Hi everyone!

I'm finally back after dealing with Covid and getting started on my PhD (and the chaos that followed - or rather follows)...

I'm currently on vacation in Tuscany, Italy and naturally, I'm thinking of getting a fountain pen/ink as a souvenir. I was here 2 years ago and got a Pineider La Grande Belezza last time so I decided to try again.

So far I know the Casa Della Stilografica shop in Florence, which was very nice, but I'm curious if you know some more shops!

I'm also looking for pen and ink recommendations. I am a big fan of Sailor pens (currently I own two PGS, the Blue Green Nebula and the Amaoto), I have my one Italian pen which I love - the SEF nib is awesome, my other daily workhorses are a Lamy Logo, two TWSBI 580s, and some Pelikan M400s.

I've been looking at OPUS as a brand I haven't tried before and was wondering how their pens are. I've also seen some Sailor PG Cocktail series from the first edition which piqued my interest but I'm curious about any other recommendations! I'd rather not get Visconti due to the QC issues but would love to know how other Italian pens fare (like Stipula, Tibaldi or Leonardo Officina for example), love finer nibs (Japanese F - M) with a bit of feedback and fun things like flex nibs (though my Pineider is my only soft nib so far). Price range-wise I'd go up to the aforementioned Pineider/Sailor PG.

I'm also looking for fun inks! I love shading and shimmer inks (sheen not so much as a lefty underwriter lol). Has anyone tried Colorverse a Uma or perhaps the new FWP Ferritales Inks or FWP inks in general? Are they any good? What's your favourite ink with a bit of a wow-effect?

Thanks in advance and I hope you have a wonderful day!