Federico got an advance look at Apple’s new Via del Corso store in Rome. He does a great job situating the store in the historic building it occupies and connecting it to his own personal history.
Silvia contributes some great pictures (shot on iPhone, of course):
Jason Snell described Federico’s article perfectly, “Come for the sword fight, stay for the fast-food pizza.”
I want to live in it.
Agreed - Almost all of the Houston Stores are in the mall and seem to serve as free arcades instead of the Apple Villages
I mean really they’re just massively showing off here, aren’t they?
Not that I’m jealous or anything.
(Narrator: he is extremely jealous.)
In a word: gorgeous!
Miss Italy so much. This was like a mini-vacation.
The whole suite of images on MacStories was an entrée to a nice virtual getaway.
The essay and images is also a good showcase for the iPhone photo capabilities.
It’s like those lavish casinos in Las Vegas. And it makes me wonder just how much do I pay in “Apple Tax”? 
If they want to spend that money on building Apple Stores like this, it feels completely worth it to me.
That being said, unless they do something similar in, say, Albany, I’m unlikely to see it in person!
I know what you mean. But then again I feel more at home at my Apple store:
I loved Federico’s tour of the new store — really neat story, for sure! Well done, Apple, on honoring the space they took over.
well, Apple for sure obtained some sort of tax cut in the operation, I doubt they’re willing to pass it on customers 
(to be clear, as @tjluoma said, I think it’s worth it; never been in that specific building, but it’s for sure a nice upgrade from the fast food thing… I have the exact same memory of the “Spizzico” chain, quite '80/'90s and quite awful 
).
It is comparable to the NY 5th ave store and similar “flagship” apple stores. When tourism is something feasible I’d say that in Via del Corso sees millions of people a year…
