by Maryb2004
Thu Oct 19th, 2006 at 11:17:40 PM EST
How can we NOT front page this? --poemless
I don't take photos. It's important that you know that about me. It's not that I'm against them. It's not that I don't want to take them. I just don't. Once, in the days before digital, I went to Paris with a friend. He came back with 30 rolls of film. I came back with three .... photos. Yes, that's right. Three. Photos.
So when Izzy asked me to photograph shoes in Italy, you can imagine my amusement. I mean, how could someone who would probably forget to take pictures of the frescoes in Assisi be expected to remember to take pictures of shoes? But I like Izzy, so I said I'd think about it. And I did think about it. I thought about Italian shoes, Italians in shoes, tourists in Italy in shoes ... the permutations made my head spin.
I was willing to try, but I admit I was a little worried about it. Would I be allowed to take photographs of shoes in Italian shops? Would total strangers be offended if I took pictures of their feet? And what if the people I was traveling with thought I was crazy? (Actually, I wasn't too worried about that last part. They already think I'm crazy because I blog.)
I shouldn't have worried. It was fun and by the end of the week my whole group was on the lookout for shoes. But how to get the photos to Izzy? Postcards of course! Fortunately the Italian mail service is a little slooooooow, so the postcards have (amazingly enough) only arrived today.
I've convinced Izzy to share them with you.
Izzy you would love it here! You can buy shoes everywhere, even at the Farmacia (pharmacy). The waiting area at Leonardo da Vinci Airport is not an exciting place -especially when waiting for someone delayed at Heathrow for nine hours (thank you Alitalia). But I wasn't bored. I spotted this window display of shoes at the Farmacia and entertained myself with one of the digital cameras.
I'm regretting that last postcard. I realize that Dr. Scholls were not the kind of sandals you expected me to find in Italy. But Izzy, it was the best I could do on a bad travel day. I promise to make it up to you. How about these? I saw them in Spoleto -very fashionable for the music festival crowd and a welcome diversion after the white knuckle drive through the mountains.
Today we are in Assisi. The trend seems to be little black dresses worn with black sandals ... I wonder why : )
BTW -- I stalked a number of Franciscans, trying to get a good shot of their sandals- but those boys walk fast! By the end of the day I even had my group giving me "Franciscan alerts." So even though I never got a clear shot at them (the shoes) I considered the day a success because it drew everyone into the "shoe fold".
Other than among Assisi religious, the trend for fall seems so be a little more flashy. Everywhere I look I see mannequins with space age lamé sneakers in gold and/or silver like the ones on the left. Very chic. I know you'll want to pick up a few pair. I did not, however, see any lamé Chuck Taylors.
Boots are always popular in Italy, but what happened to the sleek leather look? With global warming, I wouldn't expect the Nanook from the North look.
But, as you can see, they were everywhere.
It's nearing the end of the week and shoe pictures have become an addiction. And not only am I looking for shoes, but the rest of my group is looking too. And some are even modeling for me.
This above shot was taken by our pool and was a group effort. We had great fun with the Pooh Bear float that kept losing air and needed constant blowing. The designers must have had a good laugh when they decided to put the blow tube in an anatomically correct location. So a shot with Pooh and some stilettos seemed appropriate. But there was lots of directing involved from everyone in the pool!
Izzy, I just can't decide which are my favorite boots. I love the Bruno Magli black and white boots on the right:
On the other hand, I fell in love with these very practical yellow rubber boots I spotted on an airport worker and I stalked him until I could get a clear view of them. What do you think? 
I know you really wanted to come to YearlyKos this year - but you didn't have the right shoes. Well I found you the perfect pair of Ferragamos. Yes, they are orange.
Well, the week is over and we're back at the airport on our way home. I was so disappointed that the duty free Prada store isn't open yet. But I did see this lovely ensemble in the Armani store. This almost made up for our five hour delay (thank you Alitalia).
By the way ... remember how you asked me to send you a picture of myself?
Yes, that's me in my Josef Seibel sandals.
Ciao!
