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Mar 31, 2009
- Places and Travel: Switzerland, Ticino
Give Me More! Chocolate Exhibition in Lugano
The main reason we chose Lugano as our weekend getaway destination was because for four days the city would be playing host to the International Chocolate Exhibition, entitled "More Chocolate." You think I love cheese -- ha! I haven't told you about my desire for chocolate. It's huge. So, in anticipation of the event I began to envision giant lap pools filled with warm chocolate fondue and other outrageous exhibits. Unfortunately, this year's Eurochocolate event left me wanting, well, more chocolate. I'm not sure if it was the rain, or if every year the exhibits are this small, but I had expected a giant tent with row after row of taste tests, chocolate recipes, and unique chocolate pieces. Instead we found a little cluster of canopies and booths with a mediocre selection of wares. But, in the spirit of "making the most of it," we did what we came to do: we bought and ate chocolate.
We were pretty impressed by these chocolate gears. Other notable pieces: chocolate laptop, deck of cards, batteries, and primitive-style hammers (complete with chocolate "rust").
Why settle for Nutella, when you can have one of these exotic chocolate spreads?
One of the very Italian chocolate vendors must have seen us coming because as soon as we stepped up to his counter he switched on the charm.
"Per tu, bellina, la chiave del tuo cuore. E poi un ferro di cavallo per la fortuna."
He proceeded to place a chocolate key and horseshoe in a plastic bag. Handed me a chocolate nail and said, "Mangia." Then, he politely asked for six francs. How could we say no?
Free mini chocolate fountain tastings
A cioccolata calda before we headed back home...
Some of the goods we brought back with us