I’m back from my research trip!

Last Thursday night I arrived back from my research trip in Europe. It was wonderful to see my family again. We’d all missed each other!

In the time I was gone, I managed to take over 1000 photos, which The Reader and The Husband have since sat through. The Gymnast gave up well before the end!

It was a very worthwhile trip. I was able to do the three things I really wanted to do: I visited two museums and experienced one cultural event. They were all useful to adding to my understanding and learning of my chosen topic for my next book.

The people I met were so helpful and generous. At the cultural event, I happened to strike up a conversation with a lovely woman named Anna, standing next to me. She explained to me some of the things I otherwise would not have understood. It was so nice to have someone to share the experience with. And for her, it was useful as she got to practice her English in preparation for a family vacation later in the year.

At the first museum, I did not have an appointment – not surprisingly they could not fit me in at such short notice. However, I really enjoyed the exhibitions and displays and learned a lot. At the second museum, I did have an appointment, and we spent a very informative few hours together.

I took lots of photographs, and asked lots of questions. We exchanged information on teaching embroidery (the curator I met with sees it as part of her job to hand on the skills of the embroidery she is preserving – wonderful!). It was so good! Thank you, very sincerely, to AS for your generosity to me.

After spending the morning with the curator, I went out and sat nearby to eat my lunch and process what I had learned. I tried some things out with my needle and thread, and also started the job of emptying my head onto paper in an effort to really cement the things I had learned.

I realised that there were some things that I had neglected to do, to ask and to check. So as I was still there, it was better for me to go back to the museum and do it, rather than wait until email was my only option. They were quite happy to see me again! They’re rather pleased about the idea of there being the first English-language book on my topic. There have been some in their language, but none that any of us know of in English.

I came home with about 6 reference books that I’d never be able to purchase here. One or two are in English or partially in English. The rest I will use either via the photos and diagrams, or with the help of online translator tools. There were others that I could have purchased, but they were large, heavy, and fell more into the “very nice to have, but not actually necessary” category. As my life is not about accumulation of stuff, I was quite ok with leaving them there.

The countryside I travelled through on my way between locations was absolutely stunning. It is an amazing part of the world, and I look forward to sharing my photos with you, well down the track!

Thank you to all who encouraged me to go on the trip. It was extremely worthwhile and will make the book a far better book than if I hadn’t gone. I have so much more understanding of the embroidery and its context within its cultural setting than if I had just stayed here and looked at photos of historical artefacts. Seeing it in real life really made a huge difference. I understood things, particularly about the scale, that I never would have otherwise.

When I arrived back bearing gifts for my family, they also had a parcel for me: the advance copies of Sardinian Knotted Embroidery have arrived! Today I will contact my shipping agent and see when the likely arrival date of the whole shipment is going to be. It’s getting closer!