After 17 days of traveling I'm worn out!! I spent 2 long weeks in meetings but managed to have a little fun on the weekends. Vern's trip to Denmark overlapped with mine so we were able to spend some time London, Denmark and Sweden. Believe it or not, 60% of the people in Copenhagen ride their bicycles once a day; that translates to over 300,000 bikes on the road and a city designed for cyclist! I rate Copenhagen the most bike-friendly city I've ever visited.I looked everywhere in London for beads...but couldn't find any. Presumably selling beads doesn't pull in enough cash to support a
storefront in the big city! I had more luck in Denmark and Sweden. I found a local bead artist who revealed her suppliers. Of course, that meant some fast peddling across town only to find that the bead store had closed 5 min beforehand. I snapped a picture (above) of the store front and really wasn't expecting much. However, when we went back I was amazed! It was truly the best bead store I've ever been in. Beads high and low...in ever nook and cranny, wood beads, gemstones, spacers galore....I could have spent 4 hours there. Fortunately for Vern, the exchange rate forced me to stop after a 2 hour spree. Vern ended up falling asleep in the corner while the sales clerk asked if she could throw popcorn at him!
Later, we took the ferry from Helsinger, Denmark to Helsinborg, Sweden. The town that we visited in Sweden was small and also very bike friendly. One of the locals encouraged us to visit a big garden fair. It was really pretty...and best of all, it had a bead booth. Not much of a selection, but I had to buy at least one bead for the "Going Global" collection.Missed you all tons!
