Caffe Cremas and Bassano Chillin

Near the end of our first week, our entire group took a trip to the nearby town of Bassano del Grappa to check out their twice a week outdoor market. The night before we left, I was excited about getting the chance to barter in Italian and find some unique gifts for my friends and family back home. Plus the food, because where there's an outdoor market, there's at least one food truck.
To my dismay I woke up that Thursday morning to freezing rain and whipping winds. It was so bad out that Emily and I couldn't even make it down the street to the little cafe for our cappuccinos. And considering the fact that I hadn't exactly packed for a chilled monsoon, dressing for a day outdoors was going to be a challenge.
Nevertheless, our trip went underway as scheduled. After a chilling walk to the town's main piazza, where half of our group (*cough*the boys*cough*) didn't have umbrellas and ended up soaked, we parted ways to explore the city. Emily and I followed a few friends into a nearby caffe to soak up the warmth and get our much-needed coffee.

Once we felt sufficiently caffeinated and ready to brave the day, we pulled our jackets on, armed ourselves with our umbrellas, and went exploring.
Unfortunately, several minutes in the piazza looking for the market led us to the realization that we were standing right where the market usually is - and it was closed today due to bad weather.
Tough luck, eh?
Fortunately, we made the most of it by checking out local shops and even making a few small purchases for ourselves. I ended up snagging a white purse, and Emily found a pretty blue scarf for her sister.
When it was time to wait for the bus, we found ourselves, again, in another caffe waiting out the rain. And boy am I glad we did.
Unbeknownst to us at the time, this place, called Caffe Danieli, is one of the best in Bassano. And I quickly realized this after my coffee came.

Layered espresso, a hint of chocolate, thick foam, and cocoa powder on top. 

Picturesque perfection infused with mocha flavor. A.k.a. my kind of drink.
The star of the show, however, was Emily's caffe crema.

Let me take a moment to explain to you the love that goes into this little beauty right here. The bottom layer is thick chocolate. The center could be best described as a thick espresso milkshake, but without random chunks of ice or ice cream floating around in it. And the top? A few simple espresso beans. 
Emily was in love with it, and our entire table was regretting that we hadn't had the foresight to follow her lead and order the same. So much so that when we ended up in Bassano later that week, we purposely went out of our way to make it back to Caffe Danieli to order a second round!

  

If there's one thing I will sorely miss after this trip, it's this drink right here. Mainly because I've scoured the Internet trying to find instructions on how to make my own with no avail.

Oh well, I guess this will just have to be my next project!

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