IS THIS REAL LIFE??!!

I CAN NOT BELIEVE THIS IS ACTUALLY MY LIFE! As if I could have even dreamed that I would get even more spoiled by Italy than I already am, it happened today. Like I would have thought I'd have something sooo interesting to post when I leave for Spain tomorrow. But of course Italy is a magical place that never ceases to amaze me.

Italian people, businessmen in particular, are the greatest people on earth. Their way of live is so much better than Americans, I seriously have no idea how we continue to work and live the way we do. Trust me they do life right over here. I mean come on they take a 3 hour lunch break every single day and never forget to have a glass of wine before heading back to work. But other than that, Italians are some of the kindest people I have ever met. So let me tell you about the wonderful things the Italians did for me today...

We had our first Business with Claudio today, and if it is a sign of what's to come, then we've struck gold. First we head to Soave to visit the Zanella Marble factory. We sat in a conference room and talked about marble where we found out that they are constructing a huge statue and fountain for the capital of some country. They only have 15 workers in their factory but their own quary so they don't have to buy marble from others. So far pretty cool. Then we head to the factory and watch the proccess happen in front of us. Alot of the work is done by machines but the final details are meticulously done by hand. It must take forever to complete the huge works they do. I will add pictures once they are uploaded. This company has a unique way of carving the marble too so we couldn't document the whole process because it is consiered a "State secret." It was a really, really inrestesting thing to experience and it was awesome becuase we got a paperweight as a gift. To you it may sound lame but it is made out of the highest quality of marble there is and it is the same type that The David was carved out of, so we were pretty excited.

The day only got better from there. After that the 9 of us piled into the European version of an Astrovan to head back towards Verona to Frau Shoe factory. 9 girls and a shoe factory.....we were pretty excited. So we meet the owner and he is the nicest 76 year old man ever. He talked to us about the importance of good business. He refuses to have his shoes made in Romania or China even though the labor can be 1/10 of the cost. He believes in everything being made in Italy. He was very firm on that point, and on the importance of quality not quantity. You could tell he has passion for what he does and for the people who work for him. He personally knows every single one of his employees. He told us that it takes about 60 people to make each pair of shoes and they make 1400 a day, so he has a lot of workers. He would probably be one of the best people to work for. After we talked to him and drank our tea and coffee, he took us on a tour of the factory. It was so incredible we saw every single step in the process of making a shoe. He also has a robot that we took pictures of and videotaped so I will put those up too!! All in all it was such a cool trip.

As that day of "class" (remember GPA credit class here people) couldn't get any better. He takes us back to the conference room & after we take a group picture with him he says "Do I dare offer you each a pair of my shoes for free?" DO YOU DARE?? DO WE DARE TAKE YOUR SHOES? HELL YES! So the best shoe factory owner on the planet took us down to his store and APOLOGIZED because it doesn't have the full selection. We are imagining like 5 pairs to pick from or something. But he literally lets us run free throughout the entire store (which had PLENTY of shoes) to pick out WHATEVER WE WANTED....FOR FREEEE. He also apologized for not being able to take us out for dinner and drinks that night but said he would not die until we came back. So we are definitely going back. We each got a pair of Italian-made leather shoes/boots/heals/etc for free. It took me another hour after we left to really grasp that this is my life right now. I am by far one of the most blessed people on the planet. I feel like I'm never allowed to have a bad day for the rest of my life. I got adorable greyish heeled boots with a bow. I couldn't resist another pair of red moccasons because they were over half off and I was already getting boots free so I caved and bought those too. Again more pictures to come! The free boots might I add cost 225 US dollars. I'm still in shock that he did such a generous thing for us. Just to show that he is such a good company. You would never find such service in America, I can say that much. Therefore I decided I never want to leave Italy. Sorry everyone I will miss you but I don't think I can come home. Kidding but really this is by far the best four months of my life.

So I just had to rub in how amazing my life is and how greatful I am for the experience. Next time you see me I will be sporting true Italian fashions :)

peace. love. shoes.
Kalyn