Perugia was amazing in many ways, including being amazingly hot, north of 95ºF, when I was there, so the pursuit of hot chocolate had to be postponed in favor of consuming many bottles of chilled mineral water. Sadly, it was also not the weather to buy chocolate, as it would have been liquid before I made it back to the hotel.

I did find the Perugina Cocoa powders; they make a range of them, varying in intensity. I saw them in several supermarkets so future cocoa hunters should not have difficulty locating them. I love the recipe for a mug cake on the back of the box of one, haven't made one of those since my kid was in elementary school.


For other dedicated chocoholics, I would recommend the Chocohotel, in Perugia but not at the top of the hill, a bit dated, but with an eye-popping chocolate breakfast buffet. Everyone should have chocolate fondue for breakfast at least once in their lifetime.