Didn't sleep much last night as you know how it is in a new place and I was excited about my glass class. We had the windows open last night to enjoy the cool air. I was awake to hear the church bells at 2pm, 3pm, 5pm and 6pm. Somehow I was actually sleeping and missed the 4pm. :) The alarm went off at 7am and I snoozed once. We got ready and had breakfast with Paul at 8am. He fixed us scrambled eggs and Guy had bacon (nice and crispy like he likes...it was Dutch bacon). I helped myself to some of the goodies on the table, yogurt with granola, bread with butter, jelly and fruit. It was good and then I excused myself as I needed to finish getting ready. Guy stayed with Paul to chat a bit. I came back down, Paul gave me directions to Miriam's, I said goodbye to the boys and headed out.
I got to Miriam's and wasn't sure if I was at the right place, so I asked the man walking by. He spoke no english, but understood my question and took me to Miriam's door and rang her doorbell (4 times). ;P He was friendly and seemed happy to visit with a foreigner. Miriam was welcoming and she introduced me to Antonella, a student from Argentina who was studying with her. Anyway we got into the studio and we talked for about 30 minutes on my expectations on being a glass artist. Not an easy nor cheap way to make a living. I explained it would be a hobby for now and I wanted to take the next few years to hone my skills and when I retired I would be a bit more serious, but still more of a hobby. The next hour or so was spent on learning how glass behaves with different colors, temperatures and types of glass. It was interesting and I learned so much I'm not sure I retained it all. After this we looked at some photos and I chose an image of poppies and that was my project for the day. She was great to get me started, but then left me alone to do my thing. She didn't hover, but was right by my side when I had a question, which was awesome. Antonella helped me with my glass cutting skills and gave me some tips that were helpful. Her english is impeccable and Miriam's is also excellent. So I worked on my piece for about 2 more hours and Miriam's student fixed us lunch. Pasta with tomatoes, walnuts and basil. It was good and I wasn't very hungry (student nerves I suppose). All afternoon I continued with my piece. I learned how to use a flame and melt small pieces of glass to put in my piece, which means I'm going to need to buy a little torch when I get home. I didn't do a very good job and will need to practice. By 5pm, I was overwhelmed, exhilarated, and exhausted. I had so much fun!
I made my way back to the Arabella where I honked and Guy opened the gate for me. He was anxious to hear about my day and we talked a bit, but I was cold so we went down by the pool to warm up and hear about each others day. He had enjoyed his time by the pool and read on his book. Paul fixed him a lunch of meats, cheese and bread. Guy's favorite. After our warm up and catch up, we went upstairs to freshen up for dinner. Paul recommended a pizzeria in Casteggio which was only about 5 kilometers away. We set out for the town and found the restaurant with no problems. When we got inside, no one spoke english, but Paul had called in advance and they were expecting us. When we ordered we were not sure if we ordered 2 pizzas or one pizza with two different sides of toppings. We were deciding what we were going to do with all the left-over pizza, but when it came out, it was one pizza half and half. Guy had ordered half cheese and half pepperoni, but it came out half cheese half peppers. It was a happy accident as it was delicious. The restaurant had a wood burning oven and you could watch the cook make the pizzas. It was fun and they were very nice to us. I took a few pics of the pizza as it was long and square. It was interesting because they cut it with a knife at your table and when they saw you were finished with one piece, they were johnny-on-the-spot at our table to serve us the next piece. Service! :)
Back at the Arabella I grabbed the ipad to upload my pics and start blogging. Paul asked if we'd like some chocolate ice cream. YES was the answer from both of us and he served it will little cookies. Talk about the perfect end to my day. I needed chocolate. It was fantastic (I need to learn to make gelato. I'll do that in retirement as well). - Sorry for the shorter blog today. So much happened, but my brain is tired and it is about 10:30 and I need to get some rest. Tomorrow should be good as Miriam and I will work until about 3pm and then Guy and I may head to the outlet mall if I'm not too tired. I'm going to make the poppies again only with a different technique so I can use them at home as samples of how things look when layered differently. Hopefully I'll work a bit faster tomorrow and I'm excited to see my masterpiece out of the kiln tomorrow. Miriam will explain the firing temperatures to me in the morning. It should be another wonderful day of vacation.
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