A Treat for Me!

When I was alone in Vienna, I was walking along the main shopping drag and came across a shop named "Petit Point". Naturally, I had to stop in. This is one of two purchases I made there; the other's waiting for another blog post. The thread is DMC, she was working on it in her shop, and we talked about stuff. I gave her the names of several silk floss manufacturers and she was really interested in switching production to silk. She's not the only one who does it. As the work is hand made and well executed, its price is commensurate. She had a lot of lovely purses too, but they were out of my price range.

You can tell her attention to detail in how well the inside's finished off. Anyway, if you want to go (she has no website), it's southeast of St. Stephensdom on the main pedestrian street, a couple of blocks down.

Trogir

Yes, I'm still writing about the road trip weeks later - cause I keep getting photos put up and there's much to tell. On our last day in Split, we went to Trogir. It's about half an hour north of there and UNESCO has marked it as a World Heritage Site because it's the best-preserved medieval town in central Europe. It's a great little place. The old town is on an island in the middle of the newer parts, and there's not a single modern building in it. This top picture is the former town hall; it's used now as a school. I'd imagine it's hard to study there with the view of the boat basin out all the windows.

Here is part of the inside of the "fort" part. We walked the battlements and inside that tower is a great big pigeon den. It stinks, literally. The views from the walls are pretty, though.

And this is the landward entrance to town. The walls encompass everything to the water side.

Lots of little alleys like this one run in a crooked way throughout the town. It's easy to get lost in them if you don't keep your bearings or don't keep the water in sight. The place was crowded; again, my companion had to wait to get a shot without people in it.

This is the footbridge to one of the newer areas of town. It's just a pretty bridge, so I put it here. There was also a market on the new side and we were lucky enough to see a line of parked classic cars on the quay as we ate lunch. My companion took a lot of pictures of them for my husband. If you want to see more pictures of Trogir, go here.

Part Six Done

I got part six done just before I went off on my three day airplane odyssey (it wasn't as bad as it sounds). They mailed me part seven, but I haven't started it yet. I probably will in the next day or so. There's definitely an inkling of the overall pattern now, and with all the leaves, I'm glad I picked a green thread.

Flowers!

I finished up the bottom flowers on the outer panel and started one on the inner panel, then began the berries. It's coming along pretty well and goes quickly when I work on it ... which will be a lot more now that I'm home.

More Celadon

Been working on filling in more green on the plaques. Can't work on it tonight; my bag's checked in all the way to the States and I'm in Paris at a hotel. Tomorrow I'll be home. It seems so long and so short a time simultaneously. I am going to miss there.

Split Beach

The beach by the hotel we stayed at is called Znjan. I have no idea how to pronounce it. It's a pretty beach with lots of white rocks and views of the islands a few kilometers away. It's also a very popular beach with the locals. most of the pictures my companion took don't have people in them because he really prefers not to take pictures of people without permission. He had to work to crop people out or not get them in the shot. Anyway... it's not because the beach isn't used that it looks empty in my pictures. During the day, people go out to sunbathe and enjoy the cooler breeze at the shore. These people leave between four and six in the afternoon in a process we called "the shift change". For about an hour, the beach is empty-ish, then the families come out to go to the little coffee bars (with playgrounds) and walk up and down the walkway lining the beach.

A lot of things go on there - walking dogs, rollerblade lessons for preteens, elderly strolls. It's like half the population comes out before dinner to enjoy the evening. Around sunset, they all start going home and then the fun begins.

Living in the Balkans means there's no privacy at home. Extended families live together in what we'd call single family dwellings here. So the Kosovars go to hotels to get it. The people of Split head to the beach. Cars cruise up and down it looking for the one thing in demand - empty benches. Benches are about twenty meters apart and provide that little bit of privacy you just can't get at home. Elderly men in groups drinking and talking. Teenagers making out. Older couples getting away from the in laws and kids at home. All come down to the beach after dusk for some time alone and together. We witnessed this every night, and we went down too - but not for privacy. My companion took a lot of photos of the beach at night and I acted as his assistant.

Split was the highlight of the road trip for both of us. If you get the chance to go there, grab it with both hands.

Barely Any Progress

I've been in a whirlwind the past week preparing to leave and getting everything like museum visiting squared away. Ergo, not really any progress on stitching. I did manage to add a little more yellow to the flame. Things will calm down for me at the weekend.