We had a fantastic trip starting in Florida and heading out on a Royal Carribean cruise to St. Thomas and St. Maarten. Destinations were perfect, weather was perfect and the company was perfect.
Suffice it to say there was much sillyness, traveling with some of my favorite colleagues. The themed party this year was Wizard of Oz and early on we decided, there being four of us, that we needed to be Dorothy, the Tinman, the Scarecrow and the Lion.
This shot was photo edited by Shawn of Whim Beads. It was Kerry's idea that we all wore tutu's and although at first I didn't quite 'get it' it turned out to be a fabulous idea! Left to right, Beki, Marcia, Tracy and Kerry.
We spent plenty of beach time on soft white sand and Caribbean blue water. We also spent time beading. I offered my 'Going Formal' earring class and also the sweet Hidden Paradise vessel. I do have some hidden paradise's in cream color left and I'll get them posted in a bit. In the meantime there are three colors of waterfall earrings. These are a long shoulder dusters which I love. You can see them here.
We left the cruise ship on a monday morning and arrived in Rome on tuesday. We were greeted by Maggie Meister and spent a wonderful 3 days exploring the streets of Rome and it's many museums. First up we went to the Capitolini. We walked there so Maggie had to teach me the fine art of crossing the street in traffic. Walk confidently, don't make eye contact and hold your arm low with your hand up. It still takes a bit of nerve, but I mastered it. The museum was full of sculpture which Mark thoroughly enjoyed.
These were some impressive statues from Musee Giulia in Naples. Maggie having lived in Naples for five years, drove us confidently into the city. I a pretty sure I couldn't do it. I was going to say even if my life depended on it, but that is a bit dramatic...if my life depended on it I would try but I was glad Maggie was there to do it for us.
Our accommodation at Villa Giulia outside of Naples was a beautiful sanctuary of peace and calm. Breakfast and dinner were prepared for us and finished off with a bit of housemade Limoncello. It was such a wonderful part of our vacation. There were these eclectic little artistic vignettes all over the property.
Here's Mark in the doorway to our beautiful room. Each night the large shutters would be closed and we'd be 'tucked in' for the night. It was a very magical space.
We took a trip to Cuomo to see the ruins one morning and beat the rain back spending the rest of a cozy day inside beading.
Maggie graciously drove us into Naples to take the ferry over to Capri. Mark and I had been before on a sailing trip. We took the Funicolare (an tram which traverse the hillside on the ground) up to Capri and were amazed at the magic little world we were set into. It was many years back and it was nighttime. The narrow, curved, cobblestoned streets created a scene of wonder and we were mezmerized. Some memories are not meant to be re-created. Although still with much of it's charm, a summer day brought throngs of people to Capri where all seemed very over priced and crowded. Having said that we walked along cobble stoned streets to the ancient arches and were rewarded with stunning views along the way. The high end stores also offered wishful window shopping and the day was well spent. Plus I always adore a ferry ride. Although thankfully I took some dramamine as the ride over was very rough and many were sick. Not me however!
We left Naples behind and in stark contrast landed in Zurich and were driven through the Southern Germany scenery to our new accommodations near Hilzingen where I taught with Sabine for four days. It was fun to meet all the different nationalities represented there. I can no say good morning in Italian, Dutch, German, French and English of course. I admire people who are multi lingual and fluent in many languages. It is a skill I don't have.
This was the view on the short walk to my classroom each morning.
We had a wonderful time making Sprockets and Cryptex.
(Psst.....there are few of each left and will be posted on the website, the periwinkle gold one is there now, click here)
That's the travelogue for now. I spent a week settling in and now next week I will travel to the Bead and Button show for a short visit with friends. This is the first year in many I have not taught and I am pretty glad I had the good sense to realize it would be too much on top of the trip we just completed. I will be happy to see everyone there and do a bit of shopping however!
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