La Meridiana - glamorama

To all in Oz

This time we are here in a Tuscan ideal...have been here for four days now and feeling like we are definitely getting the hang of this place.   We took a train...actually three or four trains .... over from France to Italy then down here which took all day on Sunday.  We were met by two people movers and staff (there were a lot of other people coming as well on the train). Mostly women, but a Spanish bloke as well..  We were taken to this place in the hills ....La Meridiana, about ten minutes from this old village called Certaldo.  Dirk and I were shown around to the back patio area alongside the main buildings and given a room with our own kitchen and bathroom and a piece of patio, with a view of the hills and valleys to spend the evenings looking at  -  with a good chianti perhaps. We got this good room because we were a couple!!!! A big plus for travelling together.

Here's Dirk with one of the residents from England....lovely gal named Penny.  All the residents are great...a lot from America, as are the two teachers.. Tip Toland and Beth Caverner Stichter.  Look em up on Google and be amazed.  They are probably the most talented people I have ever met and completely without ego.

Here's a couple of images of the group in session..we are into our fifth day tomorrow and the week is flying by.   Before I know it it will be all over and we will be moving on.  But not quite yet.  This is the opportunity I need to learn new techniques for making sculpture without the constraints of having to deal with GLAZES.

This is Tip giving us a talk about expressions

Dirk has been cooling his heels and reading, sleeping and walking...although the walk back from Certaldo to here tested him ... a hot day and no water.  About ten kilometers, I guess...and mostly up hill.  He's proving to be a popular figure here as he usually gets plenty of appreciation from people who dont' expect to be made to laugh from someone they don't know at all.  I have an idea that there have been few Australians to come here ... it's probably my imagination, but we are a bit of a rarity this far from the antipodes.

Old town of Certaldo

We are being treated to excursions to lovely villages nearby...just this evening we have returned from a village called Barbarino where we were treated to a lovely wine and food tasting session.  All of us in three cars.

I will post another blog next week.  Love to all, Sal and Dirk