For every one of the 150 years since Italian Unification, my city Torino has decided to open a pavilion in the middle of Piazza Vittorio, the biggest square of Europe, to display a miniature Italy made of… chocolate.

We are known as the ‘City of Chocolate’, and every year we are host to an exhibition called CioccolaTò; from the amalgamation of Cioccolato, ‘Chocolate’ in Italian, and To, which stands for Torino. The pavilion is a preview of this year’s edition which will be held from 23^rd March until 3^rd April. Here you can find the official web site of the whole event.

You may wonder how the mini-choco-Italy, a 13 m long sculpture, looked. I don’t know. I went there last 17^th March and it was impossible to approach the pavilion. The long queue stretched right around the structure. It reminded me of the Holy Mosque in Mecca where the Black Stone is held. The purpose of the Italians waiting to see the sculpture was a bit different… but since Chocolate has been called the “Gods’ Nectar”, it would be unfair to say we aren’t spiritual at all.

I will try to see the sculpture and of course I can’t wait for CioccolaTò 2011, mainly to write and show people exactly what it is all about. I’ll do it for the blog’s sake. No kidding! (*hides crossed fingers behind back.)