Things to bring an American tween from northern Italy
October 31, 2024 4:11 PM Subscribe
I’m going to northern Italy without my fourth grader. What should I bring back for her?
Kid likes cool dresses and snacks, is a voracious reader, and is fully embracing the witchy tween vibe. What regional things should I bring back for her (besides, obviously, some real European Kinder Eggs)?
Kid likes cool dresses and snacks, is a voracious reader, and is fully embracing the witchy tween vibe. What regional things should I bring back for her (besides, obviously, some real European Kinder Eggs)?
If you think she might enjoy a book that'll allow her to travel to the region with you (in her mind): Inkheart. She won't like it if she's very sensitive because there is some peril. It's a great series though. Talks about loving books, wonderful characters, brave and smart heroine, definitely a good dose of witchy vibes because the setting is part modern-day Italy, and part medieval fantasy world. Here's some reviews, many of which claim it's "slow". I think that's probably a reflection on modern attention spans. I definitely felt like it was packed full of action.
For snacks, maybe nougat could be something special? If she's not a picky eater, I'd also recommend salsa di noci, which is a type of walnut pesto. It's not spicy or bitter, so if she's into pasta and slightly adventurous, she'll probably like it.
posted by toucan at 6:50 PM on October 31, 2024 [2 favorites]
For snacks, maybe nougat could be something special? If she's not a picky eater, I'd also recommend salsa di noci, which is a type of walnut pesto. It's not spicy or bitter, so if she's into pasta and slightly adventurous, she'll probably like it.
posted by toucan at 6:50 PM on October 31, 2024 [2 favorites]
(besides, obviously, some real European Kinder Eggs)US Customs really does seize these.
posted by kickingtheground at 12:01 AM on November 1, 2024 [1 favorite]
A blank book with a bit of Italian writing. Stick with me here. My high school and college friend was from Italy, having moved sometime in middle school. I got to know her visiting aunts. Starting late in high school, and then for several years in college, one aunt would send us each a beautiful bound planner book. It said Diario/Agenda on the front, and each creamy page had the full date written in Italian, English, and French. Some years I used it as a planner, sometimes a diary, and often a mix of both.
If your kid is a reader, she's probably a writer. A beautiful leather- or cloth-bound book with Italian writing and lots of space for her to keep track of the books she reads, or her dreams, or just private thoughts, might be just the ticket. I remember the leather ones making me feel adult and old-worldly. The years they were brightly colored cloth-bound books, I felt hip and cool. It took another 30 years before I learned Italian, but my friend's aunt could not have known how much, decades later, I still value her annual jaunts to an independent Italian book shop to find them.
posted by The Wrong Kind of Cheese at 12:45 AM on November 1, 2024 [2 favorites]
If your kid is a reader, she's probably a writer. A beautiful leather- or cloth-bound book with Italian writing and lots of space for her to keep track of the books she reads, or her dreams, or just private thoughts, might be just the ticket. I remember the leather ones making me feel adult and old-worldly. The years they were brightly colored cloth-bound books, I felt hip and cool. It took another 30 years before I learned Italian, but my friend's aunt could not have known how much, decades later, I still value her annual jaunts to an independent Italian book shop to find them.
posted by The Wrong Kind of Cheese at 12:45 AM on November 1, 2024 [2 favorites]
What regional things should I bring back for her (besides, obviously, some real European Kinder Eggs)?
Turin is the chocolate capital of Italy. You can get some beautiful and delicious chocolates from Baratti and Milano such as their Gianduiotti. There's also Guido Gobino and really a lot more! Peyrano boxes are particularly beautiful. And there's great candy shops. Turin is where Nutella was born but also Pastiglie Leone.
posted by vacapinta at 5:03 AM on November 1, 2024 [4 favorites]
Turin is the chocolate capital of Italy. You can get some beautiful and delicious chocolates from Baratti and Milano such as their Gianduiotti. There's also Guido Gobino and really a lot more! Peyrano boxes are particularly beautiful. And there's great candy shops. Turin is where Nutella was born but also Pastiglie Leone.
posted by vacapinta at 5:03 AM on November 1, 2024 [4 favorites]
I am not saying to dupe your child into believing a gift is from somewhere it is not, but an Olivetti Valentine typewriter from the late 1960s, technically from northern Italy but marketed and sold around the world, is stunningly beautiful, charmingly anachronistic and, importantly, probably available with a familiar QWERTY keyboard on eBay at home if you cannot find one in Italy, which in the past used QZERTY. If you’re in Milan, you might also want to check out the shops inside the city’s design museums for gifts in a similar iconic vein.
posted by mdonley at 9:47 AM on November 1, 2024 [1 favorite]
posted by mdonley at 9:47 AM on November 1, 2024 [1 favorite]
Keep an eye out for kids her age to see if there are any trendy backpacks or shoes that aren't available back home. When I was there, it was Invicta, but that was years ago
posted by hydrophonic at 3:30 PM on November 1, 2024 [1 favorite]
posted by hydrophonic at 3:30 PM on November 1, 2024 [1 favorite]
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A cool leather bag.
posted by wenestvedt at 6:40 PM on October 31, 2024 [4 favorites]