Had a wonderful trip! Missed you!

Dear Friends,

My husband Jake and I just came back from a fabulous trip to Italy, Croatia and Slovenia! Always it is good to come home and I'd like to share a few highlights of this great trip -- Italy of course was beautiful, warm, interesting and very appetizing. We went to Rome and Venice - both fabulous cities with history and art and romance!

Trieste, my home town, turned out to be a really special surprise and is now on my recommended list. Trieste, once having been an important port city for Austria, became depressed when it became part of Italy, which is blessed with many ports. However, in the last few years Trieste seems to have reinvented itself. It is now a little-known and beautiful tourist destination with lovely pedestrian-only streets with cafes spilling out onto the pavement. The Piazza dell'Unita lights up at night like a jewel. The sea sparkles and the promenade along the coast rivals that of Nice! On top of of this and some amazing shopping opportunities, Trieste boasts not one but two beautiful historic castles and the ruins of a Roman theatre ... must be seen.

Croatia was even more beautiful than I remember and we truly enjoyed both the Dalmatian coast and the interior ... visiting Motovun, hometown to Mario Andretti (note that there are no cars allowed on most of the few streets in this town ;) and the truffle capital of Croatia. Yes, we went truffle hunting too!

Slovenia was a total revelation! A beautiful, prosperous, young country with a capital that knows about style and couture and has an amazing cafe culture!

Visit Ljubljiana and Trieste for an unusual and wonderful treat! Let me know if you'd like a hotel or restaurant recommendation. :)

Now, back to work!

I just attended Jeff Otteau's Fall Seminar and as usual he shared his research and forecast. The good news is that there is some good news in spite of all the sad news. Real estate is on its way to becoming affordable again. Our communities in Chatham, Madison, Summit and Short Hills are still great places to live and seem to be holding their values better than most of the state.

If you'd like to know more about what Jeff Otteau is forecasting for our market and how it may affect your buying or selling of real estate, call or email me.

Be well and be happy,

Your friend and Realtor,

Trish Giassa
201-960-2090