Manolo says, here is the Manolo’s latest column for the Express of the Washington Post.

Dear Manolo,

I am going on a romantic vacation to Venice this spring. I’d like a pair of shoes both comfortable enough for walking all those canal sidewalks and glamorous enough to impress my sweetie. Oh, and I’m not taking a very big suitcase, so it would be helpful if they were versatile, too. And maybe grippy rubber soles? I’m asking for too much in one item of the feetwear?

Nell

Manolo says, perhaps the long recession is finally over, for just this past week the Manolo has received nearly the dozen letters from peoples who are travelling soon to Europe. England, France, and Austria are all mentioned in these happy missives as intended destinations, but it is Italy, Bella Italia, that is by far the preferred spot for the post-recessionary vacationers. Why should it not be thus? Italy is beautiful, and romantic, and historic, and the thus the perfect place to enjoy what may, or may not, be the return of prosperity.

And what about the Venice? How can one not love this amazing city in the springtime, when the weather is pleasant, the flowers are blooming, and the famous odors of Venice — fetid canal water, dead fish, and unwashed boatmen — have not yet reached their full summertime fluorescence. So romantic!

What is needed here, are the jaunty Italian-style driving moccasins, such as the Millie from the Patricia Green. Available in six handsome colors, the Manolo’s two favorites are the camel and the red.