The Big Island

You can find M&M’s here, but only a couple. They are:

Mike and Misato Mortara’s glass studio: 2400°Fahrenheit, hidden away between volcano and forest. Once you have managed to find the studio you will see that it’s small, but perfectly set up for their requirements. Over the second half of the week, we helped to make vases from their range, which they make in four different colour schemes, according to the season. Each form is chosen with great care, and every piece has something special. They work so well together as a team, and so we witnessed a well organised and carefully planned choreography. As it wasn’t always easy for the two of us to fit in with this routine, there was always an opportunity for one of us to try our hand at selling pieces in their showroom, with some success.

After three days in the studio, we had four days off, of which we were allowed to spend one afternoon at the furnace. The rest of the time we spent exploring the island in all sorts of ways. Naturally, we checked out the Volcano National Park which was just five minutes away from where we stayed. During the daytime, you can see the toxic gases coming out of the earth, and at night, even the glow of the craters. For a nice change, we also went snorkelling in various reefs along the coast. Here we saw a multitude of big and small fish with stripes, dots and other colourful patterns, and even a few turtles.

Now we are back at M&M’s studio, and just as you would expect from M&M’s, there’s always a good supply of chocolate.