Sarah’s Creative Journey

Italy Time 9:00 am - wake up, pack, eat breakfast 9:40 am - check out of hotel 10:17 am - catch waterbus to airport 11:17 am - arrive at the terminal and go through security (in Venice airport) 12:50 pm - board the plane heading for JFK 1:30 pm - leave Venice Eastern Standard Time (6 hours behind Venice) 4:30 pm - arrive at JFK 5:45 pm - go through security, get food, found out flight is delayed until midnight 6:20 pm - found out flight is 'on time' 6:22 pm - walk to gate 351 6:30 pm - walk to gate 349 6:50 pm - walk to gate 353 7:25 pm - still waiting for a plane? (purchase a salad, proceed to mix it by shaking, and spill it everywhere)  7:40 pm - flight delayed 'only' until 10pm now 8:45 pm - chat with other people waiting 10:00 pm - flight delayed until 10:05pm 10:05 pm - of course no word or movement, and desk attendants have been gone at least 30 minutes at this point and the phone is ringing nonstop (a good 20 of those 30 minutes) until (FINALL...

Venice was a big change compared to the beginning of our trip.  The difference- Venice is an island with no automobiles, only tourists, boats, and gondolas.  That and instead of an AirBnb this time we had a hotel.  Luckily our hotel was very close to the Rialto Bridge, which served as a landmark for our location.  Knowing where you are or even where you are going without (even with!) a map is pretty difficult considering there are so many "roads." I say roads lightly because they are so small they are more like alleyways. Gondolas! St. Mark's Square Alleyways, canals, and bridges, then add many many tourists, and you get one very small, crowded and busy island. Tim and I weren't too crazy about it, but we had to explore! We got lost, shopped around some, then got hungry and stopped for dinner in a not very crowded ristorante.  Afterwards, we decided we should try to find our way back to the hotel before it became too dark.  When we found our hot...

Eager to continue our journey of a more rural Italy, we used the next day to travel to Fiesole, a small city right outside of Florence (NE).  We found out about this particular city through a friend at a winery here in Columbus, who grew up there.  And only a short bus ride away, it was hard to say no- especially since there was a great view and another gelato shop to try out. So funny side story- the buses in Italy are based on a sort of honesty system.  While also enforced by a few ATAF "guards" I guess you could call them.  Tickets were only 1.2 euros a piece for as many rides in a 4 hour period (so pretty darn cheap considering!) If you wanted to buy a ticket on the bus, they sold them for 2 euros. Well, before we left the states, we were warned to make sure we always validate our tickets - bus and train- meaning to get them stamped or punched before or when we get on.  The first time we rode in Florence, everyone seemed to be getting on and off without va...

This day was one of my favorite parts of our trip.  1-We weren't in charge of transportation, 2- We got to drink Italian wine and visit the vineyards (kinda) or at least the wineries where they made and stored the wine, and 3- 'Free' (we did pay for tickets after all) bus tour through Tuscany!  Plus, the weather was perfect (not too terribly hot that day).   My day started by waking up in our Bnb, having a nice peaceful colazione that consisted of caffe nero, la frutta, and of course a croissant, as I listened to a neighbor play piano! We hung out for awhile before getting ready and heading out for an early and quick lunch so we would be ready for the bus and a full day of drinking.  Our tourguide, Kiko, was born in Japan, raised in the US, and moved to Italy at some point and seemed more Italian than anything else, was sarcastic and pleasant as she told us about herself and the history around the vineyards as well as a bit of Italian history.   We had 4...

My first thoughts before leaving Rome: "Spending three days in Rome should give us plenty of experience to be able to figure our way around Florence right? We'll be fine once we get to there, the directions are pretty straight forward, it will be a breeze now!" Riiiiight. Because we totally knew all of the small city names around Florence and therefore knew exactly what bus to take where! Hah! And finding the bus was just too easy.  We just waited around the bus station looking at maps and the bus schedule for an hour for fun! Haha!  It's much easier to laugh at now, but when you're really hot, have 4 bags you're dragging around, can't communicate or read well in another language, and not sure how to find the bus you're supposed to be on, it's not as fun as it sounds.  The irony about it is that when we got fed up with finding the bus we compromised to start walking in the direction of the AirBnB and as soon as we walk out of the building, what...

Saw the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Piazza Campidoglio,  as well as  the Spanish steps-which were under construction. Womp .  But also stopped by an art gallery on the way to the Pantheon which was pretty neat.  The pictures do a bit more justice than words.  It is cool just to be there and see it in person though, the size and detail of everything can just get lost in a picture. Did as the Romans do, and did more touring and seeing all the main tourist spots. Then h ad dinner at La Base-a restaurant recommended by our host.  The food was really good, and we got to enjoy the American "collectable" decorations all over the walls.  The next day we had an early morning so we could go to the Vatican.  Got there at 7:30 am and there were already a hundred or so people there. Ended up getting in a bit earlier than our pre bought tickets were for, but it worked out in our favor because we got in that much earlier too (less crowded than...

[Day 1 of Italy continued...] So we went out to explore! Ended up getting tickets (pretty good deal too) for the Colloseo, Foro Romano, and Museo Palatino (Colosseum, Roman Forum, and Palatine Museum/Palatine Hill) . Our first guide was an older woman was just as excited as if we were her first group she was giving the tour to.  We walked all around the Colosseum-inside, in the atrium, and out.  She was very adamant about showing us the best place to take a picture, but we had to listen to her whole spiel before we could go to the best spot to get pictures and then wander on our own.  She was very informative and spoke with not too heavy of an accent (out of most people there we could understand her fairly well).  (maybe not the best picture we got, but a pretty good one) After we " Romed"  (hah!) around the Colosseum, we headed over to the next tour meeting spot to continue our way to the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill.  Our second tour gui...

Ciao! Taking time to write about our trip to Italy!  So those who have not heard and are curious about what we did and how we got around can read about our travels if they would like. Plus, it's bella Italia!   Day 1: Our traveling day Plan: Stay overnight in Englewood, drive to the Greyhound station in the early wee hours of the morning, ride to Chicago, get an Uber from the Chicago Greyhound station to the Chicago airport, get on our direct flight to Roma. Reality: Obviously it was easy enough to stay in Englewood and prepare for everything the day and night before.  We got up at about 3am to get there about 3:45, even though we thought the bus didn't leave until 4:20 am.  We got there so early because on the ticket it says to get there 30 minutes before the bus left.  So we get there and the building isn't even open. Okaaayy. Well, we will just sit over there and wait... for 5 minutes, 15 minutes, someone is in the building at this point, but the ...

Real Artists Have Day Jobs by Sara Benincasa              Only 10 pages in and I am already quoting this in my blog.  I already have a feeling this will be a great book to get started (again, every day). From the first sentence of the first chapter:            "Have you ever dreamed of being a real  artist?" Obviously.         "...You are not going to become a real  artist one day.  You are a real artist right now.          Do you make art?           Do you make art because it brings you joy, and also pain, but the good kind of pain,           kind you need in order to remember that you are a real person with worth and value          and power and all of the feelings?          Do you make art because it's fun?        ...

Ever feel the urge to do a little bit of everything?  You have piles and books of lists of things you want to do, and maybe get around to only about half of them, if that even.  I think this is something I go through everyday.  Now that I don't have a huge party (aka wedding) to plan, other projects can take priority again.  The problem is (and always is) I have too many projects. Too many things to draw/paint/illustrate/photograph... Too many books to read. Too many movies to watch. I want to learn Italian (like really learn, and be able to speak it and hold conversations even and now read through my Harry Potter book in Italian). I want to hike more and go outside/camp more.  I want to ride my bike more. I want to eat healthy and exercise. I want to hang out with my husband (woo!!), friends, and family.  ... you get the point.  The lists are never ending.  And each day they keep getting bigger.  Each day I get more frustrated and t...

With February 3rd coming and going, I again thought of American Pie... Some themes and thoughts I had while creating the A.P. (American Pie) series: Blank/unfinished faces: Don McLean did not come out and say directly who or what his song was about, but it has been deconstructed and analyzed by many people.  This being said, we do have a pretty good idea of who McLean could be referring to, but no one is 100% positive.  Keeping this theme, I did use images of celebrities to get familiar hair or face structures, but left the faces blank or used minimal details so it was not an exact likeness. Lyrics: there are in fact lyrics written on every piece, however some are more visible/present than others.  The illustration is obviously the main point, but the lyrics tie all of them together in a more coherent thought. History: I did research quite a bit, and tried to get opinions of others about the song and if it impacted their lives at all. My main focus was to includ...

One of my favorite blog reads yet.  Basically just giving you the link because there is not much more I could add right now. 

Well first, some insight from this article , which I read today.  ... To me, being wealthy is having the freedom to maximize one's life experiences.  In those terms, despite the average American having more material wealth than citizens of most other countries (more cars, bigger houses, nicer televisions), their overall quality of life suffers in my opinion.  American people on average work more hours  with less vacation, spend more time  commuting every day, and are saddled with over $10,000  of debt. That's a lot of time spent working and buying crap and little time or disposable income for relationships, activities, or new experiences. ... Comfort sells easier than happiness.  Comfort is easy.  It requires no effort and no work.  Happiness takes effort.  It requires being proactive, confronting fears, facing difficult situations, and having unpleasant conversations.   Comfort equals sales.  We've been sold comfort ...