Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Cuccioli Cerca Amici

When I was twenty I studied abroad in Italy for half a year. It was incredible, and even now I still wish I was there. But one of the most amazing things was walking into this Italian Toy store off of Via Del Corso in Roma and stumbling upon the most incredible toys. Luckily my roommate was an illustrator and also loved Disney, and collecting adorable toys, so we went in together. We each bought a set called Cuccioli Cerca Amici. I chose the sheep (I have sheep at home) and she chose a crab family. We brought them back to our room and put them on a table soon to be called the "Toy Table". We also bought Kinder eggs and put the toys there as well. Behind our school was an Alley that had a store called "The Rainbow Store", its the Italian version of the Dollar Tree. It was the best place to find anything, but we discovered they also had the Cuccioli Cerca Amici, in eggs, and small plastic balls. These also ended up filling the table. At the end of our time in Rome she bought us each a final egg. Mine had Bongo the Giraffe, who still sits proudly on my shelf to this day. The rest of my Cuccioli sit inside one of my dressers. The poor Kinder animals got hidden around our living quarters for the next students to find.

It wasn't until I returned to America that I learned these were the Italian version of Puppy in my Pocket. I was pretty excited since I did LOVE Puppy in my pocket as a kid. I had the pink bone hotel and many dogs and cats. My favorite was the Labrador Merlin. That toy may have partially fueled my desire for my own puppy. Anyways I am getting off topic, Today while shopping for applesauce and new brightly colored tights I found a bin of $.99 Puppy in my Pocket blind bags. I couldn't help myself, I grabbed two. I had planned on saving one for my sister but after opening the first I had to rip open the second. I must say they have added a lot to this set of characters. They came with purses and sunglasses, and rubber clothes. But it still reminded me of walking into the Rainbow store and buying two surprise eggs, one for my roommate, and one for myself.



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