Happy Holidays!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and Hanukkah. Thank you for following my blog through the year. I wish you all a healthy, happy and prosperous 2015.

Florence, Italy, anyone?

I've been kind of freaking out. I have made the commitment to teach 2 workshops in Europe this coming year. In fear that I've overcommitted myself, and that neither class would make, I've been paralyzed. But I'm beginning to think this is really going to happen.

In May, 2015, I am going to teach in Italy. The class is not full yet, but the spaces are filling. The 5 day class is limited to 10 students. We'll spend 13 days in a private villa in the Santa Croce section of Florence. We'll have 3 apartments so we will be 4 per apartment. Cafes and shops are right outside and it's only a 10 minute walk to the Accademia D'ARTE, where our class will be held. Check out the school: www.accademiadarte.it.

This trip is being orchestrated by Debra and Ivano Zamperla, both talented artists, who have hosted several of my workshops in their home town, Ann Arbor, MI. Ivano is from Italy, and he knows his home well, so we'll be in good hands.

Here's Debra's description of what to expect when we're not working in the studio:
"We'll go to the medieval city of Siena because of the contrast with Florence. We'll tour the Duomo (other side of the river which isn't very touristy, but has the artisan shops and visit the artisans themselves with a demo of Luigi doing his gilding). We will go to the hilltown of Fiesole just above Florence (20 min bus) for it's fantastic view of Florence.

We will visit the Uffizi Museum (2-hour tour with a fantastic tour guide) followed by a 1-hour tour of the Medici's secret passageway from the Palazzo Vecchio (seat of govt) to their home in the Palazzo Pitti across the Arno. The passageway is lined with self-portraits of artists. We also visit the Accademia (which houses the original David and is not to be missed - it takes your breath away! One of the participants last year burst into tears at the sight of him. We'll have our fantastic tour guide Alexandra for this, too

On a separate day we visit the gallery and home of the Medici (Pitti Palace). In Siena we will visit various museums, also with our guide. Most of all - the Duomo there. 

We are trying to leave a little free time because one of the nicest things about being in Florence is strolling around. You need time to do it."

I've avoided writing about this because I couldn't get myself to believe it would actually happen. But I'm starting to believe it. This will be a wonderful trip. I'd better go out and get some Pimmsleur Language CD's for my car.

To get more details of the trip, go to: http://margaretdyer.com/Florence2015.html
To secure a place in my class or to be on her email list, contact Debra at idzamperla@gmail.com

And I'll be returning in late August to teach at La Bonne Etoile, in Fontaine-Fourches, France. I'm so looking forward to seeing Kippy and Jerome again. It's like a second home to me now. I'll give you a chance to digest this post before I talk about that one.