Lucca Comics & Games report - part 3

(Part 1 - Part 2)

Now hopefully you haven't been scared away by my previous advice! Because when all is said and done, geeks are the most cosmopolitan of people. 

You will be welcome, no matter your alignment - whether you are utterly nice...

...or evil...

...slightly misguided... 

                                                       

...or downright wicked. 

You will meet all sorts - the cute and popular...

...and the snarky outsider...

...the brave and fearless... 

...and the hopelessly timid. 

If you'd rather leave the spotlight to the heroes and villains out there, that's okay too - there's nothing wrong with being a minion...

 

...or just a real person with real problems... 

...and even if you're totally clueless and merely feel like walking around in a happy, giggly daze, no one will judge you any harsher for that! 

If you still don't get the point of it all, just keep one simple thing in mind: geeks are passionate about their favourite characters.

Should you spot one of them wandering wide-eyed, smiling ecstatically - he might have had some sort of deeply meaningful religious experience... 

...or merely a brush with a time-travelling alien...

...or a wizard perharps! Now that's always exciting, regardless of it being a humble apprentice...

...a really nice guy... 

...or a not-so-nice one. 

In a nutshell, the point here is: no matter what your nerdery of choice is, we can all get along just fine, as long as we respect each other. It boils down to keeping in mind that what is merely a bi-dimensional cardboard figure to you, can be an inspirational hero to someone else - this is all there is to it, really. 

Maybe this is where the true appeal of such a convention lies: card gamers, manga fans, roleplayers, action figure collectors, videogamers, superhero enthusiasts - you name it - we are all friends here. 

Here, in Lucca. Where East and West meet...

...magic is real... 

...and pigs may fly. 

Lucca Comics & Games report - part 2

(Read part 1 here)

For many years now, Lucca has ben hosting Italy's largest geeky convention, Lucca Comics & Games. 

Over the four days spanning the Halloween weekend, the place is literally flooded with all flavours of geeks - kiddos in love with the latest manga hero, 30-something nostalgics reminiscing about the Eighties (*cough*), gamers, collectors, inquisitive minds, and best of all - cosplayers, the con's main attraction really. Cosplayers by the hundred, ranging from the painstakingly gorgeous to the outrageously silly and cheeky. 

If you are the kind of person who hates crowds, you'll want to avoid Lucca like hell while the madness is going on. If, on the other hand, you don't mind being jostled a little - oh, what the heck, make it a lot - you will be rewarded with pure, unadulterated nerdy bliss.

Once the initial shock is over, it will feel perfectly normal to raise your eyes and see something like this: 

...and, really, there's nothing to be afraid of, as long as you use some common sense. 

In the spirit of public service, I will now provide you with a few simple tips to make sure you'll survive enjoy the convention. 

Even while some of the attendees are bound to be vaguely disconcerting...

...you will probably think you're safe, what with the heavily armed guys patrolling the streets... 

 ...the alien martial artist hereos... 

...and the Spanish Imperial Inquisition itself. 

Still, don't let your guard down! You must keep your eyes peeled at all times, because a mighty evil roams free...

...and danger lurks atop the ancient walls. 

Just try to keep and open mind, because even those beyond suspicion may act a bit weird at times...

...so don't freak out should you happen to spot a man in tights...

...or worse. 

                                                                  

Remember that, while eating is not cheap by any means (and someone, alas, will always try to take advantage of unwary visitors)...

This is the actuall staff of the bar you can see behind. Awesome sense of irony or what?

...it is always advisable to purchase food from reliable sources only. Because, even though you might be tempted to hunt for edible - and indeed, in a few instances, mouthwateringly delicious - specimens of local fauna...

...it would be a shame, should... inconveniences intervene to spoil your stay. 

As they say: forewarned is forearmed!

Uh... right? 

(Onwards to part 3 - this post's already picture-heavy enough as it is!)

Lucca Comics & Games report - part 1

Lucca, in Tuscany, is where the second installment of my long-awaited, convention-intensive holidays is taking place.

I'm travelling by train this time, with my ol' buddy Flavio - Japanese speaker, martial artist, manga enthusiast, and all-round weeaboo extraordinaire. Since our respective jobs kept both of us busy till the very last minute, we'll be staying for the next two nights in Viareggio (which is a delightful little seaside town in its own right) and commute daily between here and nearby Lucca.

Lucca is about 280 Km from Milano; the yellow pin on the coast is Viareggio.

Although I'm too much of a metropolitan creature to consider living there, it is one of my favourite towns to visit, and a quick hop to Wikipedia will tell you why - it was founded in pre-Roman times by the Etruscans, and traces and mementos of its long history are strewn round every corner.

You'll be sure to find ancient buildings here as well... 

S. Michele in Foro, peharps the most famous church in Lucca. See all those colums? They are all different! 

...and picturesque squares, starting with the famous Piazza dell'Anfiteatro - the perfectly round square that is Lucca's most iconic view.

Practically all streets here can be expected to be evocatively narrow, and to have awesome names to boot such as Via Buia ("Dark Street"), often reminiscent of some long-lost feature or landmark (such as a well, a ditch, an orange tree, or a particular workshop.)

Although there are no gryphons to be seen and fountains are nothing to write home about, you get mosaics...

S. Frediano, the most ancient church in Lucca, dates back to 685 b.C.

...and columns...
                                                   

See what I meant about the columns?

...and above all, these impressive city walls that always make me feel like I'm stepping right into the Middle Ages just by entering town.

Even if Lucca can't boast a theme hotel for chocoholics to bask into, it does have gorgeous bakeries that are every bit as drool-worthy!
The town's most traditional sweets are nicely rounded up in the pic below: on the top shelf you can see panforte (a dense, spicey sort of fruitcake); the pie-like things on the middle one are torte coi becchi (the one on the left is filled with a mixture of rice and chocolate, while the one on the right has a veggie jam filling); finally, both the loaves and the round shapes displayed on the green cloth are buccellato, a sweet bread with raisins.

Lucca, and Tuscany in general, has a long-standing tradition for artistic pottery. Colourful ceramic plates and cups arranged in beautiful displays are a common view, and make for a perfect gift for a fellow cake lover... or for yourself!

The same can be said about woodworking, so if rustic's more your style you could find yourself the proud mommy of a pestle or rolling pin hand-carved out of olive-wood.

(I was soooo tempted myself... but I would have felt a little bit self-conscious, travelling by train with a friggin' huge rolling pin sticking out from my luggage!)

Oh, and one final thing: should you find yourself in Lucca, look for the Baricentro in Via Fillungo. It is a humble, smallish cafeteria, but if you as for a "marocchino con la Nutella" you're in for a treat!

Happy Halloween!

...That's all there is to say for today, I guess! 

I wish I could talk to you more, about Halloween and how much I love it even though it's not your traditional Catholic holiday - gee, you'd be tempted to say I love it for the very reason - but, guess what? The Efreet's on the road again! 

Or, as the case may be, on the railroad, as I am leaving for the Comics & Games convention in Lucca tomorrow, so right now I'm busy packing my luggage and baking quick but delicious Halloween-themed cupcakes to celebrate with my friends tonight. 

Here they are! 

The tiny chocolate pumpkins I bought in Perugia (they're all gone now, alas!) whereas the ghost picks I got at a dollar store somewhere. 

I had enough cupcakes to fill another tray; those got bat pics instead. 

The recipe for Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes I got from Jamie (of My Baking Addiction fame) - a fellow blogger I know I can trust, whatever the recipe. I mean, other foodies specialize in cookies, or cupcakes, or Bundt-style cakes or what have you. Not her. 

Everything she bakes turns out drool-worthy, and her simple, unassuming style is so refreshing. From the clean, uncluttered pics to the minimalist layout, down to her serenely cheerful tone, her whole blog radiates humility, kindness, and joy. Maybe it all boils down to her being a teacher? I doubt that somehow; I remember having my fair share of teachers that were anything but gentle and patient... 

These cupcakes are delicious, and surprisingly effective with practically zero effort - black paper liners, a few chocolate pumpkins (candies would have worked equally well in a pinch) and a handful of plastic picks are all it took!

Eurochocolate report - part 3

(Part 1 - Part 2)

Being the hometown of Perugina - arguably the best-known chocolate manufacturing company in Italy thanks to the ubiquitous Baci (the iconic Valentine's Day chocolates as far as we are concerned: hazelnut-filled pralines wrapped in a silver foil studded with tiny blue stars, with a romantic quote printed inside. They've been around for 90 years!) - Perugia is, alongside with Torino, a chocolate lover's paradise even in normal circumstances...

...but over the Eurochocolate's 10-days tour de force, it turns into something so totally over-the-top as to be impossible to describe. You might think of it as a chocoholic's wet dream come true. (Can you feel the mental image burning itself into your retina? Yes? You're wecome.) 

The town's main streets and central square are lined with stalls as far as the eye can see...

...selling both "novelty" items like the chocolate tools... 

...and more traditional treats in the shape of truffles, pralines, cremini, and Krispie chunks. 

Cremini are the proverbial feather in Italy's confectionary hat - little squares of milk and hazelnut chocolate, so incredibly smooth and creamy (this is what the name means, by the way!) as to literally melt in your mouth.
In its classical form, a cremino is teeny-tiny, but some vendors had huge ingot-like bars of it,  to be cut into big cubes of yummyness... 

...and a few had come up with the ChocoKebab idea: a tall truncated cone of cremino, mounted shish kebab-like on a vertical skewer contraption...

...to be shaved into a sheet of sponge cake and topped ad libitum with caramel, chocolate or strawberry sauce. 
Of course I had to try it! And it was so delicious, I actually ate it twice during my stay in Perugia... 

...and I also got another favourite of mine, candy apples. The chocolate-covered ones are OK too, I guess, but the lacquered, bright red ones... 

Lovely. Just lovely. 

My sweetie, who isn't fond of either cremini or apples (yes, I know - ALIEN!), got chocolate-covered bananas instead, and a generous serving of this white chocolate with cranberries.

Neddless to say, both of us bought tons of stuff for our friends and colleagues as well, both of the chocolatey persuasion and otherwise. Because this part of Italy is renown for other delicacies too - such as black truffles, and awesome salami... 

...and sweets. Apart from all the chocolate, I mean. 

Such as the delicious panforte and buccellato (fruit cake-like confections, both of them)...

...or meringues as big as your head, if that's how you roll. 

Squee!

Can you say I'm so sorry that I'm going back home tomorrow?