Tilburg, Netherlands

I got a nice tour of Tilburg University on Monday. It is a quiet, small campus, and just walking through it you wouldn't know that it is renowned world-wide for its econometrics program. The glass corridors between buildings are especially pretty. And the lawns with wi-fi coverage all over even better :)

Today Tuesday was the first real venture into Tilburg proper. I took two buses, with Figment and her baby girl, to the center of town. Living here is almost like being out in the Long Island suburbs, by Suffolk. A bit out of the way, but with train access, small shopping center, main town small but with enough to cover more than the basic needs.

We visited the textile museum, which is actually pretty neat, and big. Tilburg is the Queen's official linens supplier (or at least they used to be. They still have official seals everywhere.. but I can't find any info in english online to confirm the fact...) The museum is still an active warehouse. And they also do translation of works of art to tapestries and rugs for artists. One project we saw was a 5X3m rug for a church. 2 people were assigned the job, working 16 hours a week each. With pattern in hand, and outlines traced on the canvas, they place individual strands of color to form details of the design, something a machine could not do, as it requires too many changes of colors. Estimated time to finish: 1 year! I didn't dare ask how much it costs to do this kinda stuff...

Evenings have been spent at home chilling with the family, planning trips and learning stuff. And relaxing, which I am always happy to do :) And I'm kinda back on NY time... ;)