One dank Saturday afternoon last year, I snapped up the Georgian portrait you see here in a near-empty Northamptonshire junk shop. I haggled him down to £8. Even so, you might think I was robbed, since it is a fairly unremarkable picture. But the lady shown was one of the more interesting characters of the late 1700s.

The taxi ride is worth every penny. The traffic, the terrible roads that make the car bounce and shake in a bone jangling fashion, then the bridge and a view of the ultimate shining high rise city. Anybody who is not elated by their arrival into Manhattan is missing a piece of soul.

If you sell Antiques here you face an uphill struggle. If you sell a 'look' you start at an advantage. There are dealers who strive to achieve both, but it is not easy. It is a sort of Holy Grail. It is a credit to the fair that both strands have their place but the team playing in the old, historic, antique way are definitely the B team.

Naples is always a shock and a surprise. The mess and the chaos on the streets disguise a systematic way of life that is probably unchanged for 3000 years.

Spring has finally sprung. Admittedly there is the worrying, nagging doubt that another cold wet snap lurks like some mugger round the next corner. But heh, let's enjoy the aroma of warmth and the effulgent budding of the trees.

It began on Thursday with a photograph in the paper. A sale in France on Sunday was offering a pair of Chinese coromandel lacquer armchairs. They looked 18th century and though that is quite late for Chinese things it is the golden age for European furniture.

TEFAF is 260 exhibitors, seemingly miles of corridors and countless objects, pictures and jewels to admire. But behind all of this sparkle lies a delightful human drama. It is the people that make this show happen, it is the daily flow of passing crowds and hurried meals and chance encounters that create a unique ambience.