Not long ago and not far away...

Getting caught up on blog posts here -- this one required a delay mostly for photographic reasons, which you'll understand at the end of the post :)

We made things!

A couple weeks ago Chris and I had a Toronto Day with two very different activities.  The first being to go see the Auschwitz exhibit at the ROM and the second to go learn Glass Blowing.   Very different activities for sure, with the only linking factor being located a few minutes from each other ;)

On the wall in the staircase on the way in.

So the Auschwitz exhibit was extremely well done.   Hard at times to take in, but that's what makes it so important - because not nearly as hard as those who suffered through it.  Even the random teenagers there were remarkably quiet and attentive.  You are given a headset to provide an audio tour which added significantly to the exhibit - it's a lot more than just reading what's on the wall, as well it provides audio for the various video displays throughout.  The exhibit takes you through before, during, and after World War 2, and does a good job of giving the large-scale information (maps, newspaper articles, stats, etc) and the individual stories that bring the horrors to a personal level.  It was haunting.

Next up, after a bit of a walk and a mindset shift, was glass-blowing at Playing with Fire (what a great name eh?).  It was a Date Night class, which meant just the two of us.  Normally you do two items, one from each of two lists.  However, on the second list, there were a few items that if you chose them you'd only make the one.  Of course both C and I chose those ones ;)

We were given a tour of the shop, introduced to the safety rules, and the process explained.   Our instructor would be the one getting the molten glass out of the oven, we would do the colour application, the blowing, and the shaping.

Chris loading his colours

So step one is to put colour on your glass -- we were allowed to pick up to three.  Chris chose red and yellow, where I had purple, blue, and white.   Gravity is no more your friend in this activity than in riding ;). That's molten glass you're dunking in the coloured glass chips -- you have to keep the rod turning at all times or else gravity kicks in and pulls it down - very quickly given a misshapen and dangerously floor-directed blob.

C's colours at the top; mine at the bottom

Next came the blowing - instructions were super complex here.  Either "blow hard" or "blow soft" lol.   Our instructor kept the glass rod rolling while we did this (remember - gravity!); for those not on their first day this is a one-person activity, but for day-one beginners we were given only one task at a time.

What the whole activity was named for,
but arguably imo the most boring part.

Don't stop moving or that blob ends up on the ground

Frequently the glass has to be reheated to keep it flexible

Once the basic width of the base is established, a second rod is attached to it, and the top is tapped off.  There are so very many ways this could go wrong that it was also left to the pro ;).   Video of it on FB.

Ready to be transferred to the other rod

Once it's effectively turned around, you grab some tongs, insert them in the top, and gradually shape the glass to be what you want it to be.   All while keeping it rolling and insanely hot of course ;) 

Closer to done - the trick is to keep the tongs touching the top,
and to move with the glass (which - remember - must keep rolling)

Last step is to melt off the attachment piece to re-flatten the bottom out - this was surprisingly simple and done with a blowtorch ;)

Almost done!

Afterwards though it requires 12h to slowly cool.  Which meant it would be more than a week before C went on a mission to pick up our finished pieces.   A long wait, but worth it!

Chris' finished glass

My finished vase

Both of us really enjoyed it and would do it again!   A little cost prohibitive to do as often as we might like, but was very cool and def something I'd enjoy getting better at.

Dinner in our Toronto day was also an accidentally fun adventure.   We ended up at the Hair of the Dog restaurant in a funky building with random dogs on the rotating photo screen.   Also, surprisingly good food!  

The dog on the bottom of C's glass was an excellent touch!