Magellan Project 2017: Chocolate Empires in Europe

Magellan Project 2017 Self-Assessment Andrew Donatelli             As I waved one last goodbye to my parents in the Pittsburgh International Airport and turned around to proceed through security, I had a feeling that my life was about to change. This would be my first time traveling all alone. I have traveled without my parents before, but I had teachers and classmates to help me along the way. This time, I was all alone. Of course, fear surged throughout my body. I felt sick to my stomach as I watched my parents disappear. I passed through security and I knew there was no turning back. My journey had just begun.             After two long flights and two train rides, I finally arrived, exhausted, to my first Airbnb in Zurich. This initial travel sequence was the part of the trip that I was most dreading. I conquered my first fear. I surprised myself of how well I did. I am typically shy when I first get into new situations. However, once I get comfortable, I tend to open

There is a significant difference between the chocolate industries in Europe versus the chocolate industries in America. Most chocolate that Americans consume is produced by major industrial corporations: Hershey’s, Nestle, Mars, Cadbury, Dove, etc. Large scale machines quickly produce masses of chocolates and distribute them all over the nation and the world. Cheap ingredients are used to bring the cost of production down. For example, sugar is a very cheap ingredient, so American companies use a lot of sugar in their chocolates, resulting in a cheap product that is very sweet. These mass amounts of sugar act as an addictive component in each bite of chocolate. Americans devour chocolate, almost like eating chips. We usually head to the grocery store or the gas station to purchase chocolate. Rows and rows of colorful pre-packaged candy bars and other chocolate candies entice us from their shelves. We sit on the couch with our bag of M&Ms and absentmindedly eat while watching T

Today was my last full day in Europe. I did not sleep at all well last night due to a very bad sore throat. I stayed in bed most of the morning and eventually had breakfast around lunch time. I figured that even though I felt awful, I should not waste my last day in Europe. I showered and decided to go to the Zoo. The Zoo is only a 10 minute walk from my house so this would be a nice ending activity. I was surprisingly underwhelmed by this zoo. It is quite small and is not well maintained. Many of the exhibits are overgrown with weeds and half of the animals were not even out. There was a lake/river area in the middle of the zoo and the water was green and stagnant. The animals did not seem to have much room to move and they all looked miserable and bored. I guess you will find this at every zoo but the zoo I visited in Zurich was much nicer. I also believe that the Pittsburgh Zoo is much better than this. Despite the quality of the Zoo, I enjoyed my time there. The trip

Today I wanted to explore a bit of Frankfurt before my meeting with the chocolatier. I went down to the U-Bahn station that is close to my Aribnb and it was surprisingly quiet. I heard no trains, the escalator wasn't running and I saw and heard no people. I walked down the stairs and onto the platform and no one was there. I read the sign that usually displays the train times and it said that the U7 train is being operated on. It referred people to use a bus line instead. I am thankful that I know German and could understand the sign. If this happened back in Belgium, I would have been lost. So I decided to walk to the city which took about 30 minutes. The walk was quite peaceful. I am living in a very residential area. The apartments are very nice, there are few people, little traffic, and everything is clean. I got to the city and went shopping on the main shopping street. The clothes are so nice here and they have such good deals. I soon located Römerberg which is a public s

Today was a travel day and was very uneventful. This post will be rather short. Around 11:00, I checked out of my Airbnb in Cologne and headed to the train station. My train to Frankfurt took about an hour and a half. The train was much nicer this time. I arrived in Frankfurt Main Station and I followed the instructions that my Airbnb host gave me. Surprisingly, all my transitions went extremely well. The directions from my Airbnb host were spot on and I did not have to ask anyone for help. In previous cities, I was given information from my Airbnb hosts but I still had to go to help desks to ask how to get to my home. I took an S Bahn train to a certain location from the train station. At this stop, I just had to walk across the platform and take the U Bahn to my home. I was very stressed out about this travel because Frankfurt is a big city and I had to take three trains, but everything went smoothly. My Airbnb room is much larger than I thought it would be. I am living with a fa

Today, I decided to go to Bonn, Germany. I had nothing else planned to do in Cologne so I searched for cities close by that were good to visit. Bonn was highly recommended. The train from Cologne to Bonn was only 18 minutes. These trains are very different from the Belgium and Swiss trains. The difference is a bit hard for me to describe but I much prefer the Belgium and Swiss trains. I arrived in Bonn and began to look for the Poppelsdorf Palace. Google maps was taking me across the train station, but there was no way for me to cut across. I figured I would try again later so I went to the Markt. Bonn is a nice, small town. The streets are all cobblestone and there are barely any cars. The Markt is very small but the Old Town Hall is quite beautiful (pictured below). I ate some lunch at a local sandwich shop and headed for the Beethoven House. I spent about an hour at the Beethoven house. This was not as exciting as I expected. I went all throughout his home and saw the room he