Took the Path Least Travelled
Thursday, April 13th, 2006Wow..holy smokes, its been an entire month since I last wrote an entry! Finally have the time to sit and write as its a long weekend coming right up. In the 6 years since I’ve started living in Melbourne, I guess its grown somewhat mundane and predictable. Once you get into ‘living here now’ mode rather than ‘I’m a tourist’ mode, its just like any other place, really..
Even the Korean hairdressers I’ve met complain that there simply isn’t much to do here. Many leave after completing their 1 year working visa, because apparently in Korea there’s heaps more to do..maybe their night life is alot more vibrant because Seoul sounds exactly like its name. Doesn’t it sound like a HUGE City to you? 
But even the most dreary and predictable routine can perk up a little when you stumble across an unfamiliar lane way. All one needs is a curious mind and an adventurous outlook. Shops that might have been smiling at you as you strolled on by previously. Stylish bars hidden away in a discreet corner, or a small piece of Europe (right here!) with majestic marble pillars and soaring arches above. I even saw a cafe for serious bookworms, modelled like an old study complete with faux tomes. Something new, something to open your eyes again. But the find of the afternoon was IL Papiro.
It was a tiny shop, unobtrusively situated between 2 lane ways..and as soon as I stepped in, I could not help but marvel at the mouth watering, absolutely beautiful works of craftsmanship on display. It literally felt as if I had left Melbourne far behind, and catapulted into Florence, Italy. For a person who thinks that actual writing ( i.e paper and pen) is soon becoming a lost art, it was heaven.
It was like being caught in a Renaissance time warp, almost a visual overload. Leather bound journals, different types of diaries, embossed stationery sets, waxes and seals.. all handmade just like how it was centuries ago. But the piece de resistance was a carved fully crystal calligraphy pen, complete with its own ink pot. I thought those didn’t even exist anymore! Upon closer inspection, I found out its proper name, the Venetian pen. It’s not hard to imagine people from a different time, writing in an elegant, flowing script and sealing their letters with wax.
I couldn’t decide what to purchase that day, but left with a big smile with the delight of discovery.
