My Personal Tour Guide. Well, it does help if you are related! My cousin Lu showing me the sights of Rome that the tourists don't get to see.

A Shoe Shoppers dream come true.
Photo by SIMONA



SHOPPING IN ROME

Ah Yes. Shopping in Rome. Hmmmmm.

As I think back to my last trip to Rome, I can think of only one regret. The regret that I didn’t think of posting stuff back home sooner! I thought of it three weeks into our stay and how I cried. I cried at the missed sales (saldi or sconti in Italian) only because I knew that “those boots would take up too much room in my suitcase"! Or ... “I can’t buy that Murano (special Venetian glass) vase that is on sale for $AU20.00 as it could smash into smithereens in my bag. We are talking about something that you can expect to pay $AU200.00 at any Jewellers store here in Australia!

And then the sun came up ... Just post it all home.

They even have insured post ... the lot. However, you need to keep in mind that post offices don’t work in Rome as they do in Australia. Poste Italiane is not a one stop shop. So don’t imagine Australia Post Shops right in the city’s centre. They are a little hard to find and you will need to make one stop for the boxes and another for the postage. Poste Italiane has come a long way in a short time, so before you leave home, have a look at what you can and can't send back home. This is the Poste Italiane Web site:- http://www.poste.it/ Note: Don't stress when you click on the link and it is all in Italian, just click on the English version and although it will be not 'perfect' English, at least you will grasp an idea as to what you at least shouldn't be taking out of Italy.

Anyway, I digress. Where was I? Ah yes, shopping.

Rome offers so much for the everyday traveller as well as for those with the finer tastes in life. I found the best shopping was that just off the beaten track. Having said that, surprisingly, there was so many sales on at the time I was there. Summer sales are between May and September and the winter sales start around a week or two before Christmas and go right through to the new year. If you want to know the best times to go shopping or where to find certain markets, you should take the time to study http://www.rome.info/shopping/ as it covers all the main ingredients for Shopping in Rome. Best deals in Rome / Italy are: Leather products such as hand bags; belts and SHOES! Gold is cheaper in Italy than in Australia and it is of exceptional quality. The staple gold used in Italy is 18ct (Australia uses 9ct). To give you an example, I still wear a pendant I bought in Rome in 2003. It is a small round pendant, decorated with zircons. As soon as the Pandora Jewellery phase came out, all my friends asked how I could possibly have had a Pandora jewel for over 5 years before it really took of in Australia. That my friends, is the progressive and innovative Italy that I love.

If you don't have the time to fly to Rome, then simply shop on line at http://www.bella-italia.com/cgi-bin/SoftCart.exe/gondola/home.shtml?E+gondola

Another web site that mentions all the right stuff (about Shopping of course) is –
http://www.romexplorer.com/buyguides.html

Take a look at the site and take lots of notes! But above all, enjoy the experience!

*Note: As is the case for all shops, please don’t haggle. It really is insulting.

Here is a shot of an actual sign on the front door of a shop off the Spanish Steps ... The Red lettering reads - "Non chiedeteci il Sangue". Literal translation is "Don't ask us for our Blood", but what it is actually saying is, don't ask us for anything more.