In one of the few open shops on a main street in downtown Aleppo, Syrian shopkeeper Ramadan Dali wields his feather duster with gusto, standing on tip-toes so he can reach the windows.
Dali, a 70-year-old wearing a black felt hat, is ready for customers to come back, along with the hope that has returned to the streets of Syria's second largest city since it was retaken by rebels on their way to topple president Bashar al-Assad.
Aleppo was once Syria's economic capital, a vibrant northern city of two million people, popular with tourists and archaeologists.