A return to Switzerland – land of mountains, museums and moos! COMPLETED 12/4 - Page 41 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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More great photos! The caprese salad looked great, but in the states, it would obviously be a bit larger and a few more additions. The Swiss aren't known for their mozzarella cheese and tomatoes. I hope it was good. I've had some incredible ones at various Italian restaurants near me as some of the best Italian food outside of Italy can be found near me and in NYC.
Love all the the cow nick nacks you've found during this trip. So cool! I think you may need to dedicate a whole room in your house to these or think about purchasing a larger house to accommodate all of them! Cows are a priority for you, so I hope Mark will understand!
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
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The salad looked delicious, filling but not heavy. I think the perfect choice. The village is just so beautiful, I am always in awe of your trips as the sights are just amazing.
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I am so glad you finally found some cute adult size cow t-shirts. Those two are perfect. Your other cow purchases are nice, too. Your light lunch looked delicious as I love caprese salad. Can't wait for more details on chocolate, my great dietary weakness.
More great photos! The caprese salad looked great, but in the states, it would obviously be a bit larger and a few more additions. The Swiss aren't known for their mozzarella cheese and tomatoes. I hope it was good. I've had some incredible ones at various Italian restaurants near me as some of the best Italian food outside of Italy can be found near me and in NYC.
Well, don't forget Switzerland neighbours Italy and part of Switzerland is also Italian speaking (we visited it later in the week), so it was pretty good...
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Love all the the cow nick nacks you've found during this trip. So cool! I think you may need to dedicate a whole room in your house to these or think about purchasing a larger house to accommodate all of them! Cows are a priority for you, so I hope Mark will understand!
Oh don't - we already have an Eeyore room with more than 300 of them, so I don't think a cow room is an option! And I also don't think Mark would understand if I came up with that idea...
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Monday 2 September – part eight: you can make yourself sick in here!
They told you all about the history of chocolate, how it was first discovered in the jungles…
… how it was brought back to Spain… … then how it spread to France and of course the French had to discover the powers it had in the bedroom department shall we say…
We then learnt about chocolate in Switzerland…
… the history of Cailler/Nestle, which culminated in the buy out of Cailler in the 1920s…
….before we were then let out into the chocolate production area. Having been to the Valor chocolate factory in Spain before, we weren’t sure what to expect. That was interesting, but we’d been told “no photos” when we were there. Well, there were no such restrictions here and we watched the machines whirr away and do the majority of the work. It was particularly fascinating to see the machine get rid of the rejects. Anything that wasn’t deemed to be perfect went straight into the bin.
Of course, the highlight for me here was the life size chocolate cow!
You had the opportunity to leave comments as you passed through this corridor and some were classic!
From here, it was into the chocolate tasting room and boy, you really make yourself sick in here and trust me, I almost speak from personal experience here. I have never seen so much chocolate in one place for free tasting in my life. Of course, I had to try everything that was on offer and boy, did I feel a little unwell after all that… so much so that when we got into the shop, I really couldn’t bring myself to buy anything. Anyway, there may be some of this chocolate in Swiss supermarkets, so maybe we’ll have a look and see…
First they explain how to taste it. Of course I took careful note of all this…. Then promptly ignored it!
We were then let out into the shop:
By now, we were done with the touring. We’d seen the shop and we still had 35 minutes before we were due to walk down to the station. There was probably a bit too much time here, although having said that, better to have too much than too little, as there’s nothing worse than feeling rushed. Like many of our group, we grabbed a seat in their restaurant. Despite the fact that we hadn’t bought anything from here, they didn’t seem to mind, so that worked out…
We headed outside at our appointed time and I was fascinated to hear one of our guides say that he’s lived in Thailand for the last 20 years and spends seven months over there, then comes back to Switzerland to do this in the summer. Now that’s the life!
That was a lot of chocolate! I can see how you could make yourself sick, or why it no longer seemed quite as appealing in the shop at the end of the tour. But I wouldn't mind having 20 minutes in there myself!
Loved the pictures of your souvenirs! I especially liked the red t-shirt you got.
Interesting tour. I guess in this case the unlimited free sampling worked against them if you had more than your fill and didn't buy anything! It would probably have been the opposite with me, as I wouldn't have eaten any of the samples but would have bought some for gifts!
Interesting tour. I guess in this case the unlimited free sampling worked against them if you had more than your fill and didn't buy anything! It would probably have been the opposite with me, as I wouldn't have eaten any of the samples but would have bought some for gifts!
Well, it certainly worked against them with me, but maybe most people are a bit more restrained than I was...
That's a lot of free samples! I can see how you could easily eat yourself silly.
The milk chocolate wrappers look similar to the Lindt wrappers with the pouring of milk on the label... do they taste similar as well? I absolutely love Lindt, but never heard of Callier. The shame, the shame. It looks like an outstanding chocolate! I must get to Switzerland.
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Tanya
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That chocolate looks amazing! I admit I laughed at your "bedroom" comment. Eating yourself sick with chocolate sounds like it's worth it! Are you sure you weren't nibbling on that cow's ear?
That's a lot of free samples! I can see how you could easily eat yourself silly.
The milk chocolate wrappers look similar to the Lindt wrappers with the pouring of milk on the label... do they taste similar as well? I absolutely love Lindt, but never heard of Callier. The shame, the shame. It looks like an outstanding chocolate! I must get to Switzerland.
It's similar and just as good as far as quality goes.
I didn't think I'd heard of Cailler, but when I saw the adverts, I remembered some of the products from my youth. Maybe something to do with my mother being Swiss... who knows?
That chocolate looks amazing! I admit I laughed at your "bedroom" comment. Eating yourself sick with chocolate sounds like it's worth it! Are you sure you weren't nibbling on that cow's ear?
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I hope it was good. 
I've had some incredible ones at various Italian restaurants near me as some of the best Italian food outside of Italy can be found near me and in NYC. 
I think you may need to dedicate a whole room in your house to these or think about purchasing a larger house to accommodate all of them! 
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Pixie Dust
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Can't wait for more details on chocolate, my great dietary weakness. 
And I also don't think Mark would understand if I came up with that idea... 
Anyway, there may be some of this chocolate in Swiss supermarkets, so maybe we’ll have a look and see… 
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