Passion, Passeggiata and Platform Stilettos

The splendid stiletto heels of our RoSa Shoes are a daily reminder to me of the supremacy of Italian craftsmanship. We knew we could trust the Italians to make our designs come to life with such stunning precision and beauty. Italy is, after all, the birthplace of the stiletto heel.



Having just returned again from a short visit to Italy, I am convinced more than ever that this passion with which Italians approach their shoemaking and in fact all those other creative endeavours for which they're famous the world over - their art, their music, their cars, their food, their wine, their clothes - is really the same passion with which they approach every aspect of their daily lives.



I loved our early evening stroll ("passeggiata" as it's known) down the main shopping street in the old town. The restaurants were not due to start serving until around 8 o'clock but the shops had just re-opened for the evening (after an extended 3-hour lunch break), and I was able to spend a blissful hour window shopping, teetering along on my RoSa 6-inch stiletto-heeled Gladiator Platform Sandals, enjoying the balmy early Autumn Italian evening before heading off to the nearest Ristorante for yet more pasta, pesce and panna cotta. (These photos are stills from the movie "Italian Night in High Stilettos").


And really, this is what I love so much about Italy - one of life's most pleasurable activities (eating, that is...) is given centre-stage in daily life. Who else but the Italians take their meals so seriously, that life comes to a complete standstill in the middle of the day, to allow them to spend time leisurely munching their way through up to four courses of wonderful food?

None of this grabbing yourself a curled-up lunchtime sandwich or some fast-food delicacy, rushing home at 6pm to microwave yourself a quick snack before dashing off to the pub at 7.30.

Not so the Italian way of life. Here, you have time to digest your yummy lunch, recover from the accompanying two (or three, hehe) glasses of vino, and resume your business late in the afternoon. And really all you're doing is biding your time until the next marvellous meal.

A friend once told me he'd spent NINE HOURS eating at an Italian wedding feast. Now, that's SERIOUSLY passionate. Even I couldn't spend nine hours eating. Drinking maybe, but not eating.