Part 1 of 4: SonomaValley Retail Tour

PART ONE of FOUR REPORTS:

A Sonoma Wine Country Tour, without touring even one vineyard or tasting a drop of wine—what a concept!

What the heck? You ask.

That's right, I was there to see rather than sip! I toured the retail scene for potential locations of future Cabana Home Stores.

I’ve been reading about various stores and designers from the Sonoma Valley, particularly in Healdsburg and Sonoma, so I took a road trip with Michael from our Cabana Home Mill Valley Store to see for myself.

So within moments of being picked up at the Oakland Airport, the smoggy city and distant step sister to San Francisco quickly gave way to the clear skies of the Sonoma Valley.

So far so good!

Soon the empty roadsides were filled with fields of grapes, then the vineyards with their imposing estate homes, and it became such a frenzy of where to look or even which way to go, that this sign was a perfect example of the anxiety that any oenophile must feel as they drive through this region.



Our first stop was Cornerstone Sonoma, a really interesting shopping experience that housed some of the coolest retailers in the region.

The project is located on a corner (true to its name), on Highway 121 outside of downtown Sonoma.

The project is distinguished by a “Flying Fence”, a white painted picket fence that, well, literally flies.

It’s where I saw my first Sonoma Grapes up close and personal. Actually, there is a vineyard painted at the back of the dirt parking lot, where we had been directed by the valet parker's, because the paved lot was full of attendees at a benefit garden festival.

Notice the leaves turning a fall color. That’s right, the harvest is upon us and will occur anytime between now and the next ten days.

The Corner Stone development is a very interesting mix of retailers. First of all it fronts a two lane highway close to nothing other than a corner filling station.
The tenet mix was varied, with a couple of garden stores, offices of a landscaped architect, an Asian antique store, an architectural salvage store, a Zen fashion store, a kitschy design store, an outdoor furniture designer and importer, several interesting restaurants and even a party facility that you can rent for events. They host corporate events and wedding's on the property in their adjacent vineyard.

The Giant open air party tent can be rented for private events. Notice the huge, one piece concrete table top on an iron base. The massive table is on wheel's so it can be moved out of the way after dinner to make way for dancing! The table is bar height and all of the chairs are bar stools.

THE STORES:

POTTER GREEN (by Nina Gerety, nina@pottergreen.com). There were actually two shops in two different spaces. The first was a garden type store with unremarkable fountains, garden planters, and over sized and under-styled furniture made with reclaimed lumber. Egad! But…
I’d heard great things about this store, and fortunately redemption of Potter Green was just across the courtyard in the main shop.

The owner is an importer of Asian furniture, and she has an exceptional eye for not only antiques but for excellent value.

CLOISONNE CANDLESTICK - What a great color on these cloisonne candlesticks, $880 for the pair. Idea: Make them into a pair of table lamps—they would be incredible!

Of particular interest was a four foot tall carved Buddha, priced at only $800. Something similar at one of the antique stores in Summerland or in Montecito would be priced in the $2,500-$4,000 range. Yes, the Asian imports were really a great value.

STEEL CHAISE SCULPTURE- Maybe not so comfortable to sit on, but a great piece of sculpture in the garden.

Potter Green also had the steel chaise lounge sculpture, above, and a handsome group of contemporary occasional tables.

Tomorrow, more on the great retail stores at Cornerstone Sonoma.

Good night moon!

LOSS

As I settled in at home after a weekend out of town, I looked at a stack of newspapers that had accumulated from that Wednesday-Sunday, and I just could not put them into the recycling bin without first having read them. It’s not just wasting the 75 cent cost of the newspapers, and it’s not as if I have loads of spare time on my hands. It’s just something about an unread stack of newspapers that I cannot bear to discard…what if I miss something? So, scanning the headlines would have to suffice. I opened the front page section of that Fridays LOS ANGELES TIMES and spotted the obituary for the famed architectural photographer Julius Shulman, who had passed away a few days earlier at the age of 98.

When I got to the Saturday LA Times, the front page announced the death of Walter Cronkite, the veteran news anchor who broke the news of world events to me from 1962-1981.
I was immediately saddened by the loss of these two men, and then thought of how fortunate I was to have met one of them in person (Mr. Shulman), and to have grown up watching the other (Mr. Cronkite) on television. Both of these gentlemen had an influence on me; each in very different ways. I am grateful to have had the influence of these important men in my life.

JULIUS SCHULMAN, 1910-2009
I had only recently met Mr. Schulman, at a launch party for the new coffee table book/reference book, The MEDITERRANEAN HOUSE in AMERICA, written by Lauren Weiss Bricker, with photography by Juergen Nogai (published by ABRAMS, New York). Our clients, owners of a Wallace Neff designed home which was prominently featured in this book, had invited Caroline and me. We were asked to gather in the lavish living room where the author and the photographer were to introduce their book.

As a devotee of architecture, both historic and contemporary; traditional and modern, I was excited to hear them speak and to learn about their perspective on Mediterranean residential architecture. The room was all a buzz, everyone was talking, and I don’t know if anyone was listening.

I noticed an older gentleman, well dressed and in a suit, which stood out to me as it was a bit more dressed up than the “California casual” style worn by of the rest of us. No one was talking to him, and since I’m always interested in making everyone feel a ‘part of’, I couldn't’t just let him sit there alone, though he seemed to be enjoying his solitude, watching the spectacle of so many people involved in so much conversation. As I approached him, he looked up at me and smiled.

I introduced myself, “I’m Steve Thompson from Santa Barbara, this is a wonderful house.”

The gentleman responded, “My name is Julius Schulman. Yes, this is a wonderful house”

Julius Schulman! I exclaimed to myself, trying not to trip over his polished brown wing tip shoes in my excitement.

“Mr. Schulman!” I gushed, “It’s so nice to meet you!” My salivary glands were working overtime and I felt drool forming in the cracks at the side of my mouth, and perhaps even spraying Mr. Schulman with some of it (you how that happens sometimes?).

“Well, it’s nice to meet you”, he answered heartily.

Suddenly, I felt awkward about what to say next. He sat there smiling at me waiting for me to say something. “Did you ever photograph any of Wallace Neff’s home’s”, to which I quickly followed up with another question, without taking a breath and thereby leaving no time for his response to the first, “Did you do any of the photography for this book?” (In reference to the book being launched that day).

“No, no I did not”, he said. “I’m here because I’m interested in teaching young architects about how you build great homes. This is a great home”, he declared, and he went on to say, “Architecture schools don’t teach architects how to design great homes anymore. I’m not so sure that you can teach someone to design this kind of beautiful architectural detail, but I’m working on it!” he declared. He also told me he had been teaching some architectural classes at one of the LA universities (I just can't remember which one because I was too excited to listen!).

“I totally agree. I don’t think you can teach someone to be creative, I believe that they have to have that innately, but I do think you can teach them about different styles and details, like these,” I said pointing to the wonderful detail of the limestone fireplace surround, across the room from us.

He smiled with approval.

“Mr. Schulman, I've always loved your work.” “My favorite photograph is the one of the glass house hanging over the cliffs above Los Angeles, the one that was taken at night with the city lights in the background,” I said, vividly recalling the image in my head as I spoke of it.
That was the photograph that accompanied Mr. Schulman’s obituary, and is shown above.

The photograph is properly known as the photo of "Pierre Koenig’s Case Study House No. 22", taken by Mr. Schulman in 1960. According to my Internet search, that photograph is considered by many architectural historians as the most famous architectural photograph ever taken in the United States.

And there I sat drinking my coffee, next to the stack of newspapers, thinking of the day that I met this man. I didn’t personally know just how many achievements were accorded to Mr. Schulman, until I did the Internet search on his name, where upon multiple pages bearing his accomplishments and photographs came up. I very well knew of that particular photograph that I had shared with him, and several more of them, I just never knew that they were made by him. On further examination, the photos began to become recognizable to me as the work of Julius Shulman because he had developed his own style. A style like his cannot be taught; his was innate.

One article stated that Mr. Schulman got his start in 1936 with a photo shoot for the architect Richard Nuetra. It said, “Shulman’s roster of clients read like a who’s who of pioneering contemporary architecture: Rudolf M. Schindler, Gregory Ain, Frank Lloyd Wright, Charles Eames, Raphael S. Soriano, John Lautner, Eero Saarinen, Albert Frey, Pierre Koenig, Harwell Harris, and many others.” Wow! What an unbelievable life to have lived and worked with these architectural giants. Schulman felt like his work helped sell the architects work to the world. The articles said that he felt like he could “sell it” (the architects work) better than they could. And, I believe he was right!

I’m so pleased to have met you, Mr. Schulman.

WALTER CRONKITE, 1916-2009:

I grew up watching Walter Cronkite on television, as he guided us through world events of the time. My earliest memory of Mr. Cronkite was his soothing voice, as he broadcast round the clock, reports on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. I was in preschool and far too young to grasp the gravity of the loss, but I saw it on my parent’s faces as they watched the coverage for hours at a time, seemingly for days on end. I remember his commentating on young John Kennedy saluting his father’s flag draped coffin, and wondering why that was so important, and what was that little boy doing there; why was saluting the flag so important, after all I could do that. John, Jr., was three years old and I was five years old.

My next memory of Walter Cronkite was of Apollo 11’s Neil Armstrong, when he touched down on the moon in the lunar module, The Eagle. Mr. Cronkite seemed to be directing the entire space program by his tone, and the confidence of his reporting. I was eleven years old then, and Walter Cronkite was still with me.

I never met Mr. Walter Cronkite, but I thank him for his rock steady and honest delivery of the news. He taught me about the idea of presence, something a theatre teacher once said that I had shown, when she used a theater performance of mine as an example of stage presence. Mr. Cronkite had that; he had presence, and that's what he taught me.

Thank you, Mr. Cronkite, “And that’s the way it is,”.

Another Encounter with a Famous Person

Once I did meet the famed network anchor, Douglas Edwards (as in Douglas Edwards with the News), America's first network news television anchor, anchoring CBS's first nightly news broadcast from 1948-1962. Mr. Edwards was eventually replaced by Walter Cronkite in 1962 (just a year prior to the Kennedy assassination).

I was nineteen and I was in New York City with my sister, Sheri (you know, the one who’s the top notch college professor that unofficially edits my blog). We were there on a “Broadway Theater” trip, sponsored by the college she was attending, with a group of future thespians. I thought I was brilliant, getting to go on a trip to New York City, and getting college credit for just watching a few plays. “A piece of cake!” I told myself.

Little did I know that I would be dragged to thirteen plays in seven days, not to mention the dozens of other appointments and tours we were required to make, including a Costume factory, Set Designers and Directors, and even meeting some of the actors themselves. While it was fun, and as if that wasn’t enough, my sister dragged me to a studio tour at CBS. We got to watch a live broadcast of Douglas Edwards, one of his last. It was so interesting to watch him from the sidelines, with all the studio lights trained on him, the camera following his every move, and watching the movement of the microphones overhead catching every word he said. There we were, just a few feet from the man himself, the man who preceded Walter Cronkite.

As we stood there watching him, my sister struck up a conversation with a nice, and well preserved woman. That woman turned out to be Mrs. Douglas Edwards. After the broadcast, he came over to his wife, gently kissed her, and then turned around and asked us our names, and said he hoped we had enjoyed the broadcast. In a split second he disappeared through a door marked “private”, with his wife giving us a little wave good bye over her shoulder as the door closed behind them. What a lovely couple they made.

As Mr. Edwards said each night, "Good evening, everyone, from coast to coast".

Goodnight Julius.

Goodnight Walter.

Goodnight Douglas.

Goodnight Moon.

Where in the World has the Design Guy Been?

It's been several months.... and I'm b-a-a-a-c-c-k!

Thanks for all of your cards, emails, letters, gifts and flowers! You really shouldn't have--but since you did, I'll take it, and thank you!

Oh! You hadn't noticed that I was gone?

Oh, yes, I was about to explain where I've been. Actually, I've been in Santa Barbara most of the time, focused on our business. Of course I've traveled a few times up to our Mill Valley store for meetings or to help out when needed, as has Caroline, and we even evacuated our selves to San Francisco to escape the recent wild fires that ravaged the countryside in and around SB (as in "OC" but we're in the "SB"!).

For amazing photographs of the recent wildfires, known as the "Jesuita Fire": http://www.mercurynewsphoto.com/2009/05/santabarbarawildfire/

My sincere thanks to the men and women who battled this fire so valantly and served so many that were displaced. Thank you!

And then...

In addition to the fire, as if the world's economy isn't bad news enough, I watch the continual parade of dismal economic news and employment figures, negative first quarter business earnings reports, the automakers going bankrupt and closing many of their dealerships, all this after we've already survived record high gasoline prices and those projections of $150 per barrel oil (which fortunately didn't materialize). In real estate the statistical decline in housing prices marches on. All the while, I watch as our costs of doing business as a Mom & Pop retail store increase, seemingly on a daily basis though the retail price at which I can sell my merchandise is not rising.

Customers don't expect to pay more in down times, they want to purchase it for less., or they won't purchase it at all. Therein lies the major problem on the retail front.

Our Competitors--have they made a bed that we all have to lie in?

Fellow high-end retailers such as Saks 5th Avenue, makes it very difficult for us to compete (and for their direct competitor Neiman Marcus) when they discount the top brands early in the season. Taking early mark downs, Saks went directly to 70% off on some current season merchandise, bypassing the customary 20% sales which grow to larger percentage discounts as the season nears its end.

But, not Saks, not this year. They certainly achieved a goal of beating everyone to the punch, though I don't intend to go there and didn't, and neither did Neiman's.
It's a tough road to take, but we cannot run our business at a loss. Other businesses can't either, though I've always wondered how a business stays in business when they report yearly loss after loss, but yet are still going concerns. I didn't say profitable concerns, but they are still going, still in business somehow.

Take our freight costs for instance, to get merchandise delivered from the manufacturers in North Carolina all the way to the West coast, freight rates were typically between 14-18%, now their 20-22%, plus the addition of new fuel surcharges, making the effective shipping rate a whopping 25% of the costs of the goods shipped! Yikes!

Then, there are the unending notices of price increases from our Vendors, some of which haven't had a price increase in the last two years, but they've already had two price increases this year!

Sorry, I got a little off subject...what is the subject here? Obviously there are several!
I better have another bite of my orange.

Okay, I feel way better now! I'm ready! So, to revisit the purpose of this article, "Where have I been?" I've been fighting for every bit of business that I can by working my little tushy off, just trying to keep ahead of the curve.

In fact our business has risen slightly upward, steadily every single month since year end Dec/2008.

Where's the business coming from? Fortunately, we've seen at least one major interior design and furnishing job come through our doors each month. The jobs are furnishing a large part of, or the entire customers home .

These customers have purchased a home in our area, as mostly a second, or third, part-time residence, and they want to furnish it from the floors, up!

They "need" us to furnish it from the floor up, they have a need! Praise the lord...a customer who needs to buy furniture!

I just have to say it again: Hey, customers that have a need to buy! Wooo whoo!

The Media

And where are these people coming from? How do they know about our Cabana Home stores in Santa Barbara and Mill Valley, CA?

I've got to say that I firmly believe that they are coming from our advertising. Since we do not advertise on radio or television, that means the customer is coming from our print advertising.

Of course much of our business is from word of mouth, but I attribute the lions share of it to our advertising. Since the end of last year, we've focused and booked our advertising dollars with those media that produce results, namely the high-end home and fashion magazines; Santa Barbara Magazine, C magazine, the Montecito Journal and the Montecito Journal Magazine (or the "glossy", per the magazines first Editor), 805 Living magazine, California Homes magazine, California Home & Design magazine, and Marin magazine.

We currently run both statewide and local magazine ads. At the moment we are not doing any typical newspaper advertising--I'll let you know more about the impact of that decision after a few more months.

During this economic downturn, we've actually kept our advertising budget on par with last year, as I do not believe this is the time to have less presence in the market place, though others may be trimming their advertising budgets. In some cases, we're focused on placement rather than frequency.

Example: Last month we took a full page ad, on the back page of one of the more prestigious local weekly newspapers. The ad ran in a space that is usually taken every week by one of the hottest "see and be seen" restaurants in Montecito, CA. We rely in great part on word of mouth to augment our advertising, and after the ad ran, a "big hitter" (from Texas) who had recently purchased a second home in Montecito came into the store because they had seen our ad. They purchased $3,600 worth of lamps (quite a nice little lamp sale). It wasn't word of mouth that got them here, because they didn't really know anyone here yet, it was the ad, and I'm convinced the placement of it on the back cover.

Staging Your Home to Sell--What a Concept!

Where else is the business coming from? Of course we're fortunate to have the repeat customer, GOD love'm! We're also working in a way, staging houses for sale, though not in the conventional way.

We recently furnished a "spec" house, owned by one of our customers, for a lady (considered the most successful mortgage broker in the United States) and her husband, (an accountant).

This savvy business lady built a beautiful house in the prestigious Jack Nicklaus golf course community of Old Greenwood (www.oldgreenwood.com), in Truckee, CA (that's Lake Tahoe).

Having been furnished initially by a local stager, and unsold six months latter, the owner was still paying multiple thousands per month for the use of the furniture, and she decided it might be less expensive in the long run to purchase furniture for the house, and that is, purchasing exactly the right furniture for that house.

A couple of things were at play here: 1. Properly furnishing the house would increase its appeal in the local market place, and 2. It would increase the attractiveness to a potential Buyer who would have the opportunity to purchase this home fully furnished, lock stock and barrel, which would make for an easier transaction for any absentee owner.

Left photo: Street side view of the property at Old Greenwood, listed at $1,895,000.

Right photo: View of the golf course fairways from the second floor deck.

This is one well-planned home. It features four bedrooms, with four private baths, the Living room with fireplace and built-in flat panel television and surround sound systems; high, beamed ceilings; Gourmet Kitchen (with two of each type of appliance!), a Game room, outdoor living areas with outdoor cooking and and sound system, all overlooking two of the prettiest fairways on the golf course. Sounds lovely? But it also sounds like every other similarly priced home that is for sale in the development.

In planning for the furnishings for this home, we worked diligently to give our customer the most complete home for the money that we could possibly deliver. At the end of the budget, we even lent them a major painting (not included in the price!) just to complete the interiors. The result? Judge for yourself, take a look at the new interior pictures below.

We also worked with their real estate broker to insure that we all had the same understanding of the customer for which we had furnished this home. I had specific talks with the broker/Realtors (remember, I'm retired from a twenty year career in real estate!) about getting away from the old way of selling a home based on "price per square foot". It's cliche, and my belief that nobody bases their purchase of a new home solely on price per square foot. Sure it's a factor, a guide if you will, in their decision making process, but it's the house itself, and everything it entails that establishes the value.


It's the customer considering the look, the feel, the way it fits their needs, and their dreams that drives them to select one house over another. That's the way to sell in today's economic climate. Forget the numbers! If the numbers where that important, then no one would ever purchase a house again--they would rent!

The look? Well, I must say we restrained ourselves from the Paul Bunyan look! No red plaid fabrics, no stitched deer-hide lamp shades, no antlers or horns on the walls (we prefer those on our Cadillacs in Texas). We passed on the typical hair-on cowhide upholstered furniture.

Instead of rustic spilt-log furniture, we opted for antique, primitive rough-hewn Chinese alter tables; naturally woven linen lamp shades instead of the deer-hide versions; we used a naturally woven grass rug instead (see the Merida Meridian rug, pictured below, and at the Cabana Home stores in Santa Barbara or Mill Valley, CA (http://www.meridameridian.com/) of a more expected braided rug; an upholstered headboard of raw silk instead of a more traditional wooden bed.


We used a subtle creme and tan hounds tooth pattern fabric in lieu of a the more typical bright red and green plaid, and bent just about every current rule for mountain-house design that is currently so obviously popular--and overdone to death! See more pictures, below.


From the Bengal Collection of 100% Jute woven rugs from MeridaMeridian available at Cabana Home Stores. Left: Style Reef; Right: Style Bora Bora.

Oh, and one more thing...we did not set the Dining table to look like someone was about to eat. If the idea is to set the table to make the house looked lived in, then to me a set dining table looks like the owner is about to have a dinner party and we better cut our appointment short so we can get out of the hosts way! We put a lovely centerpiece on the table in a wonderful clay container and called it a day! Leave the Martha Stewart details to the potential Buyer. Let them visualize themselves setting whatever table they envision as they stand in the beautiful Dining room contemplating the purchase of this home.

Re-positioning this spec-house in the marketplace was a well thought out decision by the Owners, and the Realtors, we were simply the facilitators. And, once the home is sold, if it doesn't sell furnished to the new Owner, then this homeowner will use the newly acquired furniture to upgrade and augment what she already has, and pass on the former to her kids, friends and relatives. All in all, everybody wins with this scenario.


More about Staging (in order to sell your home)


Statistics for your consideration of whether or not to stage your home are plentiful on the Internet (as are the "stagers" themselves). Basically it boils down to this: A vacant home that has been properly staged sells faster and for more dollars, than a non-staged home. Likewise, homes that are occupied that are staged, sell faster and for more dollars.

Curious as to why one would stage a home that is lived in? Consider this, we all have our homes decorated and furnished to suit us, and our lifestyle, but does it suit or fit that of a potential buyer?

Answer: Usually not. we may have too much furniture in a room, such as an extra large dining table with multiple chairs in a space that is far too small to accomodate it. Perhaps we have a need for the large table and the chairs to accomodate our large family, but if your home is on the market, it conveys to a potential Buyer that the Dining room is too small, and then just maybe that the house is too small as well.


Enter the Realtor!

In preparing to place a home on the market, more often than not, the Realtor has to tell the homeowner that they need to consider removing some of their furniture, accessories, or art, form the house, which is most often met with a stinging response from the sensitive homeowner.







Classic homeowner responses: "It works for us, and that's just the way we live"; or "they'll just have to get over it" or even ; "if they pass on our house because the dining room is too small, then this house wasn't for them."; or how about this, "they can see past that, if not then this house isn't for them", or, "I like it like this, it's why I bought this house".

Shivers go up my spine as I look at the responses above, having actually heard them myself. The worse the homwowners reaction to my suggestions, the lower the price they would eventually get for the house. The more cooperative, the more money they would get for their home. It happened everytime, over and over again.

So dear homeowners, please know this, the Realtor knows very well that it's your home. They are more sensative to that fact than anyone else who will be looking at and/or decides to purchase your home, so lighten up. Remember, your the one who has deciced to sell your home, whether you wanted to or not, and it is up to you to hire the person that you think can do the best job at marketing the property, negoitiating the terms of the transaction, and getting the transaction closed. The person who knows how to do these things also knows exactly what it will take to bring you the highest dollar your home will bear in the current marketplace, and they know exactly how to postion and stage your home in order to do so. So once you've picked the right guy or gal agent, once you've done it, get out of the way and listen carefully to their suggestions. While your home is on the market, it's not about you, or at least not until there is a written offer from a Buyer on the table. Until then, its about the Buyer, and making the house as appealing as possible to the broadest range of potential Buyers.

Best tip for any homeowner: Never create an adversarial reatlionship with your Realtor, they're out in the public on your behalf, fighting to get your home noticed and sold. Make them want the best for you by listening carefully to what they're telling you. It would be a rare bird (Realtor) indeed that wouldn't have your best interest at heart.

Other links for getting your home ready to sell:

From the National Association of REALTORS: "Field Guide to Preparing and Staging a House for Sale": http://www.realtor.org/library/library/fg303

Check out : "How to Prepoare your House For Sale" at: http://homebuying.about.com/od/sellingahouse/ht/homeprep.htm

Also, this site has some good but basic ideas for selling a home:
http://www.move.com/

Or, follow this link for ideas about getting your home ready to sell:
http://trends.move.com/7-ways-to-get-top-dollar-when-selling-your-home/

Or, this link to avoid the "Seven Costliest Mistakes seller Make":
http://www.move.com/home-finance/real-estate/sellers/avoid-costly-home-selling-mistakes.aspx

All for now! Next up on the Design Guy blog: Part III of recent European travels!

PS: I have no idea who this kid is in the above pictures, but he is darn cute! I found these picutes on the internet so if he's your kid thanks for letting me use the pic's!

Goodnight Moon

Europe Report IV of V: Rogue Taxi's at Rome's Stazione Termini (the main train station in Rome)

Rome, IT: Our Arrival (I'll let you in on this up front: There is no home fashion in this report either, just a retelling of our taxi experience upon our arrival in Rome).

We were sadly thinking Goodbye Florence before happily saying Hello to Rome for our real Roman Holiday, after successfully retrieving our daughter, her luggage, and our credit card from her semester abroad in Florence. The luggage is the operative word here!

The total number of pieces of luggage that I hoisted onto the train was eleven (11), not including the six carry-on bags.

Once aboard, I'd collapsed into my seat on the Eurostar, looking more like the sweating hired help than the proud father.

Unashamed, I fanned myself with my First class ticket, while my horrified fellow car-mates looked on with disapproval. Too bad I thought to myself, its over and I'm over this luggage.

Note: Not an actual picture of our luggage! But close!

As the train sped along upwards of 220 mph, and I had begun to cool down, I started dreading our arrival in Rome and the stack of luggage that awaited me. Suddenly, I wished we had taken a slower train. When we had arrived at the train station in Florence and the bags were transferred from the driver to me, I had to load the two baggage carts with the bags myself, which were so heavy the wheels on the front of the carts wouldn't roll.

After several attempts, I stood on the back of the cart to get the front wheels off the ground, first one, then the other. My wife pushed one cart, and I pushed the other, both carts with front wheels off the ground.

Our daughter pulled three large rolling bags just ahead of us trying to act like she wasn't with the "wheelie popping" adults behind her. I must admit, we must have looked like a band of well dressed Gypsy's.

Right: The Train Schedule Board, in Rome, Italy. Sex Sells even train tickets! You gotta love Rome!

Upon our arrival in Rome, it was chaotic as expected, so our plan was for my wife and daughter to quickly disembark so I could began handing, more like tossing, her our trove of bags. Caroline (my wife) was immediately met by a gypsy who promptly grabbed one of the bags from her and loaded it onto a waiting luggage cart, as if he were a porter who worked for the train station. She had one hand on the bag, her head darting back and forth between yelling at the gypsy, and summoning me for help. My daughter, having already experienced this scheme, reached down and jerked the bag off of the cart and told the guy to get lost (so she said...) in Italian. He grabbed at the bag and a tugging match ensued. I had been man-handling the bags off of the train during the near melee, and when I finished, I yelled at the guy, in my version of Italian (actually in English with an Italian accent), "Get the hell away from them, and my bags!"

He left abruptly, leaving us with the pile of bags. I wondered if maybe we shouldn't have risked letting him load the bags considering the large pile that had accumulated next to the train. I noticed several other Gypsy's using the same guise, and then I got aggravated that they would take free carts, that is if you could find one that hadn't been already commandeered by another gypsy, and attempted to charge unsuspecting passengers for its use.

Where were the Carabinieri (Italian police) when you need them?

Resourceful as ever, our daughter watched two passengers as they headed to their train car, and she stalked them until the last bag was removed from their cart. Once empty, she lurched for the handle, when suddenly her hand was met by that of another of the rogue Gypsies, trying to commandeer yet another free cart. She yelled for all to hear, "That's my cart!" and with that she gave the cart a hard jerk to the right and the stunned cart pirate let go in astonishment. That settled, she circled around the dumbfounded one and rushed to our aid and the tall pile of bags. Once our we were loaded, I briefly sighed a relief, "we're almost there", I told myself, to the Taxi stand that is, and the driver could handle them from there. Or, so I thought!

I'd been forewarned, and you be too, to stay clear of the rogue Taxi drivers who rip-off unsuspecting tourists by not using meters, etc...

I was hyper-focused on finding the official Taxi Stand. When we rolled up to the curb, the Taxi's were parked in a disorderly fashion, one in front of the other, on the curb, sideways, in the street, between lanes, it was a real free for all. A man stepped out of the fist car and approached me. We discussed the bags and the need for two cars, to which I agreed. I'd take half the bags in one car, and the girls could ride together in the other with the other half. The driver volunteered that the fare would be 25-30 Euros per car, and I said that's' fine as long as the meter was on. The driver winced, somewhat indignant I supposed that my request somehow conveyed that he might be dishonest, and he assured me that the meter's would be on.

He quickly summoned a buddy, not the next car in line, but one from the back of the line of Taxi's, which didn't look quite right to me, but since he was the lead guy, I went with it. I put the girls in his car, and I rode in the second car following behind. I hadn't mentioned the meter part of the negotiation to my wife, only the fare that the driver had quoted. I noticed that my driver wasn't using his meter to which I justified fine because after all, he wasn't the lead guy.


Twenty five minutes later we arrived at our apartment, near the Piazza Popollo. The lead driver came up to me and said that it was going to be 40 Euros for each car, because of the distance and the weight of the bags. I knew the bags were crushingly heavy, so I gladly paid him, and gave them each a tip, for a total of 100 Euro's.

Later, I asked my wife if the meter had read 40 Euro, and she said that he hadn't used it because he told her that I had already agreed to a fare with him.

No matter I thought, it seemed fair enough to me, and after all, we're in Rome, we had arrived at our fabulous apartment for the Christmas holiday, so lets just have fun!

Left: The Train station in daylight...it looks so innocent!

The next morning we took a taxi back to the train station to meet our guide (who was fabulous, but more about him later) for a day trip to the ruins of Pompeii. Upon arrival, the meter read a measly 6 Euro, and the drive took less than five minutes which was perplexing. I asked the driver if we were at the main train station, and looking at me a bit puzzled from his rear view mirror, he confirmed we were indeed at the main train station. And, it was the same train station at which we had arrived just ten hours before, but I wondered how this trip could have taken just five minutes and cost only 6 Euro, when last night it took twenty five minutes and cost 100 Euros (with tip)?

Once we located our guide and boarded the train to Pompeii, I asked the guide about the difference in the taxi fares. He grimaced and said that we'd been "had". He told us we had fallen victim to the typical taxi scheme that most tourist fall into at the train station in Rome.

"You got taken", he said in excellent English.

"Taken!? But, how?"

"Rogue taxi drivers. The government has tried to crack down on them, but, its Italy..." he said. "I hate it for the tourists, but it happens, too often".

I winced at his words, and mumbled "taken" under my breath. I hated to have been taken by those jackal's, and decided this was indeed a story to be shared with other potential travelers, and my readers.

So, when in Rome... go to the official Taxi Stand, it's the one which has multiple painted lanes and curbs, and better signage, and the Taxi's are parked in a uniform queue It's on the side of the train station where all taxi's drop off and pick up passengers. The rogue taxi stand is also signed, but it is actually on the main street side of the station, which is the entrance mostly used by pedestrians who have arrived by foot or on the Metro.

Speaking of the Metro, I never rode it, but my wife and daughter did and thought it was easy to navigate, efficient time wise considering the traffic throughout Rome, had well located stops, and the price was a fraction of even a legitimate taxi fare.

The ordeal with the rogue taxi was the only negative thing about our entire trip to Italy. Other

than that, this was a flawless trip to the Eternal City.

Tomorrow, Pompeii memories.

Good Night Moon.

Europe Report III of IV: Shopping Florence

Shopping Florence (...oh, I know, somebody has to do it!)

The famed Duomo of Florence, with the Campanile Baptistry in the foreground.

artstore mandragora

A store not to be missed in Florence is the artstore mandragora (http://www.artstoremandragora.com/) located on the Piazza del Duomo.

Similar to the "museum stores" in the US, this is probably the best of the bunch next to the Santa Barbara Museum of Art store in Santa Barbara, CA, and the MOMA museum store in NYC.
Find great European Art and Literature books, Italian leather journals, Art Reproductions, as well as handmade Jewelery, Ceramics, Glass, and original Paintings and Drawings.

Finds at the artstore mandragora include this framed pastel picture by Enrico Fizialetti (born 1964) a student of Luciano Guarnieri and a graduate of the venerable Istituto per l'Arte e il Restauro Palazzo Spinelli in Florence. Price--a mere EUR € 400 (about $600 US). The piece was framed in an exquisite Italian frame that appeared to be vintage, and worth the price of the picture itself!

In consideration of purchasing this, or any picture, I would select this picture for its colors and its composition, and of course I love the frame. This piece may not be more valuable than what one would pay for it, but that's not the point. The point is if you like it, and you can afford it, then it is a very good picture at a very good price.
One of my favorite pictures in our personal collection was purchased in San Marco Square in Venice, Italy from one of the ever present artists. It's a conti pencil drawing of a reclining nude female in the style of Picasso. Granted it's no Picasso, but it's not just a copy, not to me. It's an artists heartfelt homage to Picasso, and it is wonderful. The piece is framed in gold leaf, floated on linen, and sits on the music ledge of our baby grand piano.

Do you think it looks more important than the $15 we paid for it eight years ago? You bet it does. It looks as good as any piece in our collection that costs thousands more, and I like it better than most anything else we own.
The point here is about having the confidence to choose art, and buy it, especially when your traveling whether domestically or abroad. In addition to the owning the piece, the interaction with the artist or the gallery is an important part of the memories and the enjoyment of owning a particular piece of art.

Ermenegildo Zegna - Agnona

A Great store located on the corner just a block from the Arno River. Huge selection of the latest Zegna Collections. My bag was lost by American Airlines, so immediately after I checked in at the hotel I headed over to the neighborhood Zegna store (as if every neighborhood has one!).

The store was just one convenient block from our hotel in

Florence.

The Italian Sultan of Cool: Ermenegildo Zegna

I bought a great sweater, a pair of pants, and a couple of shirts.
My bag arrived at 7:00 am, the next morning. Whew! I'm glad they didn't bring it to my hotel before I got to the Zegna Store. That was a close call!

Ermenegildo Zegna Via de' Tornabuoni, 3
Tel: 055 264254‎

UGO POGGI
Owned by the fourth generation of the Poggi family. This small shop features Italian Silver plate, Miran Lamps, And smaller antique accessories. Downstairs find a great collection of Silver serving pieces, both new and antique. Mind the narrow, steep stairs, and allow Mr. Poggi to go first so he can turn the lights on for you!
Ugo Poggi, Via Strozzi, 26r
Tel: 055.216741

The Straw Market

The Famed Straw Market in Florence, Italy, is located on the Piazza del Mercato Nuov, at the corner of Via Porta Rossa and Via Por Santa Maria.

Shopping the Straw Market is a must, if not just for the experience of learning to negotiate prices, Italian style.

The markets name belies the goods found there, the space is not located in a barn, but under a semi-enclosed beautiful, spacious loggia dating back to the 16th Century. Stalls are arranged cheek to jowl (pardon the pun considering the Bronze Boar--see below).

Find leather desk sets and boxes; Florentine gold-leaf trays, mirrors and boxes; tourist trinkets and umbrellas; leather belts and handbags; Pashmina shawls and printed silk scarves; embroidered linens. There is also a selection of traditional Italian pottery.

The Vendors there are some of the best negotiators I've seen in an open air, or flea market. Be forewarned, The Straw Market is anything but a flea market so be prepared to be pay the price for your treasures.

Florentines call this market Il Porcellino (Little Pig) due to the wild boar fountain located at the market’s south side. The statue, created in 1612 by Pietro Taccas, was cast from a marble Hellenistic original that is now housed in the Uffizi Gallery. Many tourists come to rub the pig’s well-polished snout and throw a coin in the fountain. It is believed that by doing so it insures a return trip to Florence.

Perhaps stopping by the good luck "Bronze Boar" will give you a leg up on negotiating with the markets Vendors, if not at least you'll reduce the weight of the change in your handbag or pants pockets.

Pictured: The famed Bronze Pig that brings one good luck!

Pictured: Racks of Italian leather belts at the Straw Market.
I found a Navy Blue, Paton leather faux alligator belt to go with some alligator trimmed Prada loafers that I had purchased back in LA in the fall. Since buying them, I have searched every designer boutique in Beverly Hills and no one had a navy belt of any kind, regardless of price.

Here I had a selection of various navy Blue faux exotic skins and leathers, and I paid only EUR € 18 (about $30 US). I'm still wearing a great looking faux alligator Gucci knock-off belt that I purchased at the Straw Market four years ago.

Straw Market hours: Every day from 9:00 am to 6:30 pm, except Sunday and public holidays.
and down the street...

and just down the street...

A beautiful store window display, filled with Italian ceramics caught our eye. There is always a place for Italian ceramics in the home, whether purely decorative or used as serving pieces.
I inquired as to the lead content, if any, and the shopkeeper didn't understand my question. I couldn't tell if the shopkeepers lack of knowledge was purposeful or not! who cares, they're gorgeous!
This is a photo I took with myself with a digital camera, and I was just thrilled with the result!

MERCATO DELLE "PULCI"

The famous FLEA MARKET of Florence is located in Piazza dei Ciompi and it's opens (every day from 9 am to 7.30 pm. If you're there on the last Sunday of every month, the market vastly increases in size with additional vendors, causing the market to spill out into the surrounding streets.

You can find furniture and "uniquities", prints, coins and jewellery. There are affordable treasures to be found amidst the bric-a-brac and antique books in the myriad cluttered stalls.

The Flower Market

The Flower Market, is located under the portico in Piazza della Repubblica (via Pellicceria).
Frequented by locals and tourist alike, find a huge selection of plants and flowers by local growers.

Flower Market Hours: Every Thursday morning, from 10:00 am to 7:00 pm.

And...saving the best for last: Outlet Shopping...Italian Style!

In addition to boutique shopping in Florence, we spent a day in Tuscany going to the designer outlet mall.

Named The Mall (which was a little confusing since the word 'outlet' is not a part of the malls name), is located on the Europa 8, in Leccio, Reggello (Tel 055 8657775

Open: Mon - Sat 10 A.M.- 7 P.M. and Sun 3 P.M. - 7 P.M.).

Unassuming from the outside, you won't be disappointed as you'll find every designer you're looking for, including Dolce & Gabbana, Fendi, Gucci, Tods, Yves Saint Laurent, Loro Piana, Giorgio Armani, Ferragamo, Bottega Veneta, Versace, Ermenegildo Zegna, Perla, and Prada.

We drove the 45 minutes out in the country to find the mall with friends, but there is a regularly scheduled bus and train service that delivers shoppers right to the doors of the mall.

Pictured, is the inside of the simply designed interior, but chock full of merchandise, Prada Outlet Store.

And back to the City...

Back in Florence, for some last minute shopping before heading to Rome, no trip to Florence would be complete without a swing through the beautiful Ferragamo Flagship Store in the Palazzo Spini Feroni, on Via Tornabuoni n. 2.

A real treat is a visit to the Ferragamo Museum, located on the basement level of the Palazzo. The museum was opened to the public in 1995 by the Ferragamo family, in an effort to illustrate Ferragamo's artistic qualities and the important role he played in the history of shoe design and international fashion.

Pictured, the Ferragamo Flagship Store and Museum.

In addition to photographs, patents, sketches, books, magazines and wooden lasts of various famous feet, the museum boasts a collection of drawings of more than 10,000 shoe styles designed by Salvatore Ferragamo from the end of the 1920's, until his death in 1960.

Salvatore Ferragamo as a younger man, photographed with some of the famous "lasts" (forms) for a collection of shoes.
I googled the Ferragamo Museum when I got home, and here is an excerpt from the entry:

"Ferragamo convinced his brothers to move to California, first Santa Barbara then Hollywood. It was here that Ferragamo found success, initially opening a shop for repair and made-to-measure shoes, which soon became prized items among celebrities of the day, leading to a long period of designing footwear for the cinema. However, his thriving reputation as 'Shoemaker to the Stars' only partially satisfied him. He could not fathom why his shoes pleased the eye yet hurt the foot, so he proceeded to study anatomy at the University of Southern California. After spending 13 years in the U.S., Ferragamo returned to Italy in 1927, settling in Florence."
I knew he was a special fellow, and he's a fellow Santa Barbaran to boot (pardon the pun!).

Okay, its late and I'm tired from all of this shopping!

Goodnight Salvatore.

Goodnight Moon.

Stay tuned for the next installment of shopping (and touring) Europe!