greece

my trip to greece was truly fantastic - beautiful weather, amazing sites, adventures, good food and wine, friendly people, no problems...and lots of jewelry! i was excited and delightfully surprised to see all the incredible jewelry all over athens and the islands i visited. it was astonishing, actually, and i'm not kidding when i say that every other shop in each city was a jewelry store. i had no idea! it could be overwhelming at times - there was just so much to look at and much of it was the same or similar. however, i was able to sort my way through and found some great work, met a bunch of jewelers and shop owners, and made several purchases that i will cherish for years to come. but, before i get into all that, i thought i would mention the temple of hephaestus in athens. hephaestus was the god of metalwork. in its day (415 BC), the temple was surrounded by foundries and workshops. today it is one of the best preserved ancient ruins in the city.

so like i said, there was a lot of jewelry in greece. the greeks have a long tradition in jewelry and metalwork and it is evident in the tremendous presence jewelry has throughout the country. i am sure many of the artists working today come from long lines of jewelers. the work that i saw included a variety of styles ranging from traditional pieces (filigree, byzantine, greek key, and the evil eye) to incredible stones to contemporary folk art. i had such a good time looking at it all! over the next few days i will write about some specific experiences i had and show more pictures.



thanks for reading.