qui per un breve periodo

Last weekend I ventured south to Perugia and the International Exhibition of Chocolate. Seeing how it's the largest festival dedicated to chocolate in all of Italy, I must say I was quite disappointed. I expected chocolate madness: people drenched in it, masters sculpting with it, mobs screaming for it... instead it was only the city of Perugia turned into one giant chocolate store (which in itself is not so bad of a thing, don't get me wrong). And so, despite the lack of madness, I enjoyed myself. I bought a lot of chocolate (the bulk of which will be mailed home so I don't gain 20 pounds of cocoa fat) and I ate a little chocolate and I drank a little chocolate (has anyone had european hot chocolate??? it's fantastically thick) and I rolled myself onto the train to go back to Florence.



Actually, I was able to see quite a lot of historic Perugia as well, and it was stunning. The city center sits on a hill, and from the top you can literally see nothing but beautiful rolling hills and Italian villages for miles. Perugia's center is a fantastically well-preserved medieval district with picturesque narrow streets and quaint windows. Because of its topography, the streets turn into ramps and staircases in some areas, climbing up the steep slope of the hill. It would be a wonderful place to go back to without the crowd and chaos of the festival. Maybe next time...