Spread It Thick

The first Ferrero hazelnut and cocoa spread was created in the 1940s by a pastry maker called Pietro Ferrero (founder of the Ferrero company) in Piedmont, Italy. The product was known as "pasta gianduja", ("pasta" which means paste and "gianduja" which is the name of a carnival character famous to the region; this character can be found in the first advertisements for the product) This original form of the product was actually made in loaves and wrapped in tinfoil, so it could be sliced and placed on bread for mothers to make sandwiches for their children. Many children would throw away the bread and only eat the pasta gianduja! So Mr. Ferrero altered the product into a paste that could be spread on bread and packaged it in a jar. This version came to be known as "Supercrema gianduja" and was eventually renamed NUTELLA^® in 1964.

We became victims to this brand while on vacation in Italy. It was everywhere and it was delicious. When we returned home from our trip, Nutella quickly made its way onto the shopping list and on our cupboards where it sits now, mostly empty!

Planes, Trains & Automobiles, and oh yeah, boats too!

It shouldn't be hard to get to somewhere from where we are. Simple planning usually does the trick. What will get us there? Which way will we take? What route do we follow? What will be the cost?

So we have been planning a trip in Europe and figure it should be straight forward enough. Leave, go and come back. Right? I think planning a trip before there was internet might have been easier than now. Today we get to see each place, see what each company offers, and compare it with others or even against itself and collector sites (resellers) to find the best deals out there.

One choice between two places would be so much easier.

We know we need to fly. Simple. Really. With connector flights, multi-city options, one leg flights, cost-saver airlines, and buy now deals... it is just ridiculous. Not all the flight options are money savers. We had one roundtrip flight say that it would cost $10,800 for two. No thanks (Air Italia).

Welcome to Italy

In less than three weeks we are off to Europe. This girl might greet us at one of the hotels that we stay in. If everyone is as pleasant looking as she is that we should have no trouble having a fabulous trip. I don't want to over hype the trip. Just enjoy it for what it is. The best part, by far, will be the company I will be with. Everything else is a bonus. Hope to see the Eiffel Tower, but it looks like we may not be able to get that way.