{"id":2796,"date":"2010-12-22T19:00:23","date_gmt":"2010-12-22T17:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/?p=2796"},"modified":"2010-12-22T19:00:23","modified_gmt":"2010-12-22T17:00:23","slug":"venchi-italian-chocolate-giveaway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/2010\/12\/22\/venchi-italian-chocolate-giveaway\/","title":{"rendered":"Venchi Italian Chocolate Giveaway"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Milk or Dark Chocolate?”<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Any email that has that as the subject line is bound to make for an interesting read.<\/p>\n

\"Venchi<\/a><\/p>\n

And when the mail is coming from someone working at Venchi Chocolate<\/strong><\/a>, that makes it that much better! When I was contacted by someone working at Venchi, who is also a reader of my blog (grazie mille, Sabrina!), I was excited as it’s a brand I know well living in the north of Italy since they are from Piedmont. You may have also seen them in the major airports of Italy, but I enjoy their little store just steps from the Duomo in Milan.<\/p>\n

I tasted Venchi<\/em><\/strong> on my first trip to Torino in 2005, several months before they had the Winter Olympics there.<\/p>\n

At the time we were newlyweds, and I lived in Pavia, a small town about 30 minutes south of Milan. Looking back, the time we spent there was very happy but a true test to any couple, especially a new one. We had no personal transportation other than bicycles, and we lived far from the city center. Each morning I rode my bicycle (uphill, naturally) to the train station, so I could make the commute to the opposite part of Milan in the north. My commute sometimes would take 3-3.5 hours per day, and when I arrived back in Pavia in the evening usually the entire city was already shut down.<\/p>\n

We therefore looked to the train system to take us on a little excursion when we could get away, and one of our first was Torino<\/em><\/strong>, Turin.<\/p>\n

So when we arrived in Turin and saw all the construction that was being done for the 2006 Olympics, we were disappointed but still glad not to be in Pavia for the moment. We consoled ourselves by escaping the cold and getting cioccolata calda, <\/em>hot chocolate and eating all the gianduja<\/em>, hazelnut chocolate we could find. Turin, being in Piedmont has a ton of chocolatiers there – and I found Venchi everywhere.<\/p>\n

Now I can find Venchi closer to home – I sometimes buy their Caramel “Unico” bars when I need a caramel fix (most Italian chocolate doesn’t really feature caramel), and I like their no-sugar added line (especially the cremini) for some sugar-sensitive relatives.<\/p>\n

So when I received my little care package, I documented it carefully, smelled everything, and immediately thought of sharing the experience with you.<\/p>\n

\"Inside<\/a><\/p>\n

In my package there were some things new to me, like:<\/p>\n