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Published: October 31st 2006
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Rome - Florence (Train)
31 August - 1 September Remember when you were a child and were taken to the shoe store to buy your shoes for the start of school year? When you walked into the store it actually smelt like leather. The shoe store assistant would attentively measure up your foot on the cold metal board and determine your precise size by adjusting the sliding guide to the tip of your toes, on both feet. Your mum always had a pair of school socks tucked into her handbag so you could slip them on while trying on the multitude of black, well made, leather shoes the shoe assistant had brought back for you to try on. In the end you found a pair of well-made shoes, with great arch support, that would last you for that year of school (if you weren’t going through a particularly severe growing spurt).
This was a ritual long forgotten after years of ducking into large department stores on my lunch break or, god forbid, a Saturday, to “pick up a pair of shoes”. If I was really lucky I might peruse some of smaller or trendier boutiques for a special
Michelangelo's David
David hanging out in Florence. A copy of which stands where to original used to. The real David is safe from pollution in the Academia. pair only to be greeted by young, surly assistants who would return to dump the boxes of shoes at your feet while they sauntered off to serve the next
customer. I really love a good pair of shoes; it’s just such a shame that shopping for them is now no joy as your pay exorbitant amounts for synthetic shoes from different stores, which are all mostly made in China.
In Florence, the shoe stores smell like leather. In Florence, the shoes are wonderful creations, made in Italy, by Italian cobblers (cobblers - yes, they still exist!). In Florence the sandals are beautiful, boots hug the calf without cutting off your circulation, and the stilettos are luscious! In Florence, the shoe store assistants love the shoes, select the shoes, unwrap the shoes and present them to you so you may love them too. In Florence, these exquisite shoes are exquisitely inexpensive.
Tim convinces me that I don’t really need these shoes right now, besides “where in India would I wear those strappy shoes?” he asks.
And it’s not just the shoe stores, the bag stores smell like leather! No patent, fake stuff here thank you. Purses, satchels, Florence
The black and white marble of these buildings is constantly cleaned to remove the effect of pollution. handbags, and cases all carefully made with sturdy clasps and elegant detailing. The overnight bags are the types Katherine Hepburn would have carried, and are still so timeless and chic that you’ll be using them in 30 years from now. And, yes again relatively inexpensive.
Nope, leather bags are not necessarily practical for our travels to South America, so I am told.
There are also the leather bound books sold in the stationery stores. These stores in themselves were pure joy to visit, with long rows of wooden shelves filled with leather bound books, wooden pen and ink sets, hand-made marbleised Florentine paper, cards, notes and journals all covered in matching Florentine paper. Marbleised papermaking is a Florentine tradition that originated in 10th century China and spread through the travels of Venetian merchants. Marbleising is a method of decorating paper by "floating colours." The artisan applies colours to a liquid called marbleising size. Patterns form on top of the size, are stabilised, and are then removed from the size by laying a piece of paper on them. The paper produced is truly one-of-a-kind and is used to cover books, boxes, and picture frames. They stocked every type of Ponte Vicchio
The butcher shops were considered an eysore on the bridge so they were replaced by goldsmiths. notebook here; travel journals, recipe journals, dinner party journals, wine notebooks, restaurant notebooks, as well as your standard diaries, indexes and journals. For a self-confessed stationary junkie like me, whiling away an hour in these stores is pure bliss.
But apparently stationary might not be needed when we have email?
There are also the small accessory boutiques that sell gloves, from the petite, feminine wear-to-the-races-type gloves to the more sturdy driving gloves for days of driving your capri down the coast. These boutiques also have wonderful selections of scarves with brand names like Pucci and Missoni common fare as well as hand made and dyed silk scarves. We select a couple of scarves (two as gifts for the mums, one for me - after a concessionary wink and nod from Tim) while we chat with the owner of the boutique. She bought the store as her “sea change” from living in the UK - life seems good to her here. She directs us to a nearby English language store which specialises in architecture, travel, food and wine books, specialising in Florence and Tuscany. We spend another hour in here, stocking up on a couple of wonderful books (even one written and signed by a local author) to accompany us on our train travels. Conveniently there is a gelato store two doors up. Bellisimo!
The city is best strolled around - popping into churches, perusing shop windows and market stalls, and taking in the stone black and white architecture slowly. The museums and galleries are world renown and stocked full of the treasures bestowed to the city by the powerful Medici family (Michelangelo’s David, to name just one) but they are full of tourists at this time of year with enormous queues outside in the blazing heat. Even the Pont Vecchio is crammed shoulder to shoulder with tourists looking in the windows of the historic goldsmiths and jewellery stores. This bridge used to be full of butchers who would send their scraps flying into the Arno River until the Medici family ordered them out to be replaced by the now overpriced goldsmiths. This was apparently more fitting to their style. The Italians in this city still carry on this sense of style with every major brand name - Armani, Gucci, Versace, Missoni, Ferragamo - located in the city and frequented regularly by the looks of it. We - in our travel-sensible clothes and comfortable walking shoes - breathe in the city from the street instead, knowing that we will return - me with an extra suitcase for all those extra shoes, bags, clothes and stationary that I will absolutely NEED by then.
L
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