This writing is fast and quick so excuse the typos and errors.
Saturday-Sunday, September 17-18, 2022
I have a rule. No early morning flights unless there is international travel involved. Despite how much I hate early morning, I’m always happy when we invoke this rule. I always set an alarm and never actually need it. Excitement for the adventure led to not much sleep Friday night.
Yesterday’s early flight got me to Chicago by 10am. My flight that was supposed to leave at 4pm ended up leaving at 7:30. After we did the plane, deplane, replane dance. Considering all that, for a full international flight, it was a miraculously short delay. An unexpected perk to this was that I met the loveliest couple from Denver, and we had a nice leisurely dinner.
A last-minute email from the school that I received in Chicago leads me to believe that some others had delays and I’m not going to miss my group at the airport. Fingers crossed. The school, The International Center for Arts (ICA), is about two hours from Rome, in the tiny Umbrian hill town of Monte Castello di Vibio (MCdV). Finding my way there solo is not how I want to start this beautiful adventure.
Huzzah! I found my group and after a couple of hours for another student, we are on our way. We are on a big tour bus on a freeway. One could almost believe we are driving through Southern California until you see the houses and the lack of traffic. But the further you get from the city there is no mistaking the magic of the Italian countryside. Sitting and watching the landscape go by under a perfect blue sky is glorious.
We arrived at school, had a lite snack, and took a short tour of the town. David, the director and host, is from South Carolina. His son, Eli, is here also working at the school. He’s 18 and helping the kitchen staff since he is thinking about being a chef. This town reminds me exactly of Cortona, Italy which we visited before, but on a much smaller scale, which is wonderful when you are lost. As I have been already!
These etched panes will show up in a project later.
We then settled into our rooms. I’ve opted for a small apartment outside of the school and more in town. A full five-minute walk away. Figuring out the hot water, stove top, and heating have all been a challenge but I’m making progress. I also don’t have internet in the apartment as expected but they said they would fix it.
We had pizza on the terrace for a lite snack and the pizza was excellent! Their terrace view is magnificent! I’m going to run out of descriptive words here… Apparently, after the snack came dinner but after two days without sleep, I skipped dinner and went straight to bed.
Monday, September 19, 2022
Today was so great. Top to bottom and it flew by in a blink. We started with a lovely breakfast of various Italian treats and dashed straight to class.
Group A-myself, and four other students, spent the morning with Carol. We will stay in this group for the next two weeks and we are an excellent group! Me, Terry, Lore, Andrea, and Ron. Carol is our teacher for pop-ups. We started with going down the list of the basic structures, things I mostly know but, excuse the pun, Carol really made things pop. There were several times when she gave subtle but important details that will really help me in the future. We also had some time to play and do some experimenting. I was happy that I happened to have a few star templates handy, of course, and I worked those in.
We paused for lunch, and, for me, it was the first proper sit-down and be served meal that I’ve had. The school has a young woman chef who clearly is an artist appropriately working at an art school. Each plate, and there are many, is equally beautiful and freaking delicious. Dinner continued the divine experience. I’m glad I have a nice walk between school and my home and lots of stairs! So many stairs. Escher designed my apartment. While I’m slowly figuring out things in the apartment, I still don’t have internet. And the internet at the school is spotty. The Wi-Fi worked only long enough that I realized I missed the Queen’s funeral. I may catch up on that but I’m not really sorry I’m missing news from the rest of the world. Only sorry it is limiting my ability to communicate with Rick, my husband.
We spent the afternoon making a book with Denise. We tore down large sheets of paper into signatures, folded, and sewed the book block. For the sewing, we sewed on cords, on a sewing cradle. Two things I’ve never done before. I’ve sewed over tapes, which is similar, but different. The sewing cradle was cool to use. These are pretty simple versions of the sewing cradle that ICA made specifically for us. I think I could have my carpenter friend easily make one. Denise demonstated by using a chair as her sewing cradle! And again, while I’ve previously done so much of this work before. There were many, many, small tips and details that make all the difference. Ironically, the structure that we are doing is very similar to the one I just finished in Ali Manning’s monthly Handmade Book Club group. But for a couple reasons, I adapted hers, to make it less similar to this one, and the twists on this one from hers are really interesting. This is an authentic old Renaissance Italian structure. We’ll return to this on Wednesday to make the covers. We have choices among some exquisite, marbled paper to use.
from my father.
After dinner, all the participants did a short show and tell of their work. A great way to get to know everyone better. Lore made everyone a magnificent laser-cut foldout of her home, North Carolina. Judy made everyone origami ornaments. She had them all in a mailing tube and made quite a splash when she poured them onto the table. Ron and Daria showed their handmade papers, and June her complex paper sculptures. Terry her incredible pop-ups with her updated fairy tales. And Suzanne’s sketchbook from a drawing tour she took last week around Italy. Susan used to do felting and is fairly new to paper crafts. Andrea recited one of her poems that she wrote and transferred it to a large piece of paper and I had goosebumps when she finished. The poem was so beautiful. Susan, Ron, and Terry are all with me in Helen’s Paper Year group. Daria and Judy are both with me in Ali’s Handmade Book Club. So much talent in this group! Everyone has so much to offer and we will all enjoy learning from each other as much as our fab teachers.
Over dinner listening to the other group talk about their day made me just as excited about tomorrow. Which is actually today, as I finish typing this at 12:53 am. It might be time to sleep but I have too many visions of book blocks dancing in my head.
Tuesday, September 20, 2022
The bells for the town are directly outside my bedroom window. They wake me up at 7:05. What a lovely alarm clock! They also ring at 12:05 pm and end of day… didn’t catch the time then. But for this morning they mean I’m off on a new day of adventure. At dinner, I was telling everyone how much I love the bells and then was realizing how Rick will laugh when he hears I love anything that happens at 7am.
After a quick breakfast, we spent a lovely morning with Helen weaving paper. We each made a lantern and a small book. I’ve done this with Helen before and enjoy these projects. She gave us some beautiful paper options and fairy lights for the lantern. We should do a procession down one of the city streets at night.
The afternoon we spent with Amanda working on paper. First, she had us working on taking bark spots off Kozo pulp. Quite interesting. We marbled in both eastern and western styles, dipped indigo, did a walnut dye crinkle all on various paper, and then did some long silk scarves! Exactly like scarves I hand-painted 30 years ago. I’ve done so little marbling that there was definitely a learning curve for me. But a few I’m excited about. I LOVED the indigo and can’t wait to see those pages dried. The scarves were a learning process for all of us and definitely a teamwork project. Turned out the greens and yellows worked best. The purple I tried to create was very light but might be better when it dries. Lore and Terry both decided to dip theirs into the indigo but used very different methods. I’m probably going to do that to mine, but I’ll wait to see the results of their experiments. It was a physically active afternoon and we’re all pleasantly exhausted and messy. I still have purple fingers. Certainly ready for dinner. Can’t believe we’ve only just begun. So much done and so much left to do!
Another excellent dinner was followed by presentations by Carol and Helen. So impressive. I’m so thrilled to be here learning from all four of these extraordinary women.
I still have barely walked around town other than my trip back and forth to school. There just isn’t that much downtime! Although I found the bank and the post office, both very close to my apartment. Also this afternoon a group of painters came and set up at various places around town. This is the last turn on my walk before I get to the studio building and school.
There is a beautiful theatre in town right by my apartment but it is under construction, as well as the town church, and I’m sorry I won’t be able to see them. There was a shop I might have entered but two men were smoking in the doorway and they didn’t seem too welcoming. I’m sure they would have been nice if I’d tried. Domani. Tomorrow. At dinner, we talked about planned and possible excursions for the weekend including a proposed trip with a truffle hunter. For me, that depends on how early they leave. But how can you pass that up? But we wouldn’t be taking truffles home. Just giving them to the chef to make us a meal. A fair trade.
They are trying to get my Wi-Fi working. I see the network now but couldn’t get it to accept the password. All attempts to get my iPad to connect to the Wi-Fi at school have failed so everything I’m typing will stay here until that changes. Hopefully tomorrow. I mentioned in a post to my Dad that I’ve only taken 231 photos so far with his large SLR Nikon (more since then) and I’m being conservative, so I don’t run out of film (I was a professional photographer when this really was a problem). Oh, the good old days… not missed. of course, I’m taking some on my phone as well. I’ve written about this day over three stolen moments, I think I’ll try to end it in the actual day. Since it is now 11:56, it’s time to wrap up. Buonasera.
Wednesday, September 21, 2022
A short break now between class and dinner. Again, such a fabulous day! We spent the morning with Carol continuing our work on pop-ups. I made two prototypes-tests of pop-ups. One incorporating my favorite spiral but then adding some triangle coils and a rectangle. So cool! Then we did some work with platforms and I made a piece I’m really excited about with a major twist. I’ll look forward to fine-tuning it at home.
At lunch, I discovered a different way to walk to my apartment. The city is basic three concentric circles, with many connecting streets, so you can loop around endlessly. The main plaza was gorgeous in the sunshine and I would have liked to spend the afternoon there sitting in the sun. I’m really looking forward to the relaxed weekend schedule.
For the afternoon we went back to our books we were making with Denise and finished the covers. Choosing between the beautiful Italian marbled papers was tough. Then they went under the press to dry.
After class, I walked a little and found the pastry shop. The one that is manned by the two smoking gentlemen. This time they weren’t fully blocking the way with their smoke. Oh, holy Italian Nonna! At dinner, I learned this is the place that supplies bread and pastries to the school. And then I found the bodega where I bought some supplies for the weekend. Finally felt like I was using my Italian skills.
The Wi-Fi password has now been properly entered but there is no actual working Wi-Fi. At this rate, it will probably get fixed late next week. Oh well. We all end up gathering right before meals in the library area just to get a spot of Wi-Fi… which slows down the Wi-Fi. I also still don’t have working heat in the apartment. Hasn’t been a problem yet but will be soon.
Dinner, as always, was wonderful and we had presentations from Denise and Amanda about their work. So impressive. At dinner, Helen mentioned that there is a crazy stairway in the studios building that goes up into a tower. After dinner, I took a quick detour up there to see the city at night from above. I had to use the flashlight on my phone to climb the centuries-old, steep, worn stone stairs, slightly creepy but worth the view. Halfway up there is a large piece of clear plexiglass covering the floor so you can look down. Particularly at night, this is a little creepy! I’ll go back up tomorrow during the day.
Now, once again I finish writing about the day just before it ends, now that it is 11:38. But I’m still working on sketches for Helen’s class tomorrow. I’m planning on turning various vignettes of patterns from within the school and ironworks around town into templates for our lantern screens. I’m excited about this project. Buonasera. Well, I finished my sketches updated and edited this and it is now 12:38 so possibly time to really go to sleep. Now Buonasera.
Thursday, September 22, 2022
I’m so glad I spent the time working on my sketches last night! During class, I managed to get three of them cut out. We cut balsa sticks for the lantern framework and glued paper on both sides. We had just started working on the hinges when lunch came. I’m taking a short break and then I’ll go back and work on this before paper class starts at 3pm. And I did walk to the top of the tower again in the daylight. What a view!
Also, the lantern that I finished in class.
Apparently, they will turn on the radiators tonight, so I’ll have heat. And they also gave me a space heater. It has only been a problem so far at bedtime and getting out of the shower but it should continue to cool down quite a bit so I thought best to figure it out in advance. Later… heat is on. Space heater plug doesn’t fit in any of the apartment sockets. What’s up with this people?
One small piece of trivia. I purposely packed light but hoped to make it through without having to do too much laundry. Daria told us about putting her clothes in the washer at school. She is American but lives in Mexico, so she’s used to the different philosophies of washing. However, she started it at lunchtime, and it was still running when we went to dinner! Luckily, I did bring a little pouch of laundry soap and I’ll do mine here in the sink and hang things around the bathroom. Seems like the best option. But I do need to buy a sweater. And maybe a new shirt or two. 😉 Drat.
More minor trivia. I’d promised myself I’d do at least ten minutes of yoga a day. But despite the fact that they actually have yoga mats in the dining area, getting down on the stone floors just does not hold any appeal. But I walk back and forth from my apartment to school, to the studio half a dozen times a day, and my thighs can feel the effect of all the stairs. Amanda is teaching tai chi each morning at 7am. But we all knew that would never happen for me, although I’d love to be doing tai chi. But not outside in the bitter wind at 7am. However, new exercise regime discussed below.
For Amanda’s paper-making class we did both western and eastern paper-making methods. I suck at both. But it is really a matter of practice and I only want to know enough to appreciate the work and artistry that goes into the work. I do sincerely appreciate both. I made several sheets, but we will have to see if they come out as usable. One activity we did was to beat the Kozo pulp. This literally involves laying pulp on a board and wacking it to death with a 2×4. That’s pretty good exercise. At dinner, I ask everyone within reach what their favorite thing of the day was. Lore said this was her favorite thing. Totally not the answer you would expect. Go Lore!
However, also during class we had several different papers on hand and several options on how to dye them. This was my heaven. I went to town and made so many I’m really excited about. Particularly, one I did with the indigo ink and several I made by dipping paper in various ink… think tie-dye or what you did in kindergarten with food coloring. Also, in the end, I decided to take Terry’s route and wad up my scarf to dip in the indigo. Her’s came out in a hip tie-dye but Lore’s more solid color is beautiful as well. Probably where mine might end up. Still to be determined. We also coated papers in walnut and persimmon ink. Not as exciting to me but nice.
After that, we all paused and went back to work on our lanterns before dinner. Dinner… exquisite. After dinner, David, our host, gave us a history professor’s overview of our journey tomorrow. We are all extremely excited. Luckily, the rain forecasted earlier in the week continues to be postponed.
After dinner, I finally was able to have a quick chat with my beloved. Our two daughters, son-in-laws, and granddaughter, arrive tonight and tomorrow for a visit and I’m missing everyone but trying not to think about it much. Best that way. Then I came back to my apartment and finished my lantern. I can’t wait to see it in the morning sun. But now it is 12:02 am and once again don’t quite finish recapping the day within the actual day. But it’s worth every second. Buonasera!
Friday, September 23, 2022
Wow. Whew. As it is 11:36 pm now I will definitely not finish recapping this day before the end of it.
We left school at 7:30 am and drove out to a small church, Santuario Madonna del Bagno, which houses a miracle contained around a tree. In the 1500s, a man prayed by the tree for his wife’s health, and she recovered. So, they made this a holy site and built around the tree. A bit of the tree is still there encased behind glass. Later, around 1659, people started making small hand-painted plaques showing what they were praying for. There was a whole series of people falling off ladders… the way this was shown was super funny. And the biting bull. And…
Next, we stopped in Deruta at a small cafe for a bite. We all loved this cafe and oohed and aahed over the pastries. Later David told us that was the wrong cafe, but we were fine with the option we had. Until later, when we did walk into the correct cafe and understood. Regardless, I had a fig muffin at the first cafe that really was a miracle.
Down the street from the cafe, we stopped at a traditional family-run pottery shop and managed to resist all purchases. But we did get to try our hands at using the pottery wheel. I threw my first pot! It was thrilling but I’m not going to change mediums. Also, we saw a short painting demonstration. Lovely lovely artwork. As usual, I’m taking pictures of all the scroll and pattern work but now I’m thinking of everything in terms of Zentangle patterns. I cannot wait to start sketching!
After that, the highlight of the day was the Fabriano paper museum. We had a short tour and demo of their traditional methods that date back to the 1200s. They are the ones that invented the watermark method that you often see on high-end papers. I’m told that this is the place that supplies most of the beautiful papers that are used for Zentangle tiles. However, I did not see evidence of that at the museum. They clearly haven’t figured out the whole cater to tourists thing as their gift shop was small and limited but I was nonetheless unable to resist several purchases. The highlight of the museum for me was finding the tool that they once used to create musical manuscript papers. I would say probably circa mid-1500s but they didn’t have a date on it. Nevertheless, the tool was fascinating to see and so cool. For musicians writing music, this is one area where technology has been our friend. (Later research shows that they call this a rake.)
After this, we walked to a lovely restaurant, Osteria San Biagio, that opened specifically for us and we had a delicious meal. Just amazing.
Ok, I’m out of steam here at 11:55. To be continued in the am. Buonanotte.
Saturday am…. but really to continue below…
Refreshed after a long snooze. I was glad to note that the bells did not ring at 7:05! I’m sitting here in my bed with the sun streaming in on both sides of me from the small windows in my room. Not much of a view from this vantage except for the authentic stone wall across the courtyard. I feel like a cat in the sunshine. Happy and content.
Friday, September 23, 2022 (Continued)
I’ll now continue my tales of yesterday.
From lunch, we went to Assisi. As you drive up to the area all you start to see all the cheap tourist shops. As we continued our extremely long and steep climb up the hill the quality of the shops improved the higher we climbed. Clearly higher rents at the top. I don’t know what anyone of us expected but this climb was not on the list. Daria, only made it halfway and she was smart to turn around. I almost went with her just to have some leisure time but I’m glad I continued on. June made it but only because Andrea and I stayed with her and stopped when she needed to stop. Unfortunately, we didn’t time/stage any of our stops properly so I could buy postcards but did buy one small repo watercolor print from a lovely artist near the top. Had people been warned or our young guide considered her demographics, there is a much easier way up than the one we took to get to the churches. Daria and June were justifiably upset. The two churches were beautiful and the view from the top was spectacular. The town was quite busy and there were Italian flags draped everywhere. We didn’t know if this was normal or just a random thing until we later found some posters on a wall. They are having a festival and Pope Francis arrives today! Glad we weren’t hoping to go today. I’m sure it will be a madhouse. In the end, it took us so long to go up that we had to rush back to the bus and skip the wine tour that had been planned. I was disappointed about that but certainly didn’t need it.
On the bus home, Denise pulled out her phone and her Steps app said that we went 10,065 steps, 4.34 miles, and 27 flights of stairs in 2:22 hours (of actual walking time)… on cobblestone. Whooo. Susan said her app recorded she had gone 15,000 steps for the day. That seems closer to my day. If the internet is working at school this morning I’m going to download the app too.
When we returned home, we had a very short break and then a simple buffet meal. After that a friend of Amanda’s gave a talk. He is a paper artist from an American mother and an Italian father who lives in Rome. He has lived mostly in Rome and seems more Italian and has taught extensively at universities both in Italy and the US. He does some amazing and interesting work. Really pushing the boundaries of paper and experimenting. Unfortunately, I don’t think he had our full attention since everyone was wiped out and I really wanted to call home as soon as he was done.
After a very brief chat with Rick, I stopped in the studio and took down and sorted all the paper we made on Thursday. Wow, we did some great work. The papers are stiff and unwieldy right now, but I think we will press and polish them, so they become more manageable. I’m still on the learning curve for these steps. On Thursday, I wadded up my silk scarf and dunked it in the indigo vat, and then hung it to dry. So last night, I unwadded it and really like the tie-dyed look. I wadded it up again, tied, redunked, and rehung it. Sometime today I’ll unwad it for the final time and see what we get. I think it will be mostly dark blue/black with subtle streak/fold lines. Can’t wait to see.
Ok, time to go off to brunch. I thought I’d have more time this morning but staying in bed proved to be the most important requirement of the day. Also, I did the space heater to work in one plug in the bathroom. They had two for me and I only took one because I thought the heat was now on. It is slightly on at night but not in the morning. I’m going to have to track down that second unit.
Saturday, September 24, 2022
This morning after brunch we were supposed to go to Orvieto for the day. My plan was to do a little shopping and then find a lovely cafe to sit with tea and good Wi-Fi. Plans altered. For some reason they decided today wasn’t a good day to go to Orvieto, so they switched things up. We’ll go next Saturday.
When I walk by the theatre there is an artist’s entrance sign on one wall and I’m wondering if anyone would notice if I took it down. Hm? Right above that sign is frequently an open window with someone practicing the violin and an oboe. I love to pause there and clap when they are done. I haven’t seen anyone yet come out and bow. But I love hearing the music in the street. I do wish I had my harp here but I wouldn’t have time!
We had the option to go to a winery or stay in town. I waffled but the plan was for a fairly short drive and a quick visit to the winery. I thought we’d be back fairly soon. Plans altered again and after a late start, we went to a winery further away and stayed longer than would have been my preference. Nonetheless, it was a beautiful drive and a lovely winery. They had the “new” barrels in one area, only five years old, and the old barrels in another. Those are 60-80 years old. This is a family-run organic vineyard and the young woman guiding us is the fifth generation. At dinner David told me that because of the organic pledge their wine is inconsistent in character but I liked the wines I tasted… about half of the options they served. It still seemed too early in the day for me to consume much wine! They had a couple barrels with a cat-door size hole in them and I stuck my camera inside and got some beautiful shots of the colors and the shimmering crystals left from the wine. They almost look like sunset shots. While the wine tasting was nice, I was only tempted by the olive oil but decided not to worry about transporting it home. We had a relaxing group visit sitting around the winery chatting. This is such a great group of people. I’m glad to be here with all of them.
We have had beautiful weather all week except for a little bit of chilly wind but today that changed. Rain was supposed to settle in at 5pm and it arrived at 4:15, just as we were leaving the vineyard. Now I’m glad I have all three pairs of shoes that I debated about bringing because rain is apparently here for the remainder of the week. And fear I’ve missed my chance to sit in the plaza and sketch. Rain doesn’t usually hurt my feelings, but I do have a lot of walking to do here. We had one good moment of Wi-Fi at school so I was able to download Steps. I’d say I’ve barely walked at all today and the app thinks I’ve done 3,035 steps, 1.3 miles, and ten flights of stairs. But that doesn’t count all the steps around my apartment!
David, our host, drove us to the vineyard and told some great stories about the area. Todi, is a nearby hill town that is in a constant struggle with our town. Fights about who can have the tallest tower, etc. Apparently when public work projects need to get done where the workers come from is a big deal. Right outside our wall is a short one-way bridge, maybe three-four car lengths. A few years ago the town was told the bridge would be closing for repairs. But this is an important route for the town, so the town went on strike. By blocking the bridge with their grills. And then having a party during the strike. The town didn’t know what the plan was for repairs, only that it was a fairly large budget. However, it turns out that all they did was install stop signs on either end of the bridge. Expensive stop lights. All the while, who was doing the work was debated.
Once we got back to town, I did my laundry in the sink and have it strung all over the bathroom over the space heater. Hopefully, it will dry… And made a warm cup of tea since I had a chill from sitting outside at the winery and walking home in the rain. I tried to call Rick just using cellular data but there was no signal. I’m going to go off now and try to get in a call on Wi-Fi before dinner. I’ll certainly be ready for dinner! Brunch at 11am and dinner at 8pm is a long stretch. I’ve given up the hope that I’ll have Wi-Fi at the apartment. That’s fine. I’m just going to embrace the limits.
Before dinner, I decided to give my silk scarf a final dip in the indigo. It should be a lovely modeled black by now. I’ll run it through fixative tomorrow. I was also able to speak to Rick for a bit before the signal went out.
At dinner, June, also off-campus in an apartment, was talking about the tv in her place. She watched, among other things, Magnum PI dubbed into Italian while she shredded kozu. I was surprised to hear she has a tv and it works. Lore is in an apartment almost right below me and during dinner I discovered that she had a spare blanket and space heater in her closet. After dinner, we walked home together and she gave me both. I’ll be a happy bug tonight. Her apartment doesn’t have steps, has more of a living room, and a tv but no view or daylight at all. Plus, the bathroom has a terrible water drainage problem. After seeing that I’m really happy with my apartment. I love its quirks, my chair just off the balcony, the beautiful paintings on the bedroom door, and I never would have turned on a tv, so it all worked out. I’m also amused that two people walking to the same place can choose an endless variation of routes in our little town and arrive at the same place. I spent the evening working on my travel book and trying to keep my kitchen table organized and not looking like a disaster area. My clothes are drying slowly. 11:59 pm now so I’m actually wrapping up before the end of the day. Stellar. Buonanotte. Now it’s 12:20 so seriously time to sleep! Lots to do tomorrow.
Sunday, September 25, 2022
I was semi-awake when the bells tolled at 7:05 and chose to just stay that way until almost 8:30. The new blanket was perfect, the second heater is going this morning, the laundry is almost all dry, did 20 minutes of yoga, the sun is peaking around clouds, and it isn’t raining, so that is a dang good start for the day. By this afternoon we’ll have been here a week. Can’t believe it. We are going to Perugia today and I’m looking forward to seeing the city. But I’m also anxious to get back to classes!
After a lovely brunch, we hopped in a group of cars and drove to Perugia. It is a lovely city. They have a small flea market on the last Sunday of each month, and I found a couple of treasures.
I finally have good Wi-Fi for a bit so I’ll post this now. More about my day later…
Sunday, September 25, 2022 (Continued…)
Actually, before lunch I helped Amanda in the paper room, taking the sheets of handmade paper off the walls. For those sheets, we just stuck them on the walls when they were wet and when they are dry they just peel off. There were a couple drying on a large mirror and I got a great video of the cloud paper peeling down. Kinda freaking amazing. I unwadded my silk scarf and I think it is beautiful. I’ll run it through fixative, give it a final dry, and then I’ll be able to use it!
We left for Perugia under optimistic skies and the rain managed to hold off all day until right when we were gathered to walk to the cars. Downpour. But as we got closer to MCdV, the skies cleared so we weren’t drowning walking home.
In Perugia, the flea market was small, but I love the things I bought. Particularly, some antique keys that I’ll use as book closures. I knew I’d probably need a new bag to get everything home, so I was looking for a small duffel or suitcase. There was a nice one at the flea market marked Pierre Cardin, but I thought… flea market, right. How much? 600. Ah no. How much for this nice one over here? 30. Sold. It’s quite a versatile bag and I think it will continue to be used frequently in our household. Not sure how I’ll assemble everything to go home but plenty of time to worry about that later! The new, to me, the bag should make everything work out.
After the market, I just wandered around and appreciated the atmosphere. I found June in the chocolate shop of her dreams. Apparently, this is a brand, Baci, that a lot of people know and covet but I’ve not heard of it before. I’ll be testing it out soon. Their gelato store was excellent. Can you make bad gelato? Once again, I managed not to get any postcards. Florence. And then I’ll bring them home to mail! I really needed to find a sweater. Since it was Sunday, all the fancy shops were closed, which was just fine with me. But there was one cute shop open that is sort of Perugia’s answer to Victoria’s Secret and Old Navy and I bought two cute sweaters there. Now I’m set for the cold weather that has come in.
On the Wi-Fi in Perugia, I was able to get a quick call home and see Bonnie (our granddaughter) and Rick’s beautiful faces. Also, apparently, the coffee cake that I made and left in the freezer for everyone was a big hit. Can’t wait to try it myself. Hope they like the cupcakes too.
On the way home, they told the driver that I’m a harpist. He said that meant I had “mani dolci,” sweet hands. Now, that is a great description. I’m stealing that line for sure.
A little chill time now… I practically took a nap. Unheard of. Another quick call with Rick before dinner. They were all out for a walk in beautiful sunshine. Looks like it is a lot warmer there than here.
I really enjoyed my piece of chocolate. They are like Italian fortune cookies with a cute saying inside. Mine was a little racy so I have a new respect for this company. Also, the man at the shop did an exemplary job of wrapping everything. My Steps app said 9,374 steps, 4.07 miles, 28 flights of stairs, in 2:22 hours. Not bad. And, again, it is missing all the stairs in my apartment. Those add up.
An excellent dinner and then I spent some time working on my Zentangle for the first time. Wow, I had optimistic plans for working on Christmas projects that were unrealistic. I thought maybe I get some work done on the plane, but it was too bumpy and the time I tried the guy in front of me kept wiggling the tray. Maybe later this week.
All of us were happy for the weekend but are excited to get back to class. That’s a good sign. So much still to do.
Going to sleep to the pitter-patter of rain is comforting to me. There is a chance of storms tomorrow and if they come, I’m running to the top of the tower in the studio. That will be exciting! It is only 11pm so an early night. Bonasera.
Monday, September 26, 2022
Sometimes Mondays aren’t so bad. Today was one of those days.
At breakfast, Carol sent me a picture she took yesterday in the Etruscan Museum. A detail in a larger painting of a small cherub harpist. So cute! And so kind of her to think of me and share. I immediately shared it with the members of the Folk Harp Society and the readers of the Folk Harp Journal, which I edit.
We started the day off doing pop-ups with Carol. Both adhesive and non-adhesives props. I have a little experience with this and enjoyed her methods immensely. I have so many ideas. I have a book at home with templates that I’ve struggled with. Now I’ll feel better able to conquer them. Last night I took a couple of shots of the bell tower from my bedroom window. Using the non-adhesive prop method, I recreated the tower in pop-up. Mock-up… and now I know what to fix to make it better next time. Which I will do. Those bells will ring out.
Before lunch, I dipped my indigo scarf in the fixative. Some of the color washed out but I still think it will be gorgeous when it dries. I forgot to go look after dinner and I’m tempted to run over there now but I’ll wait to see it tomorrow.
For the afternoon with Denise, we first finished off our books from last week. Then we started a new structure which I already know is going high up on my list of go-to binding methods. It is a hard (or semi-hard) case binding that looks good, clean, and sharp. The method she used for sewing the text block is something I’ve done many times, but the actual binding is like nothing I’ve done before. I love it. I found some extraordinary paper in the random stack and can’t wait until we finish these on Wednesday.
Most of Monte Castello was built in the 1300s. I just noticed the sign on the bell tower saying it was built in 1850, so it is a mere baby. Part of that fight with Todi was about who had the tallest tower. Some male conflicts are just universal and eternal. The school building has the kitchens, dining area, library (Wi-Fi location if we’re lucky at any given moment), offices, and rooms for most participants. This area was a convent and was probably remodeled sometime in the 1980s, so again, brand new. The studios for the school are actually across the street in another building. This building is ancient. Ancient. The steps all show the hundreds of years of wear and tear. Some bits have been remodeled… say maybe in the 1960s… but barely. Just enough for a little plumbing and electricity. In the middle of our afternoon class, a chunk of the ceiling fell down and hit Andrea on the shoulder! Right next to me. Luckily, it was crumbling on the way down and didn’t hit her on the head. The hazards of life in an authentic Italian walled city.
Dinner was lovely and we talked about the closing exhibition and all our travel plans for the weekend. I’m not ready for those things so I’ll just continue to savor each day. It also turned into a group Kozo pulling party. Amanda dumped a bunch on the table, and we all dug in. That’s weird stuff. A plant but still a little too much like watching the sausage being made for me. I prefer to just deal with it later in the process.
Officially it was a leisurely day, only 3,169 steps, 1.38 miles, and 14 flights of stairs… but I happen to know that’s missing several chunks of information. For this evening, a much-needed chat with my beloved and I might be in bed by midnight. Maybe. Arrivederci.
Tuesday, September 27, 2022
When the bells toll, I’m always semi-awake and they are my signal to get out of bed. Did some yoga, the sun is shining, and we are off to an excellent day!
Spent the morning working with Helen on papers we embedded with wire and/or strings. We started with large squares and waited for these to dry. Then we had options for what to do next.
But first, I had to run home and grab my water bottle. Along the way I realized that the tourist office was open for the first time since I’ve been here. I saw her opening one morning but that was all. The hours, like all places here, are limited, and the tourist office even more so. So, I had to run back and grab my wallet to buy some postcards. These cards are a precious commodity because they are printed on heavy heavy laminated paper. They aren’t going in the mail, after lunch they went straight into my travel book.
Back to Helen’s class. She had some long sheets ready for us, about 16”x48”. I decided to turn mine into a table runner. I used wire on the ends and string in the middle between the two base layer colors. Then I did a collage pattern on top using a mix of other papers. I’m really happy with this piece. I think when I finish the details it will be beautiful. I’ll probably need to coat it when I am home if I do plan to use it on the table. However, it might want to be a lovely hanging piece. We’ll just have to see. Using the scraps left over from my collage sheets, I created two small circle pieces sandwiching thread. I’ll turn these into small bowls. The large square piece that we did first, I folded in half, then glued the seam, and then cut it roughly into 2/3, ⅓ sections so that I’ll have two tea light surrounds of different heights. We’ll add decorative beads to the wires at the top. Helen also gave me a head start on Thursday’s project which I plan to sketch on.
At lunch, Judy, Daria, and I took a group photo to send to the Handmade Book Club. We need to do one for Helen’s group as well. And the Movable Book Society. (Accomplished.) Carol and Ron have promised to write an article for the Movable Book Society newsletter and I will supply the photos. Look for this soon.
After lunch, we dove back into papermaking with Amanda. I made a few new sheets today and I think they came out better than last time. I also redipped a few things in my favorite indigo vat. Then we started work on putting together our sample books. Amanda wrote out a card for each of the different techniques that we learned, and we’ll include a sample piece from what we made. I’ll have to count the cards, but I think it is about 15 total from both the western and eastern styles of papermaking. I’m using one of my pieces of indigo for the cover of my book.
There are a lot of lovely birds here in town. Both Judy and I have been collecting random feathers floating around. I actually brought a few from home that I thought I might incorporate into something, but it looks like I’ll just be going home with a bigger stash. Yesterday’s papermaking class started a large (2’x4’) pulp painting to give to David as a gift. Judy obviously sacrificed a few of her feathers to embed them in the piece. They also included a big swath of Kozo. Quite an impressive piece of art. I finished the piece by adding an indigo border. Our group did pulp paintings for each of our two chefs. We embedded some sage, rosemary, and basil. As well as representative forks and plates. I’m reserving judgment on these until they dry. They might just be interesting and not very appetizing. Turns out they were just bad. Not what you’d expect from our group. Amanda ended up dunking the whole piece in a natural dye to see if that would help. Not sure what her conclusion will be at the end. Epic fail on our part.
My problematic right foot decided to start acting up today. Apparently walking in sand and cobblestone are similar experiences for your foot. A worthy sacrifice either way.
After dinner, David gave his art history tour of Florence preparing us for Friday. On our first trip, we didn’t see everything in a week so I’m not sure how much you can cram into six hours. I’m going to roam around and soak it in. Right now the weather doesn’t seem optimistic but I’ve learned Italian weather forecasting is about the same as everywhere else. Forecast was for 100% clear today and tomorrow but we had a random shower in the middle of the day. After lunch, I was going to put my chair out on the balcony for 10 minutes and it started to sprinkle. Ten minutes later it stopped, so I stayed dry walking to the studio. Then there was a short downpour after which it cleared up for the rest of the day. Monday’s promised storm has been pushed to Thursday. Hopefully, they’ll just keep pushing it out.
Steps meter says nearly the same as yesterday but obviously, I should receive extra credit for cobblestones.
Now, I’m going to work on prep for Helen’s projects. I might wrap up within this actual day…probably not. I have everything piled on my bed now. I’d prefer to be working on the kitchen table but for some reason, they don’t have the heat turned on in the kitchen. Drawing on a cold piece of marble isn’t that comfortable. Clearly, I am no Michelangelo just an American wuss. But if I could only pick two out of the three spaces in my apartment to heat, I’m happy they went with the bedroom and bath.
Just finished the cover embellishments for our sample books. Quite happy with those. Now it is 11:57 so time to wrap this day up! Ciao.
Wednesday, September 28, 2022
After breakfast, we were off like a shot to continue pop-up work with Carol. After a couple of quick reviews of v-folds, she led us down the path of 3D pop-up structures—boxes, tents, and Andy Warhol soup cans. After that, we had some time to work on structures and I started something I was thinking about when we arrived. Still a ways to go on this version. I have another idea on how to present this concept and I’ll work on that one later when I’m home.
After lunch, before scheduled class, we gathered in the studio and Denise taught us a simple fold pattern she does for making wallets. We did tests and then she gave us Tyvek pages to fold. Once they were folded, we had many options on how to dye them… between some of the natural dyes we’ve been using, indigo, or acrylics. I love how mine came out and I can’t wait to make more in larger sizes and with different papers.
For book class, we finished the books we started Monday. I really do love this structure. I’ll be making more. It is such a contrast with the authentic old structure we did last week. This one is clean and sharp and looks like a traditional standard case binding. Although these have personalities that case bindings usually lack. I have a small issue with the fit of the cover paper on mine and I’m going to have to find a way to fix it. Or just keep it as my sample.
For the first time, we did not have a program after dinner. I think many of us are scurrying back to home or the studio to finish projects. Tomorrow we are having a gallery evening and showing off all of our work. I spent my time before dinner curating what I want to show and what can be prepared for packing. I’m so not ready to leave or be done with classes but very ready to be home with my beloved.
I’m sitting down to work. Don’t think I’ll have to jet back to the studio, I have enough to keep me busy here. Buonasera. 11:46 pm just finished the prep on one project for Helen’s class tomorrow. Time to call it a night.
Thursday, September 29, 2022
Managed a slim bit of yoga before the day started at a brisk clip. A bittersweet day. Didn’t we just get here yesterday? It can’t be almost over. Today was our last day for classes so we wrapped up projects and prepared for the evening show.
In the morning we worked with Helen and completed our layered pieces and assembled our inflatable balls. This is what I was working on last night… a Zentangle treatment to all eight sections. So fun! Also, finished the beadwork on my table runner and other pieces. They will all make great centerpieces for dinner parties.
We had a short lunch period and then went with Amanda to bind up the book of all our sample pieces of paper we made. We did a dos-a-dos binding, so the western papers are on one side and the eastern on the other. One of the few times that I think this binding style works. The labels for the front of each side came out well. Inspired by the town archives we did a tacket binding on our sample books. You could choose between cow or goat cords for that… obviously, I did it with linen thread.
We have not seen much of the work from the other group so it will be fun to see what they did, and the collective of everyone’s work.
Yesterday’s forecast said a storm for the night and rain all day today. No rain last night and only a few sprinkles today. I just heard some thunder, but the sky still looks fairly clear. I just hope we can get our projects to the school and back safely. I decided to jet down to school with my work as it is beginning to rain, and the wind is picking up. Sounds like the storm is coming. If it is still raining after dinner, I’ll just leave my things there until tomorrow.
I actually made it into the bakery for a purchase. Pizza with artichokes for a little snack now, and a pastry for the morning. Not the friendliest of guys but super delish food. I’ve stumbled through a few conversations now in my mangled Italian. I would have given anything to have had one last crack at my DuoLingo before I lost internet. And there is one book we have at home that I wish I’d brought! I meant to. But I do understand a lot of what people are saying. I just doubt myself when answering, not sure if I’m about to spout Spanish or Italian. I’ll continue to work on it for the next trip.
Tomorrow most of the crew leaves early tomorrow morning to go to Florence. Rick totally understood when I told him I’ve decided to stay in MCdV. We’ve had so little leisure time I want to spend a quiet day soaking in the town. Maybe go to the swanky restaurant on my block. When the group returns from Florence they are going to stop and have dinner at a lake. I would really like to do that with them so I’ve enquired about a car, but I don’t think it is likely. We are pretty far off the beaten path so getting out of town is not easy.
Bits of trivia…
When we arrived, I was distressed because the bed and the pillow were so hard. Like rocks. But I have slept like a rock which is incredibly unusual for me. Action-packed days will do that for you. However, I will be happy to be back in an environment where I have better control over the temperature. And plugging something into a socket doesn’t take a degree in arm wrestling. There is this whole three-prong, two-prong thing that is a pain. Today, I finally stumbled onto an adapter. David had promised to find me one earlier but he has a lot on his plate. I can get the two-prong thing to work but it’s difficult. Hope I’m not damaging something. I just know I’m happy for heat.
I really want to know who is in charge of the bell tower. In addition to the 7:05 and 12:05 tolls, it also tolls at 5:35. For a really long time. At first, I thought maybe that was for a fire alarm or emergency but apparently, that is normal. And now again at 5:50. What signal is that? Now at 8:05pm. Usually, we are sitting down to dinner, so I don’t hear these bells but dinner has been moved to 8:30 today due to the show.
I am dying to go to the town library, but the mayor has the key and you have to ask her. She works during the day so I doubt I’ll have the chance to go although I will ask tonight. Amanda, Carol, and Denise were able to go to the town archives and they were very impressed. Most of the books have a tacket binding so that is what we did with our sample books.
I’m sorry for the chef that I’m the only vegetarian. I hate putting them to extra work but it didn’t take them too long to figure out that I was eating about a fourth of what they were bringing out. So now I usually just have two appetizers and I’m good. Maybe sneak in a piece of bread. And, of course, dessert! Everything has been incredibly delicious. We have two young enthusiastic chefs… a young woman and her nephew. David told us they came as a packaged set. Eli, David’s son, works with the kitchen staff and has been taking care of me. He’s quite a character at 18 and I think it would be fascinating to watch him grow up.
The drama for the last two days has been Daria’s husband. He has been roaming around Italy while she has been here. Two nights ago he was pickpocketed of his passport, credit cards, and cash. Why did he have all of those together in one spot? Not our question. But let me warn you that this state of affairs puts you in a bad spot. Police, consulate, foreign bureaucracy, are not user-friendly. This makes me believe that next time we go on a significant foreign trip we need to have a second credit card available. Copies of passports are critical but not exactly as helpful in a crisis as you’d hoped. Things seem to be working out but it has been a stressful few days for her.
After a promised and postponed trip, some of the group went out early this morning with a truffle hunter. My takeaway—the search, processing, and politics of truffles is complicated. No wonder they are so expensive. I believe we are having some for dinner Saturday but not the ones they found this morning. White, not black, which are currently in season. I’m not sure if I knew there was a difference or even that white ones existed.
I’ve walked the same route minimally four to six times a day between my house and the school and every time I see something new. Details in the ironwork or wood carvings on the doors. Tonight, I found a chiseled stone carving above a door that says 1648. Amazing.
The show tonight was wonderful. Many of the local townspeople were there. Even the guy from the pottery shop in Deruta. Amanda ordered her house numbers. so he came to deliver her tiles. Plus, some English people that live nearby. Seeing everyone’s work was a treat. Wow. We did so much and accomplished a ton! What an impressive group. They ran a little slideshow during the evening, and everyone was asked to contribute. I was encouraged to keep adding so most of the photos were mine. And those are only the ones from my phone. I’m still glad I’ve had my dad’s fancy camera even though the plan of editing them while I was here didn’t work. In a way that is better because it does take a chunk of time which I didn’t have. I’ll edit and enjoy it when I get home. The rain held off long enough to get all the work home, not sure that will last through dinner.
We were all fat, happy, and tired after dinner. The rain held off, but the storm came in. My chat with Rick was very short because the connection was compromised by the storm, and I wasn’t sure if the electricity would stay on. Since it wasn’t raining but was flashing, Andrea and I climbed to the top of the studio tower. We could see the flash in all its glory, but I didn’t manage any bolt shots. We were just seeing the residual glow through the clouds. It was glorious. Coming down we wondered about the residents that lived in this building in the 1300 or 1600s. The room configuration is incomprehensible to us. How did those people live in these rooms? How many footsteps have trod those sloping stone steps? If walls could talk.
I’m super happy to be staying in town tomorrow. Glad I can ignore the 7:05 alarm clock even if I can’t turn it off. David was mostly worried I wouldn’t have enough to eat but that is definitely not on my list of concerns. I didn’t get to ask him about the mayor and the library. I just hope for at least half a day without rain so I can walk around a bit. Might be time to read a book for the evening tonight and tomorrow.
The Steps app says I only did 4,410 steps and 2 miles but 26 flights of stairs. Life in an Umbrian hill town.
Ten minutes after I stopped typing the rain came, it is pouring, and the storm is on. Sounds beautiful. Glad I made it home first. I wonder if there are any candles in here…
Friday, September 30, 2022
Sunshine. Stayed in bed until a luxurious hour. Pastry from the bakery and fresh fruit from dinner last night. Tea in hand. My chair out on the balcony is just slightly too much in the wind right now but it is fine off the balcony with the windows open. There was an old man down below watching me move my chair around and we exchanged a hearty Buongiorno! Indeed, a good morning of peace with an exquisite view of the Italian countryside. I do love Florence but right now I wouldn’t trade it for this moment.
Bedroom upstairs to the left. Bathroom upstairs to the right.
I’ll go to school in a moment and post this. Tomorrow, we go to Orvieto and then home on Sunday. Today is a day to savor.
Friday, September 30, 2022 (continued)
After posting, I snooped around the school building a bit. I’d heard rumors of the “store” downstairs but hadn’t been encouraged to go, everyone said there wasn’t much there. The stairs went down into a large room that is clearly a holding place for the debris of many of the painters and sculptors who came before. Lots of bits and pieces which completely appealed to me. In the store, I found some small canvases, which I thought would be fun to sketch on, and a small bottle of ink in authentic Italian glass. I’ll pay David later. Last night the teachers laid out a “please take these papers home pile.” I think it was pretty picked over last night, so I decided what was left was fair game and I’m coming home with some treasures. Another perk of today.
A piece of trivia… I’d don’t know if it is all of Italy or just this town but I love their commitment to trash and recycling. There are big containers around town to deposit and sort all waste. Quite an impressive system.
I spent the morning walking around. Trying to go down every street I hadn’t seen and stopping to examine every nook and cranny for additional signs of the centuries of use. I found many! Glorious. I went back to the bakery and bought dinner for tonight and a pastry for tomorrow’s breakfast. A new gentleman working the till was much nicer than the other one. From the town plaza, you could see the storm coming back in for the day. Since I thought it would rain, I decided to go to the tower above the studios. It isn’t warm but it is out of the rain and wind and has a spectacular view. I did a fun video of climbing up to the top. On the first take, I nearly cracked my head open on the low doorway. That take wasn’t PG-13. Take two worked out better. To see the video, it is pretty cool, follow this link to my Facebook page (click here).
While in the studios I thought I should do a bit of tidying. There was still quite a bit of handmade paper drying on the walls, so I took all of them down. Seriously, I think that might be the best part of making paper. Extremely satisfying to see a new creation peel down the wall revealing the secrets of the other side. June decided not to create a sample book, so she spent a lot of time yesterday making paper. She’ll be so happy when she sees her stack. There are some beautiful pieces in that group, and I know they will be even more beautiful in her art.
After a bit, I decided to see if Rick was up and ready for a chat. However, I found the school locked. I have a key, but it was clearly bolted from the inside as well. I went walking trying to find a place that was both dry and had good cell service. Turned out halfway out my balcony was the best place. Good to hear his voice although we couldn’t do video.
Then it was time for lunch. I really have been wanting to go to the swanky restaurant basically across the street from my apartment. I decided lunch would be the better time for a solo dinner. The food was excellent, the waiter kind, jazz music in the background, and the Wi-Fi strong! If I’d only known. It should have dawned on me earlier. I scribbled all over the placemat during lunch just sketching the things I could see. Glass of wine, a red pepper dish, a salad, and the best dessert I’ve had since I’ve been here which is saying something after all the delectable meals at school. A lovely, lovely way to watch the storm come in and then clear out again.
Now, I sit just off the balcony watching the birds and the countryside. The rain might be gone. I made some tea, and I might take a nap. I should probably think about packing since the kitchen table is a disaster. Later.
No nap. I was actually able to put my chair fully outside on the balcony and bathe in the sunshine. Windy, but not bad for several hours. The view from there is truly extraordinary. I read a little and then decided to start sketching on my new mini-canvas. There is a really interesting piece of ironwork above one of the restaurant windows. I recreated that in black and then have been adding details in purple, with just a touch of blue as of now. Using pen on this canvas is difficult but I’m still satisfied with the results so far. You can’t really judge these pieces until they are all finished. The final details make all the difference.
Speaking of which, the storm has returned with a vengeance in full force. The weather was fine when I walked to the studio 30 minutes ago. What is interesting here is that we have serious thunder and lightning going and no rain yet. That comes later… and now it has. But I found the candles (so far unnecessary) I’m snug, enjoying a glass of wine, music on my phone, reading a book. A perfect evening minus one missing someone.
Saturday, October 1, 2022
How did it get to be October? I woke up early this morning and rushed through the morning routine to meet the group at 7am for our trip. School was still locked, so I walked down to the parking lot and back up with no sign of anyone stirring. Helen arrived about ten minutes later and told me that the meeting time had been moved to 9am. Grr. However, it was a beautiful walk in the fog and it isn’t raining or particularly cold. Good signs for the day ahead.
Turns out the group got home about 11pm so they decided to delay departure time. Florence was, as always, beautiful but very wet. When they arrived at the lake it was mostly dark, there was no view, and the food was mediocre. I felt good about my decision yesterday and this only confirmed it. Thus, I then didn’t feel so bad about the change this morning.
In contrast, today was gorgeous and we had perfect weather all day except for a 10-minute downpour while we were on the bus going from Orvieto to go to our second stop. Beautiful after that and now I am once again sitting on my balcony looking out at the extraordinary view.
Orvieto is a lovely, lovely historical town. There is so much to see and appreciate that you can’t really do it much justice in 3.5 hours. Therefore, I decided to work on economic development for the region. A conscience effort was made at doing my job well. Glad I bought that second bag in Perugia. When fortification was needed, I stopped at a nice cafe and had the classic tomato, basil, and mozzarella sandwich. The best one ever. The pigeon at my feet really wanted his cut but sharing was not an option. After that, I was ready to climb to the top of the town clock-bell tower. Ok, I cheated and took the elevator halfway up, but it was still a good climb from there and I walked all the way down. The climb was completely worth every step. The scenery from up there was magnificent with a full 360-degree view of the town. This was a time, I was really glad to have Dad’s big zoom lens. There was also a marching band playing in one of the squares. I couldn’t see them, but it was the perfect distance to be from a marching band and the acoustics of the stone walls were excellent.
The group met up and we traveled about an hour away to visit a waterfall. I don’t remember the full history of this, but it is old and man-made. They turn the water on for one hour every day. It is, of course, in a picture-perfect Umbrian valley. From the parking lot, you could see bits of the top of the falls. As we were about to buy tickets June asked about the walk to the falls and was told it was a good hike. She has some limitations, so she decided not to do the walk and I stayed with her. We had about 1.5 hours to sit and talk. She is such a lovely person and I’ve enjoyed every second with her. I found out at dinner that her son’s birthday is the same day as Rick’s. Because we stayed back we had some time to wander around the small area and the tourist trap stuff. There was a small regional information booth and I discovered that we were mere kilometers from Narnia. NARNIA! How did I not know this and when can I go? NARNIA. Or Narni, as the town is seen on the map. But they did officially properly translate that for us in the English brochure about their art and the subterranean city beneath Narnia. Next visit.
Now back to my little apartment. Coming up the hill for the last time was sad. None of us are ready to leave but, alas, it is time to go. So, I’ll just sit here and enjoy the sunset although I should probably be packing. I have concerns about tomorrow because of some confusion between United and Air Canada and the hurricane is impacting flights. Fingers crossed. Almost time for our farewell dinner.
The farewell dinner was a true celebration. We started two weeks ago with Susan‘s birthday and tonight was Daria’s. Her husband was also with us and has, temporarily at least, resolved his problems from earlier in the week. She is the only one we won’t see in the morning since they are planning a leisurely solo trip to Rome. The chef brought out a special farewell dessert for everyone with a candle for Daria. David and the chefs were presented with their presents, and they seemed genuinely touched. Such a talented and enthusiastic staff.
Also discovered good news for Andrea. Last week she interviewed for a job and today she found out she got it! But she buried the lead on us by not mentioning that it is with the Yale rare books collection. Holy Antiquarian Book Heaven! Go girl!! That is over-the-top exciting. However, it is a big move for her in terms of location and adjustment with her boyfriend so a leap. But completely worth it.
Well, I think I have everything packed up. It is only 11:05pm and the alarm is set for 4:45am.
Today the Steps app thinks I’ve done 10,456 steps, 4.59 miles, and 21 flights of stairs. Of course, we know they are missing whole chunks of effort! Still don’t think that makes up for all the delicious sinning I’ve done over the past two weeks. But isn’t the rule… whatever happens in Italy stays in Italy. I’m kinda counting on that … that the airplane will just melt all those calories away. I do not regret one bite.
Woke up at 4:00, out of bed by 4:15, dressed, packed, and arrived at the parking lot by 5. Dropped the keys to my apartment off at school, and now I’m sitting back in the parking lot… here’s the bus. I’m really going to miss the 7:05 alarm clock.
Made it to Rome, the goodbyes were hard but many of us plan to be in Cleveland this time next year for the Movable Book Society conference. Then through the crazy check-in process and have been able to grab a bit of breakfast. More later.
Sunday (Monday on my time zone), October 2-3, 2022 (continued)
As I’m typing this, we are so close to landing at home. Home sweet home. Made perfect by that hubby who would gracefully let me go off on this crazy adventure. My iPad hasn’t changed time zones, so it thinks it is 4am. A perfect circle of a day. As far as travel goes it has been exceptionally smooth. Except for being trapped in middle seats, between animated New Yorkers hassling over tax forms, and sitting in front of screaming children on all three flights. Being a sardine for nine straight hours, then two, then two more, and standing in a lot of long lines, does make you contemplate humanity. I’ve finished two books and did two interesting Zentangles on the long flight.
The Steps app says I’ve done over 3.5 miles today but only one flight of stairs. That totally cracks me up. We know it didn’t count the steps of my apartment but what does it think about escalators? I walked up and down several in Rome.
I’m asking myself a revision of my favorite dinner question I asked everyone each night… what was your favorite thing you did the past two weeks? Oooff. I couldn’t possibly say. SO MUCH. EVERYTHING. Primarily, I’m thrilled I was able to spend more time with Helen and get to know the other three extraordinary teachers. Between my fellow students I know I have made nine new lifelong friends and we will stay connected. I can not wait to go home and make books! I don’t think the joy of picking and combining beautiful papers and sewing text blocks will ever get old. I have some crazy pop-ups leaping around in my head and it will be fun and challenging to see how they manifest. I confirmed I’m not great at papermaking but learned I’m a whiz around an indigo vat—something I’ve never done before. I’m good with that balance. As I knew with Helen’s projects, you are sometimes not sure where you are headed when you start but the journey and the destination are always fascinating. You could say this was a once-in-a-lifetime trip, but I really hope it isn’t. Although, in the future, Rick might at least be around on the weekends and for the trip home after we have done some wacky side trip. Two weeks is too long to be apart.
Monday, October 3, 2022
Truly home sweet home. Exhausted, happy to be home, laundry done but still lots to unpack and organize. I’m treating today like a Sunday and not trying to do too much. Tomorrow, however, I have to hit the ground running for the magazine. But I can’t wait to look through all my photos, show them to Rick, and share with the group.
We put my small screen project and the table runner up in the window for the moment. They look gorgeous and I’m proud of those pieces as I am of all my other work from the trip. The teachers came with well-thought-out excellent plans, and we all rose to the challenges they gave us. The benefits of this trip will last for a long time. There was still so much more to tell of my grand Italian adventure and more to come.
Stay tuned.
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Helen has done an excellent video (click here) of walking around town. Take the time for a stroll. She also published a lovely blog (click here) on our trip and it is worth a read too.