Ciao Everyone!
Well the tan lines are quickly fading, but the memories, picks and new friends we made live on!
After waiting for a whole year, we finally took our honeymoon!
We happily spent valuable time in both the UK & Italy mainland, but the majority of the time was enjoyed in the beautiful island of Sicily and we loooved it! The people, the food & the drink as well. Fitting in some good old European vintage picking wasn't bad either.
See a snap shot of some of this story here and follow all our stories on @jonesgeneralstore_vintage
London,U.K
Our trip started with a 24 hour lay over in London, which turned into a very boozy afternoon in Kensington & Notting Hill. Sadly, there were no sightings of a bumbling Hugh Grant nor the smiley Julia Roberts, hanging around. The book store however remains. There's a reminder for you fans HERE. No celebrity's spotted, but we did get to hang out in a great neighborhood, eat some great food & drinks ,with some of our fave people!
A new trend I had not seen before was the sale of reproduction antique sporting goods, soccer balls, cleats[boots] and boxing gloves.
I'm sure we'll see this make an appearance over here in the near future, with sports memorabilia being so hot in interior design and with collectors.
I can see these being ideal for the retail and restaurant industry; as props set up high on a wall or shelf, where they wont be under close scrutiny. Leaving the real stuff for us collectors :)
Keep an eye out for this coming our way.
Take a look at Vogues Guide to the markets here
Palermo, Sicily [Italia]
After an overnight cruise from Naples to the capitol of Sicily, we awoke to a beautiful sunrise in Palermo. This city was the center of the ancient world and the mosaics, Arabian domes an decadent fountains did not disappoint. We highly recommend a visit and don't miss the chance to walk across the roof of the cathedral, it's a must!
Read more about this place on Adventure with Sarah's Blog
So far, finding the kind of items our customers are looking for had been unfruitful, with classic big bulky ornate wooden furniture being the main staple here. That was, until we met up with a few dealers we had emailed in Mercato delle Pulci at Piazza Domenico Peranni.
This was a whole lane-way masked by a wealth of overgrown greenery, hidden within numerous dilapidated buildings, full to the brim with antiques of all kinds and at reasonable prices [with the crappy CAD to Euro conversion rate].
Finally we found the good stuff we were hoping to find and spent a good few hours picking through 15+ store rooms. Picking out a few nice vintage items on route, like these Italian table lamps. Appreciating the difference in styles of these 2 lamps alone, shows just how much of an eclectic mix of items were on display here .
Around the corner from this treasure trove we found Canatella's store, another well curated space where we picked up a small, but cute Greek style trophy. The only thing we did not expect during this pick was a long siesta these guys took during our visit! Imagine a group of guys napping in hammocks all over the place as you wonder about, we need this in Vancouver!
Syracuse
Situated on the East coast of Sicily, this walled city surrounded by the sea, accessible only by 2 stone bridges. This was a nice change of pace from the hustle of some of the busier cities.
Full of it's baroque piazzas and lime stone medieval lanes that guided you down to the sea. It was difficult to imagine, but this was once the largest city in the ancient world, even bigger than Athens.
Cheers to that! There was always time for an Aperol spritz.
We found our next pick by pure chance during our daily scheduled getting lost in the crazy traffic of Italy time. The chaos brought us to the great 'Mister Secondhand!'
With my basic Italian and his lack of English, we got to know each other with only our excess enthusiasm, big hand gestures and common interest. He explained that he would empty your cellars, attics and garages and repair your chandeliers.
Mister Secondhand Mollica & Mister Second hand himself.
Mr.S also offers to exchange your 70's chandeliers with a modern ones and from the stock he had in his shop, I think he was coming out on top in this deal. We dug out another lamp here and made a new contact.
Once re-wired and packaged it will also find it's way into our store.
North Cadbury Court, Sommerset
We capped off the trip with a family wedding, the lovely Louise and Gareth kindly invited us to this amazing venue and grand occasion.
What a venue for a wedding, not the Royal Wedding, as I tried to suggest in our Insta-stories, [although the same day] this venue was incredible!
The 16th-century country house, now owned by the Montgomery family - world famous for their Cheddar cheese. The house is set in a beautiful rural setting, which includes Cadbury Hill Fort, said to be the home of King Arthur's Camelot! http://www.northcadburycourt.com/
This place had a the lot, family, gardens, lakes, casino, nightclub. Additional to this was the amazingly decorated rooms, which you know I had to go snooping in to see their furniture and amazing decor!
Well there you have it, just a few highlights from a successful trip. There will be a few more blogs on Italy in the future.
New items from Italy will make an appearance in store soon.
Follow our Instagram to see all our stories, as we travel and go picking closer to home. @jonesgeneralstore_vintage.
Arrivederci x
Announcement : Our 1st POP-UP Store!
Super excited to announce our first pop up shop, in 'The Pipe shop' venue, in North Vancouver's,Lonsdale Quay.
We are joining forces with our friends from the Brunch Affair on July 7th & 8th, for good food, drink and great vendors.
x
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