This weekend, I went to Lake Como with a few good friends of mine.

Our plans were full of sunshine. Swimming in the lake, hiking up mountains, picnics and bike rides... to keep us going, I stocked up on some Tronky bars which, for those not in the know, are made by the same people who brought us Nutella and Ferrero Rocher (have your ears pricked up yet?) and are similar to Kinder Buenos with their light, crunchy outside and rich creamy fillings. Delicious. 

And perfect mountain fuel! (In fact, Magro kept a big box in the kitchen for hiking weekends until my Mum came to stay and ate them all. Eek.) As you know, I've been abstaining from sugar so I was ever so excited to be able to actually eat some chocolate without having Magro shoot disapproving looks at me. And when I saw that there was a new flavour for each of the colours of the Italian flag... well it would have been rude to only buy one wouldn't it?

So when it poured with rain for the entire time we were there (I swear to God, the sun never shines at Lake Como) I decided to change tactics to ensure I still got my sugar fix (well they are only 98 calories each! And you know, I really don't endorse dieting of any kind...)

On this gloomy, rainy afternoon, we brightened the day with a rather colourful game.


Magro is a massive game nerd and having actually checked out the weather forecast before we left, he had stocked his suitcase with games. You could buy Perudo or alternatively you could get a cup and 5 dice per person. It works like this:

1) Everyone shakes their dice in the cup before turning it upside down on the table and checking the up-facing numbers on their dice.

2) The first person to play makes a prediction on how many of a certain number there are e.g I think there are five sixes.

3) The next person in the circle has two options. Number one - they can raise the stakes with another number of their choice ("I think there are six/seven/eight/nine.. _____s") or by halving the current prediction and predicting that number of llamas (or ones if you're using normal dice) ("I think there are three llamas") or (if following a llama prediction and wanting to go back to numbers) by doubling the current prediction and adding one ("I think there are seven threes"). With me?

4) Number two - they can challenge the person before them. So if you don't believe there are seven threes, you say so and everyone has to raise their cups. The number of threes will be counted up (llamas or ones count as any number so they are always counted). If the number of threes doesn't reach seven, the person who made that prediction loses a dice. If it does reach seven or surpasses seven, you lose a dice.

5) The last person with their dice wins!

Mollie came first and chose the original hazelnut flavour.


I came second, nabbing myself the new pistacchio flavour I'd had my eye on..


And Magro came third, taking the milk and cereals flavour and refusing to pose nicely as he didn't win. Bad loser.

But nobody was a loser in the end because we split them between us after a delicious vegan lunch of courgette "meatball" and fried aubergine sandwiches, made by Andrea (that's a boy's name in Italy by the way, as is Daniele, Michele and Simone).



The meal had a bit of a tricolore theme going with the white of the bread, the green of the herbs and the red of the tomatoes in the sandwiches!

I wasn't expecting to like the milk and cereals flavour but it actually turned out to be my favourite, tasting just like a huge crunchy Kinder Maxi. I'm going to have to seriously stock up before I go back to uni as these aren't sold in the UK :( yet...


Even vegan Andrea got in on the action, showing us how he ate them as a child. Just look at that pistacchio cream!



The food all disappeared pretty quickly but luckily for us the rain had begun dying down this point, leaving us the rest of the day free to explore the area...
And as soon as I have my camera sorted, I will get the photos up so you can explore too! I hope you're not too peckish now...