Also I gave my presentation! I think I did okay. My teacher seemed to like it alright. Plus it's slowly becoming painfully obvious that only about three people in the class are actually reading the book so I think I'm a favorite student by default. She was really mad about it last class. I have a suspicion she's going to start giving pop quizzes over our reading. Or maybe she'll just come down really hard on the test.
So anyway, yesterday we go to Terni. The chocolate festival was amazing. Not as many stalls as I had expected, but that turned out to be good, since the dozen-or-so stalls there were plenty for the likes of me.
The first thing I got actually wasn't chocolate- it was a cannoli! The first cannoli I've had since I got here.
This was one of the best things I've ever eaten, I kid you not. I've had a cannoli before, in America, but it was only a shoddy sad piece of fried dough that paled in comparison next to this magnificence. I am not worthy.
Next was a cup of hot chocolate. Which, uh, was not what I was expecting.
I thought it would be, like, a beverage. But it wasn't. It was literally just melted chocolate. Like the fondue kind. You ate it with a spoon. It was super delicious, but I could only eat about a third of it before I had to throw it out. There was just too much chocolate. But man was it good.
Most of the day was filled with wandering through the stalls, nibbling at various things, and generally embracing the spirit of "Treat Yo Self"
(Devin, look at all the chocolate tools)
Eventually we decided to venture out a bit into Terni. San Valentino (otherwise known as St. Valentine) is buried in Terni, but we learned his grave was about an hour away, so we decided against it and roamed for a little while.
Terni is...wow. It's absolutely beautiful. It's what I initially thought about when going to Italy. Don't get me wrong, I love Rome, but it's just so busy, all the time. It's like New York. That was one of the reasons I came here. I've always wanted to live in a city, and this was sort of a test run to see if I liked it enough to go for it.
Terni is lovely. It was so peaceful and quiet compared to Rome. Small buildings pushed up next to each other on cobblestone streets, soft Mediterranean breeze running through the clothes on the lines, just...it's amazing. I think I fell in love a little. I wouldn't mind living here someday, I think.
It's really hard to put into words but I did fall in love with this town. It's so lovely.
At the end of the day, we caught a little bit of a magician's act. Terni's Carnivale was starting and all these little kids were dressed up for it. The best was seeing these little girls with pretty gowns on, and seeing their coat sleeves sticking out. It reminded me of when mom would make me wear my coat under my halloween costume.
My final chocolate haul. I got a few pieces of chocolate-covered fruit (I am all about that chocolate fruit combo) and a piece of chocolate bark. The woman kept adding things as I was paying, saying "you test this, yes? And this?" So I got a few free bits in there. That lady's alright.
