Introvert Abroad
Pushing Myself to Experience the World
11/27/2018 0 Comments Gift Giving Season!The holiday season is about here! You might’ve seen all of the lights that have been slowly strung up around the streets of Florence. Some rebel streets are starting to turn on the lights before Dec. 8, which is Italy’s official start date for Christmas, but hey, we get to enjoy the atmosphere a little longer this way! Speaking of Christmas, let’s hop onto the topic of gift-giving. If you’re anything like me, you love to leave things to the last minute. You might also have a list of names that you wanted to buy souvenirs for, and you perhaps have only actually bought souvenirs for maybe ¼ of that list. If you aren’t like me, and you have all of that covered already, I applaud you! You’re a much more well-prepared individual than me. If you are like me, then good news! I’m getting ready to write down some ideas I’ve had about how to make sure I get good souvenirs for my loved ones back home!
So first, I think it’s important to acknowledge that material wealth is not the only way to show someone that you care. Not all of us have a ton of money saved up, and for some of us, all of our money went into just showing up for the semester and being able to live abroad for four months. Your loved ones will appreciate it more if you find the time to contact them while abroad. It might be kind of late in the game for that reminder, but I know that personally, my mom and dad just want me to call them more than any cool product from Italy. If you are trying to think of a cheap gift though, you can never go wrong with postcards! I know it’s expensive to mail them, so you can just do what I’m doing! Collect a bunch of postcards throughout the semester for other people, and just give it to them when you return. It doesn’t have the same feel as receiving a letter from someone abroad while they’re actually abroad, but it also doesn’t have the same price tag. Anyway, on to the gift ideas! So some classic ideas for gifts are the things that Italy is famous for! You could bring home some fancy wine or nice leather goods or interesting pasta! When you’re trying to think of where to go to get these things, it really does depend on what you’re looking for. For example, if you’re thinking of getting some leather goods for your friends/family at home, there are a few places you could go! You could always go to the San Lorenzo market for any kind of leather. There are tons of stalls, and bartering is the name of the game. It’s a place to find a good deal, but you have to make sure to be careful with your purchases. You might find some low quality stuff that’s marketed as higher quality. If you think you can discern between a good deal and a scam, I’d encourage you to head to that market! It’s a great experience to shop at a market, and you’d be able to find a lot of neat stuff in one place. If you don’t trust the market, or yourself to pick the gems out, then you could always shop from more artisanal places! If you’re looking for some nice Italian made shoes, I’d recommend Sabatini Scarpe. It’s pretty centrally located in downtown Florence, and all of their shoes are really nice quality without breaking the bank. I got some reddish-brown combat boots there for about €105. That may seem like a lot, but for the craftsmanship, the nice leather, and the guarantee of origin, it seemed worth the money to me. My roommate also went there and got two pairs of leather shoes for about €30-€40 each. If you’re looking for a nice leather bag, there’s Via de' Ginori, 23r. Yes, the name of the store is its address. It’s a great shop where you can also find some leather jackets and other items! Scuola del Cuoio is also a fantastic shop that has a rich history in making leather goods. Basically, there are a ton of options for buying leather items in Florence. I’d suggest doing some of your own research and also asking for recommendations from locals. The endless online articles on “How to Buy Leather in Florence” can get overwhelming, so I like to just take suggestions from people I trust. Another thing to take into consideration when shopping for other people is their opinion of leather. I always like to make sure that the gift I’m getting is something that the person would really like, and if they’re against leather products for ethical reasons, whether they be animal or environment related, it’d be really awkward to show up with a leather gift for them. So maybe you’ve already gone to a nice winery and picked out some wine for people back home, or maybe you don’t want to deal with having to carry that back in your luggage! (Tip, I hear you should wrap it in a trash bag, then wrap the wine bottle in some jeans to protect both the bottle and your clothes in case of spillage.) You might be like me: someone on the hunt for nice trinkets to bring back to your friends! Personally, I think the best gifts are the ones you happen upon that remind you of someone. So, my plan is to hit up some antique/flea markets! I think it would be great to find some homemade crafts or vintage items to bring back to people back home. The gifts would be one of a kind and also hand selected for whoever the item reminded you of! I know that the Santo Spirito market happens the second Sunday of the month, but there’s also the Sant’Ambrogio market and Piazza dei Ciompi market that happen more regularly! To circle back to the beginning of this blog post, there will also be Christmas markets in Florence soon! The Santa Croce Christmas markets should be opening this week, and there will be a lot of cute artisanal, Christmas trinkets to pick out for people! That, and the experience of going to the markets will be so much fun! I’m so excited to go!!! And one final, and kind of unrelated tip from me: donate items! This tip is kind of the opposite of the rest of the blog post, but it’s something to think about! To make room in your luggage for all of the new things that you want to take home, you’re probably going to have to get rid of some of the things you brought with you. You can donate items to SAI, but try not to wait until the last minute! I think those were most of the gift-giving tips that I had! I hope everyone enjoys the last two weeks of the abroad experience, and I might just see you at a market sometime soon!
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