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3 Ways To Know Where You Will Go When You Die - RiseEarth

3 Ways To Know Where You Will Go When You Die

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by Steven Bancarz
Spirit Science and Metaphysics

I feel as though this article may cause people to think to themselves “How in the world can anyone be certain where we will go when our bodies die?”, and they are correct in thinking this. It’s impossible to claim with certainty where will will go because we don’t really have a firm enough idea of what the afterlife entails.

Even if we mesh the evidence of hypnotic regression stories with near-death experiences to help give us some loose idea of what lies ahead for us, the fact is, we still don’t have a map of the afterlife. That’s OK though, because we don’t need a map of the afterlife to find out what the destiny of our soul is. And we will look into this more in a bit.

Regardless of whether or not there is a hell, heaven, astral plane, or even if we reincarnate again immediately after we die, we are still able to have a general idea of what the future of our soul will be. All we have to do is look at our lives on earth, and look inward to reflect on some important questions.

It’s kind of like writing an exam and knowing that you failed before you even got your grade back, and knowing that you will have to go to summer school. You won’t know what your grade is, what answers were wrong, what summer school you will be attending, or any other details, but you can infer that you will need to attend school during the summer to make up for it. Or maybe, you know you aced the exam and know that you will earn a scholarship. You don’t know your grade, how much of a scholarship, or what school you will be attending, but you can know just from sitting down in front of the test what your future will entail.

In other words, you can know what is going to happen to you generally without knowing specifically. Likewise, whether you are Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Spiritualist, or agnostic, there are 3 major universal ways you can find out in a general sense where you will go when you die without knowing the specifics. All you have to do is become quiet and honest with yourself as you answer these 3 questions:

1) Who/what owns me in this life?

We aren’t talking about what things, people, or institutions own us. Rather, we are talking about what energies own us. What spirits control us in this life? Depending on what perspective you wish to take, you can look at “spirits” as being literal entities, or you can look at them as being a metaphor for mood and energy.

Maybe we are anger junkies, or have a serious problem with lust. Maybe we have an addiction to lying and constantly fall victim to the spirit of deceit. If your mind, body, and soul are currently in the hands of foreign energy and you are constantly being tugged around by its hold on you, then you belong to it. If you don’t feel like you have the power to break free from it when you want to, then you are in bondage. Does it really make sense to think that someone who has lived a life of perversion will all of a sudden be freed from the spirit of perversion once his body dies? If someone is a slave to lust, why would they no longer be a slave once the body perishes?

Let’s take a child predator for example. Where would such a person go when they die? They would have to bear the consequences of carrying around a parasitic energy. They may even be taken to a realm that the energy of perversion originated from, or where spirits of perversion reside. Can someone who belongs to the spirit of perversion inherit an afterlife of peace, or even one of neutrality? Will they fall into the hands of God? Or into the hands and of the spirits/energies that took them over in this life?

If you want to know where you will go when you die, consider looking inward to see what owns you, and see if you can think of any reason why it wouldn’t continue to own your mind and soul anymore just because the physical body perishes. We fall into the hands of what we belong to. For some, this may be a relief, but for others it may mean we have a little bit of energetic clearing to do. But that’s really what life is all about.

2) Who/what is my God?

Who, or what, is your idol in this life? What does the majority of your attention, passion, and energy go towards in this world? How is the majority of your time being spent? What is your soul invested in on this planet?

The truth is, everyone has their own addiction. But there is a difference between something being an addiction, and something becoming the most dominant object in your consciousness. For example, someone may be addicted to coffee, but they may be the most spiritually activated person ever. The type of addiction and behaviour I am talking about is one which takes your energy away from your mission and your Creator and directs it towards a selfish egoic pursuit.

Money and power are things which often become objects of our worship. Maybe we are even our own God. We should take a good look inside ourselves, and take a close look at our lives, and consider who or what our God is in this world. Once you have identified it, contemplate what an afterlife would entail if an entire life was spent in self-service worshiping that object. If we dedicate our entire physical experience to satisfying a desire of our ego, can we really expect to be forced into a realm that is ruled by a God different than our own personal one?

When our souls mission becomes to pursuit of money, pleasure, of self-glorification, we can know that our reward has already been given in full. Where will our souls go if we spent a life worshiping Ego instead of Spirit? Can a power-hungry money worshiper such as David Rockefeller inherit the grace of a Creator whom he rejected and did not care to know? Will he be rewarded in the afterlife with an eternity of peace and bliss for his life of self-service and greed?

Whatever you worship in this life is a good indicator of where you will go when you die. You can either worship and pursue things of ego, or things of Spirit. And depending on the one you worship, you will either be ushered into the afterlife by your ego or by your Spirit, and the realm you will be going to will be of a matching vibration. The God you live for in this life will be the one that sends you on to the afterlife.

3) Am I one with my conscience?

We all have a conscience. A little intuitive voice and feeling inside of us that warns us when we are partaking in behaviours we shouldn’t be. It may make us feel guilt, anxiety, shame, or even nauseous if we don’t listen to it and proceed to partake in the behaviour anyways. That conscience we have is not some abstract thing independent of you. It is your soul communicating to you.

Your soul is your connection point to Source (or to God, or the Universe, or whatever name you would like to give It). This is why it is able to guide is so well, because it is our pipeline to perfect morality. The mind-body ego we become in this world is just a mask our soul is wearing as we pass through this life, and is often the one we predominantly live as.

But in reality, our true self is unified with the Creator. The conscience you have is not something that belongs to you as an accessory. It IS you. The ego is the accessory.

The practice of spirituality is to essentially return to a unity with our soul, and therefore with God. It’s really about becoming our not-self, and transcending our false mind-made self and coming back into harmony with our own souls. The transmutation of our ego into our Higher Self is what the journey is all about.

A lot of times, we have the experience of feeling our soul (our conscience) try to communicate something to us and redirect us to a more morally pure route. We experience it as something separate from us, as if it is coming in from the outside. The degree to which our conscience is separate from us is the degree to which we are separate from our own souls, and therefore from God.

A good measuring stick to see how much we are living as our spirit is to see if our actions are in line with our gut feeling and our intuition, and to see if we are willing to surrender our ego to allow ourselves to be led by what our spirit is telling us. The goal is to have your actions become an extension of your spirit, as opposed to having the spirit peaking in at you through the clouded window of the ego.

If we go through life ignoring our conscience and never taking the time to surrender and allow it to become a part of our being, we are literally living separated from our own souls. The degree to which we ignore our conscious and experience it as a foreign entity is the degree to which we are disconnected from Spirit.

If we live as an ego foreign to our own soul and block ourselves of from the guidance of our own intuition, can we really expect that our ego will shed itself at the moment of physical death? Or will we have to come back until we learn to be guided by Spirit? What happens when a soul is wrapped up in an egoic sense of self and refuses to let it go? The Spirit World is called the Spirit World and not the Ego World for a reason. If we are to live eternally in a heavenly realm in our souls future, it will be as a soul, and not as an ego that refuses to transmute itself into unity with the soul.

So where do we go when we die?

We can know where will will go when we die when we know who/what energy we belong to, who/what our God is, and the degree to which we are one with our own souls.

If we belong to lust, dedicate our lives to money, and refuse to listen to our conscience (the voice of the soul), we will have a much different fate than if we belong to love, dedicate our lives to world change, and live as one with the voice of the soul. One will result in the need of Karma alleviation, and additional lives to learn more lessons, and one will result in peace and reward.

The fate of our souls doesn’t lie in some lottery outcome. And it’s not some grand mystery. If you want to know where you are going when you die, look in the mirror and ask yourself: “Am I connected to my own soul, what energies do I belong to, and what do I idolize and worship?”.

And the truth is, we all know this. We all have a general idea or what lies ahead for people who live lives in love and service to others versus people who live lives of greed in service to themselves. We have a general understanding of what kinds of things lie ahead for people wrapped up in ego versus those who are walking along side their souls, even though we may not know the specifics. It’s just a matter of looking inward at ourselves, and seeing how this applies to our own life.
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  1. There is information available that can give you some idea of where you will go in spirit upon your death.

    If you’ve wilfully harmed another person and not suffered for the pain you caused them to suffer before you die, you will go into a sector of one of the lower two Earth planes commonly called the hells, there to stay until you’ve suffered the pain you’ve caused in the person/s you hurt, there to stay until you’ve satisfied the Law of Compensation. Then once you’ve paid in pain, you’ll be free to move into the first mansion world.

    If you’ve lived a ‘good’ life, not wilfully hurting another and you believe in most of the nonsense like is suggested by this article you’ll go into the relevant sector within the relevant mind mansion world (1,2,4 or 6) so you can carry on living untrue to yourself by filling your mind full of such rubbish.

    If you want to end being untrue to yourself, ending the control of your mind over yourself - over your soul, and you haven’t as yet longed directly to God for His Divine Love and haven’t as yet received It into your soul, then you will go - when you are ready, prepared mentally and emotionally - into the relevant, separate and special mind mansion world sector there free to do your Feeling-Healing. There to allow the Law of Forgiveness to work on you. You can start your Feeling-Healing now on Earth picking up where you leave off when you die.

    If you have willingly embraced the Divine Love by longing directly to God for it, and want to end being untrue to yourself, then you’ll be able when ready to move into the Divine Love feeling mansion worlds (3,5 and 7), there to do and complete your Soul-Healing. There to allow the Law of Forgiveness work on you. You can start your Soul-Healing now on Earth picking up where you leave off when you die.

    When you have fully healed yourself (completed your Soul-Healing) and are living true to your feelings and with your soul full of the Divine Love, then you’ll be able to move out of the mansion worlds into the higher Celestial spheres continuing your ascension of truth to Paradise. And it is now possible to complete your Soul-Healing on Earth so when you die move straight into the Celestial sphere equivalent to the level of truth you’re living at your death.

    More on Feeling-Healing and Soul-Healing with the Divine Love

    For examples of people doing their Soul-Healing


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The 'Innocence' of Martin Scorsese

NEW YORK -- The greatest living film director started out as a kid named Marty who I met in 1967 when he was fresh out of New York University. Now he is Martin Scorsese, the director even other directors would place first - after themselves, perhaps. No one has made more or better movies in the past quarter century, and few people have changed less. He still talks with his hands and bounces when he talks, and he uses the street-corner comedian's tactic of giving everything a punchline.

The way Scorsese talks about the movies is an education. I learn when I listen to him. He sees films in a very particular way, the emotions and the visuals all tied up together, so that when he talks about a feeling in one of his films, he is also talking about the particular kind of camera strategy he used to create it.

Listen to him talking about a moment in his great new film, "The Age of Innocence" (which opened Friday). The movie is set among the rich New York aristocrats of the 1870s, and is based on a novel by Edith Wharton in which a man is engaged to marry the right woman and falls in love with the wrong one, and society sees that as a threat and tries to stop him.

In the movie, the man has planned to travel from New York to Washington to be with his mistress. He tells his wife the purpose is business. Now the man and his wife both learn that the mistress will not be in Washington after all. The man tells his wife he has decided not to go. She guesses the reason, but is too clever to confront him with it.

"This scene was one of the reasons I wanted to make the film," Scorsese was explaining to me one afternoon in his Manhattan living room. "As they're getting into the carriage, she says, 'I'm sorry, but how can you go pick up Ellen when you have to go to Washington this afternoon?' He says, 'Oh, that's been postponed,' and they get into the carriage. Then she says, 'That's strange,' because she's learned the legal case in Washington is still being heard. And he admits, yes, it is. 'So then it's not postponed,' she says. Which is almost her way of fighting. And he says, `No, it's not postponed, but my going is.'

"So they both know he has lied, but neither actually says it. And I found it fascinating to film that with a light touch. I asked myself how to place a hand in terms of camera placement, the size of the actors in the frame, the correct camera movement, the emotional level of performance. It was so funny; it was like painting miniatures. It was really fun."

And it is. In the hands of another director, the scene might have been assembled crudely out of big blaring closeups and shots of narrowed eyes, so that the dimmest simpleton in the audience would know that lies and intrigues were taking place. In Scorsese's hands, the scene makes you hold your breath, because you realize what danger the characters are in. One false move, and a truth has been exposed that will end the marriage. Neither wants to make the move. Yet somehow the truth is shared without being acknowledged.

I told Scorsese that in a lot of modern movies, it's bluntly clear what the characters are saying and exactly what the scenes mean. All of the dramatic moments are punched up so that a guy watching the movie half-drunk on an airplane won't miss anything. In "The Age of Innocence," the social fabric of is being threatened with rupture, but no one wants to admit that, and the movie is about how the danger is faced and dealt with, without anyone acknowledging that there was any danger in the first place. A subtlety of language

Scorsese laughed. "That bluntness, yeah. And losing all the color and the beauty of language and communication. They blamed me for that a few years ago. They had a wonderful article in the New York Times, called 'What Happened to Language in Film?' And they started quoting lines from 'Raging Bull.' Now, granted, a line like, 'You're gonna to find your dog dead in the hallway' is not the soul of subtlety. But in that movie when the De Niro character accuses his brother of fooling around with his wife, it takes him six pages of dialogue to say what he means. It may not be drawing room dialogue. But it's subtle.

"What has always stuck in my head is the brutality under the manners. People hide what they mean under the surface of language. In the subculture I was around when I grew up in Little Italy, when somebody was killed, there was a finality to it. It was usually done by the hands of a friend. And in a funny way, it was almost like ritualistic slaughter, a sacrifice. But New York society in the 1870s didn't have that. It was so cold-blooded. I don't know which is preferable. I grew up thinking in one way, but in my own private life the past 10 years, I've started to appreciate the ability to say a little in certain emotional situations and mean a lot."

Scorsese's new film is what the industry calls a "costume drama," and great attention is paid to details of fashion, interior decoration, language, manners and the choreography of dinner parties. Immediately under the surface, however, beats the red pulse of passion. And it is the very same passion that has inspired Scorsese in almost all of his films: The passion of a man forced to choose between what he wants, and what he knows is right.

Daniel Day-Lewis stars in the film as Newland Archer, an up-and-coming young man from a good family, who is engaged to marry May Welland (Winona Ryder). She is sweet and pretty, well-connected and well-behaved. Then one night at the opera, he sees a cousin who was a childhood playmate, and who married a Polish count and has now separated from him and returned to New York. She is the Countess Olenska (Michelle Pfeiffer). He desires her with his whole being. But it would be wrong to go to her - wrong to break his engagement, wrong to frustrate society's plans for him, wrong to take up with a woman who has already been married.

Watching the film, my mind strayed back to Scorsese's first film, "Who's That Knocking at My Door?" (1967), in which a man falls in love with a woman and then learns she is not a virgin, and is torn between his desire and his Catholic morality. And to so many other Scorsese films - "Mean Streets," "Raging Bull," even the underworld of "Taxi Driver," in which men idealize women and then cannot deal the fact that women are human, too, and have passions, and are not perfect. Quintessentially Scorsese

Since so many of Scorsese's films have grown out of the streets of modern New York City, out of the Italian-American subculture of his youth, the announcement that he would film Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence struck many people as astonishing - as surprising, say, as if Abel Ferrara had announced a film by Henry James. It is only when you see the film, and realize what it is about, that you understand how this material is quintessentially Scorsese.

The project began, Scorsese said, when the Wharton novel was given to him by his friend Jay Cocks, a former Time magazine film critic who became his collaborator on the screenplay.

"We became friends 25 years ago. So he couldn't review any of my films then; conflict of interest. We stayed friends because of our interest in film. We would introduce each other to films.

"One of the genres that I really admire is the costume piece, even the trashiest kind, like 'The Count of Monte Cristo.' When I was nine or 10, my faher took me to see 'The Heiress,' which was the first costume piece that had a powerful impact on me. I didn't understand every detail, but I knew that something terrible had happened, a breach of trust and love - and everybody was dressed so nicely and they had such nice drawing rooms. I didn't understand how a father could talk that way to his daughter, explaining that the man was after her for her money, 'Because you're not clever and you're quite plain.' That's quite a scene.

"In 1980, Jay gave me The Age of Innocence and said, 'When you do your costume piece, when you do your romance, this is you.' Not meaning, of course, that I'm Archer or Ellen. It was the spirit of it - the spirit of the exquisite romantic pain. The idea that the mere touching of a woman's hand would suffice. The idea that seeing her across the room would keep him alive for another year. That's something I guess that is part of me. He knew me, by that time, fairly well."

The Scorsese that Cocks knew is indeed a connoisseur of exquisite romantic pain. He once told me he could not go to Venice again, because of romantic associations, and that he could not see the films of a certain studio, because of memories of a woman who had worked there. He smiled when he told me, he even laughed at himself, but still, he would not go to Venice.

He did finally go to Venice in August, however, to show his film in the Venice Film Festival, and he took his mother, so they could be together after the death of his father at 80. And he now looks at the films of all the movie studios.

"I think I've learned to. . .accept things, or at least to deal with them in terms like this book. I read a number of Wharton's other novels and they're very good, but this was the one that I said, 'Yeah, I understand this.' I was led through the labyrinth of it by the exquisite pain of not being able to consummate the relationship."

The Victorians were the sexiest generation.

"That's right. The more you had to get through all those clothes - the more he had to imagine through the clothes what was going on with her, the shade of the skin, the touch, the feel, the warmth, everything - I loved that tension, that conflict, and it's very sweet.

"And of course, it's the other thing, too. He believes that nobody notices, but everybody notices. When I read those paragraphs, I had felt that I was taken along by Edith Wharton. I felt like he did. And I realized what a fool I am. What a fool he is. I loved the way her prose just sort of dismembered him."

And then there was the problem of finding a visual equivalent for the moments when the deepest emotions strike his characters. Take, for example, the opening sequence at the opera, when Newland Archer first sees the countess through his opera glasses, realizes she has returned to New York - and realizes, almost in the same breath, that he has fallen in love with her. No dialogue is used. How can Scorsese communicate the certainty of Archer's feelings? As he explained, I felt like a student in a master class:

"We look through his opera glasses, seeing what he sees. But not just in regular time. We did stop-frame photography, exposing one frame at a time and printing each frame three times and then dissolving between each three frames. It looks sort of like what you see when you look through an opera glass, but with heightened attention. He scans the audience and then backs up and stops on her. With all the different experimenting, that took almost a year to get right."

The strategy makes us feel not only that we are looking through his glasses, but that we are experiencing his feelings. What is best about the film, I think, is its feeling of complicity. There is a spoken narration (read by Joanne Woodward) that comes, not from any character in the story, but as the voice of the society itself. The narrator speaks of "we," and implies all the eyes that are on Archer, May and the Countess while they conduct their private war. And the feeling that Archer is under the restraint of that "we," that he must behave as society and his wife expect him to, leads us up to the film's great last scene.

I will not describe the scene. But I will report that for Scorsese, it is not only the summation of the movie, but of his reasons for making it. In the scene there is a revelation, showing that love is more complex and hidden than we know, and that sometimes perhaps exquisite romantic loss is more precious than selfish romantic gratitication. There is a line in the scene: "And to think it was his wife. . ." Think about that line, Scorsese seems to be telling us, and you will have a deeper knowledge of how life really does operate, outside the compass of our own little egos.

The afternoon was late. We sat in the living room, drinking coffee - in the second-story living room of a townhouse that was built in the Age of Innocence, in a room where perhaps people like Archer and May and the Countess had once taken tea. Scorsese's walls were lined with books. He said he was still seeing as many movies as ever, but he was reading more, too - "much more than when I was younger. I'm getting more into the past."

Do you think as people grow older, they grow more socially conservative?

"Not the old people I'm thinking of, the old directors like Sam Fuller or Michael Powell. They speak exactly what's on their mind, as if they're aware that they don't have any time to waste."

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Topic: AES
Posted By: Bob Goethe
Subject: AES
Date Posted: 10 Jul 2008 at 5:21am
 The US Government created an encryption standard several years ago, called the Data Encryption Standard (DES). It has been widely used both in government circles and by banks. The government has recently replaced DES with the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES). One cryptologist has said that assuming that you could recover a DES key in a second (trying 255 keys per second), it would take the same machine approximately 149 trillion years to recover a 128-bit AES key.

This download contains sample code to let you use AES encryption in an Access 2000 database.

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Saturday, April 2, 2011

US vs UK {1}: Lords of Deliverance Series

Living in the US, I usually don't get a glimpse of UK book covers...but when I saw that Larissa Ione had revealed the US and UK versions of her latest book, Eternal Rider, I was amazed at how different each was from the other. I was actually jealous of all those UK readers that would get the detailed and colorful cover when I had to settle for the black and white version (not that the model isn't hot!). So I got to thinking "Wow, I wonder how many other UK covers beat or fall short when compared to US versions?" and this is how my feature of US vs UK was born.

My first US vs UK feature cover is Eternal Rider by Larissa Ione, the first book in the Lords of Deliverance series. Check 'em out, the US cover being on the left and the UK on the right.

This was a close tie for me but I really think that the UK cover really conveys the concept of the book. Sure the guy on the US cover is hot and mysterious but it just wouldn't stand out next to it's UK brother on a bookshelf. My winner is the UK cover this time around! I can't wait to compare the rest of the books in the series once they're released.

Which would you choose as the winner?

*A special thanks to Jenn @ Wondrous Reads for paving the way!

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September 05, 2002

Typical Brooklyn

Quote of the night/morning:

"I'm from Brooklyn, crude ain't in my dictionary!"

Posted by ronn at September 5, 2002 01:38 AM

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October 13, 2003

Thursday is Big

Will iTunes 5 debut this Thursday? I think so. Will Apple integrate WMA files into iTunes? They should. The Windows market is just too big and they currently hold the lead on portable music options, Napster 2.0 be damned.

Just wishing more and more that I had an iPod instead of a MD recorder.

Posted by ronn at October 13, 2003 07:30 PM


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Junior and Youth Choirs

There are two groups, led by Julie Wildgoose and Jamil Fiorino-Habib, which participate from time to time in worship services.

The Junior Choir, for elementary-aged children, meets weekly at the church, Thursdays at 4:30. This groups learns basic singing skills and rehearses for any upcoming presentations.

The Youth Band, for grades 6 – 8, meets weekly on Sunday mornings during the worship service to learn pop songs to perform in church services. No set level of skill is required, and any youth are welcome to take part.  Bring whatever instrument you play or your voice!

For information on the junior choir please contact Julie Wildgoose. And for information on the youth band, contact Rev. Kristin Philipson at youth@rosedaleunited.org

Saturday November 18th, 2017 from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Join the fun at our annual Fair - details here... VENDORS ARE WELCOME - READ MORE...

Sermon : ‘Say What?’

 October 15, 2017     Doug Norris click to hear audio Words make worlds.  The way of our words, at this time, is chaotic and violent and it is making a world that is chaotic...

Sermon : ‘Thank Me Very Much’

 Thanksgiving Sunday,    October 8, 2017    Doug  Norris     click for audio   We've been following an old story, these past weeks, the ‘Exodus’, hoping it will lead us to...

October Schedule

Join us each Sunday morning for our 10:30 service – followed by hot coffee and warm conversation. In addition to peaceful sanctuary and thoughtful teachings, our Sunday...

Sermon – ‘It’s Not A Small World After All’

October 1, 2017      ‘It Isn’t A Small World After All’     Doug Norris click to hear audio recording So, a Rabbi, an Iman, a Mormon and a United Church minister sit down...

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Rosedale United Church

159 Roxborough Drive
Toronto, Ontario,
M4W 1X7 Phone: (416) 924-0725
Fax: (416) 924-9505
E-mail: churchoffice@rosedaleunited.org
Mon. to Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.


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Main Menu

Program Admission

Bachelor of Science in Environmental Practice

Standard Admission

  • Minimum of 60 post-secondary arts and/or science credits (18 must be science credits, nine of which must be at the second-year level), with a minimum GPA of 'B' (3.00/4.33), from a recognized post-secondary institution; or
  • Completion of the Certificate in Environmental Practice (CEP) program (18 must be science credits, nine of which must be at the second-year level) at Royal Roads University, with a minimum GPA of 'B' (3.00/4.33).

Flexible Admission

Applicants who do not meet the Standard Admission requirements will be considered for Flexible Admission and assessed as follows:

  • Applicants who have the required 60 post-secondary credits, but who don't meet the minimum GPA requirement, should have at least 3 years of relevant work experience.

English Language Requirements

Application Requirements

All applications to this program require submission of the following information and supporting documents before your file can be assessed for admission:

Application Form

In order to apply online, you will be required to create a log-in account using your email address. You will be required to list all credit courses and/or programs you have completed or are currently enrolled in. An application fee will be required. If your application fee(s) are being paid for by a sponsoring organization, please contact Student Accounts. Once submitted, you may check the status of your application at any time.

Official Transcripts

Applicants are responsible for arranging for the submission of official transcripts from ALL post-secondary (higher education) institutions currently or previously attended, for all credit courses and/or programs. Transcripts are not required for non-credit programs or courses, though some programs may require proof of professional certifications or designations.

Transcripts are considered official only if submitted directly by the Registrar or other recognized authority of the providing institution in the institution's original, sealed envelope. If the envelope has been opened, the transcripts are no longer official and new (official) transcripts will be required to complete your application.

All international transcripts or credentials are subject to an international transcript and/or credential evaluation.

If applicable:

  • Applicants declaring permanent resident or Convention Refugee status in Canada, must submit a copy of their Permanent Resident Card (PR card) along with their application.
  • Transcript evaluation fee or credential evaluation report, if submitting international transcripts.
  • An official English Language Proficiency score report or other evidence of proficiency if English is not your primary language.
  • Other information or documents as may be requested to determine your eligibility.

For information on how and where to send your supporting documents, please refer to the document submission guidelines.

Additional Requirements for Flexible Admission

For applicants who will be reviewed under the Flexible Admission process the following additional supporting documents will be required:

Personal Statement

Your personal statement should be no less than a one-page letter indicating your motivation for seeking entrance to the program. Your statement should comment upon your personal and career goals, the expectations you have for the program in relation to the achievement of your goals, and the strengths you feel you can bring to the program. As well, please indicate any potential thesis interests and any potential thesis sponsors.

Letters of Reference

It is ideal if one reference letter is based on your work experience and the other based on either your academic performance or community service that you have undertaken. However, two work-related references are acceptable in certain cases. There is no set standard for letter of reference format. The length and level of detail in each letter may vary.

Content of the reference letters should illustrate and support your suitability for admission to the Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Science in Environmental Practice program. Content may include how your referee feels you will succeed in the program (and why) and how the program will benefit you. Indication of demonstrated skills, competencies and aptitudes and other relevant information about which the referee can comment is beneficial. The context in which the referee has come to know you should also be mentioned.

Your resume should provide as much information as possible, with special attention given to the past ten years of your career. As a guideline, items in your resume should include:

  • Education: List all post secondary education, degrees, diplomas, and certificates you have achieved.
  • Training/Professional Development: List career related training and professional development programs completed within the past five years. Include the source of training, and the duration and year completed. List other training and personal development programs not already identified.
  • Work Experience: Please include name of organization, position, length of service and brief description of duties.
  • Voluntary / Unpaid Work Experience: List and describe any voluntary/unpaid post-secondary employment and/or community service experience. Please include the name of the organization, length of service, and a brief description of duties. List positions you have held in this service.
  • Information Technology Training and Experience: Briefly describe your level of training and experience in the use of information technology including computers, software and telecommunications networks as tools for business, education, teaching and personal use.
  • Professional Memberships/Affiliations: List memberships and positions you hold/have held in professional associations, service clubs, community/volunteer sector.
  • Other Relevant Information: Provide any other information which you believe is relevant to your application and will be of assistance to the review committee.

For information on how and where to send your supporting documents, please refer to the document submission guidelines.


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11648 N US 68, Belle Center, OH 43310 US Bellefontaine Home for Sale

11648 N US 68, Belle Center, Ohio

Property Details

Listing Information

  • MLS: 343433
  • Bedrooms: 3
  • Baths: 2
  • Partial Baths: 0
  • SQ FT: 1792
  • Lot Size: 2.377

Property Description

This secluded setting offers mature trees and 2.37 acres! 1792 SF, 3 BR, 2 BA, Built in 2004! Beautiful cabinetry in kitchen with pull-out shelving in cupboards and laminate flooring! Tall cathedral ceilings throughout make this home feel even bigger! The owner's suite is separate from the other bedrooms and features French doors leading to the bath offering a corner garden tub and separate shower. There is a dining rm, living rm, family rm, breakfast nook, large hall closet and more! Covered porch overlooks the wooded front yard! Several sheds/outbuildings for lots of outdoor storage!

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  • 11648 N US 68
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Property information deemed reliable but not guaranteed and should be verified.

Contact Information

Bryn Daring-Stewart, Broker/Owner
Royer Realty LLC
301 E. Columbus Ave.
Bellefontaine OH 43311
Office: 937-592-7653
Fax: 937-593-6972


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Dylan & Christina

I knew it was going to be a fun evening with these two when the first shot I took with my camera, they couldn't stop laughing. Like, really laughing. Hysterical laughing.

Dylan and Christina are so sweet, and SO much fun! They're spontaneous and down for just about anything. We traveled over to Merwin Lake and Speelyai Bay for their engagement session, and we were blessed with a beautiful day.

It was fun getting to know these two and I loved seeing how similar their personalities were to each other, they're just a hoot! I'm so excited for their wedding this fall.


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Why does life really matter?

Whose Life Matters?

Matthew 9:18-31, 36-38

Why does life really matter?

Quote: We Americans like to pretend that if we do not recognize something, it does not exist. If we hide our eyes where we cannot see it, it is not real. We insulate ourselves. James T Draper

Sanctity of Human Life – What does this mean?  It means to consider human life sacred or holy; to have a passionate desire to defend life (especially in a culture that grows increasingly intolerant toward those who hold positions that honor life).

We discussed some things in our society that devalues human life.

Matthew 9:18-19, 23-26

Jesus raised a young girl from the dead. He did not ignore the girl because she was young nor did He wait to take into account what she had accomplished to see if she was important enough to save. Jesus had compassion and restored her life.

Today Christians have the opportunity to guard the life of both the born and unborn children.

Other scriptures regarding life in & out of the womb – Luke 1:15, 44 2:16

Humans are made in God’s image - Gen.1:26-27

God has a special purpose & design - Ps. 139:13-16; Is. 49:1; Jer. 1:5

Like Jesus, we have to see the need first before we can take action to make a difference. How can Christians help the young (born and unborn) children?

Matthew 9:20-22

A woman who had hemorrhaged for 12 years made her way to Christ so that He could heal her. She just wanted to touch the hem (tassel) on His garment. She had been to doctors and spent all she had on trying to find someone or something to help her.

Not only had her disorder caused her physical problems but it had also made her ceremonially unclean according to the Jewish law. She couldn’t go to the synagogue. She was not supposed to touch anyone or she would make them unclean. Her lack of health affected her physically, spiritually, and socially.

Jesus commended her faith and made her well. He had compassion and met a need.

Do you value your health? Do your actions show that you value your health? Are you doing any of the following to improve your health?

Eating more healthy

Regular check ups

Refraining from alcohol and drugs

Losing weight

Choose healthy lifestyle habits that will allow you to keep good health.

Matthew 9:27-31

Soon after Jesus left the religious leader’s daughter fully alive, He encountered two blind men who followed Him along shouting for mercy. Jesus went into a house and permitted the blind men to enter. Jesus turned their minds from the worldly thinking of Messiah come to set up an earthly kingdom to His divine power by asking if they believed He could heal them. They longed to be whole and said yes.

Jesus cared about those who were not whole in body, mind, or spirit.

Matthew 9:36-38

Jesus saw and felt. First He saw the needs of the people. That’s not enough. He felt compassion on them. Jesus saw the people as sheep without a shepherd.

Jesus also noticed that the harvest was abundant but the workers were few. There are not nearly as many people showing compassion and working to meet the needs as there are those who have the needs.

Jesus was involved in meeting the needs of people around Him. Are we?

Connecting to Life

Sanctity of human life is more than fighting abortion. There is a need to protect children from abortion, abuse, neglect, and hunger. There is the need to guard our own health and help others do the same. There is the need to help those who struggle with handicaps.

There is the need to get involved; the workers are few. What can you do to place more value on human life?


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Golden Gate Bridge Toll Booth Addition - San Francisco, CA

Golden Gate Bridge Toll Booth Addition - San Francisco, CA

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Audi San Francisco - San Francisco, CA

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Ilhan Eser and Kamer Tezcan – Residence

Custom Home – Net Zero –  Aluminum corrugated panels over Kingspan insulated Karrier panels.

Be sure to read the project description and review letter from the homeowners below the image gallery for more details about this project.

Over one and a half years ago, when my wife Kamer and I decided to build our own “dream house” we knew “almost” exactly what we wanted.

We wanted to build a self-sustainable, Leed certifiable, net zero house, powered by solar, heated and cooled by geothermal system, gray water utilized for irrigation, highly insulated walls and roofs (r value 40) , over 75% of material are recyclable, which is mostly metal framing, roofing and siding.

There was one problem though, to achieve all these targets, houses don’t look very pretty at the end, or the general perception is metal? On a house? Ugly!

So we decided to make sure to make a bold statement how it will look. Inside and outside all contemporary which will make people turn their heads.

First, we have made the roof for the great room butterfly and we also chose Morin/Kingspan Karrier Panel system, aluminum siding, painted with Valspar’s one of the most new technological paint system, with 30 years warranty; “Kameleon-Dusty Rose” color. It is a color, or more precisely multicolor paint that changes from green to yellow, silver, bronze, dark brown, depending what angle you look and what time of the day and the angle sun hits the surface of the panels.

Now the most important part came; who is going to install these panels? Being in the industry 30 years, I knew and worked with a lot of installers. I know firsthand they can make the building look beautiful or they can really ruin the whole thing. So we had to choose a company, who understands the “architectural look concept” not only industrial or commercial. They have to have experience working with the metal like a carpenter, or as craftsmen. After reviewing a few companies, we chose “Rua & Sons” knowing that they are the most qualified installer for these types of applications. As of today, I can testify, I made one of the best decisions of my life. I already knew they were qualified to do the job but I didn’t know how much they were flexible, dedicated, hardworking, reasonable people with great attitude we have dealt with. Louie Rua, Fernando and all of the crew became friends of ours as you can imagine during the most stressful time. They really made it easy on us and we all had fun.

As far as making a bold statement; our house is not on your way to somewhere, you have to deliberately get there. Every day, dozens of dozens cars by pass, slow down or stop in front of the house. I guess we made a statement!
Without a shred of doubt, I can highly recommend “Rua & Sons” company for all your needs, for their expertise and easy to deal with attitude.

Ilhan Eser CEO Morin/Kingspan companies
Kamer Tezcan MD. Kaiser Permanente


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Robert Ruark Society

The society is made up of a group of fans from all across Ruark's native North Carolina, the nation and from around the world. We remember Ruark and we want others to remember him, too.

Robert Chester Ruark, Jr.

(DECEMBER 29, 1915 - JULY 1, 1965)

Journalist and Novelist -

            Robert Ruark is, perhaps, the most well loved and respected author to emerge from Eastern North Carolina.
            His boyhood was spent in Wilmington and Southport. After graduating from New Hanover High School at the age of 12, he attended the University of North Carolina, where he graduated from in 1935.
            His best selling book, The Old Man and the Boy, is based on his hunting, fishing and camping experiences with his grandfather, Capt. Edward Adkins, a retired river pilot.
            During World War II, he served as a merchant seaman and later as a naval gunnery officer. Returning to his passion for writing after the war. Ruark began writing for the Washington Daily News and achieved national prominence in over 180 newspapers as a syndicated columnist for the Scripps Howard newspaper chain.

            “I think his North Carolina pieces are just terrific,” said Bland Simpson, director of the creative writing program in the UNC English Department. “Some people may find some of his attitudes dated on some subjects, but his observations of how things were done in the field at the time, were really on the money.”
            “It is some of the best ‘portraiture in words’ of hunting, fishing and life in the field that we have.”

            In 1953, he established his permanent residence in Palamos, near Barcelona, Spain, where he wrote his best-selling novels.
            His novel, Something of Value, brought him international acclaim. Based on the Mau Mau uprising in Kenya during the early ‘50’s, the book and its adaptation in the MGM movie, created a powerful narrative of African Nationalism. His literary style and, in some respects his lifestyle, resembled that of Ernest Hemingway, whom he knew and greatly admired.
            Perhaps one of Ruark’s letters in his collection, best describes his confidence in his writing gained from his trips to Africa.

            I would never have had the courage to quit the safety of New York without Africa’s constant beckon. Without the African experience, there would have been no topics for the scores of articles and stories and the two books which have combined to make me financially secure…

            In May 1957, Robert Ruark visited the UNC Campus at Chapel Hill where he remembered and praised the professors he most admired: Professor O.J. Coffin of the English Department, Professor J.P. Harland of the Archeology Department, Phillips Russell in the Creative Writing Department, and Wallace Caldwell, Historian. However, Ruark did not forget his fraternity brothers at the Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity. He purchased an ice machine, one of the first in the Chapel Hill area, as a gift to his old fraternity.
            On July 1, 1965, Robert Ruark, who had lived life to the fullest, died ina London Hospital at the age of 49. All of Ruark’s manuscripts, letters, syndicated newspaper columns, books, and magazine articles, totaling over 5,000 items, were left to The University of North Carolina. They are now housed in the Wilson Library.
            In the year 2000, he was inducted into the North Carolina Hall of Fame with the likes of Thomas Wolfe.
            In 2009 he was inducted into the UNC School of Journalism & Mass Communication’s Hall of Fame.

News Bureau – The University of North Carolina
Morris, Bill – Ruark’s World Awaits A Visit – News & Observer, December 18, 2003
Wrightsville Beach Magazine – Volume 5, Issue 3, March 2004
Barge, B.L. – Ruark Thesis – UNC English Department – 1969
Southport Art Museum, Southport, NC
Southport Historical Society
The Robert Ruark Foundation, Southport, NC

Welcome to our website...

The Robert Ruark Society is made up of a group of fans from all across Ruark's native North Carolina, the nation and from around the world. We remember Ruark and we want others to remember him, too.

Anyone may join the-is society. There are no dues or fees associated with any individual's membership. Once you provide the society with your contact information you are added to the membership list.

The University of North Carolina
Arts & Sciences Foundation
134 East Franklin Street
Chapel Hill, NC 27599

Elaine Wood - Communications Director | (919) 782-0905

Nic Byron - Website Administrator | (919) 889-3330


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see what Ruth is up to links to all Ruth's non-fiction publications links to all Ruth's crime fictions titles links to most of Ruth's journalist over the last four years
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Belfast Telegraph logo
7 July 2014

Such a shame we elect those who beat the tribal drum

Lord Bew
Lord Bew

It's the death of thought and progress to connect exclusively with your own kind. And in a place like Northern Ireland, where sticking to tribal comfort zones led to disaster, it's a counsel of despair.

Unionists should admit that the 1916 rebellion was probably a direct result of the escalation of the anti-Home Rule campaign by the formation and arming of the Ulster Volunteers.

Nationalists should face the truth that deifying the tiny cabal who led the Easter Rising has left a toxic legacy that even now legitimises anti-democratic violence.

Which is why we should welcome and participate in events like the Enniskillen Xchange Summer School, which was held at the end of June.

Judging by the audience reactions, it fulfilled its ambition to help people "who want to bring about social change in Northern Ireland" by encouraging "thinkers and explainers" to have "alternative conversations and changed perspectives".

Those of us on the panel on 'Changing the Conversation on History' were briefed to remember that Irish history is more diverse than "orange and green". We certainly did.

Mark Leslie, who has organised exhibitions on Churchill, on Yeats and is now at work on the Easter Rising and on the Apprentice Boys, kept us laughing over the complicated and clashing religious and political loyalties of various members of his opinionated Anglo-Irish family, illustrated strikingly by a photograph of unionist and nationalist brothers having a fight on the steps of Monaghan's Castle Leslie.

His serious point was that Irishness is so layered, complicated and intertwined as to resemble a set of Russian dolls.

The writer Carlo Gebler, son of the very green Edna O'Brien, told us of the tragic life in Ireland of his Czech-Bohemian grandfather and of the maternal great-aunt who married a member of the Royal Irish Constabulary and was banned forever from the family farm by her IRA brother – who later shot her husband.

The music journalist and BBC Radio Ulster presenter Stuart Ballie tried to persuade us to blank out all history and instead find common cause in punk, blues and other non-Irish music.

And I suggested that our worst problem was the triumph, north and south, of violent hardliners – both green and orange – and that it behoved those of us unhappy that bigots and murderers attracted votes to challenge the myths, prejudices and propaganda of our own tribe.

Which is what was happening last Tuesday evening in London, courtesy of the Irish Ambassador, Dan Mulhall – a history graduate, who is marking significant anniversaries over the next few years by hosting informed discussions.

This time the subject was the 1914 Home Rule Act, which was never implemented because of the outbreak of the First World War and then the Easter Rising and consequent Anglo-Irish war.

As a great parliamentary happening, it had originally been scheduled to take place in the Speaker's House – a magnificent state apartment at the heart of the Palace of Westminster.

Unfortunately, the ambassador's brief for inclusivity clashed with the Speaker's refusal to entertain Sinn Fein MPs, on the grounds that they show disrespect to the Commons by refusing to take their seats, so the event was rearranged for the embassy.

There was plenty of civilised disagreement among the distinguished speakers – historians Lord (Paul) Bew (Queen's University Belfast), Professor Michael Laffan (University College Dublin) and Professor Richard Toye (Exeter) and ex-Taoiseach John Bruton – and hard questions were posed by chairman Fergal Keane and members of the audience.

Bew, who is no nationalist, spoke of the massive provocation caused by the Larne gunrunning, Bruton slammed the destruction of the constitutional tradition, Laffan talked of the lack of generosity displayed by both unionists and nationalists, and Richard Toye complained of the British government's cowardice in refusing to call unionists' bluff.

If only Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness could think and talk as honestly about the dark sides of their tribal pasts that are the root cause of all the rows about parades and paraphernalia, they might make a bit of progress. But they won't, of course.

Most Northern Ireland voters have no right to complain about political paralysis: they vote for those who most loudly bang the tribal drums.

Ruth Dudley Edwards

Ruth posts articles that interest or amuse her and replies to comments from her eclectic group of friends and followers.

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© 2003–2017
Ruth Dudley Edwards
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See ya Florence, Hello Venice!

Oct 03

See ya Florence, Hello Venice!

Ryder: So, Amanda hasn’t been feeling all that well and our super helpful and friendly AirBnb host Paolo offered to let us stay longer while she’s sick (Needless to say, we haven’t been doing much of anything since our last post). After some debating, we took him up on his offer Monday morning, the day we had planned to travel to Venice. I was able to massage our reservations into moving back a day and now here we are, on Tuesday, in Venice!

The train ride was a quick one, only 2 hours, but when we arrived we found out that the water bus taxi system we needed to take to reach our hotel were starting a strike today. So far that’s two strikes that have affected our travelling during this trip 😉 The vaperettos, aka the water bus, were only taking people to the Rialto stop, and we needed to go a few more stops down the river. We amazingly did not get lost (thanks to Google Maps on my non-upgraded iPhone). We arrived at our hotel and then went out to explore, grab some dinner, and soak up Venice!

Amanda: Today we woke up in time for complimentary breakfast then went for a walk around Venice. We went over a few bridges and down some narrow streets, enjoying the ambiance and bustling vibe. One of the big differences we’ve noticed between here and Florence (apart from all the water, duh) is the ridiculous number of tourists in Venice. We hardly ever hear Italian walking down the streets! Most of the shops we passed held high-end leather goods, glass wear, lace, and lots and LOTS of Venetian masks for Carnevale Festivals. This is definitely a city geared toward tourists.

We went back to our hotel for a bit, then headed to the famous Basilica di San Marco in the Piazza San Marco just around the corner from our hotel! The beginnings of this structure were built to house the supposed remains of St. Mark the Evangelist, brought (or stolen depending on who you ask) from Alexandria. The original church was burned, but rebuilt to the present basilica, and consecrated in 1094.  This basilica stands as one of the best examples of Byzantine architecture as, according to the churches website, “To build St. Mark’s Church, Venice brought the spiritual and material heritage of Byzantium to the West.” Feel free to insert “stolen” for “brought” were you see fit.

We walked around the interior of the church, marveling at the vast space and large intricate mosaics lining the ceilings, accompanied by brilliantly intricate slabs and tiles of marble. We paid a bit extra to see the view from the top and tour the basilica’s museum. In the museum we found the “Horses of Saint Mark.” They are four bronze horses dating back to Classical Antiquity, cast in the lost wax casting method. Some accounts claim these horses once adorned the Arch of Trajan and were long displayed at the Hippodrome of Constantinople. They were taken to Venice in the Fourth Crusade, stolen by Napoleon in 1797, but returned to Venice in 1815. The horses now on the facade of the cathedral are bronze replicas.

After our fill of the basilica, we stopped at a restaurant near our hotel for some dinner and are now in for the night.

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More Florence

Sep 27

Just a quick update today. Tuesday, we woke up a little late. We had talked about going to Cinque Terre that day, but on Monday four Canadian women were injured in a landslide on the trail we would have walked on. We decided it would be better to leave Cinque Terre hikes for better weather. We ended up just writing in our journals for part of the day. Amanda started feeling real bad at a cafe we were writing (and drinking multiple cappuccinos at 😀 ) so we headed home. Amanda started to feel worse and didn’t get much sleep that night 🙁

Wednesday, we didn’t do much of anything. Amanda was still feeling terrible so I brought her some medicine from the pharmacy on the corner (or the Farmacia as they’re known here). By the time we went to bed, she was starting to feel a little better.

Today, we woke up after getting a full night’s sleep.

At Noon.

We really need to get our sleep cycles back in order. Staying up with our new friends on Monday, Amanda being sick on Tuesday and a little more on Wednesday has shifted our sleep cycles. I’m planning on waking us up real early tomorrow to hopefully get us back on track.

Here are some cool photos from the past few days around Florence.

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Florence Day 7, then Day 8 – Tuscany!

Sep 24

Florence Day 7, then Day 8 – Tuscany!

So yesterday was Sunday and it was a really boring day. We walked around the streets of Florence for awhile looking for a nice cafe to sit at and write in our journals while drinking cappuccinos. The place we wanted to go was unfortunately closed (big surprise, it being Sunday and all). We wandered around our area then down to the Ponte Vecchio and over to the Duomo. The cafes near the tourist spots were crowded and expensive. We stopped at one spot for sandwiches and water then continued searching. By 4pm we gave up and headed back to the apartment to write. Well, at least we got some walking in…

Today ROCKED! Ryder surprised me with plans to go horseback riding in Tuscany through vineyards and olive groves as an early one year anniversary present!! We got up early and walked down to one of the piazza’s to get picked up for the tour. Our guide, Jacapo, was super friendly and talkative. He drove 8 of us in a van out into the country. We switched vans and continued on to the horse stables. The ride was a bit crazy and the road really curvy and rutty.

We burst out of the shaded, walled city scape into breathtaking Tuscany with rolling hills and valleys full of vineyards, orchards, and dotted with ancient stone villas. We stopped at the stables, looking out over acres and acres of vineyards, orchards, and forest. We met the other people in our tour – there was a couple from London who had come over just for the weekend, another couple from D.C. who had been traveling through Italy for 2 weeks, a gal from Florida who had been traveling for a month, and another gal from New York who was also visiting for 2 weeks! Everyone was super friendly and we all hit it off splendidly.

We were fitted with helmets and then introduced to our horses. Ryder got on the first horse named Naomi who lead the pack of tourists, next were the couple from London, then came me on Danny. The gal who set me up on my horse said, “If he stops, give him a hard kick.” Well, lucky me, I got the MOST lazy horse of the group. At every single hill, Mr. Danny decided to come to a dead stop and eat some grass or stare lazily ahead. All of my kicking and talking to him hardly made a dent! He would only move when the tour guide at the back of the line shouted, “Danny! Vai!” and the occasional, “Danny! Mamma mia, impossibile!” Silly horse. Well, he was very friendly and easy otherwise. We had such a grand time climbing up and down the hills along side the grape vines.

We finished the horse section of the tour at the Villa le Corti where we were served a three course Italian meal complete with two glasses of wine to taste. We sat with Lisa from New York, Daniela from Florida, and our tour guide Jacapo. The food was as excellent as the company and we all shared a bottle of our favorite wine. After the meal, we went on a tour of the wine production facility.

This winery is famous for its Chianti Classico, a type of Tuscan wine that can only be considered true Chianti if it is grown in this specific area of Tuscany; just like Champagne in France. The Chianti Classico is a blend of 85% Sauvignon and 15% Merlot grown from 49 hectares of vineyards. It is fermented and aged in the seventeenth century cellars located in the large rooms built beneath the villa garden. The house blend of the Chianti Classico is aged in large concrete vats, much to our surprise. The “good stuff” is aged in French and American oak.

The olive oil mill is also located below the gardens. We were able to get a tour of these facilities as well. The Chianti Classico DOP Extra Virgin olive oil is made from hand-picked olives grown from 13,000 trees. The olives are pressed within twelve hours of harvest and the olive oil is certified organic. They had only two jars left over from the 2011 harvest and are geared up to press the 2012 harvest beginning next month.

After the tour we were able to purchase a bottle of wine and then were taken back to Florence. The tour was really fantastic and lots of fun! Later in the evening, Lisa and Daniela came by for some pasta and salad dinner! We stayed up talking until midnight, drinking wine, and having such a fun time! We hope to have more adventures with them in the next few days.

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Florence Day 5 & 6

Sep 22

Florence Day 5 & 6

Yesterday we spent some time hanging around the flat. At around 2pm we decided to walk over to the Accademia delle Belle Arte where the famous David sculpture by Michelangelo resides. We hoped to purchase reserved tickets at the box office for the museum instead of going through a third party. When we arrived there were two queue lines, one for entrance with a ticket at a certain time and one without a ticket. We got into the without-a-ticket line as it looked rather short and thought, “We’ll we’re here, might as well try and check it out today.” A lady came down the line and informed us that for only € 20.00 each, she could help us by-pass the line we were in that could take 2 hours and bump us up to the with-a-ticket line. We declined, decided we didn’t want to wait 2 hours, and walked up to the ticket booth instead.

Much to our surprise, we were able to purchase tickets at € 15.00 each for the next entrance time at 2:45pm, yay! We stood in line for about 15 minutes and met a couple next to us who were from Melbourne, Australia. They had quit their jobs and were traveling just like us! They had flown west across Asia, stopping in Dubai, then on to Europe. It was really interesting to meet another couple doing the same thing as us! They plan to spend time in France over winter as the gal was able to land a job at one of the ski resorts. We wished them luck and headed into the museum.

Most of the paintings and sculptures in the Accademia delle Belle Arti are from the Renaissance period. Among them sits the original David by Michelangelo, a monumental sculpture, that has been housed in this museum since 1873. David was created between 1501 and 1504 and stands at 17 ft. tall. The statue represents the Biblical hero David after he’s defeated the Goliath. It truly is a masterpiece of high Renaissance work. We were both struck by the shear size of the sculpture and the delicate attention to detail. We weren’t too impressed with much else in the gallery, apart from a handful of unfinished sculptures also by Michelangelo, but that could be because we have seen SO MANY PAINTINGS on this trip.

We exited the gallery and headed back out into the streets towards our next destination, Santa Croce. Our main reason for visiting Santa Croce was to see the robes of Saint Francis of Assissi but we learned (thanks to Google) on the way there that the robes themselves were carbon dated at 100 years too early to be worn by St. Francis but the robe tie matched the correct time period. We were delighted to find out the basilica houses the crypts of Machiavelli, Galileo, and Michelangelo, among other famous Italian Glories. The church was about to close by the time we made our rounds so we headed home for some yummy Italian pasta.

This is Ryder now, for today’s post.

Well, there has been construction next door going on all week starting at 7am. Last night we rejoiced that in the morning, since it would be Saturday, we would be able to sleep in without being woken up to debris crashing through a make-shift three story garbage shaft at a consistent interval of 1 minute and 45 seconds.

Little did we know that Italians don’t stop construction just because it’s the weekend.

I severely hope they take Sunday off, just like all of the rest of Italy does, so we can get some good sleep in the morning. It didn’t help that “Italians” (ok, fine, fine, I’ll stop generalizing. “Italians in Florence that happen to walk by our street at 2am”) kept us up by yelling and partying on our street late into the night.

But we’re loving Florence, I promise.

We slept in, as much as we could, today before heading off to the Mercato Centrale to see what that was all about and get supplies for dinner and food tomorrow.

Four Euros and twenty cents. That’s all it took to buy:

  • One crown of broccoli
  • One head of butter lettuce
  • Two bunches of spinach
  • Three huge golden delicious apples
  • Three nectarines
  • A large yellow, and partly green, bell pepper
  • Two tomatoes
Definitely found where we’ll be buying all of our groceries for the rest of our time in Florence.

In the market, we found a place that sold freshly made pasta. We were stoked on finding that place and picked up way too much tortellini for two people to eat in one night for 4.65 euro.
Again, the market was just about to close as we finished our shopping (or was it we finished our shopping just as the market was about to close?). Getting to places just in time seems to be happening to us more often these days as our sleeping schedule has shifted a little thanks to Mr. Noisy Construction Company two doors down. We ate pizza slices we purchased from the market, I grabbed a cappuccino and Amanda had some water, and we headed back home to rest and do some work. We made a huge salad with our market spoils and cooked half of the tasty tortellini for dinner. Sleepytime!
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Florence Day 4

Sep 20

Florence Day 4

We booked tickets to tour the Duomo for today, requiring us to be up and at the church by 9:45am. Ryder rolled me out of bed at 8:45am, we had breakfast, and walked down to the Duomo. The cathedral was built over a 170 year span beginning in the 13th century. Made to rival the cathedrals of Pisa and Siena, the Duomo is quite a site to behold.

The famous dome was designed by Filippo Brunelleschi and completed in just 16 years. When we arrived about a thousand people were already milling about in the Piazza del Doumo at the entrance as the cathedral did not open until 10am. We discovered, after talking to a cathedral guard, that entrance to the church is free…

Side note: In Italy, well at least in Florence, most tourist destinations do not have their own online websites and if they do, you cannot purchase tickets in advance through them. All tickets for touring sites have to be purchased through third parties if you want to avoid the lines or through the Italian government website which, according to Rick Steves, is a waste of time.

…. so we got in line at the dome, hoping the tickets we purchased weren’t a waste of good money! Luckily, the tickets were for the dome so we entered the side of the cathedral and immediately up steep flights of stairs, some winding and some flat, to the absolute top of the dome!

We couldn’t believe it! Along the way, we walked along a very narrow catwalk that ran along the base of the great dome on the inside, giving us an up close view of the amazing painting on the inside of the dome. The fresco was created by Giorgio Vasari and Frederico Zuccari between 1572 and 1579, and depicts the Last Judgement. It was entirely restored between 1978 and 1994 and covers 3,600 square meters of space.

After a few claustrophobic moments (well for me at least) we climbed the last bit of steps and up to the top! We could see all of Florence from our view and even into the hills of Tuscany. Everything was red roofs and green hills set against a deep blue sky. I couldn’t believe how high we were! We took some photos and walked the circumference. On the way down there was lots of crowding and a bit of a bottle neck, as those coming down had to go the same route as those going up! Not the most comfortable. When we reached the bottom, we exited the church to get some lunch and our daily gelato before touring the Baptistry of San Giovanni.

We made our way to the Baptistry just as it was opening and were able to get in with the first group. The baptistry is the oldest building in the square, the original thought to have been erected in the 5th or early 6th century AD. Interestingly enough, tradition holds that the baptistry was once a Roman temple because the spacial arrangement recalls the Pantheon and it is enriched with pillars and carvings taken from ancient monuments. The floor, however, looks Islamic while the mosaics of the dome reveal Byzantine art influence. We wandered around the interior, taking photos, and then made our way out.

We could see a large open air market from the top of the dome and decided to head that way. The market was full of stall selling everything leather, scarves, and some odds and ends. We poked around a bit, bought a few things, then went back to the apartment for a bit.

We went out again to another cafe around 2pm. We stopped at a market to purchase food for dinner, walked back to home base, made a good meal of pasta and are now relaxing for the night!

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Florence Day 3

Sep 19

Florence Day 3

It rained all day today. We woke to the soft sound of rain outside the window and the loud screech of construction two apartments down. Because of the rain, we stayed in and watched a show, read, worked, and lounged about.

In the mid-afternoon we ventured out to a cafe a few blocks down for some cappuccinos. While we sat talking and drinking the warm beverages on the second floor of the cafe, the sweet sounds of an accordion drifted through the open window along with the soft patter of rain. It was very magical and romantic 🙂

It started to pour as we made our way back, but became a slight drizzle by the time the sun set. We hadn’t gotten in our daily gelato fix, so after dinner we made our way back toward the Duomo for dessert!

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Florence Day 2

Sep 18

Florence Day 2

Today we got a bit of a late start. We decided to walk from our flat down to the river and make our way to the famous Piazzale Michelangelo (Michelangelo Square) which offers panoramic views of Florence. On the way, we checked out shops and crossed the river at the Ponte Vecchio.

We got a little lost and ended up at an entrance to the famous Giardino di Boboli (Boboli Gardens). The area was set to close at 5:30pm, giving us enough time to explore the gardens and exhibits in the Palazzo Pitti. The gardens were a bit overgrown, but beautiful the closer we got to the palace. The view of Florence was the best we’d seen, with the dome of the Duomo rising above the city. We entered the palace and toured a few exhibits, including the Galleria del Costume in the Museo degli Argenti. This exhibit housed clothing from various era’s and included a section dedicated to the Native American’s of the United States. It was very interesting to see the point of view of Native American’s from a foreign country’s perspective.

We left the Palace and gardens, back the way we had come, and ventured down a steep road toward the Piazzale. Around a bend, and up another street brought us to a very large and steep flight of steps to the top of the Piazzale. Ryder and I decided to race to the top of the steps and of course he beat me, but I did sprint ahead for a second! At the top, the views were spectacular!! We spent some time admiring the view and exploring the little stalls full of tourist trinkets set along the sides of the Piazzale. In the center, we found a large bronze replica of the Michelangelo’s Statue of David sculpture accompanied by a few Florentine artists painting the cityscape. As the sun began to sink below the horizon we made our way back to the apartment for the night.

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Weekend Results

Club Competition Results : Weekend Results

Weekend Results:

Saturday 1st April 2017 – Singles Stableford -

1st D Liddle 43 pts £50
2nd G Thompson 42 pts cb £42
3rd R Porter 42 pts £33
4th J Hutchins 41 pts £25

Twos @ £9 each
A Donaghue, H Rutherford, D Liddle, M Pearson, G Thompson, D Smithson, D McRoberts (2), A Smith, N Howie

Sunday 2nd April 2017 – Singles Stableford -

1st P VanStraaten 44 pts £37
2nd J Weatherly 42 pts £31
3rd M Davis 41 pts cb £25
4th D McRoberts 41 pts £18

Twos @ £4 each
P Van Straaten, T Bruce, R Porter, J Mordue, G Galvin, B Lane, J Madl, R Holmes, P Storey, S Heron, E Hicks, A Madl, A Rae, M Moffitt, C Swinhoe

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