Gardens & Chocolate

The following is from a daily journal during a June 2015 trip to Switzerland with my wife, Cindy:

We spent this morning at the Zurich Botanical Gardens, enjoying our last full day (until next week) in Zurich.  Many types of plants & trees...and school groups.

 

 

It is a lovely morning here, and we are grateful for the wonderful weather.

This afternoon Cindy & I took the Sweet Zurich chocolate tour.  It was conducted by Christina, a London ex-pat living in Zurich, and her daughter Rebecca, who is a student in Dublin (how's that for a summer job).  

 

We were joined by a mother from California & her two kids, and a young couple from Pittsburgh.  We started at the Spungli store, famous for their chocolates, but more so for their Luxemburgli macaroons.  We each got to pick one, and that was not an easy choice (I picked salted caramel, Cindy had chocolate).

 

We next window stopped at a store with chocolates decorated like flowers (except for the Dom Perignon champagne truffles).

 

Our next tasting stop was a family run shop, Honold's.  Their specialty is truffles and hot chocolate.  Unlike the macaroons, we got to pick three.  Quite yummy and aromatic!  While there, Rebecca shared with us the history of chocolate and its introduction to European society.

 

Next, we entered "Chocolate Heaven", Aeschbach, another family chocolatier.  The specialties sampled here were truffles with cherry liquor flavored centers.  They also did amazing things with chocolate animals, containers made of chocolate, and chocolate postcards.

 

 

 

Next door was a candy shop, mainly gummi bear type candy, but far juicier.  The lemon and lime slices were like real fruit.  They make interesting presentations with their fruit candy, such as cheeseburgers with fries, pizza, and sushi (chopsticks included).

 

 

We switched to cupcakes at our next stop at a little local store. Good, with an interesting icing ingredient.  But we want more chocolate.

 

But first, another window shopping stop (featuring marzipan Snow White & Seven Dwarfs), then on to our last stop, which happened to be a place we have stopped at twice before.

 

Conditorei Schober has been around for a couple of centuries, and is famous for its hot chocolate (and their mocha is pretty good, too).  This warm liquid delight was our final tasting.

 

It was a wonderful & tasty afternoon, and we're grateful to God for the cocoa bean.