Mid Trip Report – Europe July 2015

Europe 2015

I am about halfway through my trip and while I haven’t been actively seeking out pens and pen related items I haven’t been able to avoid them.

While in St. Petersburg I found a nice lacquer miniature box made out of paper mache that fits a pen quite nicely.

Russian lacquer miniature pen box

Minding my own business at the Warsaw airport, I found a duty free store with some rather bold discount signs in a small section of their Montblanc display and I accidentally bought this Platinum Facet Le Grand fountain pen…oops

montblanc meisterstuck solitaire platinum plated facet legrand 146 fountain pen

Today in Budapest I came across BomoArt’s beautiful little shop.

BomoArt Budapest

There I bought some very reasonably priced notebooks as well a Le Typographe propelling pencil with built in lead sharpener.

BomoArt Leather journal

The interior is lined with a beautiful paper featuring hot air balloons.

BomoArt Leather journal

BomoArt Leather journal

I picked up a small 2016 calendar as well.   It has a leather binding and an antique map paper cover.

BomoArt Calendar

The paper is very fine…I was told that it holds fountain pen ink well.

BomoArt Calendar

I also bought four pairs of shoes (quadruple oops)…but perhaps this would be best suited for another blog.

Vass Shoes BudapestHopefully I will be able to make it through Germany and Austria without buying anything…that’s all I have for now.

 

 

 

Loadout For Five Weeks In Europe

Platinum Fountain Pen, Midori Traveler's Notebook

I am heading out for a five week trip to Europe.  I am keeping it light this time.  I will be bringing my Platinum Takashimaya 60th Anniversary Daisy Fountain pen with a broad nib, OMAS pen sleeve, black Platinum Ink cartridges, Life Schöpfer notebook, Pilot Coleto Lumio, and the cover and organizer bits from a Midori Traveler’s notebook.

I have found that the Traveler’s Notebook cover is very useful for holding my reservations and a electronic tickets so I use it now without any notebooks inside.

I am planning to continue posting about once a week.  I have some interesting reviews coming up so please stay tuned.

Namiki Yukari Royale, Namiki Nippon Art

Success!!! Pen Shopping in Zürich and Milano

1938 OMAS Extra Lucens
1938-1939 OMAS Extra Lucens

Six days in and finally today I found a grail pen in Milano, a late 1930s OMAS Extra Lucens!!!

The shop:

Cartoleria Novecento

Cartoleria Novecento

 

Run by Albert and Alberta (husband and wife).  Albert spoke fluent English and could not have been more friendly.  His shop sells vintage and new fountain pens as well as stationery and other antiques.  He had some beautiful Italian rolled gold safety pens as well as a good number of vintage American pens.  He showed me many pens, including some magnificent new old stock OMAS and Namiki pens.  I saw the vintage OMAS Extra Lucens and I knew it had to be mine.  That makes two Extra Lucens from me in one month *doh!* (I might have to eat ramen for the next couple of years).  I am contemplating going back for the limited edition reproduction E.E. Ercolessi fountain pen produced by OMAS.

While in Milano I also checked out a couple of other pen stores:

The famed E.E. Ercolessi:

E.E. Ercolessi

E.E. Ercolessi only sells new pens and stationery.  The selection was generous and the staff were very friendly but the prices are pretty close to retail and ultimately not favorable when translated from Euros to USD.

The last shop I visited in Milano was Brunori:

Brunori

Run by Joseph Brunori, this small shop features a good number of Italian pens from Aurora, OMAS, Delta, Visconti and Marlen as well as pens from Montblanc, Faber-Castell, Kaweco, Lamy and Twsbi.  Joseph was kind to me despite my horrendous Italian and showed me several pens. Inside the shop he displays pens from his personal collection which included beautiful vintage American pens from Waterman and Parker.  He also had a very nice collection of vintage ink bottles.

 

In Zürich I found a few stationery/pen shops but only one that I feel is a must see:

Landolt-Arbenz

Landolt-Arbenz

This beautiful store features three floors of writing instruments and related accessories.  The basement floor features the majority of the fountain pens and stationery as well as one of the best displays of ink I have ever seen.  They had a huge selection of Abraxas ink and the discontinued versions of Sailor Jentle and Caran d’Ache inks as well as ink from many other brands, Stipula, Montblanc, Pilot, Montegrappa and others.  Landolt-Arbenz also has their own line of ink (made in Italy) and stationery.  I wanted to try their ink but decided against it as the design of the bottle was a shallow rectangular shape which is not a particularly usable design for an ink bottle.

As far as fountain pens go they had a beautiful selection of Nakayas, Caran d’Ache, and some amazing limited editions such as a Cartier Eagle which is an insane 33,000 CHF (approximately $37k USD) fountain pen!!!

The stationery at Landolt-Arbenz is beautiful but expensive. There was a wonderful A6 sized leather bound notebook that I was going to buy until I saw the 230 CHF price tag.

Next stop: Paris

Loadout For 16 Days in Europe

Aurora Ipsilon Nock Co Loadout

I am heading off to Europe tonight for a 16 day trip spread between Denmark, Switzerland, Italy and France.  I thought it would be fun to show what pen and paper related items I will be bringing along.

I am bringing my Nock Co. Hightower three plus one bifold with a Caran d’Ache Ecridor pencil, Aurora Ipsilon Metallic fountain pen, Pilot Hi-Tec C Coleto Lumio multi-pen, Field Notes Shelterwood Edition, and a 5 pack of king size Aurora black ink cartridges.

I am also bringing a Rhodia Reverse Book, my Midori Traveler’s Notebook (passport size) with a Field Notes Bic Click ballpoint pen and my every day carry set, the Zebra SL-F1 and Maruman Mnemosyne Modified A7 memo pad.