Zurich & chocolate

When searching for a previous trip I came across a web page that said the Lindt chocolate factory in Zurich did a "Chocolate Creation" course. Now, as some of you may know, I am quite partial to chocolate and so our next trip was decided upon.

We booked the overnight direct train from Lesce Bled to Zurich, which left at 21.36 and arrived into Zurich at 09.20 the next morning. As I was having to sleep with the girls(!) we were hoping that no one else would be in our 6-berth compartment but this was not to be as the only other person to get on at Lesce Bled with us was some random bloke who was to share our compartment for the next 12 hours.

We arrived, without mishap or being stabbed overnight by the strange bloke, into Zurich and found our hotel straight away. They were good enough to let us leave our bags for a few hours, as we were too early to check in, and so it was off to breakfast. We found a nice little cafe where Gemma and Vicki had a drink to warm themselves up and I had a beer at 09.50, much to the chagrin of Gemma!!

After this we had a look around the town and found the Sprungli chocolate shop, which all I can say is that the chocolates looked tempting but the prices were high. It is the only shop where I have seen credit card machines in front of the display cabinets.

We then went to visit the museum that Gemma wanted to go to, but on finding it she decided that 25 Swiss Francs for each of us to go in was too expensive, especially as she was the only one who wanted to go in. So we decided to go for lunch and found a great bar/cafe which served paninis and beer! It was then off to the lake for a trip on one of the boats around part of the lake (8.40 Swiss Francs for 90 mins). This was a good way to see the lake and the surrounding area as it was a clear day.

By this time, we were feeling in need of refreshment and found a bar near to our hotel which served good priced beer and had a friendly atmosphere and was full of locals. We were going to go back to this bar for dinner but then found another place just a few doors along where we had a good meal and more beer!

We had now been in Zurich for nearly 10 hours and had not tried any chocolate, so it was off to the shop where there was a big selection of Lindt chocolates. We brought a bit and took it back to the hotel where we nibbled through it in the lounge for an hour.

The following day we got up a little later than planned and after breakfast and dropping off our bags at the station we went by trolley bus to an indoor market where we found lots of stalls with very tempting produce. There was also a stall selling English cheeses and beers. Needless to say Gemma and Vicki tried one thing and I tried the other. We stayed here so long that we even stayed for lunch, with more beer!!

Now it was time for the main reason for our trip to Zurich, so we headed off to Kilchberg and easily found the Lindt factory. We were a bit early (or was it planned that way?!) so had to visit the Lindt shop that was on site. After about 30 minutes of looking around we went to the check out and realised that even though I had been restricted on what I could buy it was still near to 50 Swiss Francs. Ouch!

We were still early for the event, so we sat down in reception where they had bowls and bowls full of the new Lindt caramel chocolates to which I had a couple and then a couple more. Afterall, it would have been rude not to!

3 chocolaterias
 

Our names were called and off we trooped to be kitted out with our jackets, aprons and hats and then we were shown into the "classroom", where on our table there were 2 big vats full of chocolate. We were then shown how to fill the chocolate balls that were in trays in front of us with liquid chocolate that contained traces of champagne. After these were filled, anything that was left we were allowed to pour directly into our mouths. The taste was sublime.

Next up it was creating pralines and we got to cover these with our own designs. The instructor for our table said that mine were excellant and the designs were superb. There was me thinking that Gemma was the artistic one of the pair of us!



Mmmm, tasty!

Our chocolate balls were now ready for the final piece of decoration, this involved us rolling the balls in our gloved hands in liquid chocolate and then dipped into icing sugar. This was a good bit of fun as I managed to cover Vicki in sugar by throwing the balls into the icing sugar bowl.

We packaged up our chocolates into boxes and then it was time to say goodbye and to get back to the train station for our overnight trip back to Lesce Bled. Needless to say we managed to get another beer, oh and something for dinner, before our train.

Some of our creations

We thought it was cozy on the train up but the way back was even more crowded as when we got to our compartment there were 2 middle-aged women with a big suitcase each already there. They looked a bit miffed that we were going to be in the compartment with them but hey ho. We made our beds and then went to one of the other carriages where we could sit and have our dinner. The old ladies still seemed to be a bit miffed when we went back at about 10.30pm but think they had accepted the fact that we would be there throughout the night. It was a tad interesting getting undressed in front of them although I was glad to note that they didn't undress as that might have given me nightmares!!!



Vicki's pralines

Overall, a good trip and if anyone is planning a trip to Zurich we would definitely recommend the Chocolate Creation experience, the city is quite expensive but if you go to the right places you can get good food and drink at reasonable prices.

Gemma's pralines

My creative creations as approved by our instructor