To Market, To Market

One huge perk about American holidays these days (I mean, apart from the 8 hours of holiday pay) is that the Italians still go on with business as usual. This means markets, businesses, schools, and the likes are all open and for once I'm able to live the Italian life.

Today's destination was Shoe Alley. Yes, I have been there before but not for months! My coworker and I had been talking about needing boots for a few weeks and we made the plans late yesterday afternoon. (What else would 2 government employees be talking about late in the afternoon before a long weekend?)

With my coworker taking over directions (my GPS and I are still working through our issues) I drove my car closest to downtown Naples it's been. The drive proved to be entertaining and the traffic at 940 suggested it was still early in the work day. We arrived without incident and I even backed up onto the sidewalk for a very Italian parking job. By the way, Ravi is really learning to love some of his all terrain capabilities in this urban center.

The sun shone down on the shoes causing buckles and bling to glisten like treasures. The stacks of boxes reached several meters high, each containing a pair of shoes. Like two pros, we wandered back and forth between the stalls in each row- careful not to to miss any! In today's search for boots nothing really caught our eyes until the 3rd row. It's here I found the first pair of suede wedge with a little faux sheep wool lining- super cute but just filed away as we continued our search.

Our search for boots was temporarily detoured as I realized I want to find a few scarves since I'm determined the key to dressing like an Italian is to accessorize. My research has concluded that the reason the women always look so fabulous in their outfits is because they've layered and accessorize everything on their person to be art. Granted, it could just be the shoes but I'm not willing to give up my flip-flops just yet.

Row after row we searched. It wasn't until the very back that we finally found one of our favorite types of stalls- cinque euro! Although the selection wasn't too fabulous, for 5E you can buy a pair of shoes and if you don't like them after 2 or 3 wears you pass them along or not feel guilty as they sit in your closet. My coworker found her (only) pair of boots here, but I was still on the hunt for something similar to the ones I saw previously.

And then I saw the most adorable dress ever. Okay, maybe not ever but marked 10E it was pretty fabulous. After checking it out I was 99% sure that this body with my "no carb left behind" Italian food plan was not going to squeeze into it.

Onward!

I finally found a pair of boots. No, they weren't like the ones I saw before (and despite going back for a second look still didn't come home with them) but they looked like something my shoe collection was missing. As we made our way back I once again crossed paths with that dress. Feeling optimistic (I knew it would fit, but it was the "how would it fit" that was the mystery) I tried that and another dress on. And this is how the  clothes shopping at Shoe Alley happened. The original dress was a no go, but I found another one. The only problem is I have a feeling I'll be checking Nini's closet for it should it ever go missing.

So today's trip was successful: boots, a pencil skirt, a dress, and a top all for way less than the holiday pay I was paid while I was outside enjoying the sun rather than in my dungeon.

Let's Get Some Shoes

Late last night my coworker asked if I'd want to go to Mercatino Poggioreale, better known as Shoe Alley. Um yest please! Most of you know that I just can't say "no" when it comes to shoes or coffee.

We headed out early this morning to downtown Naples to see what I could find because the 3 pairs of shoes I've been wearing since my pack out are becoming torture! My black flats will be trashed as soon as I see that my shoes have arrived safe and sound.

So we got there and I really had no idea what to expect. What I found were stalls lined up, row after row. with shoes, clothes, purses, and jewelry. We wasted no time making our way up and down the rows, taking visits into just about every shoe vendor's stall. As we looked at the shoes my coworker explained to me that a lot of shoes are one of a kind so it's really tough to often find a pair you like in your size. These unique pairs must fall off a truck somewhere so I'm very tempted to just put in my request for size 39/40 shoes and see what they can do in the weeks to come.

I of course found an adorable pair of tan leather sandals within 10 minutes of being there but my foot didn't fit. Yes, I did try them on again during our second walk though but alas, they weren't meant to be so I continued my search.

Let me tell you there were red shoes. There were blue shoes.  And pink shoes. Green shoes. Lacy shoes. Glittery shoes. Shiny shoes. Beaded shoes. Flat shoes. Tall shoes. Really really tall shoes. Ugly shoes. Strappy shoes. Tasseled shoes. Running shoes. Plastic shoes. Baby shoes. Basically every type of shoe under the sun and yet I still couldn't find a pair of flats to wear in/out of the office to save my babies shoes from the wear and tear of the cobble stones- go figure right?

I think our favorite pair we saw were the one seen in the middle of the shoe collage. Yep. The heel is inside the shoe. Well is it still a heel when it's a cushion? At any rate if any one is interested they are available in more colors than the red and for a mere 10 euros they can be yours!

After searching and being tempted by those adorable leather sandals a 3rd time I'm sure you still have one more question-what did I end up with? Um just what I was trying to avoid...heels! I guess I just can't escape my true love. I even told my coworker to keep me away from from the stalls that didn't have promising looking flats. Epic fail. Here are the 2 pairs I ended up with for 15euros total! Yeah, that's a smidge over 20 bucks! The black peep toes were only 5 euro.

Have I convinced you shoe lovers to visit yet? The only issue is the limited sizes for most of the shoes. Again, had there been my size in a few other pairs I would have walked away with more (way more) than my two pairs. At any rate, there are other markets to be visited with different styles and yes, we're already making plans for next weekend!