Porcellino & the Straw Market

If you've been to the Louvre, you may recognize Mr. Porky. His twin is there.

We gave him a good old rub for good luck and so far it's working. He's at what's called the straw market. We tossed our coin to the fountain to ensure our return to Florence.




In days gone by, this is where merchants sold luxury items crafted from straw such as panama hats for the gentlemen and fashionable wide-brimmed hats adorned with flowers for the ladies.

Up until WW 2, the straw industry was big in Florence.

Nowadays, it's mostly luxury Florentine leather products. Truly of superior quality.



A vendor tells me that his and other booths are the sister shop of the high-end leather goods storefronts. They share exactly the same inventory, they can just wheel and deal with me because they only pay $5000 euro a month for their booth. And the big shop pays way more. We were able to haggle prices down by about 1/3 of the original asking price.