"Eurochocolate" - "Eurochocolate"

Wow. Eurochocolate is quite an amazing sight! Before this weekend, I had no idea what 1100 kg of chocolate would look like. Now I know! I also know what Perugia's Centro looks like with about a million people strolling around. As Meryck so eloquently put it: "Stupid tourists". I guess we must really feel at home now!

So Eurochocolate officially started on Saturday Oct 18th, and runs til the 26th. Terry and I headed up Saturday morning to join the crowds and check out the displays. We didn't buy anything the first day, just wanted to see everything first. The variety of chocolate was amazing - shapes AND flavours! You could get chocolates shaped as tools, paintbrushes, shoes, espresso makers, false teeth, lego, or even cheese AND a grater! For flavours - of course, you could get the basics like mint, cinnamon, peperoncini or nuts, but you could also try something more exotic like salami (we didn't) or cannabis (we did - it was gross).

Oh boy, I'm starting to sound like Boy Terry's food blog. I better move on, but you can see the pictures on facebook.

One of the things I was most excited about was seeing the chocolate sculptures. Five artists each started with an 1100kg block of dark chocolate from Perugina, the local cioccolataio. (chocolate maker) So on Sunday morning we again braved the crowds, and this time Meryck joined us. Meryck and I spent the morning in a mosh pit of people cheering and trying to catch the chocolate bits as they were chipped off the block. There were volunteers who were breaking up the falling chocolate and bagging it, then handing it out to the throngs of people. It took a while, but we finally got a bag. It was yummy and dark and more than all three of us together could eat! I posted a little video on youtube. (this link will let you look at any of my videos.)

When you look at the Eurochocolate video, I would just like to point out the background music that you can hear faintly in the last scene. There is definitely a soundtrack of our trip here, and that Kid Rock song is the hit single! There is also an Italian song that has a lot of whistling in it. In case you ever start thinking about how laid back and relaxed my husband is, try whistling around him! When that song comes over the loudspeakers, he will climb walls, people, anything to get out of earshot! OK, now back to the blog..

.. then we were free to show Meryck the rest of the sites. We had a great dinner at our favourite restaurant, then the boys went home and I went back up to Centro to check on the sculptors' progress. By then they were less than halfway done, so I went home and figured I'd come back that night... but I procrastinated!

Terry was leaving for Greece the following morning, so by that evening, none of us felt like walking back up to Centro. It's only 10 or 15 minutes to walk, but it is straight up hill, and we were pretty much walked out. I thought "no big deal - I'll just go up tomorrow morning". So I did. Terry left at 5am, but I slept in a couple more hours (OK, 4 more hours), then made my leisurely way back up the hill.

I wasn't too concerned when the sculptures weren't right where I left them - it only makes sense that they would display them somewhere, right? Well.. after talking to 3 different people and getting 3 different opinions on where they were, it became pretty obvious that they were NOT in Centro. They are not there today, either. I don't know if they destroyed them or melted them down or if they take them on tours, but they're not here. Luckily, I was able to find a photo album and video on the official site, so I (and you) could see the finished products. I'm no art critic, but I think the best thing I can say about them is that they're made of chocolate. (maybe I am a critic)

Anyhoo... there are still 4 more days of Eurochocolate left, but I think I can honestly say I've seen it all. I think we'll be doing all our exploring DOWN the hill until it's over. (except maybe a visit to the Shamrock pub!)