52 posts tagged “shopping”
This morning Marisol and I went to the post office to send off another huge box, and then went for fragolini pastries at Romoli. Last time we went in there, I lost my knitting request virginity when the barrista asked me if I'd make him a hermione hat! We were kind of taken aback so we said I was leaving shortly so I wouldn't have time to finish one, but since I'm going to be here another 5 or so weeks, it's going to be kind of awkward going back there, which totally sucks since their pastries are to die for!
speaking of hermione hats, I finally finished Marisol's! here it is:
Yesterday I bought a pair of Levi super skinny 603's! I 'm super excited because they fit my legs as well as my ass! in Australia, when I buy skinny jeans, they are too baggy on the leg if they fit me on the ass, or too tight on the hips and butt if they fit my legs. But... check out the wonder of jeans fitting my body shape!!!
Tomorrow is Marisol's farewell dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe and then Saturday we're off to Venice! bring it on!
Other than that I'm still struggling with a pattern for a cowl, I wanted something kind of lacy and saw a few I liked but the pattern really just didn't work out for me. So boo. I think I'll do my own pattern, so much easier I think!
AND! I spoke to my grandma and have 'booked in' a trip to see her for the first two days I'm in London - arrive in the morning, go straight from the plane to the train, get to her house in the evening, make her dinner, do some knitting, and then leave the following afternoon. Now I just have to buy the tickets!
Then I can spend the rest of the week doing whatever I like, and whatever I like is going to involve a lot of shopping, museums, and burgers! woohoo! can't wait!
On friday night, the Vatican museum was open until 11pm as part of a special program running through September and October - it was actually the last late night opening of the 'summer'. Anyway, Marisol and I thought it would be fun to go, so after work we d over there with our online registration print out, and were inside within 10 minutes.
I know I've been museum-spoilt since the Louvre - I thought that although the architecture of the Vatican was beautiful, the art was not really remarkable. They did have an impressive Egyptian collection, but then, I've been to the Cairo museum, so can't really beat that for Ancient Egyptian stuff!
The Etruscan collection was closed, and that was disappointing since I haven't actually seen Etruscan stuff before.
It was quite interesting at night though, and definitely quieter, although the Sistine Chapel was still very busy. There is actually a man that has the sole job of stopping people from taking photos and 'shush'-ing people! Last time I visited the Vatican, I don't remember being particularly impressed and I'm afraid the feeling lingered this time too. (Probably because the one thing I wanted from the shop, a beautiful engraved 'R' on parchment - had run out. Boo)
This sign made us giggle - Nowhere has better happy hour(s) than The Vatican!!
Anyway. We got home around 11:30 or midnight and today (Saturday, we woke up late, strolled down to Romoli for fragolini pastries and cappucchinos, and then caught the 38 into Termini and walked the length of Via Nazionale. We went to La Gardenia (perfume place) and I sprayed some Gucci per Homme on my arm. I swear, it smells like a bushfire, and being Aussie and all, I know I shouldn't love it, but I do! I can still smell it, HOURS later, I love it! If I ever met a guy wearing it 'naturally' rather than a result of my buying it as a present, I don't know if i could be held accountable for my actions!
Towards Largo Argentina, I found a pair of brown boots:
...And then found Marisol some Christmas presents for her relatives in Via Del Corso.
We had lunch and a glass of red wine in the sun and then did some more shopping before heading off home on the 80 bus. We finally found where it starts from, and it's actually incredibly convenient, so next time I'll catch it from there.
Tonight I made crepes with banana and home made butterscotch. They were pretty damn good I must say!
Other than that, nothing much exciting. I got a few small gifts and gathered ideas for Christmas, but my friends are being supremely unhelpful this year gift suggestion-wise and since I won't have time when I get back to sydney, I have to be extra organised this year.
On Saturday I met my penpal Marco. I took Marisol along and we did a bit of shopping, had lunch, coffee, saw the Pantheon and the Trevi fountain... it was nice, he bought us coffee and tiramisu.
After he left to get his train, Marisol and I went shopping for groceries and I found a leather bag on Via Nazionale! It's the last bag I wanted to get - a soft brown one. So now I have a smart brown one, a smart soft black one, and a smart soft brown one.
Here it is:
we also visited Di Cori yarn store so Marisol could buy some more wool for her scarf, and I bought some balls to make the Hermione Hat for her as a christmas present, as well as some red buttons for my water bottle cozy.
I got quite a bit done of my hot water bottle cover! I decided to design my own because I couldn't find one that was constructed in a way I felt confident about - mine is knitted totally in the round, top down - no stitches to pick up, no seaming to do, only a few ends to weave in. Nice and simple! I put a circle of hearts on it to make it more interesting:
If anyone likes it, I suppose I could write the pattern out for them, but I'm just making it up as I go along!
Today we haven't done much, I skyped with my parents (and Anna and the beast of course) and then Marisol and I went for a coffee at Romoli, a beautiful pasticeria down the road from us that I'm sure I've mentioned before.
We had fragolini pastries and cappuccinos. I'm going to miss that place when we go home!
Afterward we popped into the Tigre for a few supplies. We couldn't help snapping a picture of these baby food jars though, rabbit AND horse flavours. Tasty!
ciao voxies!
hurrah!
at long last we were able to collect my personalised diary! woohoo! So yesterday after work I met up with Marisol and Alessandra, and we went to the store (Cartoleria Pantheon) to pay off the rest of the purchase and to take it home.
It's gorgeous!
It's a wrap around cover that closes with a press-stud, in chocolate leather, with a golden, cursive R embossed into the front. Rather than a blank journal inside, I asked for a 2010 diary, which is a day-to-a-page one. I've always had week to a double spread diaries, so it will be an interesting change, although the cover fits my standard A5 size anyway, so I'll be able to continue using it for many years I hope. Here are some pictures...
Today is also my Daddy's 67th birthday! I called him last night to say happy birthday, so that I'd catch him before he went to work, and a bit later I'm hoping to hear how he liked the card I sent - I chose one with bikes on the front since he's a huge cycling buff, and then I put a postcard sized puzzle with a picture of Michelangelo's David on it inside the card - my dad's name is David, so when I saw it in Florence, I snapped it up - it seemed appropriate!
Today after work the Vernissage opens, so I'm hoping to get some nice pictures of how that looks when it's all set up, and then I have to dash off for Alessandra's farewell dinner in Trastevere!!
Well, that's about it from me!
ciao voxies
R
Yesterday was my two-month-aversary in Italy! After work I met M in the pouring rain and we went and ordered my diary from Cartoleria Pantheon! This shop has two outlets quite close together, on the streets leading away from the Pantheon. They have beautiful hand made papers and gorgeous leather bags that I would die to own, if I actually had room to transport them home, which I don't!
Anyway. I went in after work on monday and they said they'd need to speak to the factory about the particular diary I wanted since they were out of stock, and suggested I come back Tuesday. When I went back yesterday, they said yes, no problem, and I was able to order the style I wanted, in the colour I wanted, with a curly, gold letter R in the front, all finished and ready for collection by sunday this week or tuesday next week! I am so excited to collect it, I chose a chocolate brown, with a kind of wrap around cover. As soon as I have it in my hot little hands I will share it with you. It also includes the diary inside, one day to a page, and it will fit a standard A5 diary, so I can keep on using it, hopefully for many years to come.
While I was waiting in a bookshop out of the rain for M to arrive, I found these cute little calendars, where each page is actually a bookmark with 2 months on it. It was the same brand as the 16 month diary she bought, which I thought was adorable. The only thing that stopped me from buying the diary myself was that it wasn't A5 size, so I was really happy I could buy this cute little bookmark calendar instead! I thought I could use them as page markers in my diary as well.
After we'd sorted out the diary, we went to see the rain coming through the hole in the Pantheon, but it wasn't heavy enough to see anything. They were preparing for a wedding in there! can you imagine being married in a building like that?!
Then we went to Tazzo D'Oro (the Golden Cup) for cappuccinos. According to the guidebooks, Tazzo D'Oro is supposed to be one of the best coffee places in Rome. It's located just down from the Pantheon. We liked the hearts they put on our foam!
It was raining so hard that I bought a pair of blue gumboots on the way home, but of course today is clear and I don't have the chance to wear them. This weekend is supposed to be rainy again though, so high five to splashing in puddles. I don't think I've owned gumboots since I as 6 years old!
I made garlic croutons to have in my pumpkin soup, it was really really nice, and somehow I always crave soup when it's miserable outside.
lol, mini-Hot Fuzz quote there!
Today I skyped with the family and the Beast, and then M and I went shopping on Via Del Corso.
Then on to Via Del Corso, where we wandered aimlessly and enjoyed looking in all the shops. I got these black jelly flats from Camomilla, which had the most amazing, crazy hello kitty products, including toasters, water dispensers, stationery, bags, clothing, measuring cups, baking stuff, chopsticks, and my favourite, adhesive car kits to make your mini or smart pinker and hello kitty friendlier! there were even car air fresheners! pretty much anything you can imagine, all in pink, with the cutest hello kitty wallpaper too!
We found this amazing stationery store where M bought the cutest diary, and I got 2 types of pink post it notes, including these cute heart shaped ones!
I also bough the LE, safe sex promo lip butter from the Body shop and they gave me a free mango body butter sample which was cool!
on the way home we found this cashmere and lambswool sweater in green I've been searching everywhere for. Unfortunately, I don't think I can use it for my graduation like I was planning, since it's not easy to wear with a shirt underneath, and I think it's a tad too long. It's really nice feeling though, so I'll wear it with my green check skirt or even by itself with boots...
buona notte voxies!
R
it seems to me that sunday rolls around so incredibly quickly! on thursday the girls from school and I went to see the Proposal - in Italian ricetta d'amore (blackmail of love). It was funny, but I think it's more amusing in English.
Then friday was my last day at school. Afterwards Fanni stayed at our house so that we could go to Florence together on Saturday morning. We had dinner at the Roadhouse grill, it was really funny because Marisol was excited about the Tortillas - in Mexico she eats them every day, and here there are not many places that sell them.
On Saturday we went to Florence! it was a really really long journey, but we slept most of the way so that was ok. When we arrived, we joined the line for the Galleria dell'Accademia which is the museum where Michelangelo's David is on display. On the wall outside there was so much graffiti from people who had been waiting, and right near the door many people had written how long they had waited in line.
Inside, the David was huge, and so amazingly detailed. You can walk the whole way around the statue, and behind him is a semicircle of seats, where about 15 women were sitting and gazing at his ass. Very funny. It was an interesting gallery, although we didn't stay long - there was also an exhibition of work by Mapplethorpe, (which we didn't have time to see) I included him in my paper on 'shocking' exhibitions last semester - an interesting guy, although totally at odds with all the classical stuff they had in there.
After that we walked down to the Duomo and climbed the cupola, all 463 stairs! it took sooo long to get to the top but the view was absolutely incredible. First you go around the edge of the dome, and you get to see the ceiling with huge fresco of hell, with the devil eating children and all these crazy things, as well as heaven, with light and cherubs and such!
Then at the top, the stairs get more and more twisty and dark and small, before you pop out at the top, which is just beautiful, both the actual building, the view, everything. When we got to the bottom our legs were shaking like crazy from all the stairs and we felt dizzy from all the circular turns we had to do!
We bought gelato and headed toward the Palazzo Vecchio and the Uffizi. It took us one whole hour to get to the front of the Uffizi line - we did so much waiting in Florence, I hated how everywhere had massive queues.
The Uffizi was, as you can imagine, just incredible. Can you imagine walking past a Da Vinci, or a Bronzino... or a Correggio without stopping to look?! of course we did, but it's just criminal! the place was so huge that you just pass these incredible paintings and thing, oh yeah, there's another one.
My favourites were Da Vinci's annunciation (I bought a poster of it) and a beautiful Portrait of Lucrezia Panciatichi byBronzino - it was so romantic, she's reading a page from the book of solomon about 'she who is loved' and her necklace says 'love lasting forever' - it was a gift from her husband.
The other thing I liked was one of the ceilings - it was painted to look like a kind of arbour, with grape vines intertwined on the trusses, and through it you could see the summer sky, with little birds hopping about the vines. It was really beautiful but I couldn't find a postcard in the shop of it.
After the Uffizi, we walked to the Ponte Vecchio and window shopped in all the jewellery stores. At the opposite end of the bridge is a glove shop called Mandova, and I bought a pair of the most gorgeous, soft, cashmere lined black leather gloves there for 50 euros.
After shopping we went for dinner in a cute little restaurant, and then headed back to the station for the looooong trip home.
Today I skyped with the family and slept and slept, I was so tired. It's been so grey outside all day and now there is thunder, so we're hoping it won't rain - we're supposed to be having dinner in Trastevere with Alessandra tonight!
Ciao a presto,
R
aaaaaah. I have the deep satisfaction of someone who has spent with impunity.
Today I chatted for a bit with the parents on skype, and later Mari and I wandered around Rome, shopping and eating gelato. I bought a gorgeous leather belt for only 15€, (I think I want to get a black one as well!) I eyed off a leather journal, but I want to compare it with my current sized diary before I buy it, since I like them to be roughly A5..
What else? I got pink jeans (kind of thinner than jeans but thicker than cotton), and these gorgeous asic tigers. Sexy!
in the shop with the leather journals and such, there were so many beautiful things, including wonderful hand stamped papers. I couldn't help myself and bought some with a chestnut pattern all over it. In italian chestnuts are called 'castagna'.
anyway, that's pretty much it from me for now...
Juventus vs. Roma tomorrow!
Forta Roma!
ciao voxies,
R
Busy. Handed in an assignment for uni today, ended up missing my morning class to get it done... the afternoon class was really good though, since I finally felt like I was/am getting a handle on the language a little! I can conduct conversations with others in Italian! sure they might be limited in terms of expression but yay! it's possible!
what else? we tried to get tickets for the soccer game this weekend between Roma and Juventus but the place closed before we got to the front of the line, so we're going again tomorrow to try to buy them . It's exciting because my half-finished gryffindor scarf is actually in the Roma colours! I decided I'd buy a tshirt if Roma win, but I wont bother if they lose! Haha!
We tried the gelateria that was mentioned in the 'eat pray love' book today! Gelato di San Crispino, near the trevi fountain! it was really cool, I had honey flavour and some random other thing that I can't remember now, some kind of sweet white wine flavour? the honey was lovely and subtle, just enough flavour, the kind of thing I'd want served at a wedding or a big important birthday party.
I also bought shoes! at a place across from the Trevi fountain, for a terrific bargain, only 20 euros! check these babies out:
I wanted some low heels that would be suitable for work but also easy to walk around in, and these were a bargain IMO! it would have been a crime to pass them up, right?!
anyway, Im soooo tired so that's it from me!
ciao a presto,
baci abbracci!
xox
R
even when I do nothing here, it feels like I've done heaps!
today I skyped with la famiglia (including Willum of course) and went grocery shopping. I made lunch, and then walked to the pharmacy in the 30 C + heat (it was closed). After I got back, I had a long nap, and then my flatmate Marisol and I went to dinner at the hardrock cafe which was pretty cool. They had a guitar signed by everclear, and some groovy stained glass windows..
Tomorrow it's back to school again! it's a monday so who knows how many new people we'll have turn up!
Ciao voxies,
R
