Sunday 20 September 2015

An award winning flash trip experience to Luxembourg!

Hello friends!
It seems I am unable to blog more frequently with all the things happening around here! But I decided that this virtual life (the blogging) is not more important than real life and its achievements! So I will be blogging only when I can! Or when there is something important to say!
I still read all the friend's blogs although I am not able to leave as many comments as I used to!
Bytheway thank you for all your comments on my blog. All those who are no-reply bloggers are not answered though!
Anyway about the title of this blogpost!
At the end of July hubby got a call from The Smile of the Child, the biggest organization in Greece for the protection of children.
What they wanted was a volunteer shadow puppetry player who was willing to participate in a competition in Luxembourg in September where the Smile of the Child wanted to present the results of the INTERSYC programme, a cross country programme between Greece and Bulgaria. The competition was going to be held  during the INTERREG 25 YEARS convention in Belval, Luxembourg.
To cut a long story short, it was two other puppeteers, friends of ours, who suggested hubby and I would be perfect for this whole thing as hubby is an excellent shadow puppet player with time in his hands and I could do all the interpretation/translation and e-mailing stuff.
And so in between our summer coming and going to the beach house, and my gall bladder surgery, and a kitchen renovation and school starting, hubby had to write a play and I had to answer all kinds of phone calls and e-mails and translate the play and we had to meet people to finalize all the details.
We were not going to be paid for this whole thing but flight tickets, hotel accomodation and all meals would be covered!
So it happened.
We flew out Monday morning,
prepared the shadow puppetry stage,
and did rehearsals.
On Tuesday we attended the convention,
met the European Territorial Policy Comissioner along with many other important people,
had great food,
did our performance
 and through televoting from the attendees we got the first prize,
this amazing heavy sculpture made of solid iron and wood

 that goes to The smile of the Child offices.
We were really very happy!
Sightseeingwise due to the bad weather and the lack of time the only things we managed to see were the train station in Luxembourg,



the airport,
the Convention centre in the very very new University campus of Belval,

and the buildings around it.

We stayed at the Ibis Esch-Belval Hotel.
and visited the nearby supermarket and Belval Plaza Mall but didn't do much shopping.
Weatherwise it was winter in Luxembourg and thank God we had winter jackets with us.
The next day since the weather was terrible we couldn't go sightseeing so we simply made our suitcases and returned to Greece.
I guess you know I am afraid of thunderstorms. So we were to fly out of Luxembourg in this small jet and I was trying to take a pic of its propeller
and look what I got!
Yeap a thunder strike! Amazing! We had an excellent pilot though!We arrived back safe and sound!
I'd like to thank here Anastasia and Maria from the INTERREG cross border programme and Vasso and Dimitris from the Smile of the Child for the chance they gave us and their cooperation. It was great fun!
This blogpost is linked up to Our Beautiful World.

32 comments:

Thalia Tzellou said...

Θερμά συγχαρητήρια Αριάδνη μου!! Το αξίζατε το βραβείο και με το παραπάνω!! Χάρηκα πάρα πολύ!! Πολύ ωραίες φωτογραφίες!! Εχετε την αγάπη μας, φιλάκια πολλά!!

Purple Pixie Dust said...

WOW, that was great and you won first prize.Good for you and hubby. Glad you had a great time and the photo's you did take are great. Would love to have seen the puppet show. big hugs from Lynda Ruth in New Brunswick. xxx

devonseaglass said...

Fan bloody tastic! Congratulations and celebrations!

Justine said...

Congratulations! Looks like a fun trip despite the weather.

Ο κόσμος της Ράνιας said...

Χίλια μπράβο και πολλά συγχαρητήρια για το έργο σας !!!!
Καλή συνέχεια !!!!

Unknown said...

Scary flight! Congratulations on winning with your play, though!

Ella and Nesta said...

Congratulations! This is a great achievement! Well done for being so brave too with the flight.

Ella and Nesta said...

Congratulations! This is a great achievement! Well done for being so brave with the flight too.

Kim said...

Wow!! How exciting for you all. Well done on winning. I don't think I would have liked to be flying in that weather. You are a braver girl than I.

AppleApricot Wen said...

Oh my that's terrifying this thunder strike! But great shot though :) Congratulations on the first prize, how wonderful! The station there looks beautiful, it's a pity you didn't have the time to visit the city. Good luck with all the things on your to do list, it seems a whole lot to me! Hugs xx

Unknown said...

So, living the High Life now, eh Ariadne??? Well done to both of you. It sounds like a huge input on your part, so it was great that your efforts were so well rewarded. And for such a good cause too. Just a shame about the brevity of the trip and the terrible weather. x

Decor Asylum said...

Πολλά συγχαρητήρια Αριάδνη!!! Πάντα τέτοιες όμορφες εμπειρίες!!

Marie-Anne said...

Υπέροχα!!!!!! Και το ταξίδι-αστραπή, και η εθελοντική συμμετοχή σας για το Χαμόγελο του Παιδιού, αλλά και η μεγάλη σας διάκριση!!!!!
Συγχαρητήρια, Αριάδνη μου και στους δύο σας!!!!! Πάντα τέτοια!!!!!
Φιλιά και καλή εβδομάδα!!!!

Mii Stitch said...

Wow! Congratulations to the both of you for your hard work!!!
Looks like you had a great time x

Akamatra said...

Congratulations!!! What a great honour and what an awesome achievement!!!
I am not afraid of thunders but I would be terrified to fly during a storm. Oh wait. I would be terrified to fly either way, lol!

Unknown said...

Bravo, that was great, happy for both of you!Congratulations to Themis!

Brigitte said...

What an achievement and so well deserved. Congratulations!

zina said...

Amazing news!!! Congratulation Ariadne!!!!! Do you have it in video shared on youtube maybe????

alekacraftaholic said...

Αχ, να το ήξερα ότι θα πήγαινες Βelval θα σου έλεγα να συναντήσεις το κοριτσάκι μου για οτιδήποτε χρειαζόσουν.Εκεί μένει και σπουδάζει...
Συγχαρητήρια για την όμορφη και βραβευθείσα συμμετοχή σας ! Πάντα τέτοια εύχομαι !

Christina(ArtDecorationCrafting) said...

Μπράβο & πάλι μπράβο! Κάτι τέτοια μας κάνουν να χαιρόμαστε μέσα σε όλη την μαυρίλα.

Sunday at Home | Κυριακή στο σπίτι said...

Πολλά συγχαρητήρια σε όλους σας για την υπέροχη δουλειά! Πολύ χάρηκα!

Petites xxx et Cie said...

Félicitations !
Plein de bisxxxx

Jo who can't think of a clever nickname said...

Congratulations on your win and the wonderful trophy. The railways station looks rather lovely too,

Sheryl said...

Wonderful photos Ariadne. A marvellous trip, a lot of work but look at your reward, congrats to you both. Amazing snap of the thunderstorm from the plane, bit scary.

Magali@TheLittleWhiteHouse said...

What a wonderful experience! Congratulations!

eleanna said...

Congratulations Ariadne (& the hubby of course!) So beautiful things happen around us every day

Vicki Boster said...

Ariadne-- what a wonderful trip-- the puppetry experience and the opportunity to tour-- congrats on winning first place!!!

I totally understand your fear of flying- I'm not a very confident flyer-- terrified actually-- and I would have to have major drugs or lots of alcohol to get on a prop plane!!
Love
Vicki

Judy Cooper Textile Artist said...

This is a rather late Congratulations!!! Well done both of you. Thanks for sharing your wonderful photos too.

Contagiously Crafty said...

Fabulous series of photos. So glad to have found you through Our Beautiful World.

Ros Crawford said...

Oh well done to you both!!! What a fantastic experience ... Thanks so much for sharing your fabulous photos at OBW!!

~Lavender Dreamer~ said...

What a wonderful trip and you look fabulous my friend. I've enjoyed the photos and catching up on some of your news. You've been so busy and I like seeing photos of your home and bookcases. Enjoy your week! Sweet hugs, Diane

AppleApricot Wen said...

A terrific shot for weather! Thank you for joining OBW :) xx