This week has definitely been a lot easier for me in a few ways: I can now hear most of what people say to me and understand it (speaking Italian is another subject, but I am still improving!), I am getting closer to my school friends, exchange friends and family, and I am beginning to feel much more comfortable in Italy. There are still things that confuse me a bit, but I am learning to accept them and be easy-going with everything that comes my way :)
Last night was Saturday night! And this very weekend happens to be a ginormous CHOCOLATE FESTIVAL!!!! It was called CioccolandoVi. I was so excited to see what this commotion was all about, because I am definitely a choco-holic. Around 8 o-clock, I met with a few of my school friends and we went to a small place to get food. I would not call it a restaurant- it was less expensive food, and they were trying to be more American. There were turkey sandwiches, burgers, French fries, etc. I ordered a turkey club. It was not terrible tasting, but it was different from the American version. This sandwich had 3 pieces of toast with some cheese, turkey and pancetta (similar to bacon), with a small amount of lettuce and tomatoes. Even the burgers looked different, with different buns and sauces. It was interesting to try "American food" in Italy.
Then we started walking around in the city center, and it was PACKED full of people. It was very difficult to get to the actual center of Vicenza where the Basilica is, because that is where all the booths were. There were probably around 40 different chocolate booths, all with the finest, homemade chocolate. The booths were professional chocolateers, and they were from many different parts of Italy-Verona, Venice, and so on. But because this was very nice chocolate, it was very expensive. I did end up buying a chocolate bar that had an orange flavored tint, and I will share it with my family tonight! It was only 4 Euros for one bar... ;) My friends and I walked around to all the booths and found many interesting types of chocolate. There were original bars, chocolate ball coated in nuts or sugar or more chocolate, HUGE chunks of chocolate that would last any person 6 months to eat, and lots of different shapes and colors of chocolate. My favorite booth had chocolate shoes, chocolate I-phones, and chocolate animals. You could tell there was a lot of effort put into these chocolate items- would anyone want to actually eat them? They were works of art! Here are some pictures of the event. (I do have a confession though. I lost my camera and I have not been able to find it, so these are all pictures on Google. :( They are exactly what the event looked like though! And I hope to get a new camera or replacement soon so I am able to take my own pictures!!)
This is what most of the chocolate in the booths looked like- simple but delicious!! :) Of course, the "nocciola" chocolates were always a hit. Nocciola is Italian for hazelnut, so any hazelnut chocolate tasted like Nutella!
Chocolate shoes!! How AWESOME!
The name of this event!
This is what many of the booths looked like- they were all quite large and had many different things to sell. There were the workers constantly cutting more chocolate and making sure everything was nice and perfect. This was also the perfect time to have a chocolate festival because it was not hot out at all, and so the chocolate could lay out and not melt in the slightest.
It was definitely an experience to go to a big event like this, and it was fun to see how chocolate is made in Vicenza! I always enjoy going out and getting a taste of Italian culture. Today is Sunday, and I have heard word that I will be going to Bassano del Grappa in the afternoon! It is a city near me, so that will be very exciting to see a new city. Talk to you soon! :)
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