Amber

05/26/2012 11:15

Poland has been known since ancient times for its deposits of amber. In fact, the historic “Amber Road” ran through the country from the Baltic Sea and down along along the Vistula River. This was a very lucrative route that ultimately led from Europe all the way to Asia and Africa. Amber, if you’re not familiar with its origins, comes from resin in trees that fossilized many millenniums ago. It has a beautiful and distinctive color, sort of like, uhhh…amber I suppose.

One of the upshots of Poland’s amber supply is the fact that, depending on where you shop, you can often get very good deals on jewelry, since the supply is more or less local. Even the Sukiennica shopping hall on the main square in Kraków has decent deals, though I’m sure higher in price due to the location. One of the cool things about amber for little boys and girls the world over is that, occasionally, you can see tiny insects inside. These insects landed on the resin eons ago, became trapped and eventually entombed. Big boys and girls apparently like it too, as jewelry fashioned from amber with insects inside can sell for quite large sums of money. Amber, a beautiful thing! I also think that it’s a great name for a white trash stripper.