I didn’t expect to find a lot of “Retro Roadmap worthy” places during our vacation last week but I had to share one “wicked old place” with you all. Reminding me of just how young the USA is, I present to you the Santa Maria Novella Pharmacy in Florence, Italy – opened in 1221 and still in business!
(Is that Aqua Velva? ;-))
wendyvee
August 24, 2010 at 6:19 pmHow beautiful is that!
Yes, my European friends often tease me for thinking that a 200-year-old house is “old” 🙂
Amy
August 24, 2010 at 7:49 pmWow!
Donna Wilhelm
August 24, 2010 at 10:14 pmThat is so cool! When I was in London I visited a church that dated back to the 1100s, and they still said the Mass in Latin. Love that kind of stuff!
Mod Betty / RetroRoadmap.com
August 25, 2010 at 3:09 amI know, Donna, talk about longevity! It was amazing to see so many places that have been around for hundreds and hundreds of years and compare it to the fact that I’m blogging about places over here in the US that are all less than 100 years old and that are quickly vanishing. Makes me wonder why we knock stuff down and redo things so much in the US, it’s like we don’t give places a chance to become historic, because we can’t stand that notion of things not being new/young/modern/in style/up to date. I’m sure the US isn’t totally alone in that area but it is definitely food for thought!
Gretchen S
August 25, 2010 at 12:14 amMind-boggling! And really cool.
Richie
September 10, 2010 at 10:47 amNow that is really something. While working in Austria, nearly every weekend I would drive the side roads and stumbled across several of these old drugstores during my travels. I found them in Italy, Austria, Hungary, Bratislava and the Czech Republic. All were absolutely fabulous (One in Vienna had been converted into a coffee shop) and although I did my best to take pictures of the interiors, due to their small size and constant flow of customers I was unable to get any clean overall shota. The one in Trieste was especially fantastic. I thought I was alone in noticing these places. My travelling friends thought it odd that I would photograph a drug store but faced with this how can you not? If you want to visit an establishment that is so far over the top as not to be believed go to the New York Palace Hotel in Budapest. Your eyes are guaranteed to pop out your sockets when you see this place. So absolutely fantastic you cannot merely look at it, you need to go in, get a coffee and a pastry which is second to none and soak up the ambience.
Mod Betty / RetroRoadmap.com
September 10, 2010 at 6:47 pmRichie! Thanks for swinging by the Retro Roadmap – I’ll have to put the New York Palace Hotel on my International Retro Roadmap! thanks for the tip!
Richie
September 22, 2010 at 10:32 amI found a lot of good stuff over in Europe. On the way home from Budapest and the New York hotel I made a wrong turn for the freeway entrance and came across one of the best neon signs ever. It is seen here: http://www.roadsidepeek.com/roadeurope/index.htm. I could probably never find it again because this was at night on a lot or twisty one way roads. A translation of the word I could not read said “bar”, it was that simple. I have in retrospect found a lot of good things over the years by making a wrong turn!
Richie
October 15, 2018 at 8:57 pmI found a lot of good stuff over in Europe. On the way home from Budapest and the New York hotel I made a wrong turn for the freeway entrance and came across one of the best neon signs ever. It is seen here: http://www.roadsidepeek.com/roadeurope/index.htm. I could probably never find it again because this was at night on a lot or twisty one way roads. A translation of the word I could not read said “bar”, it was that simple. I have in retrospect found a lot of good things over the years by making a wrong turn!
Amy
October 15, 2018 at 8:57 pmWow!
Richie
October 15, 2018 at 8:57 pmNow that is really something. While working in Austria, nearly every weekend I would drive the side roads and stumbled across several of these old drugstores during my travels. I found them in Italy, Austria, Hungary, Bratislava and the Czech Republic. All were absolutely fabulous (One in Vienna had been converted into a coffee shop) and although I did my best to take pictures of the interiors, due to their small size and constant flow of customers I was unable to get any clean overall shota. The one in Trieste was especially fantastic. I thought I was alone in noticing these places. My travelling friends thought it odd that I would photograph a drug store but faced with this how can you not? If you want to visit an establishment that is so far over the top as not to be believed go to the New York Palace Hotel in Budapest. Your eyes are guaranteed to pop out your sockets when you see this place. So absolutely fantastic you cannot merely look at it, you need to go in, get a coffee and a pastry which is second to none and soak up the ambience.
Mod Betty / RetroRoadmap.com
October 15, 2018 at 8:57 pmRichie! Thanks for swinging by the Retro Roadmap – I’ll have to put the New York Palace Hotel on my International Retro Roadmap! thanks for the tip!
wendyvee
October 15, 2018 at 8:57 pmHow beautiful is that!
Yes, my European friends often tease me for thinking that a 200-year-old house is “old” 🙂
Donna Wilhelm
October 15, 2018 at 8:57 pmThat is so cool! When I was in London I visited a church that dated back to the 1100s, and they still said the Mass in Latin. Love that kind of stuff!
Mod Betty / RetroRoadmap.com
October 15, 2018 at 9:00 pmI know, Donna, talk about longevity! It was amazing to see so many places that have been around for hundreds and hundreds of years and compare it to the fact that I’m blogging about places over here in the US that are all less than 100 years old and that are quickly vanishing. Makes me wonder why we knock stuff down and redo things so much in the US, it’s like we don’t give places a chance to become historic, because we can’t stand that notion of things not being new/young/modern/in style/up to date. I’m sure the US isn’t totally alone in that area but it is definitely food for thought!
Gretchen S
October 15, 2018 at 8:57 pmMind-boggling! And really cool.
Add a comment