Europe Day 4

We arrive in Basel/Switzerland.

The closet hotel was the HILTON…for $500.00 a night* pulling my hair * but we pay only half (airline employee discount) :O)….for this price you don’t have free internet (I am talking about a little corner with a computer and you can use it for free) …and no free breakfast either…..

All the others cheaper and nice hotels  has all that for no charge !!!!

Basel may be Switzerland's least appreciated big city. It's quieter than Zürich, less international than Geneva, and farther from the Alps than Bern. Yet Basel is Switzerland's second-largest city.

Located on both sides of the Rhine, in the three-country-corner of Switzerland, Germany and France, Basel is the third largest city in Switzerland. Not only diverse cultures, but also a multifaceted history, modern art and architecture converge here.

 

Basel's location is also unique. The city lies just inside Switzerland's borders with France and Germany. Also Basel is a green city.

 

A little bit of history here:

In the year 740 Basel was made a diocesan city…This is really a old city.

The first bridge across the river Rhine was built in 1225.

They suffer lots of bad luck, in 1348: half the population perished in the plague.

In 1356 a massive earthquake destroyed large parts of the city.

However, the city was successfully rebuilt in 1392.

 

 

 

 

Basel is a really nice place to visit.

                                                                                         

                                                                                                                              

The current is really strong here. Peoples who goes in the water cannot stay there and swim …they are transport down the river further down… they say it is dangerous to do that ….But they all do it.

Tomorrow is another day

 

 

     

Europe DAY 3

The next morning we visit...The Belfry tower (Belfort)

The medieval belfry tower ( from the 13^th-15^th centuries) is about 88 meters in height.
 We climb up the steep, the very narrow and never ending 366 stairs to the top to enjoy a breathtaking panoramic view of the city and its surroundings .WOW, it was worth it.

In the tower, you have the famous 47 bells carillon and you can see the impressive clock mechanism too.

The view from the top .............

After, we did the cute smalls streets to buy  gifts and chocolate YUM…YUM…and nougat for my husband ….

Fun things we saw walking....

 Beside a art gallery and inside the gallery .

You know when I was talking about my small suitcase!!! My husband always says I bring to much clothes!!!!! WELL!!!!....I am glad, I listen for once LOL….because hopping on and off the train it is hard when the suitcase is heavy plus I also carry  my other bags of goodies I bought :O(

 Time to "Hop " on the train for Bruxelle direction :

 

Luxembourg

We arrive later in the day…..so we did the town….

I was not really impressed by it……..I think after Brugge, I was expecting something similar!!!!

The city is really clean with “WIFI” post every couple of feet (meters)… "WHY" I don’t know …Maybe everybody walk with their computer….LOL.

Also on every other metal post, we have doggy boxes with bags ….I like that idea, it should be in every town for peoples with dogs as more and more dogs walk or travel with their owners.

Luxembourg City itself is perched on a slightly rocky terrain. These are covered by only a couple of bridges. There are quite a few modern buildings to spot in addition to the much older ones (like the European Court of Justice).
I found out that there are two sides of Luxembourg City - the trafficked, noisy central parts of town including the bridges, and the countryside-feel valleys where you can take a leisurely stroll and enjoy the houses and see the remains of the fortifications of the old castle.

We stay at this cute little hotel , breakfast included for $89.00…not a bad price.

 Tomorrow morning we are going to Basel/Switzerland.

Europe Day 2

We took the plane Sunday afternoon at 6pm to arrive in Brussels the next morning. So, we "hop" in the train to Brugge .The fun part, its 2 am for us but over there …8am.

By the way ,when I say at the beginning “small suitcase”…good think because you walk up and down the stairs with them and hop the train too  ….

The sweet smell of pastry and waffle was unbelievable has we arrive to our destination.

We put the suitcases at the hotel and start visiting this amazing town.

Oh! By the way, our first stop was to eat waffle….. LOL

Brugge is called : The Venice of the North ..This splendid medieval city is one of Belgium's crown jewels.

 Suspended in time from centuries ago.

You can see the picturesque market squares, canals, old houses, pebbles street, churches, chocolate stores and many more.

  

 

This place got its reputation as one of the most perfectly preserved cities is in part fabrication. Brugge has been renovated time and again to retain its medieval appearance. Whereas what you see reflects that of centuries ago, much of the architecture dates only from the 19th and 20th centuries.

 

 

This day is pretty much over for us…..until tomorrow

 

This week artisans is Luvncraft

Christie is a stay at home Mom to 6 year old.

Christie love to do crafts! Her favorite thing is crocheting, and making greeting cards.

Christie likes to try various crafts. Her children enjoy crafting as well. She shows her daughters how to crochet, and you can find some of her lovely beaded jewellery in Christie shop too.

 Christie lives on a mini farm with chickens and goats, and she enjoys gardening. Christie life is busy and crafting is her way to relax.

 Christie seeks to do her best  to make quality items and  her prices are affordable!

You can also find her here: 

  

http://www.luvncrafts.winkelf.com

http://www.artfire.com/users/luvncrafts 

 

 Praying For You Set of 6 Note Cards Burnt Orange and Butterflies

 

Purple Amethyst Beaded Necklace and Earring set

Girls Crocheted Pink hat with Flower Size 3T-8

My trip to Europe.. DAY !

I love China and Thailand; these are my favorite places to go for traveling off season.

My youngest son always tells me to go visit Europe. He wants to move over there and not come back to cold winters here. After 10 days over there with him, I am be ready to move there too. LOL.

Anyway, this year he told me you are coming with me and I will show you others place then China. I am always ready to flight somewhere and see the world, so I pack my small suitcase and we left to see some of Europe nicest places.

I will be sharing my trip with pictures / video and some of the information’s I learned on the way about each places, I will try not to be boring or write too long !!

I will do this blog day by day as I did for 10 days.

This way, I can take my time to write it nicely and you won’t get bored at reading to much of it.

I hope you will enjoy this.

 

So we left Sunday night for Bruges or Brugge (Brugge in Flemish, Bruges in French) in Belgium.

Teaman

For tea lover.

Let me introduce you to the Teaman ....his true love is Tea blending.
He was determined to try his hand at making tea full time.  He is working hard to make an excellent product that people will enjoy very much.
He is taking pride in is product and his customer service, so everybody can enjoy the experience in the world of hand blended teas.
Teaman has been selling is delicious teas on Etsy for a year now. Also you can find him on Artfire.
He has been perfecting is custom blended teas since 1994. All teas are hand blended with fresh, real fruit, spices, roots, nuts or fruit extracts to ensure the real flavor whichever way you  want to drink it - Hot or Iced!

50 healthy and delicious blends to choose from.

I invite you to visit the Teaman  hand blended tea shops.

http://www.teaman.etsy.com
http://www.teaman.artfire.com
http://www.bonanzle.com/booths/teaman


Choose from any of is delicious samplers, or customize one of your own!

Fresh N Fruity Teabag Sampler 27 Flavors 5 bags of each 135 teabags

 

Blueberry black tea in teabags

 

Shadow Dog Designs is feature in this week blog

If you want unique, handmade, one-of-a-kind jewels,this is the place

Catherine love to  work with stones and creating beautiful pieces of jewelry that will last a life-time and, hopefully, be passed on to the next generation.

The jewelry making bug bit her about 11 years ago and she has been selling at shows, home shows and through galleries since then. Finally, a Shadow Dog Designs ArtFire shop is now open!

Also you can find Catherine work  through galleries in Virginia, Texas and South Carolina, through art shows, home shows, Etsy, Facebook and Flickr.

Experiencing a life long love affair with Nature, Catherine is able to satisfy her strong desire to create by designing one-of-a-kind jewelry mainly using semi-precious stones and sterling or fine silver, but also polymer clay, Czech glass, Swarovski crystals, and, more recently, copper and lampwork beads.

Catherine is inspired by just  looking out over the marsh where she is privilege to live.

An where the name  Shadow Dog Designs come from... It was named 10 years ago to honor her 2 (now 3) rescue dogs who "shadow" Catherine everywhere and give her undying love, support and playfulness. Most specifically lovely Chase, a lab/hound X, who is now a grand 15-years-old and still going strong.

Also you can see MESA  has her Avatar in her shop and Facebook page.

You can take a look at Catherine jewelry and page here:

http://www.artfire.com/users/ShadowDogDesigns
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowdogdesigns
http://www.facebook.com/ShadowDogDe

and you can follow Catherine on her blog ....she write so beautifully

http://www.artfire.com/users/ShadowDogDesigns/blog


 Here are some of her work.........



                                                    Big and chunky

Apple Limestone Coral Orange Coral Necklace Handmade Chunky OOAK

 

 Love the 2 color together

 

Lampwork Glass Copper Sterling Handmade One of a Kind Earrings

 

Mother Nature work

Fossil Ammonite Pearls Silver Spiral Necklace Handmade One of a Kind

 

 

 

Lemon pie color ....Yummy 

 

Lampwork Boro Beads Labradorite Hematine Bracelet Handmade OOAK

Marjon Scheffer Jewellery

Marjon Scheffer is the new artisan feature today .....

Like many others artisans she love to make jewelry since she was a little girl.
She is a multidisciplinary lady. She sewed, knitted, and crocheted .

She went to Gold Smithing School where she learned gold smithing in the evenings .
One ofher teachers at Gold Smithing School worked with Titanium and Aluminum and, as an additional program, he taught hers how to anodize these two materials. She was hooked!

 Her work is unique, colorful, and is also hypoallergenic.

So you can see all her fine work in her shop at artfire.
http://www.artfire.com/users/MarjonScheffer

You can find more about her here:
http://www.marjonscheffer.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/MarjonSchefferJewellery

So take a minutes a go see all her nice work.