As I was finishing up work this time two weeks ago and thinking about packing for my impending holiday I saw a pair of lonely looking Undyed Keplers on the shelf, so I decided to grab them on my way out and give them a trip of a lifetime to Rome!
‘Sunglasses in Rome’ is what I typed into google as a starting point for this next journal article, to see if there were any fun facts that I could share throughout this piece. I wasn’t sure what I would find or even how relatable it would be. Little did I know just how important sunglasses (but not in the form that we know them today) would be in the ancient roman times. Keep reading to find out why, as I take you on an exploration of Rome through our Zeiss polarised lenses.
Day 1 started with a painfully early flight from Bristol airport (and that's coming from the earliest riser here at Mosevic HQ!) as the safely packed sunglasses and I made our way to Rome.
Eager to see the sights and make the most of the two and a half days we had in Rome we dumped our bags at the hotel and made our way to see some of the sights the city had to offer. Not being ones to miss out on anything we walked everywhere during our trip, this meant sunglasses on at all times!
The first stop on our walk was the Trevi Fountain! This was the first (and not the last) time I would come to realise that our undyed denim fabric is the perfect colour to complement the Roman architecture due to it being so similar to the stonework throughout the city. The Trevi fountain took some 30ish years to build and is still standing tall in all of its glory today, I thought it was wonderful, as did the hundreds of other tourists surrounding it at the same time as me! Monuments like this show that things built to last take time. Here at Mosevic there has been over 10 years of hard work poured into the design of our handmade frames to make them the best they can possibly be to withstand the test of time! This day ended with over 20,000 steps done and a very large Aperol Spritz on a successful first day on the Keplers and my trip to Rome!
Day 2 started off with a slow meander towards the Vatican city to enjoy some Italian pastries and coffee, and with the sun already shining the sunglasses were on from the get go! A vast contrast from the Cornish weather we had left behind.
On our journey we stumbled across the Popes General audience in St Peters Square, which is outside of St Peters Basilica! It made me wonder, if we sent the Pope a pair of our frames would he wear them? and if so what style would he pick? We really chose to give this pair of sunglasses a true experience outside of the Cornish workshop they were made in. These sunglasses very much got the outside tour of Rome, as wearing sunglasses inside (particularly polarised ones) makes everything almost impossible to see! I would say though if you find yourself in Rome anytime soon St Peters Basilica is well worth the visit, and better yet, it's free.
Day two ended with yet again another large spritz, this time in the passion fruit form, and our sunglasses seemed to be enjoying it almost as much as I did...!
Now day three really was the star of the show! Ahead of my trip I was chatting to Jack about everything I had planned, and when I told him we would be going to the Colosseum his face lit up. This was the moment I realised his favourite film is of course Gladiator! Having not watched it yet myself, Jack put me up to the task of watching it ahead of my trip...and when the boss asks you to do something, well you have to do it.
Was I the biggest fan of it? The answer is no, but do I love amazing architecture? Yes, yes I do! So with this I was super excited to go and explore the Colosseum ruins. This is where I link back to that interesting fact I mentioned at the beginning of this article.
The true origin of sunglasses is one that has been greatly debated, and over my first few months working for Jack is something I have looked into regularly. That being said, to make this relevant we will go with my new found research that the Romans were in fact the creators of sunglasses, although not as we know them. Having visited the Colosseum and now seeing myself as some sort of self professed Colosseum expert (I use this term loosely) it would be fair to say sunglasses are definitely needed for a visit. The vast open space in the centre and the strong Italian sunshine was something recognised by the Roman emperor Nero who, during gladiator fights would look through a concave emerald in order to eliminate the glare of the sun. This meant that he could enjoy watching the barbaric fights at ease…If only he knew about our Handmade frames, I personally think our undyed frames would have perfectly complimented the Roman attire.
Having walked 73,000 steps, eaten enough pasta in a week to last a lifetime and hydrated with lots of Spritz we draw our whistle stop tour of Rome to a close. Where are we off to next? You will have to keep your eyes peeled.
Have you been on holiday with your frames? Send us a picture and location to Support@mosevic.com to be featured in our ‘Mosevic goes to…’ Journal series!
See you for the next one in a couple of weeks!