Federico greeted us at the door and offered to assist with our shoe shopping endeavors. He seated us all in the side room of his store so she could try on the shoes. I opted to wander through the store as my wife was not shopping for shoes. Federico had pictures of himself with famous people along one wall, including a shot with a very young Bill Clinton (taken when he was governor, Federico explained). Along the next wall, Federico displayed pictures of women who had purchased his shoes, all in various stages of undress. Hmmm....

I returned to the side room and my wife is also trying on boots! My sister-in-law has selected several pairs and convinced my wife that these boots are just wonderful. Federico negotiated prices with them, offering them significant discounts from the original price and explaining how we should file for Value Added Tax when returning to the States. I didn’t even want to know how much they were spending so I turned away when my wife gave Federico her mastercard. Just a few minutes later, a young sales woman returned asking my wife for a different credit card. She said that this one was no good.

We were both startled as our credit card had minimal activity (most of it from earlier that day) and we have a high limit. Federico rushed in and grabbed the card from the young lady. "No", he assured us. "There is no problem." He hustled the girl out of the room. A few minutes later he returned asking for my wife’s passport to verify information. My wife, worried, followed Federico. Apparently, our account had been closed. Mastercard noted an unusual purchasing pattern and location for our account. Unable to contact us, they shut it off! Over the next ten minutes on the phone (long distance), my wife provided sufficient information to Mastercard that we indeed were the correct owners of this account allowing us to use our card again.

After all this fiasco and long distance expenses to Federico, he remained a true gentleman. He escorted us to Piazza Popolo and identified the various buildings. He took our pictures, holding our shopping bags and was a willing participant in pictures with us. He gave us superb restaurant recommendations, along with his business card to use in getting reservations. If you're in the area, stop in his store and ask for his suggestions on good places to eat. He won't lead you astray!

My wife still loves her boots and wears them all the time. Now that I’ve seen the price on the Mastercard statement, she will be wearing these things forever!

My advice: inform your creditcard company when you're traveling overseas and plan to use their card!!!