Eating Sweet in Perugia: Eurochocolate 2007

If you’ve ever had a Baci* chocolate – those little chocolate hazelnut treats that come in silver and blue foil and have cute sayings in four languages on a little “fortune” inside – you’ve had chocolate from Perugia. That mouthful of delight, however, is only the beginning of Perugia’s place in the world of chocolate.

Every year, Perugia (the capital of Umbria) hosts a chocolate festival in October called Eurochocolate. For 2007, it runs from October 13-21. This video from a prior chocolate festival might make you want to change your vacation plans and hop on a plane to Umbria this fall:

And yes, I know that at some point I’d become completely ill from having eaten far too much chocolate in a too-short period of time, but right now, watching that video, it seems like Perugia would be heaven on earth. Can you just imagine what the air would smell like, with all that chocolate around? I mean, you wouldn’t even have to eat much chocolate – you could just inhale it…

At any rate, the festival is a happening event in Perugia, so be sure to book your Perugia hostel or Perugia hotel early if you want to join in the fun. The festival’s official website is here, and although there’s a little UK flag which supposedly will translate the site into English, I haven’t been able to get that to work. So, this is the perfect chance to brush up on your Italian.

* In case you didn’t already know, those little Baci treats are Italy’s answer for Hershey, only with much better chocolate – “baci” means “kisses”!