Chocolate Day

After a rainswept day on Saturday, we welcomed the weather forecast for a sunny Sunday and the prospect of once again being outdoors, enjoying our surroundings. My reward for all the efforts it took to get to the big supermarket a few days before was my favorite Sunday breakfast of smoked salmon with cream cheese on a Scandinavian cracker. I was delighted to have found all of the ingredients. The salmon was up to and beyond my standards and, it was Philadelphia Cream Cheese!

Knowing that it was to be the final day of “Eurochocolate” in Perugia, we decided to make it our destination. But first, some other traditions were in order. 

We headed towards the train station on foot, taking the Strata Mattonota, the 3km brick pathway that goes from the Porta San Pietro at the base of the city of Assisi, to the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli which is just behind the train station. It is, and always has been, our favorite slice of the city. It’s paved with inscribed bricks, donated by people from across the globe who donated funds to help reconstruct the city of Assisi following the earthquake of 1997. In 2012, when walking down the pathway, I discovered the four thousand-plus bricks that are inscribed with names, ages and places of residences, of the victims of the World Trade Center tragedy. 

As the route continues, and the train station is in sight, we seize the opportunity to partake in yet another favorite tradition, our lunch at the Assisi MacDonald’s! The same, but different. Joe ends his meal with an espresso. That’s part of the charm.

We arrived in Perugia in the early afternoon. It’s a short train ride and after we reach the station we take the mini metro way up to the very top of the city. It’s great for kids who delight in standing in front of the train window as it climbs. Kind of like an amusement park ride for them,  great convenience for everyone else. 

Eurochocolate is an annual festival that takes place in Perugia at this time every year (it could not be held during the warmer months for obvious reasons). The festival has been held since 1993, and is one of the largest chocolate festivals in Europe. For ten days, events and stands featuring industry-leading companies from around the world, completely cover every inch of the city’s historic center. There is chocolate in every shape, form and version, being sold at a rapid pace. Thousands of people attend (many accompanied by their dogs who would die if they ate chocolate, so why?) It’s totally mind-boggling and something that we agreed, was not to be missed. Of course we had to practice a huge amount of self-control, allowing ourselves one hot chocolate drink each, and a few truffle delights for Joe. I’m not talking Swiss Miss cocoa here. It’s liquid chocolate, topped with fresh whipped cream. Thick and creamy, not sweet. Delicious!

Our trip back to Assisi was interesting. The mini metro is a series of small, independent trains, each holding a big handful of riders. So, when we arrived at the station, we met up with a few hundred others who also wanted to ride back down. There’s a huge parking lot at the final stop and most of them were heading there. So, we joined the cue and waited our turn to make the cut. While it oftentimes appears to be chaotic, situations such as this are handled very well in this country. Crowd control seems to be a specialty. Efforts to have just so many people at any given spot and time are well-orchestrated and people conform. Standing on a line gives them more time to talk to each other. Kids don’t get cranky. So, in approximately twenty minutes it became our turn to get to the next stage, a few more minutes and our turn to board the mini and then down to our train back to Assisi in the sunset. Which, from the Perugia train station we were able to see…for a long time. An announcement confirmed that yes, our train would be twenty minutes late due to railway strikes. Hey, at least there would be a train! Strikes are common in Italy and it seems more than a coincidence that they occur on each end of a weekend. 

So, after a long and very happy day, during which we complimented each other on our patience and our grasp of Italian lifestyle (we prove, over and over, that we truly are Italians), we were treated to a surprise. The Christmas lights have been lit! Happy us.

The Piazza Commune