The grocery store checkout aisles in Italy are just as candy-lined and tempting as American ones. And recently, I picked up some strange candies, packaged in beautiful, ornate tins, a design from another century. I thought why not?(the line was long) and threw them in the cart.

They were Pastiglie Leone, a light purple candy that looks like dehydrated pencil erasers and tastes of violets, yes, the flower. I popped them open only to realize that I hate the flavor of flowers. They reminded me of the perfumes on my grandmother’s dressing table. I tossed the candy and kept the old-fashioned box they come in to store paper clips on my desk.