Consolation for Firenze Rain

 What is there to do ... you are in Florence, and it's raining (been raining all day), you are cold and wet from walking around and you find yourself at Piazza della Repubblica with the Christmas tree, and carousel and the store covered in Christmas lights??? .... CONSOLATION TIME - -CIOCCOLATA CALDA CON PANNA at Gilli!!  That's what !!!

Then, of course going out and capturing some of the city lights in the puddles around town.

Hot Chocolate a Florentine Tradition

Hot Chocolate ... or Cioccolata Calda as it is called in Italy, first appearing in the Medici court in the 16th century.  It was often served to nobles instead wine or water at meals.

Caffé Riviore in Piazza della Signora opened in 1872.  They serve an artisan hot chocolate based on a secret recipe.

There is a difference in the flavor, constancy, and richness of Cioccolata Calda and American Hot Chocolate.  Cioccolata Calda is more often made with darker chocolate, less sugar, and is thicker than the hot chocolate that we drink in the United States.   This makes the hot chocolate in the US seem like water.