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Greetings from Italy

razorguy

razorguy

Member
Hello Everybody and thank you for accepting my registration to this forum. Also thanks to all of you who are reading my very first message in this forum.
I do live in Italy, in Perugia, the ancient city founded by Etruscans about 3000 years ago, the same city where Mastro Livi lives too, whom I am sure you all know about. Not to mention, I am a big fan of his straight razors and I also own some of them: certainly the very best straight razors I have in my collection. I have the immense privilege and honor to personally know Mastro Livi, something which definitely changed my way of shaving and honing a straight razor. He is always very patient and willing to teach me everything I ask him about straight razor making and maintenance. A real master!
You probably understood I use straight razors and japanese kamisori only, of which I am a collector and restorer. I started using and collecting straight razors about fiteen years ago and, since then, they are the only razors I use for shaving.
I am certainly looking forward in sharing with all of you a common passion.
Thank you all for reading this.

Best regards.
 
G'day mate and welcome aboard. With the sounds of your experience you are going to prove very very popular around here. Excellent....
 
Welcome razorguy. It's great having people from all around this world a part of this group.
If love to see some pictures of your collection. I'm sure they would be very beautiful shavers!
 
Welcome RG.
Be interesting to see your collection, including brushes and soaps.
Always interesting to see what folks from other countries are favourable towards.
Hope you enjoy your stay.
 
Thank you everybody for your warm welcome. It will be my pleasure to show you the razors in my collection as soon as I am granted enough privileges to post in this forum's threads. So far, it allows me to reply to this thread only. I guess it is going to take some time for this to happen and this is the price every newcomer has to pay! :)
It is however always great to share a common passion with people all over the world!
 
razorguy said:
Thank you everybody for your warm welcome. It will be my pleasure to show you the razors in my collection as soon as I am granted enough privileges to post in this forum's threads. So far, it allows me to reply to this thread only. I guess it is going to take some time for this to happen and this is the price every newcomer has to pay! :)
It is however always great to share a common passion with people all over the world!
Click to expand...
Once you comment a few more times and "like" other people's comments, a whole new world will open up for you! [emoji4]
 
Welcome aboard @razorguy. I have seen a couple of Mastro Livi's razor making videos. A man who excels at his craft. An uncle of mine was an old style blacksmith by trade before he retired. Watching the art of heating, shaping and transforming cuts/ingots into works of art is fascinating.
 
Dale.Whiley said:
Welcome aboard @razorguy. I have seen a couple of Mastro Livi's razor making videos. A man who excels at his craft. An uncle of mine was an old style blacksmith by trade before he retired. Watching the art of heating, shaping and transforming cuts/ingots into works of art is fascinating.
Click to expand...

Thank you @Dale.Whiley , I am glad you watched some of my videos. I admit my videos don't do justice to the excitement and amazement of personally watching Mastro Livi at work in his workshop. To me, it is amazing how he can do all that by hands only and sometimes it seems he can do that with no effort at all, like if he was playing an easy game he knows very well.
I am lucky enough for living just few kilometers away from his workshop and this gives me the chance to go there quite a lot, to enjoy watching him making straight razors and honing, not to mention taking benefits of all the priceless insights and advices he gives me about razors, honing and shaving. He is a real master as well as a wise and remarkable man.
 
Belated welcome mate!

Ah, Italia, how I wish I could claim some family connection and travel there each year to visit relatives, eat the wonderful food, drink Italian wine and enjoy watching the Italian style wander past.

[sigh] such a land of cultural delights :)
 
Mark1966 said:
Belated welcome mate!

Ah, Italia, how I wish I could claim some family connection and travel there each year to visit relatives, eat the wonderful food, drink Italian wine and enjoy watching the Italian style wander past.

[sigh] such a land of cultural delights :)
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Thank you so much @Mark1966 for the beautiful praise for my country. We Italians sometimes forget the immense heritage we have here, but I understand this is something foreigners are more likely to appreciate better than we do. It is not just because we are somewhat used to all that, I guess it is more something connected to how things are going on in our country and how we Italians lately think about Italy.
Anyway, I guess you can come here and visit Italy no matter you have family connections or not: I am sure you will find plenty of wonderful food, wine as well as watching lovely views. And in case you are coming to Italy and, in particular, to Umbria - my region, the so called green heart of Italy - you may also consider visiting the workshop of the greatest artisan straight razor maker: Mastro Livi. I am sure you would not regret the ride, while enjoying an excellent straight razor, a luxurious shave, a glass of fine wine and some tasty food. :)
 
I think I've heard it said @razorguy that Tuscany gets all the glory but Umbria has all the class? :)

My wife and I spent a wonderful two weeks in Italy many years ago pre-kids. Rome, Naples, Florence, Venice, Verona and Milan, just scratching the surface. A truly lovely place to visit but I'm aware of the many challenges you currently face.
 
I suspect nostalgia is quite strong worldwide, what with conflict between folks and evolution from an industrial to an electronic/automated workforce, leaving us feeling superseded/displaced.
Over here, it is the bogan culture that whilst being ridiculed and shunned, is silently lamented at it's demise to Americanism.
A loss and last ditch effort to retain identity, when in reality we're all but a number in the grand scheme of things.
 
Mark1966 said:
I think I've heard it said @razorguy that Tuscany gets all the glory but Umbria has all the class? :)

My wife and I spent a wonderful two weeks in Italy many years ago pre-kids. Rome, Naples, Florence, Venice, Verona and Milan, just scratching the surface. A truly lovely place to visit but I'm aware of the many challenges you currently face.
Click to expand...

I believe both Umbria and Tuscany are equally beautiful and rich, it is very hard, for me, to tell an ugly or lesser place here in Italy, when it is about art, culture and history, of course. And I do not mean this is the only beautiful place on earth as - having traveled quite a lot - every place in this world is equally amazing and have a beauty and charm on its own. Beauty is everywhere if you pay proper attention and care on what you see.
I however wish you and your family to come back to Italy and discover part of the rest you missed in your previous visit, although what you visited was not that bad at all. I mean, you have visited truly beautiful cities and I am sure you enjoyed each of them very much. It was a very good scratch. ;)
 
borked said:
I suspect nostalgia is quite strong worldwide, what with conflict between folks and evolution from an industrial to an electronic/automated workforce, leaving us feeling superseded/displaced.
Over here, it is the bogan culture that whilst being ridiculed and shunned, is silently lamented at it's demise to Americanism.
A loss and last ditch effort to retain identity, when in reality we're all but a number in the grand scheme of things.
Click to expand...

In my opinion it is mainly a matter of choice. You can choose to appreciate what you have at hand, or just dreaming the best is somewhere else and complaining about everything just because you got too used to it and stopped watching with different and renewed eyes. It is a choice to believe others' culture is better than yours, or just believing every culture is equally interesting and worth. There is no best place, culture or people in this world: every place has its own good and bad sides. It depends on what you are considering and how see it. After all, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
 
razorguy said:
In my opinion it is mainly a matter of choice. You can choose to appreciate what you have at hand, or just dreaming the best is somewhere else and complaining about everything just because you got too used to it and stopped watching with different and renewed eyes. It is a choice to believe others' culture is better than yours, or just believing every culture is equally interesting and worth. There is no best place, culture or people in this world: every place has its own good and bad sides. It depends on what you are considering and how see it. After all, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
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Glad you understand where I'm coming from.
The attitude of better in most instances is in actuality, different and I for one, welcome different.

Out of curiosity, have you heard anything in regards to artisans in Australia ?
A few are members here.
 
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