Dublin to Galway...

Yesterday we spent the day sightseeing...Dublin isn't what I thought it would be. It's much more built up so we are off to Galway today to see a little more of "old Ireland". The weather yesterday was remarkably perfect for jumping off and on the bus. Today, not so good!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galway

The food in Ireland...

Holy crap it's good! I've ate my way through each stop and am just loving it. They have this dessert here called Sticky Toffee pudding and it's actually cake with this warm dripping toffee on the top and cream of some sort...I could die after eating that and feel like all is right with the world. I might have to find it in every town we stop in and become the "authority" of sticky toffees in Ireland!

The Duke in Warrenpoint seems to be one of the popular hang outs and we have "visited" there every day for a pint so far.

Richard's cousin owns the coffee shop here in town, Heatley's coffee and so when he walked in to meet us everyone instantly knew that Richard was "connected" in some way. The Irish are funny and so curious about who is new

in town, I guess no different in any small town but here it seemed more enthusiastic.

The fish and chips...yum! I'm still on the hunt for some Irish stew now, but I have a few days left here. I love it here, even the cold wet windy climate they have during fall. The hillsides, the lush green and the quiet...Mother Nature can sweep away almost anything in weather like this that troubles you. But really I think it's the hospitality and the genuine warmth you feel from the people of Ireland. It makes me sad to leave here.

The shore between the North and the South...

We arrived at Warrenpoint and were instantly met with that amazing Irish charm and hospitality. The people are just so friendly and it's such a contrast to the Italians. And wow...my English language skills have shifted so much in the last few months that I am still answering quick questions in Italian! I am going to load more photos later but I thought I'd get just a couple up while en route. We have stayed all this time in Warrenpoint, last night with Richard's cousin John and his lovely family. I think I found a like minded computer geek in John's son Matthew and he and I spent some time going over computer stuff. An Irish accent sounds even cuter on a little boy.

We stayed the first few nights at Ryan's B&B and it was fantastic. The breakfast was worth the money alone and they were so sweet. This whole driving on the other side of the road has been interesting and quite the adventure. Richard is getting the hang of it a little more each day. I only felt like my life flashed before my eyes a few times yesterday and we went all the way to Belfast. Richard wanted to see the ship yard where the Titanic was built and it was so peaceful. What a contrast to the contemporary history of Belfast to stand there hearing the birds and watching the water lap up to the sides of the platform. So much unrest in Belfast over the years and yet you didn't see a trace of it there.

So here I am...on the shore of Warrenpoint and the water separates the South and North of Ireland...Kinda nice to have someone around because then I actually get "in" a photo for a change.

Richard

I guess I need to explain who the hell is Richard! He was my second boyfriend and earlier this year he found me on Myspace. He invited me to attend the races with him, and the fantastic girls from Bates Leathers at Laguna Seca and we met again after 20 years or so. Allyson went with me and we had a fantastic time. Since that and before I left for school some things fell into place and he found himself with some time to travel. He has wanted to come back to Ireland after almost 30 years and see the place his wonderful Mom was laid to rest.

So here he is...here we are in Ireland making that happen for him.

In route...

Richard and I had one day in Rome on the way to Ireland. I haven't been to Rome before but this was just a stop over on the way so it wasn't one of those sightseeing kinda days. Richard was starting to feel the jet lag but we did get to the outside of the Coliseum and that was amazing. I think we are going to take the train back in 2 weeks and see Rome right! We had to travel so early in the morning to avoid any complications due to the transportation strike but the up side to that is that we got to see them demonstrating in the road. It was a resounding statement to see all those people walking down the road with signs. It isn't everyday you get to see that...

catching up here

I am trying to spend a little time today catching up on the blog before I leave for Ireland, because that will be a whole but to write about!

Here is my pigments instructor Maurizio testing the consistency of a ground pigment, Elisabeth and Sheena watching intently. I will be working on one today, maybe 2 because we need to have them ready for November 3rd when we mix them with varnishes. After taking the pigment class I started a new track for my thesis that I got approved today. So now I'm going to dive into color theory, pigments and digital technology to translate one into another.

And I just had a fantastic cappuccino so....type type type....

Mid terms and reviews...

It's been 15 years since I've sat down to take an academic test like this. It's bee interesting after all this time to get back to note taking and paper writing. I won't know until after the break how I did but now that the first one is done I can breath again. I still have 2 more to go, one tomorrow morning (maybe) and one on Thursday which I've already started studying for.

Here I am in Florence and the only thing I see is school related. From home to school and back. I haven't gotten to walk around the city for fun in a couple of weeks! Having Richard here will force me to take better advantage of being here and now that I'm a bit more organized when it comes to homework I will have a little more free time. They keep telling us all that this is the slow period and next semester it gets even faster...are you friggin kidding me?!?

One of the silly and small things I miss is a 5 subject notebook. I've only seen a 3 subject and taking notes like a mad demon has been challenging to keep organized with a one subject. Funny how useful and small a little thing like a note book can be. And don't get me started on ziplocs!

The Law of Thermodynamics states that order must decline into chaos...

Oh yeah it does! I realized that my life in Shell Beach was such order and peaceful living. And now in Italy it's like chaos in comparison. The noise, the bustle, the studying and fantastic chaos. Until I lost my phone I was enjoying every minute of it. I'm not complaining about the phone, although I do feel bad since it wasn't mine and it was really expensive. Off I went to today to shell out the mucho dinero to get a new number and a new phone. I just didn't think it was the safest thing to be walking around without any form of communication, romantic notion but not the best case scenario. So now I have a Nokia and is the funniest little thing ever. It literally does nothing but get calls, not even photos! So strange but I figured that since I do carry my camera almost everywhere with me that spending the extra 20 Euros wasn't worth it. Oh, wait...maybe I should have gotten one with a phone! So typical of me really but if and when I come back to the states I'm getting a really nice phone to make up for this.

So it's mid terms next week. The weather has gotten cold and I won't have a jacket until next week. Wow this is starting to sound a little sad song-ish...it's not that bad although the minute it hits 69 degrees here the Italian dress like Eskimos, so they are looking at me a little strangely.

I've got tests everyday until Friday and then I'm taking the train to Rome for one night and Ireland for a week with Richard. He is flying in from California on Thursday and off we go...I can't wait because I hear Ireland is amazing. I have no idea where we are going just yet but it's not like Ireland is that big...and I have a tourist book so he and I won't get too terribly lost. He has been there once before so I'm excited to make it an adventure and just drive off into the unknown. He is doing the driving and I'll be reading the map! He is also kind enough to bring a suitcase full of my winter clothes with him, which Teri sent via Greyhound. Perfect timing...

Here is another image from my trip to the Archaeological Museum. I took so many that I'll probably put them throughout the blog.

Santa Maria Novella

This is one of the most famous churches in Florence and we spent 3 hours walking around with our instructor who has restored a few of them in here. You can't take photos inside but I did get a few from the Green Cloister and the Chapterhouse chapel. It's always so mind blowing to be in the presence of not only all the art work I took so many tests on, but with the people that know as much as God about them..humbling...

I realized why it was so difficult to blog lately. Each time we go out and do something with school I have to journal entry about it, so I feel like I've already written about it when it comes time to blogging. I'd just copy and paste it here but it would be like enrolling in an art history class...probably boring!

Here is the link in case you want to see more...gotta love wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_Santa_Maria_Novella

A week of painting, sketching and looking at frescos

I began painting my panel painting and I got to mix my own pigments with binders to use. We are doing it the ancient way to have a deep understanding of what we will be working on and the process. We also have the opportunity to make our own palettes to bring home with handmade varnishes. I was so excited about that because we will be mixing our own and not getting them out of the tube. This is a photo of the egg tempura I mixed up for my panel painting...

I did the beginning layer of a fresco, not the one I will eventually paint but a practice version to understand the process. We seem to go all the way back and work forward in materials, technique and style for each type of “hands on” we are going to do.

The pot reconstruction was in preparation for the 6^th century BC vessel fragments we got to touch this week. I know…they just let us get right in and touch this stuff only weeks in.

The amount of typing and paperwork is insane and I’m not really sure how I’m going to keep up with the blogging. I’m going to give it a post bacc college try…

almost 8 weeks...

I've been in Firenze for almost 8 weeks now and it seems like a LOT longer. I don't really understand what happens with time but when you shove so much information into one day it expands. I have no fun photo or even stories from the weekend. This weekend was for resting. I did do homework but my back was bothering me so I just laid low.

I did go to a place not far from my house to eat some Mexican food, what fellow students referred to as "a burrito place" but now I realize that they are from the East Coast and don't really understand burritos like Californians do. It was good, chicken, lettuce, salsa and guacamole...no beans or cheese but it was passable.

In Archaeological class today I did get to handle some ceramic fragments from 6th Century BC and I'll be cleaning them next week. We have space at a working restoration lab and will be surrounded by ongoing important works from here on out. We take the bus once a week and basically go to work...it's so amazing.

Some tidbits:

I haven't seen this many people wear Birkenstocks since the early 90's

Sandwiches here means meat and cheese, occasionally they scare it with lettuce or tomatoes but not often.

If the weather hits under 70 degrees here the Italian bundle up.

Asian markets here don't sell hardly any tea, especially not green tea. Just weird...

School backpacks are outrageously expensive here.

Technology seems to have skidded and made a wide birth around Italy...

Antique Show

Since I was unable to shoot photos I have the link to the Antique Show that we went to as a class.

http://www.biennaleantiquariato.it

so many things to look at, not to mention the Palazzo Corsini sull' Arno where it was held.