Last night I was in Jersey – Sopranos’ country – to give a talk at Scooters Originali. It’s a cool scooter shop in Orange that not only sells new Vespas but restorations as well. They put on an excellent spread of food and drink, including a six-pack of Boddingtons.
Alan, one of their customers, brought along his restored 1961 150 and parked it in the room I gave my talk in. It was a different colour to Sophia but identical in nearly every other respect. Right down to the dodgy electrics.
Anyway, the talk went well. And afterwards I got to ride Jean’s Lambretta around the parking lot. It was the first time I’d ever ridden a Lammy and I’ve got to say it wasn’t an unpleasant experience. I won’t be rushing off to buy one. But I can understand a little better why Lammy enthusiasts are prepared to spend so much time broken down at the side of the road to ride one.
As usual with this trip I was overwhelmed by the enthusiasm and generosity of the people I’ve met. Clint, a Kiwi and a Lammy rider, gave me a Kinder Surprise that he’d smuggled into the country especially. (They’re banned in the US – something about the toy being inside the food product.)
I’m pleased to report that in the years since I did my trip Kinder Surprise toys haven’t got any better. I got a freaky snail that ranked right up there with the teapot men that were the bane of my quest for the green Vespa in Italy.
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I am not sure Kinder Suprise is actually banned over here but they are definitly hard to get. My wife is a Swede, and very familiar with Kinder Suprise, so after reading Vroom she asked me to find her some. The only place that had them was a little German deli by my work, but they were sitting in a box that said all the toys were from the “New” movie “the Incredibles” which came out in 2004. What is the shelf life of a Kinder Suprise anyway?
The Consumer Product Safety Commission has banned Kinder Surprise eggs in the US since 1997. The product’s distributers say “If you found Kinder Surprise here, it would be an unauthorized product…. It is an unauthorized product and comes in illegally.”
Peter, obviously this is the real reason the Transport Security Administration searched your bags.
I enjoyed catching up with you and wish you well in your travels.