Via del Babuino

We are very, very fortunate to have found @ Home! Sabrina and Katia, are in the know when it comes to finding a home in Rome. They hooked us up with a gorgeous, fully furnished, renovated (honestly, the most important detail!) apartment on Via del Babuino. And it has an elevator – another important detail!

For those who don’t know Babuino – it’s THE fashionable address to have in Rome. In fact, Babuino’s sister street is Madison Avenue in New York. (Babuino received its name from a statue on a water fountain, which the local residents thought resembled a baboon.) ALTHOUGH, there are many, many fashionable addresses in Rome.

On Babuino, you’ll find the big design houses of Valentino, Giuseppe Zanotti (who also makes Balmain’s shoes), Miu Miu, and Etro – just to name drop a few. A man asked me if there were any local businesses on Babuino, as all he could see were name brands on the buildings. Tongue in cheek, I asked him his definition of a local business, because Valentino is as local as it gets…

However, if you look beyond Chanel, Babuino contains absolute gems of premium negozi that specialize in items other than fashion.

Kitty-corner to our apartment is HB Profumerie, which has become one of my favorite shops in Rome. Where I come from in the U.S., people are very scent sensitive. In fact, many theaters, restaurants and other public places post notices for women not to wear perfume. I’ve been wearing the same perfume for over 20 years (Calyx), so it hasn’t hurt my feelings to miss a spray or two.

Anyhoo, in light of the fact that I live in Rome, with no scent restrictions, and my perfume of over 20 years may end production, it is high time for me to branch out and embrace new scents! When I float into HB, I enter a dream world. The women only speak a few English phrases, and on a good day - I speak like a 2-year old in the Italian language department, so we smile and point and spray paper strips and say, “Bella!” a lot to one another. They carry wonderful brands of scents, candles, bath and beauty products from all over the world. I had no idea most of these items even existed!

I have so much fun in Fabriano, an Italian stationary store, which carries more than just stationary. They have their own line of handmade leather goods (briefcases, travel wallets, planners, key chains, etc.), create really cool paper jewelry (necklaces, pins, cufflinks, etc.), and there’s lots of fun calendars, cards, notepads, notebooks, unique office goods and of course, stationary to peruse. I touch everything. I’m dying to try out their chunky colored pencils, but I don’t think they’d be amused.

There is a shop that our friends were quite enchanted with, Decorarte Fratelli Pinci. I want to touch everything in there too! Decorarte is defined as a maniglie, which translates, literally, to handles. Simply, Decorarte creates gorgeous, bronze accent pieces used in historic, architectural restoration/renovation projects. If you’re looking for elaborate doorknockers, or majestic fire irons, or intricate wall hooks, or decorative floral accent swags, or beautiful bells, or classic lighting – this is the place. It’s a treasure trove! And what I really love is how this shop shines like a beacon of golden light when the sun goes down and on the greyest of days (not that we have many of those).

Antique stores can be found up and down Babuino. There are so many! Each one is carefully appointed with old carved marble busts, gorgeous furniture, massive mirrors, rich paintings and tapestries. It’s all a little over the top for us, but if I had an ancient, grand palazzo in the countryside, I’d fill it up from these antique shops.

There is a very cute, teeny-tiny stamp shop, Filatelia. Only two people can stand in it comfortably to look around. The elderly signora carefully watches over their historic inventory of old, and new, stamps from all over the world.

Another favorite is La Tessitura D’Arte. Looking at this vibrant shop window always puts a smile on my face. This shop carries plush, luxurious fabrics to recover a couch or create new window treatments and the accoutrements for finishing. As I don’t really have a reason to go into this shop, I haven’t entered, but I will before June - reason or not.

One of these days we will explore Armi Antiche. You guessed it, a shop with a variety of antiques attributed to the Italian army. From the window there are paintings, dishes, glassware, swords, shields and the like. We don’t speak army, nor have a direct connection, so we’ll have to further our language skills before we attempt this shop.

There are numerous jewelry stores filled with shiny baubles for every occasion. I’d venture to say, the majority of the jewelry stores specialize in veeery, veeery expensive jewelry.

We also have a small La Feltrinelli, an Italian bookstore. There are a few English items, but when it comes to maps, cards and calendars – who cares if it’s in English?

There’s a couple of modern furniture stores as well. Again, not in the market, so haven’t darkened the doorsteps yet.

Lastly, and also important, Babuino has a charming church that chimes for each hour and half hour. It’s right next door. There’s nothing I love to hear more than the time chimed out for me.

So if you’re ever walking down Via del Babuino, look beyond the commercial names and you’ll find the unique, generations-old, local negoizi of Rome.