Readers of Vroom with a View may remember that I spent a good deal of that trip trying to find a Kinder Surprise with a toy Vespa inside. ( I know my friend Marie does. She blogged about it the other day!)
After purchasing a hell of a lot of chocolate eggs, and getting more tiny smurfs than is safe for one’s sanity, I finally found two. One sits in Marco’s workshop in Livorno. The other sits beside me on my desk.
A number of people wrote to me to say they were embarking on the same quest. Indeed, some boasted that they got one in the first Kinder Surprise they bought. Australians mainly, which makes sense. Kinder change their toys annually and Australia is about two years behind Europe. It was moles and magic tricks in the UK in 2006 so watch out for those downunder in 2008.
Italy, as you can imagine, is on the cutting edge. They get the new range of toys at least three months before anywhere else. That’s why I was so excited when I saw this three-pack of Kinder Merendero (the summer version of Kinder surprises) at Rimini airport on the way home.
The green toy Vespa is back, baby.
That means two things. Firstly, I’m going to be eating a lot more Kinder Surprises trying to find one. And secondly, I’m gonna get a lot more emails from the jammy readers who find one before I do!
In case you’re wondering, I didn’t find a Vespa in the three pack. Just two mole creature fridge magnets and a plastic frog photo frame. (As you can imagine, the photo it holds has to be very, very tiny)
peter we are in rome in sept we will try to find a green vespa if we have any luck ad find two we will send one to you
Oh, that explains why I didn’t find any in the dozen Kinder Surprises I bought in Italy during my visit last March.
Forget the Vespa, I’m more interested in the stoned Eskimo!
I am going to make it my life mission (okay, maybe for this month only) to track down a black market Kinder Surprise chocolate egg in NYC. I bet some of those small little Italian grocery stores in Little Italy have them.
Peter, I didn’t know where else to leave a comment, but I found out about your books from Angus Bell’s bookshelf on Facebook. I just finished reading ‘The Wrong Way Home’ and I found myself laughing out loud many times. I enjoyed it from cover to cover. You might want to check out Angus Bell’s book on Eastern Europe, cricket, and the paranormal. It is called ‘Slogging the Slavs’. I am looking forward to reading the rest of your books.
Adios.
Did you hear about the squirrel that was stealing Kinder Surprise eggs twice a day from a shop in Finland? Pretty hilarious…perhaps he was looking for a certain toy as well.
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSL0145707520070802
Does anyone know where to get these eggs in the U.S.? I loved them in Italy, (found them at a Co-op in Florence), but can’t find them anywhere in the US. Unfortunately I don’t know anyone in Italy to send them to me. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks
I currently own a vespa in sydney, after reading vroom with a view and talking to my workmates countless times about the “illusive green vespa” and dreaming about riding around italy, one of my work mates found a green vespa in a kinder suprise and gave it to me! So i am now the proud owner of a green vespa from a kinder suprise!!