Gallery
European Travel
Along with excitement and inspiration which comes from a visit to Euroshop, this every-third-year trip also gives the careful observer the opportunity to view the distinctive shopping habits and cultural diversity of an entirely different sort.
Rome
On this trip, our point of entry to Europe was the Rome airport. While of Italian heritage, it is a country this observer has never visited. The airport was noisy, busy, and bright.
The terminals were filled with people traveling for various purposes; business men and women enthusiastically gesturing to make their point to an associate, and families, laughing, hugging, and just enjoying being together. While the Italian culture embodies passion and a love of life, the airport gives the visitor a sampling of what is just past security.
It was a very colorful scene, with an interesting assortment of shops; from the necessary Ferrari store, to leather handbags and accessories, to a surprising abundance of lingerie shops. Of note, the Italian men were the most flambouyant, particularly with the dashing way they were their scarfs. Many were proudly wearing the obvious hot Spring fashion color - Orange!
After a short two hour layover, we are convinced that a holiday in Italy is a necessity to fully experience the treasures of the country and the people.
London
There is never enough time to really see London. And there is not enough space here to share what the trip was really like, but here are two highlights.
The weather was incredibly mild, a change of season for us Winter-weary Midwesterners. Therefore we encountered crowded sidewalks of pedestrians who all seemed on a mission - Shop!
We all got plenty of fashion ideas, both from the display windows in a country that still takes this retail actitivity as extremely important to lure customers, as well as from our fellow shoppers.
The most incredible store was Primark. Situated on Oxford Street with style leaders such as Marks and Spencers, House of Frasier, and Harvey Nichols, this is an off-price retailer which is obviously winning over many British shoppers; both young and old, men and women, fashion-forward and filling basic apparel needs.
The stores are very unkept, with discarded clothing that the previous shopper left on top of the fixture, which the next person has to deal with. But this doesn't seem to deter the customers who dig through shelf and bins, looking for a bargain.
And customers are indeed finding what they are looking for. Every cashwrap was fully staffed and the lines of shoppers waiting to check out, snaked around the store.
