The continuing story of our trip to Italy. Tune in next week for our adventures in Roma

Having been in the Jewelry Selling Business for going on... Well, too many years to mention, I have had a chance to visit many exotic countries and see how various types of jewelry are made. I want to take country by country and share what I have learned and seen through the years.

I hope this is of interest. Please email me and let me know...

Dean Glosup

An Italy Story Continues

Last week I went over our wonderful trip to Italy, at least the first part and some highlights...

"As you know, my wife and I have been selling Sterling Silver (and Gold) Jewelry for over 30 years. In all that time, we restricted our purchasing to wholesalers usually who visited us in Los Angeles a couple of times every year and Vegas as well.

We always wanted to climb up the "food chain" to actual Factories and in 2000 we started to do just that. We went first to Hong Kong Jewelry Shows, and there we were exposed to many more wholesalers as well as some Factory Direct Companies.

Normally when a Company does this they opt out of "retail" and become Wholesalers themselves. Not us. We had and have so many customers who love our Jewelry and us, that we just decided to climb the food chain to the actual manufacturers and then pass the better pricing on to our beloved customers." (from last week)

Last week's story ended with us visiting several factories in beautiful Tuscany.

So from there, we drove south through Naples and through a very long tunnel to the Amalfi Coast. This, if you don't know is quite an area. The roads ate steep and very narrow and Italians are famous for among other things wild and crazy driving, which was fine on the highways, but on tight roads with rocks on one side and cliffs on the other, well, it was challenging to say the least. It is a good thing I don't drink, or perhaps not LOL>

This is the Amalfi Coast. Beautiful and exciting.

We stayed at a hotel which was on the water facing the Island of Capri. My daughter who had already been to Italy said we MUST visit Capri. It is only accessible by boar, and so off we went the next day...

This is Capri. It sits a 30 or so-minute boat ride from Sorrento on the Amalfi Coast where we were staying.

Among the attractions we saw were The Blue Grotto, Anacapri, and many other attractions. When we docked, I thought "what's the big deal with Capri" then I looked up and up and up and saw a but hanging off what looked like a hilltop and asked what the hell that was. I was told that that is the bus to Anacapri and that Anacapri is the best attraction in all of Capri... (see pictures below)

This is the Blue Grotto as seen from inside. The only light comes in through the small 3' access hole in the distance.

Here is the Blue Grotto from the outside looking at the same 3' opening!!??!!

This is a picture I took from the inside of the Blue Grotto...

Here is us about to go through the opening below...

But enough about that. Moving on. We still HAD to take the bus to Anacapri and here are some shots of THAT!!

View of the Road to Anacapri FROM below...

View from Anacapri below.

Here is the view (one of them) from Anacapri. That is an actual walkway that goes all the way down to the Mediterranean. I did not walk that pathway...

Next week it is Roma!

What a town!

I hope you are enjoying this little European trip with us. Nothing about Jewelry this week, but hey! why not have a little fun...