Postcrossing "surprises" ...

I have been a postcrosser since August, and amongst some amazing cards, information on traditions and even small "treats" I have been "awarded" with since then, I have had two incredible suprises over this weekend. I have met Tijen, a postcrosser from Turkey  and tasted some "callisons" sent to me by Alex, a postcrosser from France.

Every card is unique and every poscrosser is unique in his/her  own way. There are postcrossers whom you send just a card to once or receive just  a single card from and yet  there are other postcrossers, whom we feel like further writting to(although we may or may not) ... Tijen and Alex have been such cases. Tijen  and I have been exchanging cards and messages for a while, Alex, on the other hand has been a fairly recent postcrosser friend, I should say.

As I was preparing myself to travel up North to meet Tijen, a health food researcher with already a few books published,  I opened my mail box and there was this packet with a few calissons and  macarrons -"very health like" traditional French candy,   I had never heard of nor tasted and whose ingredients I wouldn't consider letting Tijen know of, in case she didn't exactly agree with the concept of "health-like".

Amarante where I met Tijen, had its local São Gonçalo festivities going on over the weekend with drum group playing competitions and to my surprise traditional cake baker's and street-stalls spread around the Tâmega river shores selling fallus-shaped cakes of all sizes, which according to tradition were offered by the local women to bridegrooms to be.

Nobody was able to tell me the origin of this tradition, which I feel must be pagan ..., but it is undeniable that local people do feel for and worship São Gonçalo, as the old ladies match-maker patron saint.

Had it not been for my postcrossing friends and I wouldn't have tried any of these exquisite "gourmet" specialties ...

Note: Calissons are traditional French candy consisting of a smooth pale yellow, homogeneous paste of candied fruit (especially melons and oranges) and ground almonds topped with a thin layer of white icing (royal glaze). Callisons are almond shaped and traditionally associated with the town of Aix-en-Provence. (Wikipedia)