...Win Some

As I was unpacking and sorting out my European loot, including the gifts for my family, I was struck by how little there seemed to be. Honestly, I thought I bought more stuff than that! And my suitcase kept gaining weight! Who knew how heavy nothing could be?

Anyway, I believe I have mentioned my slight addiction to earrings, and how I was going to feed it during my travels. Well, I didn't limit myself only to earrings, I have to admit. But earrings I got.

Before I get to the jewellery haul, I'd like to comment on how the jewellery roll worked out. It was great, although the mesh strips were still too long, or at least the fabric supporting them was not stiff enough because they drooped and the earrings kept getting tangled up. Also, the stuff sticking out the sides wasn't actually a problem. Yay, me!

My criterion for the jewellery I would buy: they had to be special, not something I could necessarily find in Toronto. Every time I would wear them, I would think about where I had got them. Pretty simple, no?

No. Most of the time, I didn't find what I was looking for until the last day (or week) of the stay. In the case of Oxford, Bath, and Salisbury, I didn't find anything at all!

My first pair of earrings came from Amsterdam:

Those are moonstones.  They're pretty long, but when I bought them, they were the "short" pair!  But pretty!  I have worn them many times.

It took me the entire month in Paris to find the pair.  I looked in many shops, but didn't see anything special enough.  I didn't want to buy a pair of Eiffel Towers; I mean, yes, those would say Paris, but when would I wear them?  Then the last week, I was walking through St. Germain and came across a little store with beautiful baubles in the window.  I went inside and saw these:

Vintage blue glass drops. Perfect.

I have to admit I'm not entirely thrilled with my Provence earrings:

I got these in the market at Egalières. I like them well enough, but I only bought them because the ones I was really attracted to were blue, and I thought "you have enough blue earrings. Expand your horizons!" I think it's the shape of the earrings that bothers me.

I kind of went to town in Venice:

I decided shortly after I got there that I wanted a pair of earrings the colour of the canals. And of course, I needed a pair of millefiori. And then I saw those pendants...

Theft? What theft?

I found these shell earrings and spiral pendant in the Plaka my first afternoon in Athens:

The owner of the shop was really friendly, probably because I bought a bunch of stuff from him.  These say "Greece" to me.  And so pretty!

I wasn't really looking for anything in Delphi, because I figured if I didn't see anything I already had my "Greece" earrings.  I was there for 3 days, and my last afternoon I wandered into a shop called Adonis.  And fell in love:

As much as I love the Paris pair, I think these are my favourites.  Three different kinds of amber.  I was looking at a bunch of other earrings before I saw these, and a boy, who couldn't have been more than twelve, came over to cajole me into buying something.  Whenever I asked how much something was, he'd tell me, then say "I'll give them to you for..." about ten euros less.  Totally worth it.  I didn't even try to haggle him down further.  Not that it occurred to me at the time.

I found my London earrings in a shop in Notting Hill, and while I think I have seen something similar in Toronto, they really say London to me:

They're pretty heavy.  They are also my "England" earrings, since I didn't find anything I liked in Oxford, Bath, or Salisbury.  I was really hoping to find a great pair of regency-style earrings in Bath, but no such luck.

I was expecting to see something nice on the Queen Mary 2, and did, but nothing I could actually afford.  (If you have to ask how much it costs...) However, on my first day wandering around the ship, I came across the "bargain" tables and they had cocktail rings on sale.  There were a few women trying them all on (and getting the sizes mixed up, which drove me crazy for a while).  One woman said "you can't tell they're not real unless you get too close!"  Another said "if any of your friends complain they're not real, who needs them as friends?"  I said "Who cares if they're not real?  They're SPARKLY!" and got a general murmur of agreement.  We were like magpies, people.  I got two:

I needed them for the formal dinners.  Honest.  Strictly speaking, they're not big enough to be true cocktail rings, and I might never wear them again, and the red one is a leetle too big, but OOH, LOOK AT THE SPARKLY!

I spent most of my time in New York being dizzy and wishing I could justify buying something from Tiffany's.  I looked at some things I liked in Macy's, but honestly, I could get the exact same thing at The Bay (and, uh, I might).  Then I came across a little boutique in the East Village.

Like my Provençal earrings, these weren't the ones I was initially attracted to, but the ones I first liked were a little too sparkly for daily use.  These are lovely, and I will wear them many times.  And think of the really cute puppies who came to say hi as I was looking over all the pretty baubles.

This is by no means the only loot I got from the trip -- for example, Bath wasn't a total wash, as I have the patterns for next year's Hallowe'en costume and a fan!  Plus, I seem to have more clothes and shoes than I started out with.  And a Venetian mask.  And a tiny dragon. And...