When in Florence...

By The Inside Source
August 4, 2011

My parents recently returned from a trip to Florence, Italy. Of course they brought back presents (I love my new Pucci scarf and my son looks so sweet in his little Euro-striped v-neck sweater) but I was jealous of all the shopping they got to do—not to mention the sightseeing, amazing food and time off! As my mother raved about one charming little boutique after another (you'll recall that I come from a long line of shoppers), I asked her to write it down, along with some of the authentic Italian treasures she spotted. The result was this Florence shopping guide... which was too good not to have her polish up and share. Read below, and if you're stuck at your desk like I am, see how to find authentic Italian treasures on eBay. Grazie, Mama!—Meredith Barnett, Editorial Director, The Inside Source

Rita Braver

CBS News Correspondent Rita Braver (who also happens to be the mother of our Editorial Director!) on a recent trip to Florence.

Guest Article by Rita Braver for The Inside Source:

Florence can make you crazy. Once I came upon two American women admiring some elegant leather gloves in a shop window. They were engaged in an intense debate about whether the longer or shorter pair seemed more practical. Suddenly, one of the women looked up. "Oh," she said, "look at that pretty church". The other woman glanced up for a moment, nodded her head and went back to studying the gloves. The "pretty church" in question just happened to be the Duomo— as in Florence’s dazzling, 700-year-old Cathedral, considered one of the finest buildings in the world. Yet I understood why the two window-shopping women were not about to be distracted by a mere masterpiece. There was shopping to be done.

Florence

left: Florence's amazing shops provides viable competition for even the most beautiful sites, like the stunning Duomo (photo by UniversalImagesGroup/Contributor). right: The Piazza del Mercato Nuovo, where some of the city's best souvenirs are up for the haggling (photo by Alessandro Albert/Getty Images).

Shopping in Florence, or Fir-en-ze, as the Italians pronounce it—drawing out every syllable—does bring out a kind of madness. The gold and precious stone-studded jewelry! The scarves and shawls in cashmere and silk! Everywhere you turn, there’s another charming window display tempting you to enter. Inside, the goods are even better on close inspection and the multo gentile salespeople will convince you that whatever they are selling is prima classe and you can't live without it. But what to buy?

The problem is that there are so many beautiful and interesting things, it's hard to choose—especially with limited luggage space, not to mention limited budgets.

Curvy wooden trays, painted gold in the traditional Florentine style, and embellished with jewel- toned red, green or blue panels, overlaid with finely traced fleur-de-lis (the symbol of Florence) are perfect for displaying perfume. Colorful ceramic plates and bowls from the nearby Tuscan countryside cry out to be shown off at one of your dinner parties Boxes alone require serious decision-making. Will it be a mosaic, patiently constructed, stone-by-stone? A handcrafted leather jewel case, polished to a rich luster? Or how about a cleverly constructed cardboard container, covered in distinctive paper, manufactured right in the City. You can get hexagonal pencil holder, complete with matching pencils.

Of course every time you go to a museum, there is something else to tempt you. After a trip to the Accademia, it's hard to resist a having your own small replica of Michelangelo's David, or even a packet of postcards. It's fitting that the piazzas in front of famous galleries have become al fresco art studios, where painters both work and hawk their wares. In fact, original watercolors and prints of the city's skyline—some of them, quite good—can be bought on almost any corner.

Florence

Gold Shops on Ponte Vecchio (Photo via Flickr) and elswewhere in Florence (photo via Flickr).

If you really want something special, from a marble orb, obelisk or orange to an umbrella carved from wood, visit Ducci, an idiosyncratic shop on Lungarno Corsini, just across from the River. It’s worth a trip just to see the friezes on the ceiling. If your tastes are more dramatic, just a block or so along the river, P. Bazzani & F. seems to sell real-size copies of just about every statue in Florence, including the gigantic bronze boar that graces the front of the Nuovo Mercato, or New Market—a structure that’s been around since the mid-fifteenth century, which gives you an idea of what passes for new in Florence.

And while we are speaking about the New Market, that's the place to see (and buy!) it all: straw bags, briefcases, lace tablecloths, wooden globes and every other tchotchke that can be found in the region. The quality of the merchandise may not be what you get in the regular stores, but you haggle with the merchants and convince yourself that you got a bargain.

Milano and Roma pride themselves on being the beacons of Italian style. But don't try telling that to the Florentines, who boast their own distinctive style. In fact, it's easy to tell elegant natives from scruffy tourists. Just watch for women in perfectly tailored dresses zooming along the Ponte Vecchio in 4-inch heels, scarves thrown casually around their necks. Or notice a cluster of men in pants with razor sharp creases, sporting tightly-fitted shirts, sleeves rolled up just so. Of course they'll be gesturing with their hands as they chat.

To dress like a Florentine, you can take a shopping trip along Via Tournabuoni, home to Italian luxury retailers like Gucci, Prada, Max Mara, Pucci, and Zegna. Anchoring the street is the one major fashion house based in Florence: Salvatore Ferragamo, headquartered in a Palazzo, with a shoe museum on the top floor.

Florence

Gucci, which just launched a new kids' collection, is one of many high-end designer shops in Florence (photo by Alberto Pizzoli/AFP/Getty Images).

But you don't have to buy big name fashions to get high fashion clothes, bags or shoes. Small, side streets are filled with shops featuring work by little-known but greatly accomplished designers. Small wonder that no one wants to leave Florence without a few souvenirs.

Still, let's face it, shopping in Florence is fun and fabulous, but a lot of the things you really want are too big, too heavy or too expensive to take with you. Inevitably, you get home and keep thinking about that item you let slip away. That's the time to head to eBay, where a Virtual Mercato awaits. Type in your search terms (or browse our picks below) and remember the delicious time, when Florence made you just a little bit crazy.