18 May 2009

Repost: Friends, Romans, Countrymen; lend me a hand!

I notice that I'm getting a fair number of Italian readers and I'd like to extend a heartfelt benvenuto. I'd also like to ask a favor. I ran this piece in January and still haven't found any takers. If you find yourself in Rome, please consider my request. Molti grazie in anticipo!

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I bought a beautiful cashmere and silk men's pashmina in Rome last year and when I went to grab it the other morning I couldn't find it. I'm pretty sure that I left it somewhere the last time I had it on and I'm pretty sick about it.

Granted, it's just a thing so it shouldn't be a big deal. But sometimes, the loss of a thing can be a real kick to the gut. My beloved niece Sarah lived in Rome while she was in school and she gave me a great lead on a little shop that sold great scarves inexpensively.

I found the shop one day while I was walking around and it's run by an older woman and her daughter. It's a tiny storefront jammed to the rafters with nothing but scarves. The shop keepers were a delight. My Italian vocabulary increased tenfold that afternoon and between my survival Italian and their survival English we had a blast. In addition to all of that, they were selling men's pashminas for five euros a pop.

Now I love meeting new people but what I really like is meeting new people who sell one of the greatest bargains I've ever encountered. These scarves were an incredible cashmere and silk blend and I bought a bunch of them to give away as gifts. Five euros! No lie!

I saved but one for myself and now it's gone. So I'm throwing this out there: if anybody's heading to Rome let me know and I'll pay you for the trouble of buying me a replacement scarf. The store is on the Via Tomacelli, just a stone's throw from the River and the Tomb of Augustus. It's easy to miss but such a reward when you find it. Anybody?


4 comments:

  1. Good luck with your quest for an Italian pashmina... you never know when a fellow blogger will come through for you :-)

    Kelly

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  2. I have my fingers crossed Kelly. This blog has brought all kinds of great and unexpected things to my door step, so why not a five euro scarf?

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  3. Sorry, we're not going through Rome. Direct to Naples. But I'll keep the store in mind if I ever stop there. Five euros is nothing.

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  4. I'll probably make it to Rome at some point in the next year, so I may have to take care of this one myself. In any event, five euros IS nothing and considering how much a decent pashamina sells for in the US, I'm thinking about getting into the import business!

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