Searching For The Light

  Every year we try to find a sweet little something to bring back home from Italy. The last few years we've found some old and funky outdoor lights. At night, when these lights illuminate the garden, we think of Panicale and smile.

  The big item on the "to find" list this year is a small chandelier for the bathroom that's being remodeled while we are here. Our contractor/pal is so great to work with, and understands our boho esthetic. We have the perfect guy for the job.

  Now to find the light.

  I knew from past visits that there are a couple of good antique markets in the area..the two we wanted to check out are on the first weekend of the month, so we went to the market in Arezzo on Easter Sunday to see what we could find. We still have the Pissignano market to visit on the first weekend in May, before we have to leave.

  The day was cold and a little drizzly, but there were loads of people around, even on Easter day.

Chilly and Easter, but still crowded.

  There is something so "site -appropriate" about looking for old things in an old town center...

Arezzo is really beautiful...

  This market is fun. It's prices are high, though. We both decided if we did find something we liked, we would go totally out of our comfort zone…and haggle. Not a thing we normally are good at. 

  

  Walking the many streets and piazzas, we got a real kick out of the huge variety of things on offer...

Not my thing, but fun to see...

When we finally live here full time (stop laughing, it could happen…),
it will be such a blast to go hunting for furniture.

  There's old stuff, semi-old stuff, and even Star Wars and Smurf stuff. It's all big fun to see what these Italians have to sell. 

  I assume they are collectors, like our many friends back home, who just get so into it, they start selling, just to feed the habit of buying. 

  We liked this booth of mid-century modern type items, but it's not our thing, either. 

Maybe they watch "Mad Men" here?

  Early in the day, we came across a guy with a bunch of chandeliers…this one really caught my eye. The shape is right, the size is smaller, and it was all hand done glasswork. 

  Could be a contender? The price was more than we were planning to spend, so we kept going.

I like it. 

  The lights below were hard to pass up, let me tell you…but we just don't know where we would put them. And…it's hard to get stuff home, though we have decided to start shipping things, if need be.

Tempting.

Lots of linens, always.
For "the girls"...

This booth was for "the boys"...

  We see so much we want, but we know we just can't go there. So, we are generally good, and pass lots of things right by. It's all for fun, and a very entertaining day.

  I have bought small items, like tiny plates with sweet decorations, or little garden gems to stash here and there.

  I love the tables with colored glass…

I would put tea lights in them all.
And have a party, of course.

I'm pretty sure these are all pieces to be used on
those chandeliers that look like a garden..
Super cool, and also hard to resist..What would I do with them?

  The doors…I love the old doors…Again, a big ticket item to ship home. Must wait until we have our house here (stop laughing).

Beautiful old doors..yes, I like.

  I have fallen hard for Foosball. We only play it here in Italy, and we play it often. Every town bar/cafe seems to have one or two tables, and it's a blast as well as addictive. So, I just had to get a shot of this vintage, small scale and all female model!

  Two small for us, we play vigorously, and would break it in a minute…cute though!

Would be a nice touch in Johnny's studio, me thinks...

Another favorite group of stuff…these old oil cans.
I would love a bunch of these babies.

  We decided it was time to head back down the hill, and after having seen way too many chandeliers, mostly too big or just too over the top, we figured we make an offer on the very first one we had seen.

  Of course, the seller spoke no english, but I have gotten just good enough to haggle.

  And haggle I did!

Ours! All ours!

Packing it ever so carefully into a plastic bag…ahem.
Done deal. Now to get it shipped carefully home!

  This was a very good day.
  And we can not wait to see how it works in the bathroom. Woo-Hoo!