Mediterranean & Adriatic Sojourn — Livorno to Pisa (Part 1)

April 9, 2023 by

VIKING OCEAN CRUISE

Barcelona to Athens April 3-24, 2023

We took the optional Scenic Lucca & Pisa tour. Lasting 8.5 hours, it was a decent value at $129 per person. We had one of the earlier departure times at 0745 with an expected return at 1615. (The ship was scheduled to set sail for Rome at 1800).

Here is the description of the tour from the Viking website:

Marvel at the architecture in Pisa’s Square of Miracles, then admire one of Tuscany’s best-preserved medieval cities.

Upon arrival in Pisa, walk from the coach park to the Square of Miracles. Here, you will visit the 13th-century Romanesque Cathedral and circular Baptistery. During free time, you can ponder the famous Leaning Tower and explore the Camposanto Monumentale, called the world’s most beautiful cemetery. A scenic drive through Tuscany with your guide takes you to Lucca. The walls surrounding this atmospheric city, built in stages from the 11th to the 17th centuries, remain completely intact; you will feel as though you have stepped back in time as you pass through its ramparts. On a walking tour, follow the medieval bastions and cobblestone streets past the Basilica di San Frediano and Roman amphitheater. View the charming interior and artwork in the Cattedrale di San Martino. You will have time to explore its quiet warrens on your own.

Here is our actual timetable:

  • 0745 Leave cruise port
  • 0820 Arrive bus parking lot in Pisa
  • 0845 Tour Square of Miracles
  • 0925 to 1015 Free time (Visited cemetery and baptistery)
  • 1045 to 1115 Drive to Lcca
  • 1130 til 1215 Lucca tour
  • 1215 to 1400 Free time for lunch and shopping
  • 1400 to 1500 Tour of Cattedrale di San Martino.
  • 1515 to 1615 Return to Livorno

The excursion is rated as DEMANDING. We walked over 7 miles (though not all in our tour group) and surfaces were often rough and uneven cobblestones with steps to negotiate. It wasn’t demanding in the way Pompeii or the Acropolis in Athens is demanding, but it did require stamina and the ability to walk long distances, often on uneven surfaces or cobblestones.

This was one of our favorite excursions on our three-week-long cruise, and for many reasons, some fortuitous. Our tour had only 12 guests (on a full-sized bus). All passengers were highly mobile and were fully engaged for the 8.5-hour excursion. The guide was extraordinarily well-versed in Italian history, culture, and art, and shared plenty of anecdotal tales along the way. The tour was a balanced mix of guided tour plus free time which made for a pleasant day.

Our first stop was Pisa which was a 35-minute bus ride from the cruise port. Once the bus parked at the satellite parking lot, we walked about one mile to the Square of Miracles at a quick clip. No stops. We were among the first visitors, so the views were unimpeded by crowds. Our Viking tour guide was required to hand us off to a “licensed” Pisa guide. We enjoyed a guided tour of the exteriors of the Baptistery, Cathedral, and Leaning Tower, then the “Pisa guide” passed us back to our original guide.

We stopped at a restaurant near the Tower where one could use the “free” bathroom when purchasing a “small item.” This was our first stop on the tour. (0925) We had an hour of free time and were advised on how to purchase tickets if we wanted to go into the Tower, Cemetery, or Baptistery.

Touring the interior of the Leaning Tower and climbing the 296 steps to the top required a more expensive, timed ticket and there was insufficient time and we had no reserved ticket. So we regretfully passed.

Instead, we purchased a 10€ ticket to tour the Baptistery and Camposanto Monumentale (covered cemetery) and spent an hour amazed. The enclosed cemetery is a treasure trove! The sculptures. The marble mosaics. The frescoes. The carvings. And if you look carefully you’ll find the answer to “Where’s Waldo?” We’re glad we saw the Leaning Tower. However, my travel motto for Pisa is “Come for the Tower, stay for the cemetery.” An audio tour is available, but we just explored it on our own.

If a tourist remarks “There was nothing to see in Pisa” or “Don’t bother with Pisa” I would wonder if they did more than look at the Tower. I cannot emphasize enough that this covered cemetery was one of the highlights of not only this tour but of the entire cruise!

The Pisa Baptistery of St. John was begun in 1152 and completed in 1363. It was constructed with two walls, a pyramidal exterior roof, and a domed interior wall, which provided an acoustically perfect space. Every 30 minutes, the building’s guardian stands in the middle of the structure and sings a few notes to demonstrate! It took only fifteen minutes to see the interior but a worthwhile 15 minutes.

We were unable to enter the Cathedral proper because we were there on Easter Sunday morning and the Archbishop was celebrating Easter Mass. We briefly stepped inside the back entrance of the church and took a quick peek at the interior.

After Pisa, we bussed to nearby Lucca. Next post…

Filed Under: Contemplative Creatives Journey

Prairie Color Mandala

September 7, 2022 by
Prairie Color Mandala © 2021 Bo Mackison

Art making inspired by prairie walking.


I find walking in nature and paying attention to the details awakens my desire to create. Thankful that there is a daily walk in my pandemic routine. Thankful that some of the time I actually get out my paper and pencils and let the flow happen.


What inspires you? And what do you create from that inspiration?


I invite you to consider what might happen when you combine 1) a walk in nature with deep attention and 2) the intention to create a patchwork mandala.


I went for a long, unhurried walk through the University of Madison’s Arboretum, the nature preserve that pioneered prairie restoration in the 1930s. I noticed the layering of colors, rather like a patchwork of greens and purples, reds and yellows, and took a photo so I could consider the elements of the composition once I returned home.


Paper and colored pencils and a few hours in the company of Netflix…and this happened. October Prairie is not my normal type of mandala — I like fast and no plan — but I am well pleased with the results.

When creating the mandala, I let myself be guided by the patchwork of muted color with less emphasis on the details. I do hope you might be inspired to give this sort of practice a try. Take a walk in nature and then create a patchwork mandala, the marriage of attention and intention.

We create all sorts of mandalas in my online workshop Contemplative Creatives Journey. If this sort of creative practice appeals to you, you may want to check out my seasonal offerings. We begin at the turn of each season and create together in an online community for 13 weeks.

Filed Under: Contemplative Creatives Journey, Creativity, Nature Explorations, Photography Tagged With: , , , , ,

WELCOME TO CONTEMPLATIVE CREATIVES JOURNEY – AUTUMN 2022

August 24, 2022 by

JOIN ME FOR THE AUTUMN SEASON OF THE ONLINE WORKSHOP FOR WOMEN THAT EXPLORES–AND CELEBRATES–THE EXTRAORDINARY IN THE ORDINARY

WELCOME!

If the words contemplative and creative have sweet juiciness for you and you’re interested in a different sort of online workshop, read on:

There is no set curriculum but plenty of opportunities to explore, play, create, muse, share, and enjoy. There are no expectations or catching up, but lots of serendipity and infinite possibilities. There are no formal objectives, but an always-available way to engage and interact with your world through art, nature, and the written word.

Contemplative Creatives Journey gives me a calm, safe place to renew and rejoice and connect with uplifting humans. I can’t imagine life without it. ~ Linda Bannan

I combine my roles as curator of life experiences, writer, artist, Certified Kaizen-Muse creativity coach, and Certified Miksang (contemplative) photography instructor to offer you a meaningful and fulfilling online workshop with a well-established active community of fellow journeyers.

Contemplative Creative Manifesto © 2019 Bo Mackison

In community and individually, we explore these themes:

word * vision * place

WORD

This practice focuses on how to connect — to the world, community, and self — using words. We’ll play with words, explore words, and connect nature and place using words. We’ll write poetry – tile poetry, collaborative poetry, and collage poetry using found words and pictures. You don’t need to call yourself a writer to enjoy these practices, but anyone who has an established writing practice will doubly delight in them.

VISION

We’ll create mandalas, individually and collectively.

A Sampling of Tree Mandalas by Summer CCJ Participants © 2020 Bo Mackison

What does a mandala practice look like? It can be:

  • a time-out practice from the often-too-busy world
  • an art practice that is grounding and meditative, which satisfies the senses and soothes the mind and spirit.
  • a practice that can be done easily with minimal financial investment.
  • a journal practice and/or a pocket practice, one that can be tucked into tiny pockets of your day – for calming, creating, and connecting with self
  • less about art and more about meditative or personal discovery (though art sometimes happens!)

We’ll explore the practice of Miksang Contemplative Photography, focusing on color, pattern, and texture. We’ll also explore autumn’s qualities — its passions, moods, style, and symbols — as part of the Miksang practice. (All types of cameras and skill levels are perfect for this practice.)

A Miksang (Contemplative) Photography Mosaic © 2020
created by the participants of CCJ Summer 2020

PLACE:

Throughout the changing days of Autumn, we’ll continue our weekly observational practice of backyard phenology – the study of nature’s calendar. It’s an ever-present, in-the-present survey of the cycles of plants and animals in your natural world that is accessible to all.

A Weekly Snapshot of Autumn’s Progression © 2018 Bo Mackison

CCJ has been a soft landing space for me. One in which I explore beauty while learning so much about art & in the process, myself. Bo consistently introduces us to concepts, artists, and exercises that foster creativity. ~ Liz Amaya-Fernandez

MY AUTUMN OFFER:

Together we’ll explore themes and creative practices that inspire and encourage, elicit wonder and awe, uplift your spirit and feed your soul.

This is a practice that:

  • gently weaves itself throughout your day
  • illuminates the extraordinary in the ordinary, celebrates the uncommon in the common
  • offers ways of interacting with “place” that highlight the wonder of and connection with nature, no matter where you live, work, and play.

We begin on Thursday, September 15th, 2022 and we journey together until Thursday, December 15th, 2022.

New participants are welcome to join CCJ during the Autumn Season. The first weeks of our practice will include introductions to the practice of collaborative poetry writing, how to create a mandala practice, the basics of Miksang (contemplative) photography, and an introduction to the study of phenology (Nature’s calendar).

If you’re searching for sanctuary, a place to recharge so you can show up re-energized for the demands of living in today’s complex world, this might be the workshop community that offers what you most need and desire.

Whether you have a fully equipped art room or a box of simple supplies you store in a closet, you’ll find new ways to create. Hints on how to see or create in new ways will offer you unlimited possibilities for exploration and all practices are easily incorporated into your everyday routine.

What I love about CCJ is that it’s familiar but new, every season. Sometimes I’m all in with the week’s subjects and explorations, sometimes life calls me away and that’s fine. Over the seasons it has grown to live inside me with gentle noticing, relishing, photographing, and doodling the truth of my life and has become a gentle touchstone throughout. ~ Liz Crain, ceramicist

WHEN:

The AUTUMN journey is 13 weeks long. September 15th through December 15th, 2022.

HOW:

We gather together in a private group on Facebook. All content is shared on this private group page. You’re encouraged to share your discoveries and experiences in the private group, however, and whenever you choose.

This guided and easily accessible process allows you to engage in the practice in whatever way is best for you.

PDF booklets of each theme are provided for your personal use.

THE COST:

I offer you my knowledge, skills, presence, enthusiasm, and ongoing daily contemplative practices. The all-inclusive cost for the Autumn journey and the active sharing community is $99.00.

THE DEBI BRADFORD MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP:

Debi Benson Bradford, a dear friend and member of CCJ, passed in 2021. Debi was a talented photographer, a Master Gardener in her beloved North Carolina, and a lover of all things in nature. She had a long-standing daily practice of sharing her photographs taken along the NC coast and adding words of inspiration. In her memory, I will be offering one scholarship for CCJ Autumn 2022 to a CCJ alumna. If you share Debi’s passion for adding beauty and kindness to the world, please contact me at bomackison (at) Gmail (dot) com.

TO RESERVE YOUR SPACE:

Registration is open until September 30, 2022.

Register here through PayPal or contact me at the above email address to send a personal check. Thank you.

~~~~~~

BO MACKISON is an artist, poet, photographer, certified Kaisen-Muse creativity coach, Nalanda Miksang photography instructor, hands-on workshop presenter, and a woman who has spent her entire adult life surviving/thriving with the help of the creative practices she now shares. She is the founder of Contemplative Creatives Journey, an Online Seasonal Workshop. Bo has been offering creative and contemplative programs for women since 2014. She’s been told her workshops have changed people’s lives for the better; personally, she knows this to be true.

Filed Under: Contemplative Creatives Journey, Creativity, Nature Explorations, Photography, Writing Practices Tagged With: , , , , ,

Why My Online Workshop – Contemplative Creatives Journey – Is Like a Box of Chocolates

March 16, 2022 by
CCJ is Like a Box of Chocolates © 2020 Bo Mackison

Every three months I send out my newest offer for my online workshop and community, Contemplative Creatives Journey (CCJ). It’s part Miksang (contemplative) photography course, part mandala making, part poetry writing. There are a lot of moving parts of CCJ and they come together, incredibly, to create a container for exploration, discovery, sharing.

There is shared content almost daily. The practice has evolved to include Tile Poetry Tuesday, Phenology Friday, and a Sunday Miksang Photo Prompt. In between, there are deep-dive explorations into the practices of artists and poets… think Emily Dickinson, Anne Ryan, Alma Woodsey Thomas, Emily Carr. (If you don’t recognize these creative folks, you might want to look them up. I promise you’ll be inspired. And if their creative work sings sweetly to you, you might really love the Spotlight Artists in CCJ.)

Now, if this all sounds like way too much to add to your already complicated day, no worries. Truly, you could fully participate and spend only 10-15 minutes a day on creative explorations. But more importantly, no one is ever expected to create according to a schedule or create at all. It’s all self-paced. Some folks create and write and share in the group almost daily; others peek in and are inspired by the group, but never participate. Most are somewhere in between. It’s all good!

CCJ is like a box of chocolates. You don’t open a box of fine chocolates and eat every single piece at one sitting. You pick and choose your favorites to enjoy first, and then you might sample a couple of new-to-you-flavors. And there are those few jelly-filled chocolates that you give away. CCJ is like that box of chocolates — there will be a few favorites, you might sample something totally new, and there will be a few practices you’ll let others enjoy.

And one of the best parts of CCJ? The supportive and kind community of participants will cheer your efforts, share in your discoveries, and expand your creative connections.

If this sounds interesting, check out my Spring offer. We begin on the spring equinox, on March 20th. Registration is open through March 25, 2022.

Filed Under: Contemplative Creatives Journey, Creativity, Nature Explorations, Photography, Writing Practices Tagged With: , , ,

WELCOME TO CONTEMPLATIVE CREATIVES JOURNEY – SPRING 2022

March 2, 2022 by

JOIN ME FOR THE SPRING SEASON OF THE ONLINE WORKSHOP FOR WOMEN THAT EXPLORES–AND CELEBRATES–THE EXTRAORDINARY IN THE ORDINARY

WELCOME!

Contemplative Creatives Journey gives me a calm, safe place to renew and rejoice and connect with uplifting humans. I can’t imagine life without it. ~ Linda Bannan

If the words contemplative and creative have sweet juiciness for you and you’re interested in a different sort of online workshop, read on:

There is no set curriculum but plenty of opportunities to explore, play, create, muse, share, enjoy. There are no expectations or catching up, but lots of serendipity and infinite possibilities. There are no formal objectives, but an always-available way to engage and interact with your world through art, nature, and the written word.

I combine my roles as curator of life experiences, writer, artist, Certified Kaizen-Muse creativity coach, and Certified Miksang (contemplative) photography instructor to offer you a meaningful and fulfilling online workshop with a well-established active community of fellow journeyers.

Contemplative Creative Manifesto © 2019 Bo Mackison

In community and individually, we explore these themes:

word * vision * place

WORD

This practice focuses on how to connect — to the world, community, and self — using words. We’ll play with words, explore words, and connect nature and place using words. We’ll write poetry – tile poetry, collaborative poetry, and collage poetry using found words and pictures. You don’t need to call yourself a writer to enjoy these practices, but anyone who has an established writing practice will doubly delight in them.

VISION

We’ll create mandalas, individually and collectively.

What does a mandala practice look like? It can be:

  • a time-out practice from the often-too-busy world
  • an art practice that is grounding and meditative, satisfies the senses, and soothes the mind and spirit.
  • a practice that can be done easily with minimal financial investment.
  • a journal practice and/or a pocket practice, one that can be tucked into tiny pockets of your day – for calming, creating, and connecting with self
  • less about art and more about meditative or personal discovery (though art sometimes happens!)

We’ll explore the practice of Miksang Contemplative Photography, focusing on color, pattern, and texture. We’ll also explore spring’s qualities — its passions, moods, style, and symbols — as part of the Miksang practice. (All types of cameras and skill levels are perfect for this practice.)

A Miksang (Contemplative) Photography Mosaic © 2020
created by the participants of CCJ Summer 2020

PLACE:

Throughout the changing days of Spring, we’ll continue our weekly observational practice of backyard phenology – the study of nature’s calendar. It’s an ever-present, in-the-present survey of the cycles of plants and animals in your natural world that is accessible to all.

A Weekly Snapshot of SPRING © 2019 Bo Mackison

Bo Mackison’s seasonal CCJ offerings are both balm and spark for the creative soul. Come play and discover what inspires you to make: poetry, photography, collage, mandalas, stories and observations, the lives of artists! You’ll find a no-pressure, quietly supportive community that welcomes whatever you choose to share.

~ Pascale Parinda

MY SPRING OFFER:

Together we’ll explore themes and creative practices that inspire and encourage, elicit wonder and awe, uplift your spirit and feed your soul.

This is a practice that:

  • gently weaves itself throughout your day
  • illuminates the extraordinary in the ordinary, celebrates the uncommon in the common
  • offers ways of interacting with “place” that highlight the wonder of and connection with nature, no matter where you live, work, and play.

We begin on Sunday, March 20th, 2022, the first day of Spring, and we journey together until Monday, June 20th, 2022.

New participants are always welcome to join CCJ. The first weeks of our practice will include introductions to the practice of collaborative poetry writing, how to create a mandala practice, the basics of Miksang (contemplative) photography, and an introduction to the study of phenology (Nature’s calendar).

If you’re searching for sanctuary, a place to recharge so you can show up re-energized for the demands of living in today’s complex world, this might be the workshop community that offers what you most need and desire.

Whether you have a fully equipped art room or a box of simple supplies you store in a closet, you’ll find new ways to create. Hints on how to see or create in new ways will offer you unlimited possibilities for exploration and all practices are easily incorporated into your everyday routine.

What I love about CCJ is that it’s familiar but new, every season. Sometimes I’m all in with the week’s subjects and explorations, sometimes life calls me away and that’s fine. Over the seasons it has grown to live inside me with gentle noticing, relishing, photographing, and doodling the truth of my life and has become a gentle touchstone throughout. ~ Liz Crain, ceramicist

WHEN:

The SPRING journey is 13 weeks long. Sunday, March 20th, 2022 through Monday, June 20th, 2022.

HOW:

We gather together in a private group on Facebook. All content is shared on this private group page. You’re encouraged to share your discoveries and experiences in the private group, however and whenever you choose.

This guided and easily accessible process allows you to engage in the practice in whatever way is best for you.

PDF booklets of each theme are provided for your personal use.

THE COST:

I offer you my knowledge, my skills, my presence, my enthusiasm, and my ongoing daily contemplative practices. The all-inclusive cost for the Spring journey and the active sharing community will remain at the affordable price of $99.00.

THE DEBI BRADFORD MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP:

Debi Benson Bradford, a dear friend and member of CCJ, passed away on May 4th, 2021. Debi was an extremely talented photographer, a Master Gardener in her beloved North Carolina, and a lover of all things in nature. She had a long-standing daily practice of sharing her photographs taken along the NC coast and adding words of inspiration. In her memory, I will be offering an alumnus scholarship in her name for CCJ Spring 2022. If you also share Debi’s passion for adding beauty and kindness to the world, please let me know.

TO RESERVE YOUR SPACE:

Registration is open until April 30, 2022.

Register here through PayPal. Thank you.

~~~~~~

BO MACKISON is an artist, poet, photographer, certified Kaisen-Muse creativity coach, Nalanda Miksang photography instructor, hands-on workshop presenter, and a woman who has spent her entire adult life surviving/thriving with the help of the creative practices she now shares. She is the founder of Contemplative Creatives Journey, an Online Seasonal Workshop. Bo has been offering creative and contemplative programs for women since 2014. She’s been told her workshops have changed people’s lives for the better; personally, she knows this to be true.

Filed Under: Contemplative Creatives Journey, Creativity, Nature Explorations, Photography, Writing Practices Tagged With: , , , , ,
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