Day 13

Ahhh...last night I slept like a baby. The nice thing about the B&B is that the sheets feel soft like home, not scratchy old hotel sheets. ;) So I woke this morning feeling excited about my class since I knew what to expect. I was also excited to see the poppies I made yesterday that were in the kiln all night. Paul fixed us a delicious breakfast and like yesterday, I left the boys to go about their business while I was in class. When I arrived at Miriam's it was a warmer day, but I was prepared with socks and warmer shoes. I was chilly most of the day yesterday in her shop, so today I was prepared. We talked for about an hour this morning on how glass reacts in the kiln. She told me her "firing schedule", which were the different temperatures she used and the amount of time held on each temperature. As usual, I learned some new things. When I saw my poppies I was thrilled! They piece is better than I expected. So today I worked on another version of poppies, only this time in just a variety of shades in blue. She is not going to fully fuse this piece so I can see how frit looks with only a tack fuse. Tomorrow I'll work on another type of poppy piece - one that will add more dimension to the work. Tomorrow I'll also work a little longer on how to use black glass powder to create a persons face. It is HARD! But glad I'm learning it. She makes it look so easy.

So Miriam fixed me lunch today and we ate in her house. We had veggies topped with cheese and baked, ham, salad, toasted bread and a type of soft cheese that had mold on it. She said I could eat it or cut it off. Um...I cut it off. So after lunch we worked a bit more and she showed me how to apply a top layer of glass to my first project to give it an ultra smooth finish and more depth. She is having to fire it in a different kiln than my blue poppies as they are going to be at different temperatures. I'm not sure how many kilns she has, but I saw a medium one and a huge one in our work area. She said there are more "upstairs". So tomorrow I'm looking forward to seeing both of my pieces. She is an excellent teacher and it would be great to work with her longer. I need to bring her to SIU! - As far as Guy's day, he hung out by the pool til about 12:30, then he and Paul went on a road trip to the top of a nearby mountain and had lunch. Guy said they made homemade ravioli, which he said were tasty, but then they went downstairs to look at where made some of their goodies - ravioli, salami and prosciutto. He said from the top of the mountain he could see Milan. He had a good day as well. The Arabella has worked out well for Guy. I'm glad that he is having such a good time here.

So I left class a bit early today, around 3:45 because Guy and I were going to go on a little road trip today to an "Outlet" mall. Miriam suggested a trip to Pavia if we had time. So considering both options, we headed for the mall. It is a beautiful day today, so the road trip was fun. It only took us about 40 minutes to reach the mall. It was huge and Guy picked up a map and plotted our strategy. There were a variety of stores from crazy expensive, to very reasonable. I was really looking for a leather coat and black or brown boots. Most things in the stores now were summer and there were no sale racks in the back with winter things. We walked around and enjoyed the shopping village but didn't make a purchase. So we drove under the street to another indoor mall that had some shops and a grocery store. We didn't buy anything but an ice cream sandwich to hold me until dinner. Since we were finished shopping we headed for Pavia to check it out as it is only about 30 minutes from the Arabella. We figured as we walked around the town we'd find someplace to eat. So we set out to explore Pavia and as we entered the old part of town, most of the shops are still open. I popped in and out of a few and actually bought a blouse that was really cute. We were pretty hungry by now, so we set out looking for food. We headed for the city center as we figured we'd have some options there. We wanted to sit outside, so we found a restaurant called Bella Napoli. It has been there since 1964, so we figured it was going to be ok. Guy ordered carbonara and veal scallopini. I just ordered ravioli with mushrooms and my second plate was an order of profiteroles! Now THAT is a good second plate! They were amazing, I hate to say it but they were better than mine. I took a few pics, but some were blurry - so sorry about that :). After dinner we went around the town and I was going to shop a bit more. There were shoe stores everywhere! But, as Guy's luck would have it, all the shops were closed. So we headed for home so I could get to bed at a decent hour. It is almost 11pm now. I can't seem to get to bed early. It stays light until nearly 10pm, so 11pm sneaks up on us.

So sorry about the short blog. Busy day for me, but not necessarily all good blog material. :) Looking forward to my last day with Miriam, but sad at the same time that I can't spend more time with her. Day 13...sheesh. Italy is winding down. Sadness fills my heart....