Visiting the Kazuri Bead Factory in Nairobi, Kenya

On August 18, 2021August 18, 2021 By Living The Q Life Travel AdventuresIn Africa, Kenya1 Comment

Although it is referred to as the Kazuri Bead Factory, it is really an artisan workshop where the beads for necklaces and bracelets as well as other pottery are created. Everything created by the artisans for Kazuri are handmade and hand-painted based on a preset pattern that each of the workers follow. In addition to creating beautiful jewelry and pottery, Kazuri provides work for mostly single mothers and provides free medical care for their employees and their immediate family. Buying items from Kazuri, which are sold worldwide, is really an opportunity to get some something beautiful and help the people as well.

It all starts by making the clay which is pressed into blocks, then cut into strips that are scored to create smaller squares. The soft clay is then formed by hand into different size beads for the jewelry, a hole is poked through the center, and then it is kilned to create the hard bead. For the pottery, the clay is formed into bowls, cups, plates, and other forms and then also sent to the kiln to be baked and hardened. After the clay has been baked, it then goes to another set of artisans who began to paint the clay based on the pattern that they are working with. It is up to the individual artist as to whether they would add the base paint, let it dry, and paint any details before sending it to the kiln or whether they would bake it after applying the base paint and then adding the details and baking a final time. Once it is baked with the color, the beads have the shine that one would expect it to have.

The jewelry and pottery created by Kazuri is truly beautiful, but we were certain that we didn’t have the patience to do the detail work by hand that the women of the factory did. We enjoyed walking through the shop after taking a tour of the factory and we did buy a couple of necklaces while we were there. Taking the tour of the Kazuri Bead Factory only takes about an hour, but it is certainly worth the time.

Clay Beads After Being Fired in the Kiln

Street Art Around the World

On April 8, 2021April 8, 2021 By Living The Q Life Travel AdventuresIn Blogging2 Comments

The sides of buildings have become a blank canvass for artists to create unique and often whimsical murals. While there is still graffiti in plenty of places, a lot of it has mostly been replaced by interesting works of art. Although not everyone is a fan of the works that can be found in cities everywhere, we have certainly seen some interesting ones. Obviously the quality of the artwork depends on the talent of the artist and the choice of subjects can be political or can sometimes offend as well. The notion of using walls of buildings to tell a visual story is nothing new as we witnessed by seeing all of the hieroglyphs on the ancient temples in Egypt. These murals aren’t restricted to the outside of buildings, it is also common to see them painted on the walls of restaurants as well. What do you think, are the paintings on the walls artwork or an eyesore?

Sandhill Cranes Painted on Wall in Southern Colorado

IMGP8438 — Artwork in Cochabamba, Bolivia

IMGP4771 — Painted Wall Above Elevators in Denver

The Jewish Cemetery and the Raoul Wallenberg Holocaust Memorial Park at the Dohany Street Synagogue in Budapest, Hungary

On March 8, 2021March 8, 2021 By Living The Q Life Travel AdventuresIn Hungary3 Comments

The city of Budapest in Hungary has such an interesting history and there are many wonderful sites to see when visiting the capital city. One of the places that should certainly be visited is the Dohany Street Synagogue, also known as the Great Synagogue. There are many reasons to take time to go to the synagogue, most notably the synagogue itself as well as the Hungarian Jewish Museum that is located there. When walking around the grounds of the synagogue, you will find two spots that are both beautiful and yet humbling at the same time. First is the Jewish Cemetery that is located at the synagogue, which is something very unusual indeed. The second is the Raoul Wallenberg Holocaust Memorial Park, which is a courtyard with the focal point being the weeping willow artwork.

Inside the Courtyard of the Great Synagogue

Standing in the Cemetery with the Plaque in the Background

Trees in the Cemetery with the Synagogue Adjacent

We happened to visit Dohany Street Synagogue on a rainy day, which in many ways enhanced to the atmosphere as we walked around the synagogue to see the memorials that are located there. In a period of history that is important to remember in order to ensure that it never happens again, the memorials honor the over 400,000 Hungarian Jews who were murdered by the Nazis during World War II. The cemetery is certainly unusual in that the Torah specifies that burials are supposed to be outside of the city, but this was a matter of circumstance as about 2,000 people were buried at the site during the Holocaust in a makeshift graveyard. Today there is a lush garden amongst the various headstones to commemorate those who are buried there.

At the rear of the synagogue is the Raoul Wallenberg Holocaust Memorial Park. The artwork by Imre Varga depicting a weeping willow with names and tattoo numbers of those whose lives were lost there engraved on the leaves. The water from the rain was glistening off of the leaves and branches while were there and it was truly as if the artwork was actually weeping on the day that we visited. We had a similar experience when we saw the Shoes on the Danube Bank, which is another memorial to those who were murdered during the Holocaust. It is a very somber experience as you walk around the grounds, but certainly something that should be seen when planning a trip to Budapest.