Chocolate - The breakfast of champions!

       Yesterday I went to the Eurochocolate festival in Perugia which is the Umbrian capital and is also one of Italy’s greatest art cities.  The biggest name in the local chocolate industry is Perugina, provider of Italy's finest chocolates. After boarding the bus around 7 :30 am we arrived at the Perugia chocolate factory for a tour.  The facility is in a light industrial area a few miles west of Perugia, the city where the candy was born and from which the company takes its name.  When we got there was a big table filled with all types of chocolate and we were given a bag and could walk down the table and grad all of the different chocolate samples.  It felt like Halloween but at an accelerated pace because it was just one long table opposed to a block of houses.  We then went into a movie theatre and had a brief introduction and were shown a movie of the history of the factory and the production process.              

              Getting into the theatre we went through a small hallway and I felt like I was in Charlie and the Chocolate factory.  They are most known for their chocolate called Bachi.   In 1907, pasta maker Francesco Buitoni and his partners started a venture to make "confetti" (sugar-coated almonds) and other confections. One day in 1922, Louisa Spagnoli, wife of one the co-ventures, blended some leftover chopped hazelnuts with chocolate rather than waste them. She formed the mixture into cylinders, topped them with whole hazelnuts and bathed her creations in dark chocolate.  Nestle now owns the factory and the company, now owned by international food giant Nestle, produces about 1.5 million of them a day.  Next, we were guided into the factory. 

            In the factory, we watched the manufacturing process from a series of glass-enclosed walkways. An intense cocoa smell permeated everywhere. Battalions of Baci marched out of the machines where they were formed. They were showered three times in dark chocolate, then sent back and forth across the factory on conveyor belts, first naked and shiny, then dressed in their distinctive silver-and-blue suits by little mechanical hands. An essential part of the wrapping, of course, is the insertion of fortune cookie-like messages with observations on love. The love notes have been a Baci feature since their creation, although at first they were written only in Italian. Now they are multilingual.  The languages chosen vary, depending on the batch's destination. The plant is highly automated, employing only about 800 people year-round, more for holiday production. Quality control workers smiled up at us as they kicked out less-than-perfect Baci ("We'll take them," we mouthed) and packed the rest into boxes, cylinders or holiday packaging.

       Next, we all piled into the bus and went off to Perugia.  It is an intensely colorful place with some of the most authentic medieval streets in all of Europe.  The bus could not fit into the small town so we had to park and then take the metro into town.  When we got there it was packed!  So many people everywhere and there were tents and tents everywhere.  All the main piazzas and many central streets are scattered with stalls selling chocolate, blended into ice creams, cakes, pastries and even savoury dishes.  Then we spent the day going around to different chocolate booths and trying free chocolate!  I was in heaven.  I never thought I would say that I have had too much chocolate in one day but I actually did!  My favorite booths were the Toblerone booth and the Milky booth that was a log cabin that you could go in and take a picture with a chocolate cow.  The festival was in the middle of the town and there was a game of chocolate chess and a giant chocolate key at the end of the tents.  

            We were given a “choco card” which was a card that had nine different tents listed all around the town.  At every tent we were given a little souvenir and they would put a star on the places that we went.  It felt like I was in a scavenger hunt.  At the various stations I collected chocolate bars, chocolate coffee, and a bunch of other little chocolate treats.  I had chocolate popcorn, chocolate churro, and great chocolate gelato.  Everyone at the festival was happy.  I mean who woundt be?  On the way back it was a mess.  Everyone wanted to leave at the same time so the metro was packed!  On top of that the metro broke half way through.  Luckily I just missed it but some people had to take cabs back.  We arrived back at Rome around 9pm! My final analysis of chocolate goes like this:  Chocolate causes certain endocrine glands to secrete hormones that affect your feelings and behavior by making you happy. Therefore, it counteracts depression, in turn reducing the stress of depression. Your stress-free life helps you maintain a youthful disposition, both physically and mentally. So, eat lots of chocolate!

            Today, I woke up and got to see all of my friends at Sonoma on skype so it was a start to a good day.  I went to the library for a group project.  Tomorrow I will presented for 20 minutes on Aristotle and his views about knowledge.  I also I have an economics midterm on Monday so the rest of my Sunday will be studying.  At least I have a full stash of chocolate now!