Have Master's Will Travel: Schokolade und Kirschen

We woke up Sunday morning to the sound of rain pitter-pattering and I smiled as I realized we had finally met the Switzerland everyone speaks of. We were in for a day of unpredictable weather and we were looking forward to it. Chocolate, that was the only thing on my mind as I got ready for the day.

Miryam treated us to breakfast, courtesy of her family's yogurt endeavors and Swiss bread. Once finished, we headed over to meet Kuno, a relative from Anne,s in Buchs (AG). Thank you to Miryam for including the Kanton name to make sure I am not referencing another town. As we approached the factory and the museum, I began to notice the chocolate aroma beginning to filter into Kuno's car, and I tired my best not to jump out of the car as soon as the engine had been turned off. We walked to the sales counter and were given headphones to wear as we listened to each of the demonstration stations inside. The museum consisted of a walk-through describing how chocolate is made. First the cocoa nuts are harvested, then they are taken from their shells and mixed with either sugar or "secret ingredients" to create a sweet and rich flavor. I tasted the cocoa beans right as they were stripped off the their shell and the taste was bitter but tasty. We got to see a mixing machine that keeps the chocolate in constant motion for hours at a time so that each batch becomes creamy and is on its way to becoming the chocolatey goodness that we all love. This got me thinking, does anyone not like chocolate? I have types of chocolate that I prefer and types that I won't go near, but overall I like it. Chocolate fans out there, what are you favorites?

After the learning part of the museum came my favorite part. We got to taste test about 15 varieties of Frey chocolate, presented in a conveyor belt and refilled as soon as pieces went missing. I say went missing because I must have looked like a thief snatching pieces as they came near me. I will be honest, I parked myself at one end of the the conveyor belt, right next to the milk chocolate fountain, and sampled piece after piece, for about 45 minutes. No, I did not want to go sample aromas; I didn't feel like putting on the chocolate vests and taking funny pictures; I also did not want to take a chocolate quiz. I wanted the chocolate and I wanted it right then! In my defense, I also sampled the dried apples and apricots; granted, they were on skewers, and I dipped them in chocolate, but it was fruit nevertheless.

Afterwards, we visited with one of Anne's cousins at her apple and cherry farm. We went outside to her cherry orchard and picked cherries to sample. Her farm is beautiful! Cows were grazing out in the fields in front of the main house, and behind her house were the plentiful orchards with trees lined for as long as I could see into the woods. The rain of the morning had decided to take a break from falling and we had a lovely afternoon reaching up to the branches to pick out the ripest and non-protein cherries. Kuno made that reference to mean that if any of the cherries had holes in them, they likely had been already "sampled" by another creature, and the creature might still be inside the cherry, thereby providing you with your protein fix for the day. I'm not going to lie, I ate some cherries that may have had protein, but I didn't really care. They were delicious!

Also, I really don't know how this came to happen, but at some point I decided I was going to try and stuff as many cherry pits into my mouth. Europe is turning me into quite a refined lady: cherry seed spitting, stuffing my face with cherries, yes, my grandmother would be very proud. (Although I bet Brigitte's mom Gertrude would probably high-five me.) I will take guesses as to how many cherry seeds I held. Hint: It is less than 100, and I stopped short because while I was having fun, I think everyone else was done sampling cherries and I could have gone on for hours stuffing my face.

On the drive over to dinner with Miryam's family, I thought to myself, "Should I be worried that my stomach is already full with chocolates and cherries?" I had no idea how I was going to get to dinner, and I was getting a headache from all the sugar, although I will remind you that half of the sugar came from natural sources! I planned on getting something light for dinner, just to make sure I didn't explode halfway through.

We picked up Miryam's brother, Lukas, on the way to dinner in Engelberg, her parents, Daniela and Sepp met us at the house we were staying in, and then we all drove to dinner. We were graciously treated to a lovely meal at the Alpenclub, a quaint wooden cabin that was transformed into a restaurant. I started with a crêpe consommé, a soup served very hot and warming every part of me as I slowly sipped it. Next was Alpenclub Pfändli with rösti, a dish consisting of pork and potatoes. It was a big serving, but I managed to finish it without much complaining. The fact that it was delicious made it very easy to finish. I also tried the Pizza Portugal that Lukas ordered, which seemed more like a chicken pot pie: a mountain of dough covering a variety of meats inside.

We all then ordered dessert and made sure we got something different so that we could share. This also made me think of my family back home, we make sure and let everyone try our dish and this makes for a great time during meals as we get to talk about the food we enjoy so much! Dessert consisted of: crème brûlée with lavender (Miryam), apple pie and vanilla ice cream (Anne), iced coffee (Miryam's mom Daniela), homemade and prepared at the table side chocolate mousse (Sepp), Süssmostcreme (yours truly), and strawberries (Lukas). I have to say I was a little guilty being served such a rich and scrumptious dessert while Lukas to my left was enjoying such a healthy option. My guilt passed quickly as I got to taste each of the desserts, and Lukas was even nice enough to share his strawberries with me.

Also fun at dinner was getting to speak Portuguese, Spanish, and French! It was a language mix at the restaurant. Our waitress was a native Portuguese speaker who had learned Spanish in school, so I ordered most of my food in Portuguese, although I was relieved that her "para la guapa de los ojos misteriosos" was kept between us two! Lukas and I spoke some French during dinner too, but I will admit it took effort to keep the different languages in check. I think I turned to Anne once and started saying something in French, before quickly realizing my mistake and asking her in English. I don't know that I have laughed during my stay in Europe as much as I did during dinner with the Barmettler family. They remind me of my own family, always thinking of something to say that will have everyone laughing for minutes at a time. I also had the opportunity to practice my Swiss German listening skills and my German speaking skills. It's becoming easier to understand Swiss German; I'm learning to recognize the patterns of the dialectal variations and while I will find myself wide-eyed and responding "Ich habe nichts verstanden" at times, I am more comfortable having a conversation with someone who speaks the Swiss dialect. I'm generalizing here, because there are so many dialects within Switzerland itself, and I have likely been exposed to more than 10 in the short time that I have been here. This country is linguistic heaven for me, and I have to be careful at times that I don't just listen to the sounds and prosody of the language and actually engage people in efficient communicative exchanges. Woah, that sentence sounded like a speech-therapist wrote it. ;)

I am still amazed at the fact that just last week we were leaving France and heading to Italy, wearing shorts, sandals, and light shirts, shielding ourselves from the sun. Now we are bundled up on a train to Zermatt, Anne's favorite place to visit in Switzerland. We are hoping to see snow, climb some mountains, and something else, but I'm keeping that to myself for a while. Until then, I leave you in suspense as there are too many views to take in from the train to be writing on my electronic device like the 21st century traveler I am.

Bis später!