Rome
Il Papiro (Via del Pathenon, 50) is the vanilla of an Italian paper shop. I say vanilla because it will sate every paper purist, and with stores across Rome, Florence, Pisa, New York and even Melbourne, it is available practically anywhere (maybe not the freezer section). This Il Papiro is a stone’s throw from the incredible Pathenon, so you can conveniently tick your tourist box and indulge in a paper purchase on the same street. The store is quaint and filled to the brim with hand-marbled papers, journals, boxes, calligraphic inks, fountain pens, wax seals and more. My purchases: Two sheets of hand-marbled paper (at 18 euro per sheet it is not cheap, but when in Rome…) Cartolerie de Pathenon (Via della Rotonda, 15) is the rum and raisin equivalent. It’s an adult flavour of decadence, reserved for the more cultured and elite paper aficionado. The brightly coloured and hand-bound leather journals are potent, the papers are rich and after lingering a little while in the shop you feel a bit lightheaded. The shopkeeper Antonio is welcoming and helpful – leather bookbinding has been his family’s business since 1910. My purchases: A pocket-sized magenta leather journal, handmade just outside of Rome (Antonio carefully packaged it up in a cotton pouch with leather care instructions attached for me), a box of 25 place cards with gold leaf and 2 sheets of Rossi Florentine wrap – one in burgundy, salmon and gold, the other in soft pink, jade and pale blue. Ditta G Poggi (Via del Gesù, 74) is the lemon flavour. It’s refreshing but a bit watery and leaves you wishing you’d picked another. It’s really a glorified art supplies shop with a small range of thick Fabriano watercolour stocks and papery remnants hidden away in a side room. Vertecchi (Via della croce, 70) is almond – popular enough but a little nutty. Case in point: upon arriving, I walked through the holly-lined entrance to find a display of stationery, Christmas decorations… and a life-size sleeping Santa, with recorded snoring on repeat. I’m all for Christmas spirit but the snoring? Too much. If you visit, do so in a non-Christmas period. To its credit, there are cute letter sets with beautiful patterns at very reasonable prices, a whole room full of Filofax binders and another filled with just fountain pens. Paper Runway / 21