deliciousness overload.

Okay, so it looks like I'm going to have to blog backwards, as usual. Blogger is REALLY annoying me, with this whole posting-photos-in-reverse-order thing. The order I choose to upload them in is the order they should post on the page, do we agree? Yes, yes. I think that my logic is sound, but apparently blogspot disagrees. So we will work backwards from last night.

Yesterday, Sunday, my roommates and I went out for our first real Italian dinner. None of us was truly blown away by what we got, but I feel like it's hard to go wrong in Italy. I had some kind of pasta with garlic and artichoke, and it was definitely good, and filled me up, but lacked the "wow" factor I am waiting to experience.

After dinner, we decided to forgo the tiramisu dessert in favor of Grom Gelateria, which is supposedly one of the best gelato places in Florence, and conveniently located mere steps from where we had dinner. WHAT A COINCIDENCE! Haha.

After the kind cashier gave us each several samples to try, I decided on a caramel and milk chocolate mixture, later lamenting the fact that I had missed the espresso flavor. It's okay, Alaina. There will be a next time. And besides, the flavors I got were definitely amazing, especially for only 2 euro. I feel that the gelato floodgates have broken open here...I went nearly two weeks without trying it, and in the past three days, I've had it twice. I feel a trend coming on.

On Saturday, my roommates and I checked out the chocolate festival (or "fiera di cioccolato") taking place in Santa Croce. Beneath the large white tent protecting all of the chocolate lovers from the relentless rain, chocolatiers from the surrounding area had set up booths touting the strangest and most beautiful chocolate concoctions that I, the chocolate afficionado, have ever seen. Naturally, I was extremely excited.

There were chocolate toys, chocolate liquors, chocolate spreads, chocolate jams, chocolate cakes, chocolate fudge, chocolate truffles, chocolate covered fruit, you name it, they had it. I chose to sample some chocolate covered strawberries early on. I also took full advantage of the samples that many vendors were giving out, in hopes of encouraging a large chocolate sale. I perfected the art of sample-begging over the course of the two hours. The key is to stand there, looking interested but perplexed, as if you WOULD buy, if only you were sure that their chocolate was the best.

Gillian and I also shared the BEST CHOCOLATE CAKE OF LIFE right before we left. He took a chocolate fudge-y cake, topped it with ganoche (oh my god, spelled that wrong....thick fudgy frosting, in any case), and then topped THAT with steaming hot liquid chocolate. I think that Gillian and I downed the thing in under three minutes flat. It was so good that I'm HOPING to dream about it in the near future.

One vendor was selling these little beauties, which were almost too pretty to eat. Gillian disagreed, and took home a small baggie of them. I ended up with 50 grams of chocolate mint fudge, while Marissa chose a few coffee/chocolate truffles. Sam stuck with the chocolate kebab she had at the festival, and (smartly) took nothing else home.

All in all, I would say that it was a very successful gastronomic weekend. This upcoming weekend, we are all headed to Venice with API for Carnivale, which is essentially Mardi Gras. Should be a great time, and I'm definitely looking forward to it. I'm also trying to pull together a few weekend trips, but it's proving harder than I had imagined it would be to find times that are going to work for everyone.