Highlights and Unforgettable Moments, Part #1
This is the first part in a trilogy of posts, in which I will try to bring you all the best moments from my trip to Europe.
Self-indulgence at its finest, right down to using the word 'trilogy' in a sentence. Ha.
So, here goes. As you may have already noticed, my trip started out with a weekend in Amsterdam, during which I was supposed to be chilling out. In hindsight, it probably would have been a better idea to take my vacation at the end of the trip. Most of the time I was a bit stressed out, and still worried about various things that could have gone wrong.
My camera was ecstatic to finally be outdoors for a change, instead of being forced to take endless photos of beads, day after day after day. I was glad to have it with me. I usually am, but this time was special. It wasn't my first time roaming the streets of the city of sin with a camera glued to my face, but this time I felt like I had somehow acquired the ability to take better photos, with way more depth and personality to them - Amsterdam through my eyes, if you like. I'm pretty sure that ability is related to my beadmaking in some way. Besides, the weather was beautiful and the leaves were changing colors (which doesn't happen here in Tel Aviv; autumn is colorless and lasts for approximately 2.5 hours) so I was all excited - like a little girl.
But really, no matter how you look at it, Amsterdam is always fun.
More Amsterdam photos here.
The photo in red was taken at the Stedelijk Museum (where I saw an awesome Andy Warhol exhibit), not where you think.
On Monday morning, I took a few deep, deep breaths, packed my stuff back into the suitcase from hell and took a train to the apparently-not-very-exciting Eindhoven, where I met Miriam at the train station - and thus began the real part of the journey. I spent the next week at Miriam's house in the picturesque Leende, a beautiful and quiet village in southern Holland.
(Yeah, still excited about the colored leaves.)
More Leende photos here.
Besides Miriam and her lovely family, I made a couple of new friends on the first day.
Left: Quinton, me and a ridiculously large banner. I kind of miss my 'Crazy Little Things' set, so it was nice seeing them in way-larger-than-life-size.
Right: Dazzle and Puck in a rare moment of calmness.
(Check out this photo of Puck - guaranteed to be one of the funniest things you've ever seen.)
Tuesday was my first workshop ever: An Introduction to Color Reactions for the students; An Introduction to Teaching for me. In the photo below you can see one of my very first moments as a teacher, thinking to myself: this is not as hard as I thought it would be. Many sighs of relief followed. The girls were a lovely group and a great way to take my first step.
One of the best things about teaching is opening the kiln the next morning (well, technically, Miriam was the one to open it, as she tends to wake up 11 hours before me even when I am trying my best not to be overly-nocturnal
) and getting to see the first results of the class!
More photos from my first workshop here.
The next day, I took a little trip to The Hague. It was fun. I visited the Escher Museum, which was great, and spent the rest of the day mainly just wandering around. Many more photos were taken (obviously).
More Hague photos here.
Then came three more days of classes, glassy people and fabulous beads. By the end of the week, I was almost feeling like a natural - and desperately wishing I could speak Dutch, so I could understand at least some of the gossip about Het Glaskrall Forum. Next time, I swear.
Look at these great beads! How could I not be proud?
More photos of Holland workshops and beads:
Workshop #2: Freestyle Focal Fun
Workshop #3: Silver Secrets
Workshop #4: Silver Secrets again
On the last day, Miriam and Eric took me to Brussels on the way to Glassworks. Weird times were had by all. I was planning to go back to Brussels later on for some deeper exploring, but there wasn't enough time. Definitely something to look forward to next time.
More Brussels photos here.
Which brings us to... Part 2! Click here.
can't wait to know about your teaching classes. i am in California. i would be willing to fly even to europe for classes -- and make a vacation out of it. keep me informed. loved your story part 1. i will read part 2 now. keep up the good work. pictures were awesome. maybe a new 2nd career???
Reply to this