Shoes, Socks and Spas

This weekend marked the beginning of i saldi or the sales here in Roma. Given that it's nigh on impossible to fit into the clothes in this city I had my heart set on finding a bargain pair of shoes or a bag. For days I had been wondering past the window of a shoe shop in Testaccio coveting a pair of black lacy shoes. My imagination had worked its way through every outfit and I knew these amazing shoes would be fab with all of them! I should have known ....

Now I know that my blogs so far have presented an idyllic view of life in Roma but much like any other city it does have its faults and one of these without doubt is the customer service found in the clothes and shoe shops. There I was on sale day heading straight for Testaccio and upon arrival I was delighted to discover my shoes sparking away in the window with a 50% discount!! I boldly walked into the shop and in my best polite Italian asked for a size 40. I swear at that moment something must have erupted from my face or something because the shop assistant recoiled in horror. It would appear that this particular store does not trouble itself with any sizes greater than a 38. Without so much as a Buongiorno off he scurried to look after the neatly packaged, well dressed italian women who would clearly provide him with more commission than I ever could!

After my shoe experience I hauled my big clown feet off to the Via Appia Nuova (one of Rome's longest shopping streets) to meet Marco as he said there were some things he wanted to buy. Little did I realise until I met him that his purchase of choice on the busiest shopping day of the year was SOCKS!!! So there I was in Rome's equivalent of C&A trying to be enthusiastic about whether beige or navy socks were a better buy.

Sunday we headed outside Rome to a place called Viterbo in northern Lazio, a mainly medieval town but one which originated in Etruscan times. In the 13th century, back in the days when the Popes weren't so popular in Rome, Viterbo was one of the favoured residences. Today it hosts the Italian gold reserves, however the area's main draw is the nearby thermal baths.

The photo above was taken in one of the typical medieval streets of Viterbo. The one to the right shows the Papal Palace or Palazzo dei Papi finished in 1266. The small electric car and motorino in the picture are apparently not 13th century modes of transport.




We had arranged an evening visit to the thermal baths for an outdoor dip so not quite believing that I was donning a swimsuit a mere 3 weeks after Christmas off we went. After the initial shock of unisex changing rooms (thankfully the showers were segregated) I braced myself for going into the dark january outdoors for a swim. The water was beautifully warm and we spent a couple of hours splashing about. I was so relaxed that even my big clown feet didn't bother me anymore.