renaissance handbags

It was late afternoon when I arrived in the city center. The bus dropped me off right outside of the Duomo (Cathedral). Its difficult to find words to describe how cool the Cathedral is. I am so amazed at how each city has an equally stunning Cathedral, and yet each one is so very, very, different. It was fun to see the giant bronze doors that I remember seeing in slides way back in Art History Class. I also saw the original gold doors that the Grace Cathedral in San Francisco has copies of. As I wandered through the streets of Florence I couldn’t help but feel like I was walking through a living history of the Renaissance. I really got a sense of the extravagance of the Medici family and there love for beauty. Walking over the Ponte Vechio I stopped to watch the sunset over the Arno river. Bellisima! I noticed a clump of padlocks on the bridge and found out later what they were. It seems that Italian guys take their girlfriends to the bridge, lock the padlock as a symbol of there love and throw the key into the river. Its sounds good as a story, but I’m not sure how I would react to it if it happened to me. But I do love the drama of it all!!
I wandered back over to the bus stop through the endless sheets full of Chinese knockoff handbags. And there it was, the Gucci fanny pack that I had seen in the Gucci store and have been looking for on the street since the second week I arrived in Italy. Haggling is one of my new favorite skills. It’s all about the walk away. You decide on a price and if you don’t get that price you walk away. And then they chase you down and give it to you for what you asked for. It works every time. I wanted a fanny pack because in my mind it is an Italian institution. People of all ages ware them and it was the only thing, other than a pair of orange pants, that I wanted to remind me of my time here. And let me just say that it is FABULOUS! I feel like I’m walking around without a bag, and after all the luggage hauling of the last few days, it’s the ultimate freedom.!!