shopping in Panzano

She searched the whole world over...

Panzano seen from the north

All She wanted was a light, fine cotton summer nightdress, long and possibly with long sleeves and a simple, classic, wash-and-wear white blouse. She searched assiduously and exhaustively for the same in some of the greatest, most well-supplied establishments, in three of the most consumer-oriented cities of the western world: Melbourne Australia, London UK and Florence Italy. 

Did She find said items? No, She did not.

On the off-chance, although She no longer nurtured any real hope that her simple requirements might ever be met, but drawn on by the inexorable magnet which motivates inveterate shoppers, She opened the door of the modest merceria or haberdasher in Panzano in Chianti's main square and uttered her usual, by now plaintive refrain.

The tiny, elderly shopowner, with her hive of well-set, blonded hair tottered up a ladder towards a shelf of tidy boxes and, handing them down, bid her look inside. Lo and behold!, She found, neatly folded and wrapped in plastic: a light, fine cotton summer nightdress, long and with long sleeves, and a simple, classic, wash-and-wear white blouse. All for an exiguous cost. 

She hastened out of the modest haberdasher clutching her prizes, hardly able to believe that, after all her travels and all her searching, little Panzano had come up with the goods.

the seething metropolis and consumer's haven of Panzano, seen from the south.

Note for visitors and inveterate shoppers:

Apart from a well-stocked haberdasher, Panzano boasts a jewellery store, a fine leather outlet, a smattering of craft shops, several grocery stores, a greengrocer, a florist, two butchers, several household and gift shops, a hardware store, a stationer's, a farm and garden supplies store and several wine shops. Not counting all the restaurants, cafés and wine bars. Not bad for a village.