As many of you know, my son Marc has been in charge of my ebay store and website for the last month. Vito and I met Michael in Rome and traveled by train north to The Netherlands. It was a spectacular holiday and we filled every minute with adventure.

I was especially thrilled to watch the artisans in Murano create their spectacular works of art from a blob of hot glass. Just amazing! I brought home some treasures from Murano and have already listed a few pieces in my ebay store. I also fell in love with a few of the small towns; I found them much more comfortable than many of the capitals. Paris was glorious, but Strasbourg felt like a place I could come to call home. I could have stayed for months. Brussels was exciting, but Brugge captured my heart. The most spectacular jewelry store was in The Hague.

We visited jewelers everywhere but this one shop in The Hague had the most magnificent jewelry of all. Every piece was exquisite. The funny thing was, the areas devoted to jewelry, like Ponte Vecchio in Florence, just overwhelmed me. I prefer the hidden treasures and small out the way places. I was thrilled, one morning, when Michael and I got off the tram in Brussels, to find a lovely Tiffany & Co. store. It was a with a feeling of complete contentment that I looked through the familiar glass cases.

We visited the Vatican, the Uffizi, Versailles; the place I was afraid to visit (but I’m glad that I did) was Ann Frank’s house. I knew it would break my heart, and it did. But it gave us a lot to think about. Interesting, with all of the landmarks and museums, the two place with the longest lines were Versailles and the Ann Frank house.

After we climbed the dome in St. Peters, I developed a fear of heights. Actually, a fear of looking up and looking down. I was almost hysterical on the lift on the Eiffel Tower. After that, Michael made sure I kept climbing and it really became fun for me. I love climbing now! I can be such a complainer…

We walked for miles everyday. My feet were in such need for a pedicure that the sheets on the bed started to hurt my toes. I did find some fun pieces of vintage jewelry at the tiny shops I love so to explore. Every meal was unique and delicious; one of my favorite meals was a buttery apricot Danish and cappuccino in Paris.

In Florence, after two weeks of pizza and pasta, we decided to have Mexican food….what a huge mistake that was. They confused our order, the manager yelled at us, and a fly even crawled OUT of Vito’s burrito when he got to the end. I was amazed that no one got sick after that meal.

We stayed in some very strange hotels and some truly luxurious places. The first night we were in a hotel that actually terrified me. After that we moved to a hotel that made me feel like a princess. My bed was the size of two queen size beds, pushed together. It had 8 pillows!! I could have stayed forever!! Everything was marble and I was so happy there…

I was worried about Marc trying to locate and ship everything, but it looks as though everything went smoothly and I was not missed at all. Now, where to go treasure hunting next???