The main summer treat in Bolzano for me was, of course, gelato. 🙂 But that wasn’t the only food my husband and I enjoyed in summertime there.  In fact, some of the summer treats were quite healthy, because the fruits we got at the Piazza Erbe outdoor market there were amazing.

Strawberries! in the Piazza Erbe Market, Bolzano

I mean, one of my favorite “everyday expeditions” was heading over to that market, cloth shopping bag at the ready, to see what my favorite fruit vendor had selected to stock that day. In my Life on a Gelato Diet book, I describe how “Hanna” (the pseudonym I gave the fruit vendor in my book) always picked out the choicest fruit for her stand, including delectably succulent strawberries that often tempted tourists to misbehave:

Hanna carries all kinds of fruit from all over the world. … Many times on the signs she’ll add comments about the fruit; for example, this summer the signs next to the strawberries promised that they were “flavorful” and “sweet,” in both German and Italian.

Actually, in German one of the things it promised was that they were “aromatisch”. I’m not sure if that word conveys exactly the same idea of “scent” that its English cognate, “aromatic,” does. But if it does, that may help explain why Hanna is constantly having to remind people that her other signs — in German, Italian and English — prohibit touching and smelling the fruit.

When I first started going to the market, I thought Hanna had put “don’t smell” on the sign as a kind of joke. But no, I have now witnessed people attempting to stick their noses right in the baskets to take a whiff of the merchandise on display. It drives Hanna crazy; apparently there are a fair number of people each day who do that — or try to — despite the sign. This, in addition to the people who want to poke and prod everything, and/or disturb the carefully piled pyramids of peaches, etc. by selecting from the bottom of the pile. Being an outdoor fruit vendor here has its challenges.
— From Chapter 7, “Fruits and Veggies” in Life on a Gelato Diet

I’d already been selling that photo (above) of some of Hanna’s strawberries  on Red Bubble as a postcard or print. But today I am unveiling something new: a special line of cloth tote bags with some of my favorite photos from Bolzano. Including, of course, a shopping bag with the strawberries photo. 🙂

I’ve included a few of the designs in the slideshow below. Click here  to see all 6 of the current designs in my “Life on a Gelato Diet” tote bag collection, plus to get information on how to order.

Check them out and let me know what you think. Then order a bag and take it on your next everyday expedition. Just a thought. 🙂