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| Tartufi |
There comes a time when one has a particularly intense craving for the sweet, versatile, energizing, feel-good sensation of a good piece of chocolate. In Florence, there is certainly no shortage of the stuff and it comes in many forms, but once a year a little city just a few hours north of Firenze dedicates a few whole weekends to the creation, visualization, consumption, and sale of just chocolate. It is the Fiera del Cioccolato (The chocolate fair) and as soon as we heard about it, my friends and I knew we would be frequenting this unbelievable event. And so last Sunday, we arrived in beautiful Perugia ready to eat some delicious chocolate. The fair was located in the heart of the city which happens to be at the top of a mountain so we ended up working up a little bit more of an appetite just getting there. After stopping to take in the beautiful views, we entered the crowds of people yelling, shoving, eating, buying, smelling, tasting, and loving chocolate. It was a sight to behold. White tents lined the old city streets. Each one had something special to share and something new for us to try. It wasn’t the outlandish American-like fair I was expecting. Instead it was simply chocolate as far as the eye could see. We first stopped at a stand selling piadine with nutella and nuts – your average Sunday lunch. We then strolled along sampling various chocolates, chocolate liquors, truffles, chocolate covered fruits and snacks, fudges, caramels, chocolate pastas, and hot chocolate drinks (pretty much just melted chocolate). The other thing that struck me was that there were not too many outrageously strange combinations of chocolate or things that you wouldn’t expect chocolate to come in the form of. It was more about perfecting the art of chocolate in its pure form and using traditional complementary flavors such as various nuts, fruits, liquors, puffed rice, caramels, preserves, grains, and some cheeses. Although we were stuffed after only two hours, our bodies were craving something salty so we got delicious piadine and enjoyed them on a balcony overlooking the countryside. As we sat and munched we concluded that our lives were pretty fantastic. Studying art in Florence is enough, but then taking a break even from that to taste chocolate in a ancient Italian town cut into a mountain and eat fabulous sandwiches overlooking breathtaking Italian vistas: we really have it made.
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| Banana |
There comes a time when one has a particularly intense craving for the sweet, versatile, energizing, feel-good sensation of a good piece of chocolate. In Florence, there is certainly no shortage of the stuff and it comes in many forms, but once a year a little city just a few hours north of Firenze dedicates a few whole weekends to the creation, visualization, consumption, and sale of just chocolate. It is the Fiera del Cioccolato (The chocolate fair) and as soon as we heard about it, my friends and I knew we would be frequenting this unbelievable event. And so last Sunday, we arrived in beautiful Perugia ready to eat some delicious chocolate. The fair was located in the heart of the city which happens to be at the top of a mountain so we ended up working up a little bit more of an appetite just getting there. After stopping to take in the beautiful views, we entered the crowds of people yelling, shoving, eating, buying, smelling, tasting, and loving chocolate. It was a sight to behold. White tents lined the old city streets. Each one had something special to share and something new for us to try. It wasn’t the outlandish American-like fair I was expecting. Instead it was simply chocolate as far as the eye could see. We first stopped at a stand selling piadine with nutella and nuts – your average Sunday lunch. We then strolled along sampling various chocolates, chocolate liquors, truffles, chocolate covered fruits and snacks, fudges, caramels, chocolate pastas, and hot chocolate drinks (pretty much just melted chocolate). The other thing that struck me was that there were not too many outrageously strange combinations of chocolate or things that you wouldn’t expect chocolate to come in the form of. It was more about perfecting the art of chocolate in its pure form and using traditional complementary flavors such as various nuts, fruits, liquors, puffed rice, caramels, preserves, grains, and some cheeses. Although we were stuffed after only two hours, our bodies were craving something salty so we got delicious piadine and enjoyed them on a balcony overlooking the countryside. As we sat and munched we concluded that our lives were pretty fantastic. Studying art in Florence is enough, but then taking a break even from that to taste chocolate in a ancient Italian town cut into a mountain and eat fabulous sandwiches overlooking breathtaking Italian vistas: we really have it made. 
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