May 18

This is the last day of the tour. We all checked out of the Hotel Zlaty Lev in Jablonec and drove into Prague.

Petr driving our bus to Prague

very narrow streets

Then we checked into our hotel in the Old Town, and roamed around.
 We watched the clock in the square, paid triple prices for the privilege of sitting at a restaurant right across from the clock - outrageous! But we did it anyway for the experience. I had a $13 panini sandwich!!

We walked around various streets to find one of the old entrance gates.

                                                                                                                       

 after lunch Guy & Stephney decided to have a ice cream cone- Guy as always had vanilla. 

More lovely architecture.

                                                                             We walked the Charles Bridge and bought some artist work. The bridge was mobbed with people.

This woman a singing opera (and she was blind reading brail).

This man has a puppet dancing a strumming a guitar to music. 

 Margo & J-ME on the Charles Bridge, sharing a lovely day together.

This is the other side of the Charles Bridge (not as crowded)

Prague Castle

We window shopped.

Later, we ate dinner in a restaurant with live Gypsy music.

Guy enjoying his last dark Czech beer.

Margo & J-ME both wearing their necklaces they got in Czech. J-ME is fire polish glass and Margo is wearing amber. Both looked very nice.

Seeing a street artist blowing bubbles

A fire blower throwing sticks.

After dinner, Debra purchased some moldavite ( which she had been looking for all over the place). Then several of us had late night desert of knedliky (fruit dumpling) and ice cream.

Most people were flying home in the morning, so hugs and good byes were made outside the hotel.

To find out more about our next Bead Tour- go to www.wildthingsbeads.com

J-Me and Guy are the owners of Wild Things Beads, a small family run import business specializing in Czech glass beads and buttons and finding the unusual to bring to their warehouse. They also run working bead tours to Jablonec and Hong Kong. Their warehouse is located deep in the Sierra Nevada foothills of Northern California, and can be reached by phone at (530)743 1339 or on the web at www.wildthingsbeads.com. They are also open by appointment at their warehouse.

May 17

Today is the last day we will be hunting, shopping and roaming all over the hillsides for Czech glass beads and buttons.

The town of Jablonec from a distance as drove into the Jizera Mountains to get to a factory.

We started off our day early, most of us waking up around 6:45am to make sure we were ready for our bus at 8:00am.
We drove to a metal filigree factory, where we saw the tool shop and then watched a production run of filigree with really loud stamping and cutting of metal filigree. We were the first group to tour the factory floor.

Then we loaded up into the bus and drove to the Preciosa-Ornela seed bead factory bead shop in Zasada. It is the only seed bead factory in Europe, and the only reason Preciosa purchased Jablonex in 2010 was to get the Ornela seed bead factory.

Guy and Stephney being a little silly with their pasties..

 Glass mosaic on the wall in the seed bead shop.

After lunch, the long anticipated Antik warehouse run by Gypsies. We all loaded up on vintage stuff. Some ladies were willing to stay overnight they were having so much fun and had very dirty hands..

 Even our bus driver, Petr, dug in. He collects trains, and found some engines, train tracks and a landscape scene. 

I found antique eye cabochons and buttons. Don't I look creepy? I am sure when our Granddaughter see this she will be running from me.

But finally all things had  to come to an end, and we drove back to the hotel to settle up and arrange payments and shipping details.


Then off to the cavern for dinner.

J- Me and Guy are the owners of Wild Things Beads, a small family run import business specializing in Czech glass beads and buttons and finding the unusual to bring to their warehouse. They also run working bead tours to Jablonec and Hong Kong. Their warehouse is located deep in the Sierra Nevada foothills of Northern California, and can be reached by phone at (530)743 1339 or on the web at www.wildthingsbeads.com. They are also open by appointment at their warehouse.

May 16

Wow!

Today was a definite Wow day. We started off driving into the countryside near the German and Polish border to a small town in the forest with a factory on the edge of the forest. There we met Roman who had arranged lots of vintage beads (an I mean lots) and buttons to look at and purchase, as well as tons and tons of fabulous beads.

 Guy on the hunt.....

  Everyone oohing and awing at vintage goodies. 

We all loaded up. I mean - really loaded up. They had even hired a translator to help sell and communicate.

 This just happens to be J-ME's stash. Will she part with any of these precious Vintage beads or buttons? Come to Bead & Buttons show in Milwaukee this June to find out?!

We had lunch; which had been reserved  by Roman at a nearby restaurant at a very lovely and exotic restaurant which had very large wood sculptures all over the grounds.

  Very outrageous decorations on the walls.

 J-ME riding a very large dinosaur horsey type wood sculpture. 

 So, can anyone tell us what this is? Fruit? from where? Is was a piece on one of our plate's as decoration. The fruit or vegie orange round thing tasted a bit tart at first, then sweet, with very small seeds. Very strange.

Well, we later found out what it is. It is fruit called Physalis, sometimes also called Chinese Lantern.

We then drove into Novy Bor to see a bead show by 5 lampwork artists of which one was Anna, our translator. We all loaded up. Again. In fact we bought so much that all of the artists will have to make more stock for their showing which is to end in 28 days! We left them with hardly any jewelry to display. It was madness and so much fun!

 Take a look at this earring and necklace set - very modern look.  

And this one was very unusual. J-ME got two different ones by this artist - Anna.

 This one was NOT FOR SALE. and one of us so wanted to bring it home with her.

This is some of Roxanne's pieces she had to take home with her. The large yellowish green ones are uranium glass that glow with a black light. And they are also hollow blown beads. 

 Okay, so Debra is wearing a happy smile, you should have seen her a few minutes later when she wore one of her purchases out with her, and all of them on her arm went home with her.

 And let us not forget Petr, our driver had to decide if he looked good in this one.... What do you think?

 This lovely young lady is Anna- one of the wonderful artist's in this art gallery showing. We all need to give her our support and a large applause. She is fantastic.

Then we drove back to Jablonec with the bus driver speeding like a maniac; because we were 30 minutes late to our next appointment at a really nice small factory. We all bought a little bit of pressed beads, but many loaded up on the lovely lampwork. A friend of the factory owner was displaying her artwork hand painted on glass, some of us bought a few.

 one tray of lampwork for us to choose from. A lot of it was wiped out once we attacked the trays. You  are seeing the aftermath in this photo.

So now we are almost finished picking our lovelies to take home. 

We had reservations at a nice, family owned restaurant who was making rabbit as a special item, which was not on the menu, but almost everyone canceled except four of us. When we arrived the table of 15 was laid out in anticipation. Veronika and her two beautiful daughters came and introduced themselves to us. Disappointment all around that only four showed up. But the ones who did get to attend had a fabulous meal.

 So here we are.... at dinner in a 5 star restaurant.

 this is a chicken stuffed with pear  

                                                                                     








The main reason Guy & J-ME love this special restaurant - the rabbit dishes are wonderful.






                                            Back at the hotel.... button party in Marcia's room.

  

And off to sleep for the night (except of course, for yours truly, as I am busy working on this blog while the wind blows crazily outside our window)

J-Me and Guy are the owners of Wild Things Beads, a small family run import business specializing in Czech glass beads and buttons and finding the unusual to bring to their warehouse. They also run working bead tours to Jablonec and Hong Kong. Their warehouse is located deep in the Sierra Nevada foothills of Northern California, and can be reached by phone at (530)743 1339 or on the web at www.wildthingsbeads.com. They are also open by appointment at their warehouse.