Elisa –

Elisa works at a purse shop called Ibiz just on the outside of the Campo de’ Fiori. Elisa makes all the purses herself using the finest materials available. Purse fashion changes every couple of months, but Elisa doesn’t try to keep up with it, really. She says that if she makes practical and classically stylish bags people will buy them. Her philosophy has always been one of practicality, utility, and quality. She usually limits her experimentation to the realm of color, as opposed to implementing radical new designs. She inherited Ibiz from her parents four years ago. They then opened the store more than thirty years ago, and she tries to carry on their design philosophy. Apparently, this design philosophy works because her customers are very faithful. One customer from Australia who bought a purse from her parents returned ten years later to get a replacement when the old one wore out. Elisa told us the story of the name of the shop. Her parents opened a leatherworking shop in 1972, but at the time, “everyone” in Rome was in the leatherworking business, and they needed something to set them apart from the rest. They went to a small island off the coast of Spain called Ibiz that is known for being the center of a masterful leatherworking tradition and there learned the famous old methods and designs. They named their shop in honor of that place and the experience, and also because it was good marketing to be associated with the island.

scamosciato – suede
abituale – returning (as of customers)
moda – style

Rosetta –

Rosetta works at the AS Roma store outside the Campo de’ Fiori near Largo Argentina. She has been working there for a little over two years. Rosetta is an interesting character because, *gasp*, she is not a soccer fan in the slightest. She doesn’t have a preference between AS Roma and Lazio, nor does she have a favorite player. She doesn’t watch, or go to games, nor likes discussing anything soccer related. When we asked why she worked there, she said it is only a job. I guess there is a common theme here in Italy at working jobs and not caring about what it is you are selling. Still, we tried to see if anything interesting happened in her store, like riots, or crazy Lazio fans, but she said no. She said if you want to buy tickets to a game you have to go to Piazza Colonna, where there is a bigger location of the AS Roma store. She answered the phone and blew us off while we were trying to interview her, so we went and played soccer with one of the soccer balls that was for sale. She didn’t like that very much, but she was unwilling to get off the phone and tell us to stop. All in all, it was a very unsatisfying interview. She didn’t even compliment Brian on his giallorosso maglietta.

Giallorosso maglietta - Yellow/red jersey (AS Roma’s nickname is i giallorossi)
calico – soccer
tifosi – fans

Rosella –

Rosella is the opposite of Rosetta (though their names are very similar). Rosella works at a travel agency in the Campo de’ Fiori. Surprise, she loves traveling. We asked her where Italians vacation in the summer and in the winter. For the winter she said that many Italians love to go up to the north, to the beautiful mounts, to ski and to snowboard. In the summer the Italians love to go down south, to the islands Sardegna, Ischia and Sicilia. We asked her where she wanted to go this summer and she answered Sardegna.

We asked her if she could go anywhere in the world and she answered Sardegna. We asked her what great wonder of the world she would go see, if she had infinite time and resources, and she said she’d go to Sardegna. We asked her where, aside from Sardegna she would go, and she looked at us blankly. We got the impression that maybe she wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, but she was extremely convivial. With another lovely interview complete, we said ciao, arrivederci!

nord – north
sud – south
sciare – to ski

Fabrizio –

We met Fabrizio while he was taking a break with fellow gondoliers in the afternoon sun of Venice. We thought this was the perfect opportunity to talk to someone in a purely Italian profession. Fabrizio has lived in Venice for all of his life. We asked him how long he has been a gondolier; he said he started training since he was thirteen. His father retired and he inherited his gondola. He says work is really tough, especially in the summer heat. Powered boats take up most of the waterways now, and the amount of gondolas has been steadily shrinking. Most people, he said, don’t appreciate the romance of the gondola, and simply do it as a tourist attraction. Still, Fabrizio loves his job and wouldn’t trade it for any other job in the world.

Remo – oar
gondoliere – gondolier
barca - boat

Marco -

Marco is a bartender at Harry’s Bar, the fanciest bar in Venice. According to Marco, (in confidence) it caters to the “filthy rich.” He proudly boasted to us that the bar’s claim to fame is a drink called a Bellini, which consists of Prosecco and peach puree. We had to try them, and they were delicious. One each and 35,50 euro later, we resumed our conversation with Marco.

He told us that Harry’s serves a lot of famous people, like movie stars or government types from all around the world. He gave us a long and illustrious list of people his bar has served in recent years, including Jessica Alba, former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, and even Tom Cruise, of whom he was a huge fan. Whoa, wait a minute. We now have two Marcos we’ve talked to now who are huge Tom Cruise fans (if you’ll remember back a few weeks to the owner of the video rental store). Maybe it’s the same man in disguise? Crazier things have happened. In closing, Marco told us that, once, he had made two hundred thirty seven euro in tips and non-optional gratuities in one night while tending bar. We didn’t know whether or not to believe him, but it made us want to be celebrity bartenders, too.

Ricco sfondato - filthy rich
Precedente - former (as in precedente primo ministro)