Italy Gelato and Chocolate Tour Bologna Florence and Perugia

Our Gelato and Chocolate Itineraries let you follow the various processes of making, including explanatory videos and tastings, as you walk through the whole production process.

Bologna and Gelato

12.000 BC to the 13^th Century AD in Mesopotamia, dispatch runners traveled one hundred kilometers on foot to get the snow and ice necessary to cool the drinks served during the royal banquets and religious ceremonies held at Mari Palace. During endless feasts, the Romans paraded their gold and silver colj nivarum, using them to filter the snow. The Arabs developed shrb (sugar syrup) and in Palermo they grew 400 different types of flowers to flavor their sorbets.

16^th to 18^th Centuries the birth of a noble trade Caterina de’ Medici and Cosimo Ruggieri, celebrated alchemist and astrologist, introduced the Florentine Renaissance to Paris. The architect Bernardo Buontalenti is credited with the egg cream gelato, but Francesco Redi and Lorenzo Magalotti made it famous by singing its praises and describing its ingredients. Francesco Procopio Cutò, later known as François Procope des Couteaux, sold sorbets to Parisian intellectuals in his café.

Neapolitan doctor Filippo Baldini wrote that sorbet is good both for your body and your mood

19^th Century Gelato Goes Global customs change and gelato and sorbets start to play significant roles in the menus of important luncheons and suppers. Sorbet, gelato, hard treats, and frozen creams appeared in the haute cuisine recipe books. With the invention of artificial ice, gelato moved out into the streets with the help of street vendors.

1900 – 1950 New Technologies the cone makes it easier to eat gelato in the streets, gelato shops appear and the Gelato Manual is published in Italy. Science and technology help gelato artisans with production innovations.

1950 – 1985 Gelato Becomes a Science consumption grows rapidly with industrial ice cream but artisans and suppliers commit to quality improvement and the pasteurizer guarantees food safety.

A Taste of Gelato Video

Florence

In between your gelato experience in Bologna and your chocolate adventure in Perugia you will visit Florence and its cultural and culinary traditions.

Perugia and Chocolate

Chocolate History up until the late 18^th century, chocolate only existed in liquid form and was drunk exclusively by the aristocracy and the clergy, only to spread to other sectors of society, beginning with the wealthy merchant classes. The drink of the gods dates back to the Maya, using cocoa beans to prepare a beverage, the Xocoatl, with a very spicy and intense flavor. Cocoa becomes a very valuable commodity. Christopher Columbus and Cortes discover the Americas, the cocoa plant and bear the seeds for the first time in Europe. The recipe of the Aztecs, with red pepper and hot spices, is modified with cinnamon, sugar, vanilla and cocoa for a sweeter taste. In Italy, Venetian and Florentine masters give life to the art of preparing chocolate and start exporting it.
19^th Century chocolate becomes accessible to a wider audience, product quality improves and new varieties are created. New manufacturing processes separate cocoa paste and cocoa butter.
 

Tasting Chocolate Sight color and brilliance communicate chocolate perfection; the best are shiny. Check its nuances and gloss before tasting it. Tact scroll slowly the chocolate with your fingers to uncover its silky texture. Feel it on your lips: good chocolate is smooth, velvety and melts quickly.
Smell a lingering, intoxicating and intense fragrance: cocoa releases olfactory emotions that are never forgotten. Breathe deeply and feel all the richness and harmony of aromas. Hear break the tablet with your fingers and listen to the sensual sound it produces. Taste the endless aromas that make chocolate a most intoxicating experience for the palate.

Experiential Tourism

A Gelato and Chocolate Tour in Bologna Perugia and Florence

How to Visit America within Budget and with Time Constraints

Travelers tend to visit three to four locations in a compressed period of time, typically 7 to 10 days, especially as a family or group, with the former likely to include small children and the elderly and the latter comprising multiple interests ranging from cultural to culinary, wellness and the environment. Similarly, business travelers need an efficient plan to meet their trip objectives.

Travel Logistics

Traveling in one direction and not having to retrace your steps for example to board you return flight.

Anchoring your stays in strategic locations along the trip route, conveniently located to local points of interest, minimizing the number of accommodation changes, hence fewer times packing and unpacking as well as lower accommodations and transport costs.

Taking in sites, meals and other planned events in a hub and spoke fashion, saving time and money, but also an opportunity to slow down and enjoy the places and the people you are visiting.

How to Visit America with Budget and Time Constraints

Destinations rich in historic, cultural and culinary traditions: selected anchor locations from which you can best base your travel movements:

Northeast Atlantic

 

The Lehigh and Delaware River Valley are the ideal anchor location if your interests include New York City and the Hudson Valley, Philadelphia and South Central Pennsylvania.

For travel in Northern Virginia, Washington DC and North Carolina your anchors are Richmond, Fredericksburg and Manassas. 

American South

Louisville is centrally located along the Ohio River and is one America’s most accessible cities within a day’s drive of more than half the nation’s population. Further South, a Texas Trail puts you within reach of the Southwest and southern Plains;
Mobile anchors Southeastern destinations. 

Mid America

Chicago is the starting point for the Historic Route 66 and the base from which you can reach the Quad Cities of Illinois and Iowa and journey to
Alton along the Great River Road or explore Mississippi River Towns. From South Dakota and Minnesota you can follow the route of the Empire Builder and explore the Northern Plains, Seattle, the US Northwest and the Rocky Mountains.

US West

Lake Tahoe and Sacramento connect you with attractions in Nevada, the Bay Area and Pacific Coast,
Carlsbad and Southern California as well as Wyoming, Utah, Colorado and Montana.

Logistics Locations Costs Time and Personalized Travel Solutions

Experiential Tourism 

within Budget and with Time Constraints

Experiences designed around multiple interests that ensure unique emotions; the traveler participates alongside local cooks, artists, craftsmen, and expert tour guides in activities:

o   rooted in the territory; it can happen only here, and

o   with uniquely local events, including food and wine tastings

o   specifically modified and tailored to your preferences  

memorable unique and unrepeatable!

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