Pocket Coffee

Pocket Coffee how I love you, where have you been all my life! Pocket Coffee is made by the Ferrero company and sold internationally. Pocket Coffee candies are individually wrapped praline and consist of Italian liquid espresso in a shell of dark chocolate. When you bite into this luscious chocolate square you get a burst of espresso coffee in your mouth which is so delicious. They were marketed for the first time in Italy in 1968, and are still sold mostly in Italy because of the Ferrero headquarters in Alba, Piedmont. For many years, Pocket Coffee was extremely difficult to obtain outside of Europe but, while distribution is still limited, it is now available online and in certain major food markets in the states. Production is limited for sale in the winter months, from November to April. I first tried this wonderful treat earlier in the year, and then they disappeared. I asked everywhere for them, but was told it is a winter treat. Why? I would love this all year round. Fererro claims that eating three pieces is equivalent to a shot of espresso, but even just one gives you a boost when there is no coffee ready. Now, they are back, and I am happy for the fall weather, and a pack of Pocket Coffee in my purse. 

 

Amsterdam "The Venice of the North"

I must admit, when my husband first said that we are going to Amsterdam, I was a little hesitant.
I had a preconceived idea about the city that was totally wrong. I had envisioned tons of younger people walking around smoking pot, getting high and causing mischief.  I never thought much about the city itself, or even thought that I would ever want to go there. I can't speak for all Americans, but everyone I know back in the states talked about Amsterdam as being the cannabis capital of the world. Not to mention the Red light district. That was basically all I knew about the city and it's reputation. Boy, was I wrong. The city is so beautiful, clean, and inviting. There is so much to see and do there. 

 We spent the day walking around the The Rijksmuseum, The garden area is very well maintained and lovely to walk around.

 There are several different garden areas, with plenty of seats to just sit and enjoy the beauty. There are also rows of statues surrounded by neatly trimmed green hedges. It was very impressive. I was also very impressed with the fact that bikes outnumber cars there. Everyone rides a bike, I saw several accidents involving tourists and a bike rider, because the tourists walk in the bike lane. No one was hurt, probably more embarrassed than anything.

As for the cannabis, it is strictly regulated and taxed. You can only smoke in coffee shops, which are everywhere, and you are only allowed to buy small quantities. I was a little surprised that you cannot smoke cigarettes in the coffee shops, you have to go to a regular bar to smoke a cigarette. They are very concerned about second hand smoke. The city is very pretty in the daytime, but it is beautiful at night. Everything is lit up. It is very safe to walk around at night, you can walk along the canals and enjoy the water taxis cruising down the river.

We went in early May, and it was cold, windy, and it rained every day. This is because of it's proximity to the North sea. It is also very crowded with tourists from all over. We were walking through seas of people of all ages, which was kind of interesting to see. There is also a restaurant near the Riksmuseum that we stopped at to eat, the bathroom has LCD doors that turn off & on when locked and unlocked to toggle between opaque and see through. all in all, It was a great experience, and we look forward to returning.

The legend of Buffardello and Linchetto

The locals in Tuscany believe in the legend of Buffardello and Linchetto. These are two little imps. Many locals have told us stories about these two imps roaming the countryside wrecking havoc. They don't cause any real harm but just enough to make people a little mad and even a little scared.  These imps usually go out at night looking for new victims for their jokes. The locals say they go from house to house in order to take away the blankets to some one who is sleeping or to sit on his chest so that he can’t breathe; he steals the fodder of the cows in the stables in order to give it to another cow that he likes more. They like to hide objects, or weave the tails of cows. Older people in the village say that you can keep away the imps by hanging a juniper branch to the front door of the house or the stable. For some mysterious reason they feel obliged to count the berries of the juniper before entering, but they soon get bored with counting and run away. Or, you can have a white night-shirt, at the foot of the bed, with sleeves arranged in the shape of the cross, the Buffardello, seeing the cross, will run away. You can also put a cup full of rice on the bedside table, the Linchetto will try to count the rice but will get tired and leave. Hmmmmm.....and all this time I thought it was my husband stealing the blanket.

 

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire

Born and raised in the big city of Chicago, I only saw chestnuts around the Christmas season. Most people used them as decorations, some roasted them and ate them, but it was more a novelty. Here in the Tuscany region of Garfagnana, chestnuts or Castanea are extremely important in this area. The poet Giovanni Pascoli called the chestnut tree: “The bread tree”.  I think the reason it is so important to this region is because most locals can walk up the hills into the forest and collect chestnuts that have fallen from the trees. There are literally hundreds upon hundreds of them lying around the woods and surrounding street. When you have a free food source, you can find lots of ways to use them. The local chestnut flour is called farina di neccio, people make bread, polenta, crepes, pies and cookies from the flour. But I have also had the chestnut beer, it's very good, it has an interesting flavor. I think I'll stick to the regular light beer for now. Luckily, our neighbor has a chestnut roasting gizmo. We were able to enjoy fresh roasted nuts right off the fire.

UFO over Tuscany??

One rainy day, I was taking pictures of the rain and fog over the mountains, after I uploaded my pictures and went through them I noticed this weird image in one picture. It can't be a plane that close to the mountain. Is it a bird flying by very fast, a large bug, a Pterodactyl still living in the Tuscan mountain range, or a UFO hovering in the fog. Perhaps there is a secret landing strip in the mountains that no one has seen before. Maybe we will have to make another trek up the mountain to investigate. If I don't write any more posts, that could mean I have been abducted. Maybe, I have watched "Close encounters of the third kind" way too many times.  

This damn tower is leaning

You would think that with all the people taking pictures as if they were holding it up and pushing it, it would straighten out. But then it wouldn't be such an interesting sight to see. Pisa is amazing, I totally recommend you visit this place if you are in Tuscany. We took the train from Lucca, and people told us that when you get off the train, walk straight ahead and you will find it. So, off the train and we are walking but no Tower in sight, we thought we might have taken the wrong way. After walking about ten minutes, we stopped to take pictures at a bombed out sight, I believe from WWW 2, I looked up and to the left, and saw it.

I shouted out, "There it  is".

Everyone around us laughed. It is a beautiful sight when you enter into the plaza where the leaning tower is, or Torre Pendente. There are also several other buildings, the Duomo di Pisa, the Battistero (Baptistry), Campo Santo Monumentale (Monumental Cemetery), the Museo del opera del Duomo, and the Museo delle sinopie. We paid five euro to go into the cemetery and it was amazing. there are burials in the floor and the walls and all around you. The murals are beautiful but fading and chipping. Tickets to go up into the leaning tower are 17 euros, but there is a line and a long wait.

One of the churches is free to go into, the others you can buy tickets for at the ticket counter. The attractions on the streets of Pisa are very entertaining also. And they are free when you are people watching.













http://www.italyguides.it/us/pisa/pisa_italy.htm

The story of Dead Man Mountain

Italy's Apennine mountains are beautiful, and some have interesting stories about them. In the Garfagnana region of Tuscany, the legend of the dead man mountain, or Uomo Morto is told to tourists by the locals. Monte Cusna is the 2nd highest peak in the northern Apennines after Monte Cimone. It is very steep and remote, with an altitude of 2,121 metres (6,959 ft). Looking up at the imposing outline of a man from the town below is an amazing sight. The legend of the Uomo Morto is: A shepherd and a shepherdess met on the prairie with their sheep and spent many afternoons together. They would watch the far-away sea, and reveal their dreams. Their love grew, but at the end of the summer, the young shepherd began to spend more and more time watching the sea. He thought of the ships that traveled the sea from Pisa. The girl began to worry about him. One day, the young shepherd confided to her that he desired to abandon the mountains and become a sailor to get to know new places and people. So one day he departed for the sea. The young shepherdess remained alone on the mountain, hoping that one day her love would return to her on the mountain. But months passed, the shepherdess spent long hours watching the sea, praying to God that her lost love would return. She didn't speak to anyone, but sat staring at the sea. One summer, another young boy climbed the mountain and fell in love with the shepherdess. Her sadness made her even more attractive. He tried to talk to the girl, but she resisted. One day the new shepherd confided to her his sincere and profound love that he had for her and wanted to understand the reason for her sadness. The shepherdess recounted the story of the unfortunate love and how she couldn't return the affectionate gestures and kind words of the new shepherd. All of his efforts were futile. One day the young shepherd decided to climb to the peak of Pania della Croce and ask God for a suggestion to make the girl forget about her lost love. God revealed that the only way would be to inhibit the girl from viewing the sea, but he would have to sacrifice himself. He would be transformed into a giant of stone, hiding the view to the sea. The young shepherd for love of the girl accepted, and from that day, his body was impressed between the mountains and remembered as the dead man.
There are many paths and trails to follow up the mountain, there are also six refuges that you can stop and rest at and eat before scaling back down. One of the highlights of our stay here in Tuscany was climbing the Dead man Mountain and looking down at the surrounding towns through the clouds.