Shopping in Italy - Gift Wrapped

The clothing stores in Rome were unlike anything I've seen before. Most of them were narrow, but deep, and often without much front window in which to advertise their wares. Advertising being necessary to most commerce, they have adapted to the lack of windows by creating display cabinets on the walls outside. The picture of the ties is one such example - a collection so colorful that it enticed like candy. Another was the display of leather gloves at Fiumicino Airport. I just wanted to eat them. The stores were also different in that they had out on the floor just a few of each item - perhaps only one of each size or color, like a boutique. This was true even for the bargain stores. A far cry from the two dozen of everything approach of a Mervyns or Kohls.

Alexis, Cynthia and I also noticed the difference between female police officers in France and Italy. Lady officers in France were rare, and were outfitted as plainly and as practically as the men. The lady officers in Italy were fully made-up, right down to the impossibly high heels that all Italian women seem to wear, despite the cobbled streets. Seriously - heels so high I would break my neck just standing still in them. The first lady officer we noticed was also petite - but her demeanor was far more intimidating than her male counterpart. Cynthia commented that we shouldn't let the high heels fool us, because she "sure looks like she could gift wrap you." Alexis and I picked ourselves up off the floor after this comment... our sweet friend Cynthia is a brown belt, you see. She knows about being a lady who can gift wrap!