Florence

Friday we took our first of three trips to Florence. I regret to inform everyone that it rained all day and I was unable to take any pictures. Luckily, we have two more scheduled trips back to the city, one of which is next this coming Friday. Hopefully, we will have better weather and I will be able to take some pictures and get them posted on the internet. The city was absolutely beautiful, I can't wait to go back and be able to take some pictures to share with everyone.

Today is Carnivale! It is the primary holiday season which originally begun in Venice, today the biggest celebration is in Venice but it is recognized across the country. The two weeks preceding this day we watched, nightly, children of Orvieto litter the streets with confetti and parade around in costumes. It's nice to know that all the hustle and bustle of the city has been leading up to something, we were all kind of clueless as to what the big occasion was. Some of our classmates travelled elsewhere to watch a big parade and participate in the festivities today. We had heard rumors of a parade in Orvieto and found some flyers advertising the occasion. However, with the language barrier we had a hard time understanding when everything was supposed to happen. We have yet to see a parade of any sort. Personally, I was just hoping for candy in the streets.

Tomorrow we are taking a small day trip to the tiny town of Civita. This is where Don and Carol Watts, our professors, own their Italian house. I believe this is also near the site of our next studio project. We are going to be working with an Italian client to renovate an old barn into a bed and breakfast or some other place of income. Tomorrow, we will search through building materials of Italy, visit the site and go to Don and Carol's house for some lunch enjoyment of each others' company. From what we hear the town is comparable to Orvieto but on a much smaller scale. We were told you have to walk across this scary bridge to get there. I'm quite reluctant with my fear of heights, so we'll have to see how this goes...

Our planning for Ireland is very much underway. Just about everything is booked. We now have plane tickets, all of our hostels, one of our train tickets and two tours booked. I am really starting to get excited about our spring break adventure! We have our route ironed out, we know the cities we will visit and the sites we want to see. If anyone has any suggestions please feel free to pass them our way.

Everyone make sure to keep your eye out for new pictures postings. I always try to get them posted as soon as I can!