Florence School of Fine Arts

I've have been given the experience of returning to a school that I had recently studied at. As a graduate from the University of North Dakota, with a Bachelor of Fine Arts I have been furthering my studies at Florence School of Fine Arts by taking studio classes in letterpress, book arts, lithography and serigraphy. Thought this semester, we will each be creating a project of our choosing as well as smaller projects in the hopes of helping us understand the career path we would like to take. With the first two weeks of our stay behind us, I have finally figured out the direction my classes will be taking me. It has been great taking the time to get situated again and familiarizing myself with The city as well as the school. Follow my progress here, and I hope you enjoy! Ciao

Galway: Day Trip

Last week, when we were in Dublin, we took our second day trip from the beloved city and headed west. Our first stop on the journey was Galway, this smaller Ireland town had so much character. I enjoyed the narrow streets, adorable markets and restaurants, and their rich history. We stopped there for a small bite to eat and a short tour. As we hopped on the bus, we waved goodbye to the quaint town and made our way to the Cliffs of Mohr. The road from Galway was scenic with windy road up and down the mountains. We also would pass through many small towns, each possessing their own Main Street lined with colorful homes. We stopped for lunch in one of these small towns. This pub was straight out of the 1900s, and so were the people. With very quick service and even quicker consumers, we were back on the bus in no time. When we reached the Cliffs of Mohr, all you could see were masses of people walking a long the end, it wasn't until we were half way around the first bend on the left side that we were able to really see the marvel of this landmark. I have seen pictures of this, but pictures don't really do it any justice. Looking at the sheer mass of the cliffs compared to the people above was mind boggling. While we were still on the bus, our tour guide was explaining that there were short walls along the side that are used to keep you back from the ledge, and she was asking us not to go over those. When we got to the walls and saw other on the other side, it was crazy to me! As we got further from the visitor center, and the walls eventually stopped, we started to move closer. I am not one that is very scared of heights, but this had me on my hands and knees when we were closer to the edge because of its sheer size. I wasn't able to get too close because I felt as though the massive wind gusts were going send me over the edge. We took a few minutes to just sit on some grass by the path and just look from side to side and each part of the cliffs. I just couldn't believe that there we were, sitting in a picture that I had only ever seen on the Internet. Never in my wildest dreams would I think that I would be sitting there with Whitney just enjoying the view. This moment will be one that I remember for the rest of my life, the uncomfortableness of being so high up, but the content with making it to the point. It was an interesting feeling, totally contradicting but at the same time it just felt right. As our time on the cliffs were coming to an end, we managed to make it back in time to see the other side of the cliffs, or the side that we had been sitting on. It turns out that we had been sitting above the cave in the Cliffs of Mohr, which was used as a movie set for Harry Potter (nerd moment) in the 6th movie. It was really cool to see the cave that was the inspiration for one of our favorite series. We jumped back on the bus and headed back to our hostel on Dublin. Nothing will ever compare to that feeling, but I hope to one day feel that again in the same spot. As for now, we are off to our three months in Florence, ciao for now!

Northern Ireland • day trip

This has been one of my favorite trips that I have ever experienced, mind you I love those touristy day trips but I'm not sure if they are for everyone. After a couple of days laying around, sleeping off the jet lag and trying to feel normal, we decided to take our first day trip from Dublin. Our journey startedat 6:50where our bus picked us up and headed for Belfast, about two and a half hours north. During the ride our tour guide, Tara, gave us a condensed glimpse into the history of Ireland, starting at the stone ages and ended with the millennium. Usually I am not the biggest fan of a lecture bright and early, but for some reason this morning I was wide eyed and ready to learn. When we arrived in Belfast, we had about a half an hour to explore which meant a cappuccino to us. Next we headed off in search of the Dark Hedges. This row of trees along each side of the road has been there for over 300 years. It is the set for some films and shows, including Game of Thrones. When we stepped out I was amazed at the sheer size of the each tree but then again they have been there for over three centuries. I was surprised because I was expecting literal hedges lining the narrow path, but instead they looked to be massive light trunk trees almost resembling the Whomping Willow (sorry for the Harry Potter reference, but it's all I could think of). As we continued to head west, we stopped at the Bushmills whiskey distillery (at 11 in the morning) and were each given a taste. I'm not a whiskey drinker by any means, but it seemed to go down pretty easy. This distillery is the oldest licensed distillery in the world, dating back to 1608 when it was licensed by King James. I enjoyed this short stop because this was not something I would have chosen to see, so it really was different for me. Our next stop was Giants Causeway, but we pilled over for a quick five minute look our over the bay and to see Dunluce Castle. A little history on Giants Causeway before I tell my experience; this unique rock formation had two different explanations. One is that it was formed by the perfect temperature and conditions during a volcanic eruption that each rock came out in this hexagonal shape. The second, more interesting in my opinion, is an ancient myth about two giants from Ireland and Scotland. The Irish giant, thinking he was mighty and tough, went over to Scotland to pick a fight. He carved each of the stones into a path that stretched from Ireland to Scotland, each in a hexagonal shape. When we reached the other giant, he realized that the Scottish giant was two times his size and then ran home. His wife decided to help him hide from the other, gave him some sleeping pills and dressed him up as a baby. When the Scottish giant got to Ireland, took one look at the baby who has a full beard and enormous muscles he thought "if this is what the Giants baby looks like his father, there is no way I'm going to fight him!" He ran on home, pushing the stones inter water so that the Irish giant would never be able to get to him again. That is why today there are these same hexagonal stones in Ireland and in Scotland. Giants Causeway was one of the more beautiful places I have ever been. The water was a baby blue, the mountains surrounding were covered in green foliage and the rocks were all like large stepping stones, each a different height to create mini mountains. We brought a sandwich along with us on our trip and ate it on some of the stones, highly recommended! With the tour that we were on we had two and a half hours here, so we are our lunch and then just explored around the area. Our next stop wasn't too far, the Carrick-a-rede Rope Bridge. This was probably my favorite stop of our tour, not sure exactly why because I was beyond freaked on the bridge, but the views on the other side were amazing. Our tour had a couple of hours here as well, so we went straight for the bridge. This area is used to be very confusing for salmon, they thought it was a river so they would go through then get stuck at one end. The fisherman started to catch on and would put their nets to the other end and catch many salmon with just one throw. The views were gorgeous from this spot, like Giants Causeway, baby blue water and green grass all over the mini island. I loved seeing the northern area of Ireland with just the simple trip through Finn McCools tours. I highly recommend this trip to anyone traveling to Ireland, if not with this company then with any company! Ciao for now!