hand blown glass, blown glass
  
Several years ago my parents and I took a trip through the Czech Republic and I fell in love with the hand blown glass that they are famous for. In fact, I do believe it was that trip when my love of hand blown glass began and has only grown since then. Europe is known for their beautiful pieces of hand blown glass, and since I can't tour Europe eating great food and looking for hand blown glass, there's only one thing I can do, and that's buy online. Technically, I've seen a few shops around town with hand blown glass, and the prices are outrageous. As much as I love it, there's no way I'm paying the prices they are asking here locally for hand blown glass, especially when I've been able to order some of the exact pieces online for a fraction of the cost.

Before Christmas, I was looking at one of the shops in hopes of maybe picking up a small piece of hand blown glass to give to mom as a Christmas gift. That was the first time I was in that particular shop, and I was able to get some great ideas for pieces I'd like to order, but again, the prices were so high that there was no way I could see myself paying those prices. Instead, I used my iPhone and took pictures of the hand blown glass vases and came home and looked for them online. It didn't take me long to find this beautiful piece of hand blown glass that was  Around the World - Made in Poland that I found at  My Glass Beautiful whose online store can be found by visiting www.myglassbeautiful.com, which was identical to one I'd seen in the local store and for a fraction of the price. I ended up ordering the piece for mom, even though I really considered keeping it for myself. She had purchased several pieces of hand blown glass when we were in Europe, but none since that time, so I knew it would be special for her to receive it, and I was right.

Since then, all I've heard is how much she wants to go back to Europe and this time spend some time exploring other countries such as Italy and the Netherlands. I happen to think that if the exchange rate ever balances out a little, then it will be time for us to take another trip.