Travel: Shop like a Roman

When I am in Rome, I do as the Romans — I engage in rampant materialism. The eternal city may be — via the Church which has its headquarters there — the way to heaven; its population, however, is more interested in this world than the next. The city is full of superb shops, as the Italians’ gift for manufacture, and their seemingly effortless creation of beauty, remain undimmed by the advance of modernity. Rome is therefore a perfect destination for Christmas shopping because by visiting it, you can combine limitless consumerism with a warm glow of spiritual self-satisfaction. Isn’t that what Christmas is all about?

Taxis and buses are plentiful in Rome but most tourists walk. Let us start, therefore — after you have perhaps heard Mass in the crypt of St Peter’s at 7a.m., and after you have breakfasted in the café on the Piazza Farnese opposite the French embassy — at the charming Piazza Mattei in the old Jewish ghetto where we can admire the delightful Tortoise Fountain and the stunning Palazzo Mattei, whose courtyard is full of Roman sculptures, before getting down to business.