well, so apples became the lunch for me.

After lunch, we had more basic lectures in writing, drawing, photography and art history.

Dinner was corn grits and mushrooms, fish, chicken, carrots, potatoes, salad, cheese and fruit.

We read more Dante after dinner.

Wednesday, September 6, 2006

We spent the day in Pisa. We had studied so much about other art in the area that I had completely forgotten that I was going to see the leaning tower of Pisa as well. I got really excited about that on the way there.

It was of course a very early start as usual on the days that we go out away from Pistoia. We have to catch two different buses to get to the train station and then take the train for an hour or so to get to our destination. Of course, because we want to see as much as possible, we start out early and stay as late as possible.

When we got to Pisa, we got out of the train station and got a chance to look around. Since we walk around the cities we visit and don’t use public transportation (because all the things we want to see are near the center anyway), we took a long walk through the city on the way to the Duomo.

Of course, along our long walk, we all stopped to get some coffee, use a bathroom, eat pastries and stock up for lunch. We stopped at a café that Jane swears has the best pastries in the world. She doesn’t eat wheat, but once a year she makes an exception when the school stops at that café, and she has something to eat. I decided that I should be trying it out as well, so I had a pastry. It was pretty good, but being pregnant doesn’t help with my tastes, so I have to reserve judgment on things I’m not craving until I’m no longer pregnant.

On our walk, I got a chance to take some photos. We walked over the river, and that was a beautiful view. Mostly, I was using my Woca, but I do still have some digital shots to work with.

Eventually, we ended up at the Duomo. The Leaning “Tower” of Pisa is in fact just the campanile (bell tower) for the church. We walked around the church and got to take a good look at the tower, the church and the baptistery. They are all very beautiful in style, and it was in fact the building that paved the way for a new style of architecture called Pisa Romanesque. The main features are rounded arches with green and white candy stripes. It sounds really dumb on paper, but when you see it as the façade of many of these beautiful buildings, it looks glorious.

We looked at the facades of all of the buildings and talked about the campanile. When we were done with that, we headed into the Duomo to have a look.

It was a very crowded building, but it was worth having a look. We got to spent time looking around with Jeffery asking the usual questions. How does the space feel? What does it look like? Is the style Gothic, Romanesque or other? What year was it built? Does it have columns or pillars? What was the space designed for? What do the capitals of the columns look like? This style of teaching really gets you to understand what you are looking at so that eventually you ask yourself the questions before he even starts talking.

We then spent some time looking at another one of the famous Pisano pulpits.

The Duomo was really fantastic because it had so much going on in it, and you could just tell that when the city was flourishing as a port for Italy that it was able to invest its wealth into great works for the city. The church is just crammed full of incredible things. I wasn’t feeling very well, but I did my best to stay with the group and get as much as I can, but I do tell you that it is possible to get a lot out of just sitting quietly in a church and observing the space and the art.

We then headed to the baptistery. It was built in a similar way to the Duomo, so it was easy to understand. We went into the space, and it was just wonderful. There wasn’t really a whole lot of art and other things compared to what we had just seen in the Duomo, but it was still nice. There was a very good sculpture of Saint John that I liked. We spent a lot of time looking at another Pisano pulpit.

When Jeffrey was done, he sent us upstairs to look around. I just went up there and sat down because it was so nice. I took a lot of photos of the architecture and other things, but it was really nice to sit up there and be able to look at the building from another angle.

We took a short break for lunch, and I ate what I had stored up from the coffee shop as well as some yogurt I had brought along. A group of us then decided to go and take photos holding up the Leaning Tower of Pisa. They were kind of touristy, but also a lot of fun.

After lunch, Jeffrey took us to an old cemetery to look around and see where the Pisano father and son had gotten the inspiration to make such beautiful pulpits (from Roman Sarcophagi). We looked around, and it was just a great place to take photos. We stopped and looked at one of the frescos that were really important to Pisa. It was huge and beautiful. The cemetery had been bombed in one of the World Wars, and the cemetery and the frescos on the wall were put back together piece by piece. It was really admirable and showed the quality of human resilience. I was impressed, but also very glad that it was done. We then looked at a lot of graves and sculptures. They were even restoring some of the other frescos, and I got a chance to watch. It was really fun.

We decided to head home. It was pretty late in the afternoon. Of course we went by a very good gelato shop on the way, and it helped purk everyone up.

Dinner was Spinach tortellini, Rabbit, Peas, mashed potatoes, salad, cheese and fruit.

We read Dante after dinner with Jeffrey, and then I headed off to bed.

Tuesday, September 5, 2006

It was another day in Pistoia. The program alternates one day in Pistoia and one day out in the world touring. We headed off in the morning to town with Jeffrey. When we were in Pistoia the first day, we were not able to see the altar for the Duomo, and we did not see one of the other churches. That was the mission to be accomplished for the day.

We spent a lot of time in front of the altar, and it was beautiful. The altar contains a relic of the finger bone of one of the important saints. It put Pistoia on the pilgrimage map to have such a relic, so Pistoia made the appropriate response of building a very expensive altar for it.

The altar is made of pure silver, and is about six feet wide and nine feet tall. I wish that I had a photo of it, because it is fantastic. It contains stories from the life of Christ as well as from the life of the saint whose relics it contains. We spent a lot of time in the room with Jeffrey going over the stories and the quality of the workmanship. I’m glad that Pistoia made the decision to commission the work because it is very beautiful.

After that, we headed over to another church. It was a small and minor church, but it is nice to experience churches of different caliber when you are walking around learning about the history of a culture. Even though the church was small and private feeling, it had a lot of great works of art. We spent a lot of time looking at and evaluating the pulpit that has been made by Giovanni Pisano. It was beautiful. We got some other time to look around the church, and I must say that I would have been happy to worship in it if I were a Catholic Pistoian.

After our trip with Jeffrey, everyone headed home. I started to conceive the idea that I am going to use for my journal, and I got to work on it.

In the afternoon, we had classes. Liz taught the basics of photography and then Jane taught us all how to draw circles and straight lines. Of course I need more practice. Drawing is like torture to me, but I must overcome that feeling and be able to do it with some skill before I leave.

After dinner, we read Dante with Jeffrey. It is very fun to be able to read one of the works of a man with such a legacy in history.

Monday, September 4, 2006

The program definitely starts out with a bang. We had only been at the villa for a day and a half, and we were already off on our first adventure in Florence. What a day it was. As usual on these adventures, we had to get up early to catch the bus that connects with the next bus that then connects to the train that goes to Florence. I was tired, but I figured I would be able to manage. I had been not taking my Unisom, and I was definitely suffering the consequences.

When we got to Florence, Jeffrey of course stopped off at the local coffee shop. I ended up buying a sandwich that I was sure was going to be my lunch, but that really ended up being my after breakfast snack. I got a chance to visit with Darla while we ate.

When we were done with the coffee, it was time to get down to business. We got a chance to stand outside the Duomo and Baptistery in Florence. The whole group got to stand up very close and touch the bronze doors on three sides of the Baptistery. We got to see copies of what Michelangelo named the “doors to Paradise,” and which I would absolutely agree. After looking at the outside, we went to see the things in the Museum of the Works of the Duomo.

The museum stands where the work yard for the Duomo used to stand. It is the place that the block stood for so many years before Michelangelo was asked to turn it into the David. It was also the place that he then stood and carved the years while he was making the David. It seemed to be a sacred workshop to me because it was the area where such a wonderful work of art was stored. The museum had a million things in it that were complete masterpieces. You would have to look a complete listing of the things up online. I was able to see the Deposition that Michelangelo was carving for his own tomb, which was very memorable. I also got to see a pulpit by Donatello and one by Nicolo Pisano. Donatello had some other sculptures in the museum, which were nice. The museum also had many drawings and other tools that had been used to make the dome. Brunelleshi himself had used many of the tools. That was very fascinating.

I got to see the last sculpture by Michelangelo that was meant for his tomb. It is a beautiful thing to stand in front of, and I was surprised at how amazingly it had been worked. It was the first sculpture by him that I had ever seen.

The original bronze “doors to Paradise” were in the museum, and the group got a chance to walk around and look at them up close. We got to look at the stories that they told as well as learn more about the Catholic religion (which most of the group [myself included] is very ignorant in). The doors were absolutely fantastic.

There was a lot of other good work in the museum, but it is too much to talk about here.

We then split off for lunch. I went with most of the group to get sandwiches. When we were done, we had gelato as the best gelato store in the world. It was really amazing, and all I have to say is that I learned how to navigate myself there for the future.

After lunch, we met and went into the Duomo. It is such a big church. One thing that really amazed me was the fact that there were no pews or places to sit. The marble inlaid floor is the original floor. I couldn’t help but think that it was the floor that Michelangelo stood while listening to the lectures by the famous, but evil Savonrola. The dome was very high, and is covered by beautiful paintings. There are too many things in the church to go over here, but all I have to say is that it is a must-see church. It is one of the most beautiful in the world, and the dome is just excellent. I think that if I lived in Florence that I wouldn’t want to worship anywhere else.

When we were done in the church, we went to the Baptistery across the street. The building for the Baptistery is very old, in fact, no one knows how old. It is for sure the oldest building in Florence. It has been ornately covered from head to toe in marble, so it is just beautiful. The entire ceiling on the inside is covered in mosaic. The dominant color in the mosaics is gold—real gold. It must have taken a long time to put the mosaics up, but it was really great to see them. They have been well taken care of. Jeffrey pointed out the Bible scenes to us, and it was a really big help. I just sat there admiring the ceiling as well as the environment it was in. The font was very incredible, and was of course where all the Florentines have been baptized. It is just an amazing building.

After that, it was late in the day, and we were all tired. We just made our way home. The day was very hot, and on the train, I ended up sitting in the sun for quite a while, and it made me very sick. I was not happy by the time I got back to the villa

Before dinner, we had an hour lecture from Peter Abbs. He talked about creativity. I realized when listening to him that a lot of what he said rang true, but I had a different understanding than I think he wanted me to have. I think that things can sometimes be looked at too complexly, and I came out of the lecture very confident of myself and where I was going with my art career. The whole thing only made me much more sure of what I was doing and why I was doing it.

Dinner was great, but I was only able to eat apples because I wasn’t feeling good. Judy noticed, and she ended up bringing me some Ricotta, which worked well with the tomatoes I could get my hands on. I was much happier.

After dinner, Jeffrey talked a lot about Dante, and we started to read one of his short works. It is translated into English that is old fashioned and a little more proper than I am used to, but I was glad to be back to reading and learning from Jeffrey.

Sunday, September 3, 2006

We got up in the morning and took the bus to Pistoia. The idea was to show us all around and tell us where the main and important things were. We found the Internet café, the coffee shop, the bus stops, the chocolate shop, the main churches and places of interest, and the piazza where the market is held. We went on a tour of the main church, the Duomo as well as the baptistery for the Duomo. I learned a lot about the history of Pistoia. It is such a nice, quiet town, and I was so surprised to see no tourists. It was very easy to navigate, and I am so glad that the Aegean Center uses it as its home in Italy.

We came back in time to have some really good lunch at the villa.

The rest of the afternoon was spent in classes doing orientation and going over the general syllabi of the classes.

Dinner was, of course, very wonderful, and I was honored to be at the table eating such a delicious Tuscan meal with such good company.

Saturday, September 2, 2006

Neither Christy or I were able to sleep, so we were up early and ready to head to the train station to take the train. When we got our tickets the night before, I learned that I was going to have to pay a very stiff fee unless I wanted to take the slow train. Christy agreed to come with me, and was able to take the train for less than half the price of the fast one. John strongly recommended not taking the slow train, but I learned quickly that it wasn’t such a bad idea. I was able to take a look at the scenery around me, and it only took twice as long as the fast train. It wasn’t bad for a free trip for me and a price-reduced trip for Christy. We were both tired from the night before, but we were able to make good conversation along the way.

When we finally got to Florence, we hopped the next train to Pistoia. I was positive that there were going to be other students on the train with us, but I didn’t see anyone there with us. We took the short train journey and were able to quickly get off in Pistoia.

At the train station, I didn’t see any taxis right away, and there was another student sitting there waiting for one. I asked if both her (Darla) and Christy were interested in trying to take the bus. I went over to the bus station and was able to get information. There was a bus going to the villa shortly, so we went and got on it with no problem.

We were dropped at the villa door, and it was really amazing. I recognized the villa from photos at the school, but it was truly a Tuscan Italian villa. I was happy. As we started to walk up the drive, Morgan and Gabriel came running down to help with the luggage. It was good to finally be at the villa.

I was able to say hi to both Liz and John, and there was a full spread of food available to partake of. I sat and talked for a long while with Liz. I told her the secret I had been keeping from her about being pregnant, and she was very happy. She told me that she had noticed in my last interactions with Jared that we had a very good relationship and that I was a very loyal wife. I liked the compliment.

I spent the rest of the day just hanging out, learning new names and spending time with old faces.

Dinner was at 8:00, and I was really glad that I was there. The meals at the villa are 3-5 course meals with salad, cheese and fruit after. The pasta that comes as the first course is just amazing, and as long as I’m feeling well enough to eat varied and random foods, the food is really great. There is wine with the meals. I haven’t had any, but I was able to have just a small taste of it, to know what traditional Chianti tastes like. It was quite nice. I wasn’t feeling really great though, so I went and found some coke to be able to spike my blood sugar and continue on with dinner.

Dinner: Flat Pasta with cheese and tomato sauce, baked potatoes, pork, salad, cheese and fruit.

It just so happened that first day that the villa had been rented out to host a wedding. The students were arriving in the middle of the bride and groom and all of their friends. The back of the villa was set up very nicely. The reception for the wedding was around the fountain. There was lots of food and music.

After dinner, we were all invited out to dance and party with the wedding. They were very happy to have us. All but one of the students went out on the floor to dance, and all of the professors were out there. We had a blast, and it was an amazing kick off to the start of the fall session.

The music and dancing lasted late into the night—long after I was able to stand it, so I went to bed.

Friday, September 1, 2006

I woke up in the morning with a smile on my face chanting, “I will be in Rome today, I leave for Rome today.” I was very excited. It was finally the end of my personal vacation that was also acting in many ways as a tragedy. I vowed at the end that it was always better to travel with a companion. It makes it much easier to get out of sticky or frustrating problems, and you have someone to laugh things off with and bounce ideas off. It is also nice to be able to talk about a work of art that you are interested in or even to talk in general. The future travels with have Jared and our child if not friends to guide us on our way as well.

I got on the train and made it to Rome late. When I left the station, I decided to walk toward the hostel. Halfway there, I had decided I was going the wrong way, so I turned around. I then started to look for Kathy’s hotel, which I was very surprised to find in a very easy location. She had gone out to pick up Morgan, so I had to find my own hostel.
Many hours later, I ended up just following the directions of the paper I had from the place with directions. After many kilometers of walking, I was there finally.

I dropped my stuff off and made it back to Kathy’s. She still wasn’t home from being out, so I waited. She came eventually with Morgan, and it was really nice to finally see her.

We ended up having coffee over good conversation and then did a little shopping.

After that, I walked back to my hostel and sat and waited for Christy. I met some nice other people that were also traveling, but I was just waiting for Christy.

When she finally did some, we ended up going out for coffee, walking to the station to get tickets and then heading back to the hostel for a night of no sleep and lots of excitement for the trip to Pistoia the next day.

Thursday, August 31, 2006

The last day in Naples. I decided that it was time for me to actually make it into the city center and look at some of the historical buildings. There are two castles in the old town area that I understood were really nice to look at. I followed all of the directions I had to make it to down town Naples, but as soon as I got off the metro and walked into the city, I immediately got an idea of the city. It was very dirty and scary. The street vendors were not giving clean deals, and I did not feel safe. I went as far as I could before realizing that I may end up having troubles it I wasn’t careful. Because I was not really well versed in the things to see in Naples, I decided that it wasn’t safe for me to continue trying to stay in the area. After walking a little away from the train station, I decided to turn around and head back for the hostel. If I decided at a later point in my life that seeing Naples is important, I will go back, but I don’t feel that I really missed out on a lot of good art that would be devastating to my education to miss.

I spent a long time getting the train back. When I got there, I spent the rest of the day just realizing, looking at the people walking around me in the piazza, getting gelato, using the Internet, watching TV, reading my book and going tgo bed. It was a realizing end to my vacation knowing that I was going to be in Rome with Christy and Kathy the next day.

Chris in Italy

Hello,

I just wanted to send off a quick hello to everyone to let you know that I have arrived in Italy and I am well. I have been here for 10 days so far, and it's been fun. I spent 1 day in Longon, England, 4 days in Milano, Italy and now I am completing my 5th day here in Naples.

Italy has a different character than I origionally thought. I am having to pick up important Italain phrases very quickly, and I think that after having been in Naples that I will be able to successfully navigate any public transportation system in the world, either in English or not.

The sun is shining, which inevitially means that my tan is coming out again, and I was sure that it was over for the summer. The weather in my final location for study, Pistoia (20 miles outside of Florence) is supposed to be much cooler.

I have done and seen some amazing things. I got to see a castle and very amazing church in Milan. I got to see some famous works of art when I was in London. Here in Naples, I have seen Pompeii and been very close to the volcano that destroyed it.

When I leave Naples tomorrow, I head to Rome for one day to meet with a group of fellow students and then head to Florence\Pistoia the next morning. I am very excited.

The connection to the Internet here in Italy is a lot more difficult than in Greece. I am documenting everything well, and when I get to Greece, I will make sure that it all gets posted on my blog. I'm sorry that I may not be able to update my blog until October 1st, but there will be a lot to read then, I promise. Otherwise, I will try to keep you updated with letters and photos.

Hope all is well in your part of the world.

Until Next Time,

Chao,

Christine

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

I finally decided that it was time to make it to Pompeii. I went to the tracks and got on the train. However, I realized at some point that I was on the train that was going to another location and that I would need to get off and switch trains. It was cloudy outside, and it had rained in the morning, but I decided to get off at a stop that actually was very attractive and drawing to me. It turns out that I chose the wrong stop because I was sitting there on the step watching the correct train that I was supposed to get on go by without stopping. Quite a while later, I was still sitting there, and I ended back on the train that I had gotten off of long before. I was able to switch several stops later.

I eventually ended up back and Pompeii, and with a very short walk, I was at the site. I went on up the hill with the crowd, and then I went off on my own. One of the wonderful things was that I was actually able to pull out my camera and take amazing photos. I spent the rest of the afternoon shooting photos, walking around and sitting to rest and feed the baby and myself.

Pompeii was a really fascinating place though. I was able to get a real idea of the way that the people lived during that time, and the houses were really amazingly built. I could really see the people come to life in front of me. It was interesting to think of such a tragedy happening in the lives of the people. The houses and columns and ruins were amazing. The amphitheatre was really fascinating because it was fully in tact. I got to see the mechanics of acoustics as well as functions in a perfectly preserved theatre. I was very fascinated. Pompeii really gave me an understanding of the surroundings of the people that I was in.

When I had walked my heart out and taken all of the photos that I could handle, I jumped back on the train home and had dinner, watched TV, checked my email and eventually fell asleep.

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

I decided to try to visit Pompeii. I got on the train after asking directions from the nice people at the hostel. After waiting for two hours on the platform reading my book, the train finally stopped. I got off at the Pompeii stop only to get off and look around very confused about where I was. I was told that the site was right across the street from the excavations, but when I got off the train, I was standing in the middle of the actual present day city of Pompeii. I walked around for quite a while and found the beautiful church where I sat and ate some yogurt. Confused, I walked around quite a bit more and caught the train back home.

When I got home, I ate a ham sandwich, which seemed to be the things to soothe all problems at the time. I passed the rest of the day reading my book and sleeping.

It was at that point that I decided that I was going to rest and only do the things that I wanted to do. I was very tired, and trying to push to see and do everything was clearly not my style. I wasn’t having fun, and interesting disastrous started happening to me when I did start to push it. I really did decide that it was time for me to rest and just enjoy myself in the city.

When I woke up from my nap, I went up the street to get some groceries. On my way back down, I bought some pistachio gelato to soothe and repair my defeated soul. It went a long way to serve that purpose. I sat in the square and watched the sun set in front of the square with the fountain. I fit in well with the old men sitting on the steps talking over the day’s gossip and getting ready to retire before doing it all over again. Maybe Pompeii will happen tomorrow.

Monday, August 28, 2006

This was my first day in Naples. I got to do some research on the Internet, and I found out that the Archeological museum was good and had some art in it that I have been very interested in seeing. I decided that that was going to be the trip of the day. Public transportation in Naples is horrible; I would say that it is among the worst in the world. The whole city is smelly and dirty, and I felt the whole time that I was going to turn a corner and step on a rotting dead carcass. The streets are not navigable, and no maps or other sources are provided to navigate the transportation and the streets. When I finally made it to the museum, I was happy.

I spent hours in the museum. It was very nice. I was able to see mosaics from Pompeii and Erculano. They were amazing. I really got a chance to see the beginnings of painting, and I was able to understand some of the mechanics that I had studied earlier with Angeliki during my first semester. Many of the pieces were great masterpieces in my estimation, and it is interesting to note that they were just there on the walls of the houses of the normal noble people. The stonework and stone cutting for a time period that was 2000 years ago just astounded me. I was also able to see many of the erotic works that have been preserved. These works are revolutionary because they showed the outlook of the Romans on sex and procreation, and it gave a look into an aspect of life that doesn’t often get recorded from time to time. Many of the works in the erotic area I had seen in books that I was reading about the role and relationship of man and woman in Classical Rome and Greece.

In addition to those things, I was able to see a fantastic set of works from Rome. They were Classical marble sculptures. I was able to see and understand the form of the bust, which I consider to be a very incredible work or art. Many of them were amazing often combining more than one type of stone together into a portrait. Some of them were big, and some of them were small. I was not familiar with all of the people that were being carved, but I did the best that I could to put them into history. I got to see works from the baths in Rome as well as other sculptures from other areas of Rome that used to stand in very famous areas. One of the sculptures is the largest marble sculpture from antiquity, and it was massive and amazing. I spent a good 30 minutes sitting in front of it evaluating it and understanding it.

There was also a special display in the museum of gold and silver dinnerware that was found in the ruins of Pompeii and Erculano. I was fascinated by it. A lot of it was the same, but the fact that the bowls and plates were so well made really surprised me. Additionally, they were very small, which indicated to me that these people ate very small courses in their meals.

When I was exhausted from looking at all of the art, I went home. I ended up eating two ham sandwiches and talking to Jared over the Internet. It was nice to be able to talk to him. When we were done, I watched some TV until I was tired and then headed off to bed.

Sunday, August 27, 2006

The next day I took the train to Naples. It lasted all day, and I got to see a lot of good scenery. The sunflowers were still out in their fields, but they had already died, and I was sad that I wasn’t able to see that as a dominant factor in the scenery. I was happy to discover that the hostel was REALLY nice. There were lots of young people that speak English. The hostel had free Internet and TV, and the room was actually very nice. I was able to actually sit down and relax.

Saturday, August 26, 2006

This is my last day in Milano. I decided it was time to venture back into Milano and see some more. I went back to the Duomo and sat in front of it and ate toast and read my book. It wasn’t hot yet in the day, and it was nice. Then, I went into the church. It was huge and beautiful. The sculpture looked amazing. The paintings all around were nice, and I got a real education to go along with all of the things about church I was reading in my book. It was beautiful. After I left, I was drawn to an old deserted building next to the Duomo. There was a man playing the violin, and I sat next to him and read my book. Across the way, a couple was kissing on each other’s lap. It made me miss Jared. I read for quite a while because I was tired after walking in the church.

Eventually, I walked up the road and landed upon the Sfozra Castle. The castle was not well kept up. There were several areas roped off, so I did not get a lot of opportunity to walk around. I walked around the courtyard and sat down. Everything was chained up, so I didn’t attempt to do much more but sit there and read more from my book. I later learned that I had missed out on a free museum with a Michelangelo sculpture in it. It was very unfortunate. The castle was beautiful though.

Friday, August 25, 2006

I finally decided that I was going to make it to the city center and have some fun in Milano. I took a long walk with a book in hand and walked the 30 minutes to the center of the city. Every time I came upon a bench in a nice place, I stopped to read a chapter of the book. It was very nice and relaxing. I managed to find a place to buy a shirt, and I was very happy. I spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the center of the city looking at the magnificent Duomo. I was then very hungry, so I bought some food and headed for the hostel. The bus system was very difficult to navigate, and after walking far, I finally ended back at home tired and promptly fell asleep. When I woke up, I began working again at my book. It was very nice. Tonight will be dinner and bed before my last day in Milano tomorrow. Only a few more days until I am at the villa and Pistoia.

Thursday, August 24, 2006

The next day was agonizing. I was very, very ill, so attempts to leave bed until 14:00 were all for naught. I got some sleep. When I woke up, I finally resolved to have my bags delivered to Pistoia and rough it. It is nice to travel very light, but it would have been nice to have things like toothpaste and underwear. I resolved to buy some toothpaste, a toothbrush, shampoo and a new shirt. One problem that I had was that I needed to get a hold of John Pack and make sure that it was OK to have my bags delivered early. I spent the rest of the day buying a phone card and then figuring out how to get a hold of John. I finally got it all sorted out, and then it was back to the hostel for bed, etc. I had good company and was able to pass the night with ease.

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

I was determined to have some fun in London. There are so many wonderful things there to see. Every stop on the tube seemed to have some historical significance or relation to a movie I had seen. Because of this, it was very hard to choose what to do when you only have a few hours to do it. For me, the choice was easy when I discovered that both the British Museum and the National Gallery had free entrance. I had been itching to see works in both of them for years, so that proved to be my next excursion. The British Museum has TONS of lovely things in it. Unfortunately, I had no time to see it all. I decided to only do the sections that were Greek and Roman, since that was the area I had been studying and the area that I was on my way to study. It was a lovely collection. Many artifacts in the Cycladic section of the museum were from Anti Paros, and many sculptures noted that they. Were made of Parian marble. The British Museum also has a huge collection of sculptures taken from the Parthenon. They had a display for them that did them justice, and recreated them as they would be in their real habitat.

Seeing the art in the museum was wonderful. After the frustrating time I was having with my luggage, it was so wonderful to see these pieces of our history so well preserved and on display for the public at no charge. There were many memorable pieces. There was also a room with a very good demonstration of architecture and the different types of columns. I wont forget the visit I had there, and it fit very well into the education I was receiving on Classical history.

I had some spare time after the British Museum, so I headed to the National Gallery. My only real intention at the time was to examine a painting by Reubens that I have heard lectures about it possibly not being authentic. At the time the gallery bought it, it was the most expensive painting every sold. After having seen it in a room full of other paintings by the same artist, I would also agree that it is a fake.

When I was done looking at the Reubens, I had some spare time to explore other treasures of the museum. I was surprised at what I saw. I own a book on the treasures that are in the gallery, but I had forgotten about all of the famous works in the gallery. I saw work by DaVinci, Michelangelo, Van Gough, Rembrandt, Reubens, Serut, Monet, Manet, Boticelli, etc. I went only to see one painting, and came out with so much joy at having seen so many great works. One of the great highlights of my life was the chance to see Venus and Mars by Boticelli. I have been studying that painting for many years, but having the chance to see it actually brought tears to my eyes. I consider it the most incredible masterpiece that I have ever seen. The painting was very well representing in the gallery, and nothing made me happier than to see these surviving works of his.

I had a plane to catch to Milan. When I got to the airport, I discovered I would have to check everything into the undercarriage but my photo paper and film. At the thought of my cameras being mishandled, I burst into tears. This was the start. I packed them well with bubble wrap and newspaper and then saw them off with tears still in my eyes. The next piece of news that I got was that my luggage had still not been found and that there was no chance of it being found in the next short while. I was very upset at the though of no clean clothes or toiletries. They compensated me by letting me into the first class lounge while I waited for my plane, which was very nice.

On the flight, an attendance from Greece befriended me and took me to the back of the plane for the flight. I got all the Sprite I could take, and some good conversation that really helped me to calm down. The Sprite helped to ease my morning sickness that was acting up on the plane.

When I got to Milano, I got off the plane and got my cameras back safely. I made my way to the hostel to go to sleep.

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

London wasn’t so welcoming. I stood in a massive immigration line for ages only to get through it and discover at baggage that my bag had been lost. Many hours, and forms later, they assured me it would be found. Time investment at the airport finding nothing could be done -- 5 hours.

With a very light load (which I admit was quite nice), I jumped on the tube and headed for my hostel, which was relatively easy to find. I got a room with 20 beds for 20 bucks. The exchange into the GBP was very expensive. I spent 50 Euro in one day only on transport and lodging. I didn’t buy a morsel of food. The hostel was OK. Tons of computers were available to pay to use the Internet, but the place itself was nothing extremely special. I did get a chance to talk to Jared at night, which was comforting for the both of us. At the hostel 20 people in a room guarantees people coming and going every hour even in the middle of the night and into the late morning. That and jet lag made it clear that I would have slept better on a park bench.

Monday, August 21, 2006

Though much excitement comes before a trop such as the one I have planned, it is almost impossible to estimate the many things that inevitably follow.

This writing starts 5 days into my trip due to the incredible high intensity that has precipitated.

I left home under very unusual circumstanced, and it can only be due to my strong, (pig headed) will that I made it at all. In my travels, I meet person after person that is surprised by my circumstance, and their surprise only surprised me. I left home the first day of my twelfth week of pregnancy. That looming second trimester I keep hearing all about. Jared, as always was ridiculous supportive giving me not only the courage to fulfill this sky- high desire, but also the funding to be away without working. He takes a very good attitude to his wife again leaving him in bachelor style with only our dog for company.

I got on a plane Monday, August 21st. I was to go from Portland to Seattle. Jared and I spent the day together furiously packing and shopping taking the time to see a movie together before the final goodbye.

When I got to my gate at the airport, they tried to shuffle me back and forth onto an earlier flight. My bags were transferred several times, which no doubt had a great affect on their eventual disappearance. The flight to Seattle was lovely. We were on a tiny plane that flew low, so I was able to enjoy the scenery of the Pacific Northwest.

When I got to Seattle, my flight to London was delayed by 1 hour, so I had a good 5 hours to kill. I got some dinner at Burger King (good fries), read my book (The Agony and the Ecstasy), and played solitaire on my computer until it was nearly dead. When we FINALLY did board, it was very nice. Because I was pregnant, I was upgraded to first class on the 747 that we were flying on. It was very nice. I slept all the way to London, only to wake up in time to see some of the country of England before landing.

Announcement

OK. I may as well announce this one here. I'm pregnant!

We are very excited about this. I'm going to start keeping a journal here and then post some photos. And, of course, you'll get to see lots more photos when I head off to Italy in about a month here!!!

Apartment Photos

Ok. Here are some photos of my apartment for next semester. It looks pretty exciting to me.

Chris on the Snorkeling Boat

Yep. Taken just yesterday. As she lives and breathes. Pretty amazing.

Chris Snorkeling in the Aegean

Yep... That's really me with a snorkeling mask and flipper fins. It really is the Aegean too. The water really is THAT clear. It was beautiful.

Four Wheel Adventure

A photo of a friend and I on the road.

Four Wheel Adventure

A photo of a friend and I on the road.

Jared on Naxos

Here's a long awaited photo of my dear husband with me on a trip to Naxos. Note the temple in the background.

Thursday, May 25, 2006

There have been a lot of incredible things happening recently. I haven’t really made a lot of time to get them posted because the semester is fast coming to an end, and I am in the throes of preparing for the end of semester exhibition. It seems as though my hard work has now started to pay off because I have very few things left to do and a full week to do them. Sadly, at the end of that week, I must return home back to my real life for the summer. The Fall holds a lot including a 22 day tour of Italy and some more advanced studies of photography with the amazing John Pack and Liz Carson. Not to mention the Art History things coming my way by the brilliant Jeffrey Carson.

Jared has come and gone now. We had quite a blast though. It’s great that he got to come and hang out with us and our group. He got some good Greek sun and even got a four wheeling tour around the island, which he enjoyed very much. We did a little island hopping together, and we got to explore some art stuff on the nearest neighbor to Paros, Naxos.

Naxos was amazing. We got to go to many of the major sites there including the three korui, the marble quarries, the Temple of Dionysus, the Temple of Demeter, The Tower of Aiya, etc. I got some great photographs that are going to go into the show here. I intend to display them in Portland as well, which I am looking forward to in a big way. I loved Naxos in a big way because I was able to explore and island that you think would be so similar to Paros. It is complete different though. It is so huge, etc. There are a lot of stories about that island including the idea that Zeus was born there and stayed in hiding there in a cave until he was old enough to overthrow his father. He was, of course, taken care of by and eagle. Another story is that Dionysus planted the first grape vine there, and thus the island is the father of wine making. The island is still very agricultural, and I was able to see many more donkeys (Jared thinks I have donkey radar) and I even took some photographs of an old man on his donkey.

I have also been taking four wheeling adventures on the island. I drove up behind the famous quarries of Marathi here and went up to a very high point on the island to take photographs. I have found some interesting things. These adventures involve things like finding oregano growing, finding sea salt in the rocks by the sea, swimming, trying to explore deserted monasteries, driving through towns we’ve never been to, taking photos of things like cows in poppy fields, taking pictures of pretty flowers, finding churches that are immaculately kept but not used by anyone, driving the four wheeler a little “off road” on a crazy adventure to Naoussa, going through the channels of the marble quarries, etc. Watching the sunset and then getting up to see the sunrise, etc. My good friend Brie and I have been having a blast.

Most of these trips have been for photography purposes, and it has worked out very well.

It has been getting very hot here, and swimming is a great way to cool off. I have also been spending a lot of time in the cool darkroom getting everything ready for next Friday. It is going to be a blast.

So…. That’s what I’ve been up to. I’m not ignoring the blog, just getting pretty busy. Stay tuned for more.

All Night Adventure

It's been a little crazy around here lately. We have an exhibition coming up very soon, and that means that we all have to get ready. I have a bunch of work ready, but I still need to get more done. Even though I am only going to have a few works of art in the show, I will be leaving for home the next day, so it will be important for me to have everyhing wrapped up before the show. I say the least, I have about 55 photos that need to be completed both digitally and in the darkroom. I think I am currently about half way there. That means that in the next two weeks I have to do more than the two months before.

The computer lab has been really crowded these days and so has the darkroom. I decided to try working during off times and see what happened. After my night class, I tried going to the darkroom. I went in at about 8:00 PM and I didn't arrive again until 1 AM. That was very good. I got two whole photos developed, and I was thrilled with them.

Then it was off to the digital lab. I was expecting it to be empty, but it still had people in it. I settled down and started to work. At around 3:00, I asked if my friend was going home, and she was uncertain. I agreed with her. I still had a lot of work to do, and I wasn't really tired yet. We agreed to pull an all-nighter so that we could have the lab and the printers to ourselves. It was quite amazing. We went out to get supplies--coffee and french fries. When we went to the coffee shop/bar, she had just cleaned the coffee machine, so we weren't able to get any. She offered, as a replacement a shot of tequilla and Sprite. She said that it would energize for the night. It sure did. Once we got our french fries and ate them, we worked happily on.

Eventually, I looked out the window and the sun was rising. We went out on top of the roof in the cool air and watched as dawn spread out her finger tips of rose. It was beautiful. We are not back to work--actually she is. I've printed 5 photos today, which is many more than I have ever printed in a day, so I'm calling it a good quits.

We're just waiting for one more comuter thing to happen and then it's off to walk on the beach with the sun rising. I'm looking forward to that.

My prints look amazing and the all-nighter has officially been accomplished. It was quite refreshing. :)

After the beach walk, I'm off to change my clothes and get some food before heading back to the darkroom for more fun printing time.

I'll post photos of the roof sunrise. It is amaing.

Chris

All Night Adventure

It's been a little crazy around here lately. We have an exhibition coming up very soon, and that means that we all have to get ready. I have a bunch of work ready, but I still need to get more done. Even though I am only going to have a few works of art in the show, I will be leaving for home the next day, so it will be important for me to have everyhing wrapped up before the show. I say the least, I have about 55 photos that need to be completed both digitally and in the darkroom. I think I am currently about half way there. That means that in the next two weeks I have to do more than the two months before.

The computer lab has been really crowded these days and so has the darkroom. I decided to try working during off times and see what happened. After my night class, I tried going to the darkroom. I went in at about 8:00 PM and I didn't arrive again until 1 AM. That was very good. I got two whole photos developed, and I was thrilled with them.

Then it was off to the digital lab. I was expecting it to be empty, but it still had people in it. I settled down and started to work. At around 3:00, I asked if my friend was going home, and she was uncertain. I agreed with her. I still had a lot of work to do, and I wasn't really tired yet. We agreed to pull an all-nighter so that we could have the lab and the printers to ourselves. It was quite amazing. We went out to get supplies--coffee and french fries. When we went to the coffee shop/bar, she had just cleaned the coffee machine, so we weren't able to get any. She offered, as a replacement a shot of tequilla and Sprite. She said that it would energize for the night. It sure did. Once we got our french fries and ate them, we worked happily on.

Eventually, I looked out the window and the sun was rising. We went out on top of the roof in the cool air and watched as dawn spread out her finger tips of rose. It was beautiful. We are not back to work--actually she is. I've printed 5 photos today, which is many more than I have ever printed in a day, so I'm calling it a good quits.

We're just waiting for one more comuter thing to happen and then it's off to walk on the beach with the sun rising. I'm looking forward to that.

My prints look amazing and the all-nighter has officially been accomplished. It was quite refreshing. :)

After the beach walk, I'm off to change my clothes and get some food before heading back to the darkroom for more fun printing time.

I'll post photos of the roof sunrise. It is amaing.

Chris

A sneak peak

Ok.

I know I haven't been writing a lot lately. Most of that is due to the fact that I am very hot and heavy trying to get things done here before the end of the semester. I came a month late (after it had started), so I am really behind. Not a whole lot of adventures going on for me other than the fact that I'm taking a trip to Naxos. My tan is fading away slowly as I spend all of my days inside working even though the beautiful sun is outside. For example, I was in the darkroom from 8AM until 2PM today. After that, I was in the digital lab from 2PM until my 6PM class. After that, I get a chance to watch the sun set before heading back to the world of digital printing. I know--it's a whole process :)

Here is a sneak peak photo from my latest project. I am really enjoying it. I have a whole direction that my portfolio is taking here and Greece, and it's quite different than I thought it would be. I think it will tie in to the things that I am going to need to do next semester (I have an idea for then too). As an artist, the inspiration to communicate about certain things come and go, but the important part for me is to hold on to the things that do come to me and wring them of life so that they can be recreated in my own fashion. It's quite a process. :) I'm becoming a better and better printer every day. The darkroom has taken ahold of me and won't let go. I really am addicted :)

Anyway, I only put rejected photos up here online for you to see, so here is one that has been rejected from my recent project. Enjoy it and look for more clues as to what this project could possibly be.

Four Wheel Adventure VIEW

Four Wheel Adventure Photos

Four Wheel Adventure

See. I did say that I was going to post again soon, and I did. I'm so happy when I keep my promises.

Today was an incredible day. I woke up and went on a tour of the Church of a Hundred Doors here with our Art History Professor. He is so smart about everything, and I really love learning things from him. I gained a lot of knowledge about the church, and I was also able to scope out some interesting photo ops there.

After that, I was hired by the person that runs the apartments that I live in to photograph them and put together a portfolio of the different apartments. He was really happy with my work, and he asked me to extend my job. Officially, this means that I've had a job in Greece and when I'm older I can say, "When I lived and worked in Greece!"

At about 12:00, Jared and I decided to rent a four wheeler and go around the island with it. It was a lot of fun. We started in the port town and went counter clockwise around the island. I got to take a lot of cool photos of him, and I also just got to take a lot of cool photos. It's been a long time since we both just up and went and did something like that, and I know we both enjoyed it even though it was quite cold.

When we got home, I decided to go back out again and brave the weather. It turned out to be a great idea. I had an incredible time alone, and I got to discover places I have been wondering about since the first day I was on the island over a year ago. I visited the ancient quarries twice. On my way to Lefkes, I ran into thousand year old olive trees that I have been fixing to photograph for over a year. When I got to Lefkes, I happened upon some old windmills where the grain used to be ground into flour. They are deserted and falling apart. I got the chance to photograph them and explore them, and that is something that I have been looking forward to doing since I made it here. It was very exciting for me. One of them even had a donkey outside. I went to visit him, but he wasn't to excited at the idea of having a visitor. Jared says that I have donkey radar, and I would have to say that he is right. :)

On my way back, I was able to stop and visit many of the old sites. It really made my day to do all of the things that I did.

I'm going to post some photos up here so you can see us in action.

We head to Naxos tomorrow. More stories and photos when we return.

Thursday, May 4, 2006

Thursday, May 04, 2006

Ok. It’s been over a week since I’ve written. I’m sorry about the lag, and I promise that things will get better. Pascha was an amazing experience for me personally, and it was the height of a lot of energy for quite a few people here (in the school as well as the Greeks around the school). Having Easter come and go was quite wonderful. My friends and I had a very nice potluck on Easter day. One of the students’ mom owns a restaurant, and she made a remarkable lamb stew. It tasted quite good. The man that runs the area that we live in brought us a loaf of fresh bread that he had made. It was quite enjoyable.

Over the past week, I have been organizing my life and getting things restructured here so that I can come out the other end of my studies here with some actual things to show for. For the past month, I have been taking lots of photographs of all sorts (both in film and digitally), and preparing them to be printed. I am now in the throes of printing them all. I have stopped taking some of the thousand classes that I WAS taking, and I am now concentrating almost exclusively on photography only. It is a very refreshing experience. I spent 7 hours today in the darkroom, and I am now on my computer again evaluating some images to be printed digitally.

Jared has arrived on this beautiful island of mine, and we are having quite a bit of fun. I have shown him many of the ancient sites that I have seen. I don’t know that he has the exact same take on them that I have, but at least he has been able to see them.

I have a great plan for the next couple of days though, and I thought that I would share it.

Tomorrow, I am taking a tour of the Church of a Hundred Doors (the oldest church in Christianity) with an art historian. He is amazing, and he is going to get us access to the parts of the church that you can’t normally go it. I am very happy about it.

After that, I think that I am going to rent a four-wheeler with Jared and drive around the entire island with him. It sounds like a lot of fun, and I believe that I will be able to take quite a few photographs that I wouldn’t otherwise be able to take (without walking for days and days).

On Saturday, I am going to go with Jared to Naxos. We are going to rent a car and drive around for a while. I am looking forward to seeing many of the ancient sites including the place where Zeus was born! I am also very interested to see the ancient korous, which is a sculpture that was started and not finished. It is VERY big.

I will tell you more of my adventures as they happen, but I thought that it would be good to at least give you and update and tell you that I am alive and well.

Poppies

Some poppies growing in a grape field I happened upon.