When travelling I love to peek around in local stores. Especially abroad. I get a feeling of what people like, or at least of what they can buy. Of some trip I remember sadness seeing how few basic goods were available (Czechoslovakia before the fall of the Berlin Wall). Luckily, on most trip I was just amazed at the variety of weird things available. Especially food.
On my very first trip to New York, more than a year ago, a single item was weirder then all the others: Spaghetti Rigati by Barilla (one of the most famous pasta brand in Italy). Rigati means furrowed, something that should help the sauce stick to thick pasta. Yes, thick pasta, not spaghetti! Never heard of Spaghetti Rigati back in Italy…
As the story goes, a few weeks ago I happened to tell about this to some colleagues, that were very amused by my report. Among them, an American girl, and she almost couldn’t believe I’ve seen such a “monstrous” thing in her own country. Luckily, I had taken a picture and I could show it. Shock, shock, shock! 
I didn’t think of buying those Spaghetti from Outer Space when I was in NYC, not that time nor during later trips. But now we have an opportunity, a colleague on a business trip over there. He buys Spaghetti Rigati for us, people here want to see and touch. We are all very amused!
Meanwhile, last weekend I’ve had a bigger shock: I’ve seen Spaghetti Rigati advertised in a store here in Italy! They come from a different pasta brand
(Agnesi) but that’s not the point. Couldn’t believe it. I ran to the store but they were out of stock. All the same… Shock, shock, shock! 
Now, there is still something left to do: cook those spaghetti from NYC and find out what the result is going to be. I’ll do that soon. Stay tuned. 
PS: Very special thanks to Fabio, who brought home Spaghetti Rigati (and Fettuccine Rigate, too!). He took great risks. Had Italian custom officials found the pasta, they would have likely canceled his Italian citizenship saying “If you brought spaghetti from the States you cannot possibly be Italian”
Well, that’s how Slang O’ The Day has been introduced to me. And some more: “English is hard, and we only make it worse by changing it every day. An intoxicating blend of the blindingly obvious and the ridiculously modern, this site will probably save somebody’s life”.
Shall I get to understand a bit more? It’s going to be fun…
Last Saturday’s trip has been to Cremona and Soncino.
Cremona centre is really as nice as I was told, very pleasant for walking. A market was taking place all around the Cathedral and the Torrazzo. The city is also worldwide famous for luthiers like Antonio Stradivari.
Soncino is a small town featuring a very well preserved castle and a Printing Museum.
