The little book of fabulousness

I bought another book about my adopted city. This one is much less cultured than the others I have bought in some ways, but in others is much more practical.
Called 'The Civilised Shopper's Guide to Florence' the book profiles some of this city's most fabulous shops.
So this evening I took the opportunity to check out whether the recommendations were accurate enough to justify the teeth-sucking price of 10 Euros.
When I passed the newly-visible Santa Maria Novella church (it was being renovated all summer) it seemed like I was in an unlikely spot to see one of Florence's oldest Farmacias. But in fact, hidden at the end of the corridor was indeed the Officina Profumo Farmaceutica Di Santa Maria Novella. In fact, you smell the place long before you see it, as you approach down the corridor you are assaulted by wonderful perfumes, from lavender, to cloves, to meadow flowers - it's glorious.
The smells are only a part of the whole experience though. The whole place is awe-inspiring. It's one of the world's oldest pharmacies - started by Dominican monks in 1221, and opened to the general public in 1612. They now make no end of potions and lotions. The prices are steep, but the Pot Pourri I bought is now perfuming the entire office at work.
From the perfume shop, the next shopping stop was The Paperback Exchange. In the book it says that they offer thousands of English-language titles. The great thing is that some of them are second-hand - literally an exchange - so you can pick up books for less than the normal astronomical price for English language offerings here.
The other note in the book about the Paperback Exchange was that the staff are helpful and that there are sometimes community events. It was this latter that was the real reason for going to have a look. Having been back here for almost 3 months, I have yet to start a social life here.
In fact, there were no formal events organised that I could see, but the very friendly Melissa who works there and I fell into conversation, and has since invited me to her book club a week on Thursday. Which makes it more than worth a trip to the bookstore!