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Looking for a way to get an item from a shop in Amalfi - could a local guide help?

Wife and I had a great trip to Rome and the Amalfi coast about a month ago. Day tripped the Amalfi coast from Salerno, and one day hired a driver there to take us around. Stopped in Amalfi and after looking around the cathedral saw a really neat little "Cane Cavem" tile (there a number of different styles everywhere on the coast) for sale displayed on the side of a shop. Just as I noticed it and showed her and we decided to get it, the shop had closed with a "Back in 10 minutes" sign posted on the door. We were supposed to be meeting our driver but figured we could extend that pickup a little and get the tile. Well, 20 minutes later we had to go and the shop still hadn't opened and so we were never able to purchase it.

I would absolutely LOVE to be able to get this item for my wife for Christmas. I've found the shop's name and have a picture of that exact item, but despite looking for it specifically elsewhere online as well as trying to find contact info for the business, I've not been able to figure out any way to obtain it.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Perhaps someone might have contact information for the shop (although a phone number might not be particularly helpful with my lack of any Italian)? Or might there be a local guide who would ship it to me for a fee? Any other creative ideas?

Thanks in advance for any help!

Posted by
59 posts

I love this kind of challenge.
What's the name of the shop?
One idea I had: if we can figure out the phone #, you could try texting your request in Italian (using Google Translate) on WhatsApp.

Posted by
11455 posts

IMHO, you need to find someone going to Amalfi. We now need to pay duty on everything shipped to the US, complicating shipments. In fact, many countries aren't sending packages at all. This might sound crazy, but have you looked on Amazon?

Posted by
9485 posts

I have two items ordered through Amazon, coming from Europe, that are on indefinite hold due to the situation. So it's not a way around it, unless the items are already here.

Posted by
654 posts

If this is a replica of the cane cavem tile in Pompei, try Mr Google. There are lots of them on there.

Posted by
2 posts

Thank you for all of the replies! I have indeed scoured Amazon for the specific tile; I have also done image searches on Google - those are my usual tricks. To answer one of the replies, yes, I am US-based. And let me apologize, I misspoke - while the large majority of the tiles say Cane Cavem, this particular one says "Attenti al Cane". Perhaps a link to the photo I took would be helpful:

https://i.ibb.co/wZm4VhX7/attenti-al-cane.jpg

The shop is indeed Di Lieto Matteo, and the Google Maps link given is not only the exact shop, but that streetview image is of the exact (exterior of the building) rack where the tile was located! Unfortunately, it is not the tile linked at the museum shop, but I will scour that site this evening to see if they have the one I'm interested in. The one listed is definitely a replica of the Pompei mosaic, and while we love that one and almost bought it elsewhere (or at least something that was quite similar) my wife (and myself) were really interested in the specific one we saw on the outside of the di Lieto Matteo shop. We are (as obviously many Italians and tourists alike) dog lovers, but we have a basset hound and the specific tile we saw had what was very likely a stylized basset on it. I'm afraid we're those people who have also acquired a very Teutonic-looking black and white enameled metal sign that says Varnung vor dem Hunde as well.

Thanks again for the replies and the help!

Posted by
158 posts

Ok, I'm sorry, that one doesn't belong to the Museum Shop collection.

And I assume you won't be happy with another version in the universal Dutch language 😂
https://www.bol.com/be/nl/p/hier-waak-ik-basset-artesien-normand-waakbord-spreukenbord-hondenras-hond-betreden-op-eigen-risico-pas-op-voor-de-hond-deurbordjes-bewaker-van-dit-huis/9300000028716685/

Maybe you can try an email to this address that was active 2 years ago [email protected]

Posted by
870 posts

If the shop owner does not speak English, I'm pretty sure they can find someone nearby who can take your call....I would then ask them to ship it to you if you can't find anyone going there to pick it up for you.

Do you have the contact info for the driver?

This shop in Vietri has beware of dog tiles and they could also make a copy of the one you like, and ship it to you:

https://www.ceramicavietresestore.it/en/36-door-signs