The Ismail Samani Mausoleum   Yes!! I know you are expecting the wonderful blue tiled buildings. They are stunning. Here is one to keep you going til I post about them, and there will be several posts. One of the facades of Registan Square  One of the main reasons we design in black in white is that colour can be distracting. When you remove colour you are able to better able to see any texture. This building is the prefect example. If there were coloured tiles all over it - you wouldn't see all the amazing brick patterns. One of my favourite buildings in Uzbekistan is in Bukhara. The Ismail Samani Mausoleum.  This beautiful mausoleum is constructed in baked bricks that are laid in 18 pattern forms. The pattern of three horizontal bricks and three vertical bricks is apparently showing the importance of learning - stacks and stacks of books (I can’t help but see basketweave) It was built in the 10th century CE as the resting place of the powerful and influential Islamic Sa...

Jan painting her design There were so many highlights on the 2 tours I recently took part in. Isha from Aahilya Holidays really knows how to put a very enjoyable holiday together. Sight seeing, learning about the history of textiles and fabulous workshops for the holiday guests to take part in.  On the first day of our tour, after a busy morning enjoying the sights of madrassahs and a market, we had a wonderful, relaxing few hours painting pre prepared plates at the working studio of Akbar Rahimov.  Alisher, the son of Akbar Rakhimov giving us a welcome talk and outlining the history of this fascinating working studio. Alisher took us through the various rooms of the studio, telling us about the generations of the same family working in this beautiful, airy studio.   A large table was laid up ready for our group with several thin paint brushes each, a pre prepared plate and many small bowls of different glazes. Both groups thoroughly enjoyed this quiet and very relaxing t...

The first Heathrow group - Ruth, Chris, Trisha, Julie, Maggie, Jan and Carla.    So - to begin.  I traveled to, and toured Uzbekistan with Isha and Aahilya Holidays for a month. We traveled with 2 groups, one 23 March to 7th April and the next one 7th to 22nd April. So I had the privilege of visiting each venue and experience twice. There were 14 guest in each group. From the UK, Australia and New Zealand. They were fabulous groups, we had such a great time.  We traveled by coach, airplane, car and train. Each different type of transport offered us a different view of the country.   We all flew into Tashkent, with flights coming in from all over, it took a while for everyone to arrive. Everyone was met at the airport when they arrived and transferred to our very comfortable hotel. On the first night we ate in our hotel, a lot of the guests were tired from traveling. This dinner was important as we met our wonderful guide Khurshid. Little did we know when we firs...