Hi, my best friend and husband of nearly a year are vacationing in Rome next month and I thought it would be great to get them a gift certificate to a shop in Rome where they could get something to celebrate their 1st anniversary. I want it to be somewhere with a website so I can easily purchase the gift certificate and somewhere with items that are more special (glass, artwork, etc) Does anyone know of any stores/boutiques like this? Thanks!!!

You (and they) might have better luck if you gave them a credit card gift certificate. I'm pretty sure American Express offers them, or check with your own credit card company. This could be used wherever the card is accepted as you're essentially giving them a card with a pre-set credit limit (i.e., $100, $200, etc.).

There is a chain of department stores throughout Italy called Rinascente (I think that's it, can someone verify?). They might offer gift certificates, but I don't know how you'd go about getting one in time other than calling/hoping they'd take your credit card number over the phone.

I don't believe gift certificates are prevalent in Italy,as they are in the U.S. I've never seen them offered there.You certainly could come up with a creative alternative,however.You could do some research and present a list of fabulous shops,restaurants,etc and a nice wad of cash,or a Visa gift card,etc.

I'd also vote for giving them a "Be My Guest" gift certificate from AmEx (they used to exist; I don't know whether they still do) for a terrific restaurant in Rome.

On the other hand, as far as I recall, the correct gift for a first anniversary is one of paper.

There's a very nice chain of shops in Rome that sells paper-related things like pens, agendas, etc., as well as fancy paper of all kinds, and they have a Web site -- in Italian only:

http://www.vertecchi.com/

The biggest store is the one at Via della Croce 74, near the Spanish Steps. I don't know how you would manage to get your friends a gift certificate, though...