My First Upim Excursion

Upim

In moving to Rome, one thing I couldn’t wait to do was start running again. Much to my dismay, I had let my daily run fall to the wayside over the last couple of years and since I now mostly work from home and therefore have some semblance of control over my own time, I arrived here with the intention of planning my days around my runs.

I landed on February 8th and I’m loathe to admit that I haven’t gone running once. Not to sound chock-full of excuses, but the wretched weather has played a big part in hindering my plans. The rest of the blame goes to my failure to pack long-sleeved running shirts. To be fair, when I was packing, I thought, “I’m going to Rome. It’s hot there. I’m not going to need these after March 1st.” So in the interest of bringing items for which I would have more of an immediate need/use, I omitted them in favor of all my short-sleeved/sleeveless ones. When it didn’t warm up as quickly as I had hoped, I did try to amend the situation. I went to Niketown on Via del Corso a few weeks ago, but I really didn’t feel like spending 60 euro per shirt especially since  I was going to need more than one and especially at a Nike store…the U.S. is rampant with them. So once again, I reassured  myself that the warm weather was just around the corner.  Fast forward to March 28th and there’s not a day that has passed during which I couldn’t have used those long-sleeved shirts that are tucked away in a storage bin sitting in my parents’ attic.

A couple of  friends had suggested that I try Upim and I was hesitant. Something about the store freaked me out and I wasn’t really sure why. It sits on the corner of Via Gioberti and Via Carlo Alberto…street level just behind several bric-a-brac street vendors and right smack on top of a kinda shady subterranean supermarket (though I do purchase my cereal & blood orange juice there). I decided if I wanted to start running tomorrow, I had better give Upim a try.

The verdict: honestly, it wasn’t as scary as I thought. Would I go there to buy all of my clothing? No. Would I go back there again? Yes. I did manage to find a lined navy blue windbreaker for 30 euro that will suffice for running in what’s left of the chilly weather. So now I have no excuses (except the rain of course!). While there, I also picked up a couple of pairs of leggings and eye makeup remover. I had no idea Upim even sold toiletries, but it turns out there’s an entire section that looks like a cross between Sephora and the Duane Reade skin care aisle. Who would have thunk it?

 

 

 

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4 replies on “My First Upim Excursion”
  1. says: Mrs. C

    Jackie, better a chilly day in Rome then a so-so day in the US which is also quite chilly. If you really crave warmth you have an open invitation to Aruba!

  2. says: Ann Marie

    Send me your address. Those shirts cost next to nothing in Fl. I will send you one. Love your blog.

    1. You’re sweet, Ann Marie! Thank you so very much for offering, but the cost of shipping is probably more than the actual cost of the shirt. Hope you’re doing well! Lots of love!

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