Chestnuts, Coupons, and Pizza Season in Massa

Today's adventure started with a trip to Conad, one of our regular grocery stops. Chestnuts (castagne) are in season, and apparently, the entire region has been celebrating all month with local festivals. We missed the festivals themselves, but we figured we could still take part in the best way possible--by buying, roasting and eating chestnuts. 

Chestnut Festival Poster

At Conad, there were baskets overflowing with shiny brown castagne, bags of chestnut flour, and even a castagnaccio kit (Castagnaccio is a rustic Tuscan cake made with chestnut flour--Dr. Ronzoni mentioned he'd been buying it at our favorite bakery.) We picked up a bag to roast at home and made a mental note to grab a slice of the castagnaccio later in the week. 

Chestnuts for sale

More chestnuts and chestnut products

The Great Conad Card Victory

At checkout, our cashier asked if we had a Conad card. We didn't, but when I asked how to get one, he directed me to Customer Service. It was Sunday, so I assumed no one would be there--but a kind gentleman appeared right away to help.

Of course, he asked for documents. We've been through this before and knew that photos of our codice fiscale wouldn't cut it. (Here's the link to the Coop Card journey post, if you're interested) But then, another woman stepped in and, bless her heart, decided we were getting a card no matter what. A few clicks and signatures later, she handed me a brand-new Conad card. Success! Now we officially have two, count 'em, two grocery cards. Oh yeah!

To clarify, the Conad card is more like a Safeway card in the U.S., it gives you access to the discounts but doesn't make you a member of the Coop. Though from our point of view, even though the Coop card was more difficult to obtain, the result is the same, access to the discounts. Either way, it's still nice to be a part of the general collective. 

The Quest for Fitness

We're still easing back into Italian life (and time zones), so mornings are slow-going. Today, "early start" meant leaving the house at the crack of noon--LOL. Our goal was to walk to the local gym to check prices and membership options. We'd seen it plenty of times while driving out of town but had never tried walking there. A little detour never hurt anyone--it's all part of the walk, right?

Ira navigated us there like a champ, and we met a lovely woman named Anna, who spoke no English but was wonderfully patient. Her Italian was slow and clear, and between gestures, smiles, and a few repeated phrases, we managed to understand the essentials. 

In the end, though, we won't be joining. Gym memberships are surprisingly pricey--more than double what we paid back in St. Helens, Oregon. (Granted St. Helens isn't exactly a metropolis, but still!) So the home gym it is. I brought one kettlebell, and between that, our daily walks, and online yoga with our old Oregon studio, we'll be fine.

Pizza at Vanni Before the Holiday

Our friend Elena reminded us that if we wanted pizza at Vanni, we'd better hurry. The family takes a 45-day holiday starting November 3rd. We learned this the hard way last year--kept putting it off until one day the chairs and tables were gone, and the "Chiusa Ferie" sign was up. Lesson learned.  

We also heard that the commune is replacing the paving stones in the main piazza to beautify the area in anticipation of the rumored World Heritage Site designation. Since our building faces the square, we're hoping the scaffolding will go up soon so we can get our exterior looking equally spiffy.

Dinner at Vanni was packed, as always. I still can't quite adjust to 8:00 p.m. dinner reservations, but that's the Italian way. Note the chili oil that Elena and Ira like to drizzle onto their pizza. 

Schiaccia Rustico

Rucola, pomodorini and ricotta

Ira's Amatriciana nearest to us

Elena's Napoli to the left

The Great Coop Coupon Challenge

Earlier in the day, we ran into Andrea, who in the course of our chat asked if we'd been to Coop lately and if we knew about their new coupon promotion. We'd received coupons at checkout but hadn't paid much attention. Andrea laughed and said, "It's not simple."

Here's the "short" explanation:

From September through November, you can earn €5 discount coupons for every €15 you spend on Coop-brand products, meat, cheese or produce. Easy enough--except that in Massa, unlike in Follonica, the system doesn't track totals for you, so you have to keep a running count in your head. Okay, we're following so far.

Apparently, this new program caused chaos of biblical proportions when it launched. The lines at checkout got so long you could have roasted a chicken, read a novel, and still had time for a quick espresso before reaching the register. Every cashier was explaining the rules in great detail, complete with hand gestures and diagrams, apparently, with little success.

Now comes Phase Two, ahhh there's a phase two: peel off the sticker from each coupon and place it on a collection board. Wait, there's a sticker on the coupon? Apparently, so. Once you have six stickers, you qualify for a €15 SuperVoucher in December.

Challenge Accepted.

We grabbed the coupons we already had and discovered--of course--that one was missing a stamp. I headed to Customer Service and, after some halting Italian, convinced the clerk to give me a fresh board with two stickers already applied. We were officially in the game.

I insisted on sticking to items with the mysterious "ZAC" sticker--my best recollection of what Andrea had mentioned earlier about eligibility--while Ira argued that the premium Fiore Fiore line would count too, it was, after all, also a Coop brand. (Spoiler alert: it absolutely did not.) When no coupon was presented, I asked our friendly cashier why not--she misunderstood completely, and by the time we sorted that out, the line behind us was long enough to qualify as its own social event. 

Pretty sure that's part of Coop's strategy: confuse the customers just enough that they keep shopping out of sheer determination. Well, mission accomplished--we took the bait, hook, line and sinker.

To be fair, Ira was right about one thing: we'd earned our earlier coupons without even trying or paying attention to eligibility, thanks to all the meat and produce we'd bought. Either way, we're committed now. That SuperVoucher is ours. Game on!

Come Up Next...Olive Picking

We've been invited to pick olives--a classic Tuscan tradition this time of year. We're excited to finally experience it firsthand. 

Stay tuned!

A dopo!