And here's Chris again, talking about his experiences on the Chocolate and Cheese Tour.
The Chocolate and Cheese tour was quite a relaxing way to see Switzerland. The Youmans, Robert, and I got on a chartered coach with a troop from Portugal and a troop from England, neither of which we knew. We had about an hour or so drive to the chocolate factory, past some of the most beautiful scenery in Switzerland. Unfortunately, it had been so warm the night before that we hadn't gotten much sleep, so most of us had a hard time staying awake to look at the mountains.
The chocolate factory produces Nestlé chocolate, which we were surprised to learn is Swiss. It also produces signature Caville chocolate, which contains condensed milk, all from local cows. The first thing we saw, after of course the inevitable chocolate gift shop, was a movie theater, where they showed us old black and white French commercials for the Caville chocolate (the factory is in the French-speaking area of Switzerland). A factory employee told us about the entire chocolate-making process, which is fairly simple and takes about 4 days from bean to bar. They even let us try a raw cacao bean, which was very strong, but not bad tasting. They would make for a decent snack.
We walked past glimpses of the factory floor on the way to the room where we got to taste the final product. This was a room where we could spend as long a time as possible in. They laid out tray after tray of chocolate squares in all of the flavours and designs that the factory made, which was an amazing variety. The line moved slowly past the trays, which made you feel really guilty when you had to stop to try to sample them all. Robert and I had trouble with this, but Bryan figured out an ingenious coping method - he made a stash of chocolate he carried with him through the room! In the end, he tried two of each type. The chocolate was heavenly tasting, of course, in a way that cannot be described in this blog without making you all feel very bad that you missed out.
The next part of the tour was a glance through the old chocolate making machines, one of which was hilariously named "The Clipper". The tour shot us back out into the gift shop, where we all bought armfuls of chocolate for our friends and family - more than making up for what we ate in the factory's eyes.
We had two hours for lunch, which we had in the Swiss town of Gruyére near the chocolate factory. We ate our sandwiches in the rain (naturally it was raining; it is Switzerland) and then decided to check out the H.R. Giger museum. Well, I say decided, but I really mean that I talked everyone else into seeing the museum with me so that I could save money on the ticket. If you are not familiar with Giger, he was the chief designer for the movie Alien. His artwork can be described as shiver-inducing blends of the human body and technology that mess with your internal concepts of body integrity. They also had a guest exhibit from Anne Bertram, who portrayed traditional fairy tales in new, almost horrific visions. All in all, it was quite shocking to see those skulls and gas masks in the middle of a charming Swiss village. The scouts seemed to be deeply disturbed by the museum, but I cheerily purchased postcards for my family. We strolled through a nearby castle briefly, but did not pay for admission as it was time for the cheese factory, which was just down the road.
The cheese factory had us holding a small speaker to our ears, listening to the narrator cow, Cherry, tell us about the luxurious life of milk cows. Sleep and eat, sleep and eat is all they do. Cherry led us through the entire cheese making process, from milking the cows to when they leave the cheese in a barn for five months. We got to see the actual vats where they mix the cheese, as well as the auto-salt bath machine they use to age the cheese properly. After the tour was over, we purchased a small plate of cheese for an exorbitant price from the in-house cheese restaurant. We received about three slices of three different kinds of cheese, which we shared four ways. The cheese was enjoyed in this order, from most to least: Mr. Youmans, Chris, Robert, Bryan.
Apparently we took too long trying the cheese, because a member of the English troop appeared and told us we were holding up the bus. We grabbed the remaining cheese and high-tailed it back to the coach, thus completing our chocolate and cheese tour. All in all, I'd say that it was rewarding, if scarce on the cheese. Four out of Five stars for a most enjoyable day.
Showing posts with label guest post. Show all posts
Showing posts with label guest post. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Thursday/Friday: Lötschenpasshütte
Here's Robert with a guest post about his hike up to Lötschenpass.
While everyone else was climbing up to Petersgrat, the Youmans and I went up to Lötschenpass, which was opposite of the mountain everyone else was climbing. We took the van to a nearby valley to a hotel with the oldest German Bible in existence. Our group then started our ascent. The hike went well but started to slow down once we passed the the point at which the vegatation stopped growing. We crossed a small glacier and had lunch near a signpost. The rest of the hike was difficult but we ended up at the hut around 1 PM. Then we hung out and slept for a couple of hours until dinner, and then watched the weather outside go from rain, to hail, to a mix of both, and were glad we got there before that.
The next morning we started our ascent up to Hockenhorn, which was the top of the nearby mountain. The last uphill part basically turned into rock climbing. It was absolutely amazing at the top, and after 10 minutes, Brian and I were scared out of our minds and we all went down. We didn't take the same way down as we did going up, and the other side was a lot nicer. The other side had more fields and endless amounts of flowers. We eventually hiked to a town called Ferden, took the bus to the next town over, and took the train back to Kandersteg. It was a very nice hike we all had a great time.
While everyone else was climbing up to Petersgrat, the Youmans and I went up to Lötschenpass, which was opposite of the mountain everyone else was climbing. We took the van to a nearby valley to a hotel with the oldest German Bible in existence. Our group then started our ascent. The hike went well but started to slow down once we passed the the point at which the vegatation stopped growing. We crossed a small glacier and had lunch near a signpost. The rest of the hike was difficult but we ended up at the hut around 1 PM. Then we hung out and slept for a couple of hours until dinner, and then watched the weather outside go from rain, to hail, to a mix of both, and were glad we got there before that.
The next morning we started our ascent up to Hockenhorn, which was the top of the nearby mountain. The last uphill part basically turned into rock climbing. It was absolutely amazing at the top, and after 10 minutes, Brian and I were scared out of our minds and we all went down. We didn't take the same way down as we did going up, and the other side was a lot nicer. The other side had more fields and endless amounts of flowers. We eventually hiked to a town called Ferden, took the bus to the next town over, and took the train back to Kandersteg. It was a very nice hike we all had a great time.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Monday: Oeschinensee, Doldenhornhütte
For this guest post, we have Chaz, who stayed back in camp on Monday and had some fun activities of their own.
David, Mr. White, and I went for a day hike. First, Mr. Youmans and we hiked up to the lake. Somehow cement trucks found a way to climb and descend this very steep hill. At the lake, we went for a swim (it was cold). David dealt with this a lot better than any of us temperaturely challenged people were. We desired lunch, but were forced to settle for expensive restaurant food. After this, Mr. Youmans departed back to Kandersteg as we took on another challenge. We decided to hike to Doldenhornhütte (a hut up on an intimidating cliff). As we began, we made a very good pace. We got to the hut in less than the Swiss posted time. WOW! As we climbed we noticed an Alpineweg (translated to alpine trail), marked in blue, as a shortcut to get back from the hut (note: these trails are usually classified as requiring special equipment, training, or guidance). We did not see any snow, ice, or equipment requiring terrain in our observations. We decided it would just take "Balls of Steel" to accomplish. After a quick break of 10 minutes we departed for our decent. We reached the blue trail and embarked on our new adventure. The trail began climbing with the cliff below growing taller and taller (also with about a 700 ft cliff above as well). The trail was not more than a foot wide and sloped sideways about 30-40° downhill. We enjoyed many precarious views, constantly thinking "hmm... it would not be too good to fall right now." We got some good pictures, and continued. This fun trail continued for a while, and then finally ran into the regular trail (also significantly steep). After another hour or two we found ourselves back at home in Kandersteg. I consider this hike a great success, considering we completed every single segment of our hike faster than the Swiss posted times. (Again! WOW!). That is the story of out time.
Thank you for your time,
Chaz
David, Mr. White, and I went for a day hike. First, Mr. Youmans and we hiked up to the lake. Somehow cement trucks found a way to climb and descend this very steep hill. At the lake, we went for a swim (it was cold). David dealt with this a lot better than any of us temperaturely challenged people were. We desired lunch, but were forced to settle for expensive restaurant food. After this, Mr. Youmans departed back to Kandersteg as we took on another challenge. We decided to hike to Doldenhornhütte (a hut up on an intimidating cliff). As we began, we made a very good pace. We got to the hut in less than the Swiss posted time. WOW! As we climbed we noticed an Alpineweg (translated to alpine trail), marked in blue, as a shortcut to get back from the hut (note: these trails are usually classified as requiring special equipment, training, or guidance). We did not see any snow, ice, or equipment requiring terrain in our observations. We decided it would just take "Balls of Steel" to accomplish. After a quick break of 10 minutes we departed for our decent. We reached the blue trail and embarked on our new adventure. The trail began climbing with the cliff below growing taller and taller (also with about a 700 ft cliff above as well). The trail was not more than a foot wide and sloped sideways about 30-40° downhill. We enjoyed many precarious views, constantly thinking "hmm... it would not be too good to fall right now." We got some good pictures, and continued. This fun trail continued for a while, and then finally ran into the regular trail (also significantly steep). After another hour or two we found ourselves back at home in Kandersteg. I consider this hike a great success, considering we completed every single segment of our hike faster than the Swiss posted times. (Again! WOW!). That is the story of out time.
Thank you for your time,
Chaz
Tuesday: Hanging Around with Chris
For this post, we have a special guest blogger, "whose blogmanship will take us to new levels of excellence", according to him. So give a hand to Chris, who will talk about how he spent his Tuesday.
While the rest of the troop had to spend what I imagine as a excruciatingly hard day transversing frozen alpine waterfalls, I took a luxury day for myself. At midnight last night, I moved my cot to Uncle Sam's shelter, a charming little quaint fireplace shelter located a reasonable two minutes from our camp site. There, I peacefully read a star trek novel while I nursed the fire to its quietus. Wrapped up snuggly in my sleeping bag, with my recently dried pillow, I drifted off to sleep myself.
I woke up the next morning around eight, and greatly enjoyed being able to roll over and go back to sleep. Such a luxury seemed almost decadent after my five thirty wake-up of the previous day. At eight thirty, I enjoyed the same pleasure, and again at nine.
I finally left my cot around noon time, when I put it in my tent and strolled down to the bus station. The bus took me to the train station, where I began the day's true mission - to search the hamlet of Kandersteg for Internet. The terminal at the train station was broken, so I headed into the town itself. My target was a small shop, suggestively called "internet°point", but first I had to make a CRUCIAL stop.
I continued an hour later, after eating my fill of pizza at Restaurant der Post. The pizza was delicious, thin in the European style. It was a "margherita", which here is a simple tomatoes and basil pizza flavor instead of a drink.
The internet°point did have Internet, at the costly rate of 3.00 CHF per 15 minutes. Whatever. I spent a half hour frantically choosing my classes for my first semester at William and Mary.
My work done for the day, I decided to treat myself to some shopping. Unfortunately, the stores in Kandersteg all appear to sell either sports equipment or Swiss souvenirs, not a single objet d'art. I therefore sat by the beautiful white Kander river and finished off "Star Trek Voyager: Cybersong". The bus back to Kandersteg surprised me by containing the entirety of Troop 1018, but I saved an otherwise tense situation by allowing them to be my unannounced honor guards on the way back to camp.
Camp was restful, which was a relief from my oh so hectic day. I did some birdwatching and relaxing, then played Settlers of Catan with my best troop. I love Switzerland.
~Chris
(HI MOM!)
While the rest of the troop had to spend what I imagine as a excruciatingly hard day transversing frozen alpine waterfalls, I took a luxury day for myself. At midnight last night, I moved my cot to Uncle Sam's shelter, a charming little quaint fireplace shelter located a reasonable two minutes from our camp site. There, I peacefully read a star trek novel while I nursed the fire to its quietus. Wrapped up snuggly in my sleeping bag, with my recently dried pillow, I drifted off to sleep myself.
I woke up the next morning around eight, and greatly enjoyed being able to roll over and go back to sleep. Such a luxury seemed almost decadent after my five thirty wake-up of the previous day. At eight thirty, I enjoyed the same pleasure, and again at nine.
I finally left my cot around noon time, when I put it in my tent and strolled down to the bus station. The bus took me to the train station, where I began the day's true mission - to search the hamlet of Kandersteg for Internet. The terminal at the train station was broken, so I headed into the town itself. My target was a small shop, suggestively called "internet°point", but first I had to make a CRUCIAL stop.
I continued an hour later, after eating my fill of pizza at Restaurant der Post. The pizza was delicious, thin in the European style. It was a "margherita", which here is a simple tomatoes and basil pizza flavor instead of a drink.
The internet°point did have Internet, at the costly rate of 3.00 CHF per 15 minutes. Whatever. I spent a half hour frantically choosing my classes for my first semester at William and Mary.
My work done for the day, I decided to treat myself to some shopping. Unfortunately, the stores in Kandersteg all appear to sell either sports equipment or Swiss souvenirs, not a single objet d'art. I therefore sat by the beautiful white Kander river and finished off "Star Trek Voyager: Cybersong". The bus back to Kandersteg surprised me by containing the entirety of Troop 1018, but I saved an otherwise tense situation by allowing them to be my unannounced honor guards on the way back to camp.
Camp was restful, which was a relief from my oh so hectic day. I did some birdwatching and relaxing, then played Settlers of Catan with my best troop. I love Switzerland.
~Chris
(HI MOM!)
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