The other day, I went with a group of people from my Italian school to a Fiorentina soccer game, they played Rome. We had a long walk to the stadium in the rain and of course our seats were quite wet also, but the game was a success! We won. 2-0 being the final score, both goals were scored in the last minute of each half. We were on the edge of our seats the whole time! At half time some of the girls had to buy hot chocolate, more so to keep their hands warm then the need of the drink itself. The group went to eat after but I decided to try to find my way back home as I was drenched and could no longer feel my toes. Not sure if trying to get back from somewhere I've never been when it's dark outside and rainy is a good idea, but eventually it did work out! After a few nice people pointed me in the right direction..
In preperation for Halloween, before the family left for a week, we did a few things to get into the spirit of the holiday! Made Halloween cookies with Jess, we carved a pumpkin, I cooked the pumpkin seeds, and we made a monster pizza! Reminds me a bit of home :) I love doing all of these things!
Halloween was the most un-Halloween Halloween ever but was still pretty fun! Since the choice of costumes is quite slim in a country that doesn't celebrate the holiday, you kinda have to try to put things together. Surprisingly, all the 99 cent stores here in Florence had a selection of Halloween items- mostly decorations. After days of contemplating and trying and failing to think of a clever costume, on the 30th I went to one of the stores and told myself I wouldn't leave the shop till I had it all figured out. I walked around and around the crowded aisles filled with other procrastinating people. Asked my friend Jess for wisdom as we were supposed to match. I came upon some pretty great sunglasses and we decided we could pop out the lenses, and that is the start of our nerd costume. I went to a few different shops trying to find suspenders to make our outfits complete, eventually a lady helped me out and showed me where to go. The woman in the shop was really friendly and gave me a discount on the suspenders when I finally found them. They are great! The box says they are from 1973, Jess's have little ice cream cones and mine have little soccer players. The next day I found a thrift store and got a plaid button up shirt, went home and sewed on two buttons!! I won't lie, I'm pattin myself on the back for that :p Then all you need is a side pony, some crazy socks and high waters and voila! But I am quite disappointed to say I didn't get a single piece of Halloween candy :(
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| Bodil, Lizzy, Jess, and me! |
Perugia Chocolate Festival. What a day this was! Went with a group of girls by train to the town of Perugia. Disneyland isn't even as crowded as this was. I have never seen so many people pushing and shoving with the EuroChocolate Card to get their free little chocolates! At the start, you can buy a card for 5 euros and with it comes a little brochure that you take around and it lists booths you can find and get a free chocolate from their company. Oh. My. Gosh. It was a pretty warm day and at every moment you are squished between multiple people. But I will say, the smell all around you was a sweet chocolate aroma that enticed you to eat more chocolate and drive half the women there mad! Each brand of chocolate was represented with one or many little stands, selling every chocolate thing you can think of: truffles, wrenches, keys, pasta, kebabs, orange slices, Apple App cakes, merchandise, pumpkins, soccer balls, etc. A giant purple cow, five or six large gold gummy bears, hundreds of stands selling chocolate in every shape and size, and quite a few chocolate carvers made up the majority of the festival. The chocolate carvers were these guys on platforms chipping away at big blocks of chocolate. At first you notice these men because of the large crowds around them, then you notice they could really care less about the carving as all their eyes are diverted towards the girl filling up plastic bags with the shavings and handing them out. We waited around till we all got bags, and it was tasty but by every stand we walked past of these carvers, not a single one's block of chocolate looked like anything but a big ol block of chocolate. As the sun was out, some of the shavings on the floor all around were melted and when the men moved, they had to try hard to pick up their feet and globs of melted chocolate would fall and stick to the ground. The last thing we got from our chocolate card was hot chocolate. If you can call it that. I'd heard rumors that it is so thick the spoon will stick straight up.. the rumors are truth!! It really worked :D You couldn't really drink it, had to use the spoon so it was more like hot pudding but quite delicious even on a hot day. The amount of chocolate at this festival is incredible, it is really interesting to see, and chocolate maniacs like my ma will have a hay day if they ever get to see it! The festival is definitely worth it to see once, but for me not necessary ever again, the crowds of people were just a bit overwhelming.
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| App cakes |
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| IT WORKS!!!! :D |
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