Day 17
Today I decided to explore Cologne. First on the list was visiting the Kölner Dom. Also known as Cologne Cathedral, this magnificent piece of architecture is a Roman Catholic cathedral. The Dom is the biggest tourist attraction in Cologne, attracting around 20,000 visitors every day. The Dom is quite large and is impressive to look at. When I was walking around the cathedral, I began noticing that there was so much detail put into this masterpiece. The Dom is a prime example of Gothic architecture and was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1996. Here are some different views of the Dom:
After walking around the cathedral, I made my way to the chocolate museum. This was a nice, 15 minute walk along the Rhine River. Unlike the waters in Switzerland, the Rhine looked just like a Pittsburgh river: brownish green. Here are some pictures of the outside of the Lindt Schokoladenmuseum.
The museum began with the origin of the cocoa bean, starting with the Mayans and Aztecs, similar to the Choco Story in Bruges. There was even a section where you could go in a greenhouse and experience the climate and scenery in which cocoa beans grow. The number of cocoa farmers worldwide today is estimated at 5 to 6 million. More than 90% of cocoa beans are harvested on small scare farms. I learned that the working conditions are often poor on large scale farms, where workers are unprotected from the use of insecticides and pesticides. Today, Ecuador is the world's largest produced of fine cocoa.
The next part of the museum went through the bean to bar process and had active machines that the public could observe. Also in this room was the most famous part of the museum, a large cocoa bean tree that has warm chocolate coming out of the bottom. If you wait in front of the tree, a Lindt chocolatier will give you a wafer dipped in this warm chocolate. This was quite tasty. Around the corner, you get to see how Lindt chocolates are packaged. Further down, you could press a button and a robot would give you a small square of chocolate from the assembly line.
Upstairs, I learned a lot about the history of German chocolate. During the world wars, chocolate was especially important to the Germans. Chocolate companies turned their focus on creating a chocolate with a lot of nutritional value that could then be consumed by the troops. So many other food industries closed but the chocolate industry still operated. Each company wanted to do their best for their country. This display even mentioned that the Hershey Company also began to develop a chocolate bar in 1937, that would serve the US Army as an emergency ration. The bar had to be light, resistant to high temperature, and it should not taste much better than a cooked potato. This was to prevent the chocolate bar from being eaten before an emergency had even occurred. There was also a timeline about the value of chocolate. During ancient Mayan times, cocoa beans were used during sacrifices and ceremonies. Later on, cocoa beans were used as currency. Once the Spanish conquistadors brought chocolate overseas, chocolate was a drink for the upper class. After industrialization, chocolate became affordable. Countless vending machines and stores began to open. Today, we enjoy chocolate as a treat at a fairly low price.
In another room, there were many displays of all the different brands of German chocolate. There was a whole display about Kinder surprise eggs (I love these). A Kinder Egg is a small hollow chocolate eggs that has a toy inside. Unfortunately, these are illegal in the US. I was surprised to see that these toys inside can be quite valuable. A certain collection of toys from the 1970s is valued at 950 Euros. I also learned that Milka is the top-selling chocolate in Germany, producing 400,000,000 bars a year. There was even a display about Hershey Kisses.
This museum gave me a lot of information about how chocolate is produced, however, I did not learn specifics about German chocolate to be able to make a comparison on the ingredient aspect of each country's chocolate. Their chocolate making process seemed similar to other companies in Switzerland and Belgium. I did learn that the Ivory Coast is the most important cocoa supplier for the German chocolate market. Additionally, Hamburg imports nearly two-thirds of the entire German annual cocoa import. Germany does not seem to focus on fine chocolate. They have a few major companies that mass produce chocolate bars, mini chocolate candies, and wrapped eggs and figurines.
I wanted to buy chocolate from Germany to take back to my friends and family so that they could do a taste analysis with a chocolate bar from each country. However, I was looking through the store and all the Lindt candy is produced in Switzerland. I might have to wait until Frankfurt to purchase true German chocolate.
After the chocolate museum, I got some Grillenwurst for lunch and walked across the Hohenzollern Bridge. This bridge crosses the Rhine river and is a love-lock bridge. There are millions of locks attached to this bridge. After reaching the other side, I sat down to relax and admire the view. I did not find Cologne to be a beautiful city but this view was nice.
I had nothing else on my to do list so I headed back to the Dom and found a huge shopping street. I went into a lot of clothing stores. Some of them were quite pricy and others, I wanted to purchase everything I saw. Self control kicked in and I knew I could not fit any of this stuff in my bags.
Today was a good but long day. I am quite tired and I am still figuring out what I want to do tomorrow. I am thinking that I might go to Bonn, Germany.
After walking around the cathedral, I made my way to the chocolate museum. This was a nice, 15 minute walk along the Rhine River. Unlike the waters in Switzerland, the Rhine looked just like a Pittsburgh river: brownish green. Here are some pictures of the outside of the Lindt Schokoladenmuseum.
I spent about two hours in this museum. There is so much information and the museum is well organized. People of all ages can enjoy this museum and I would highly recommend it to anyone visiting Germany. This museum ranks on the top 10 lists of museums in Germany. The museum was opened by Hans Imhoff on October 31, 1993. Today, around 675,000 people visit this museum each year.
The museum began with the origin of the cocoa bean, starting with the Mayans and Aztecs, similar to the Choco Story in Bruges. There was even a section where you could go in a greenhouse and experience the climate and scenery in which cocoa beans grow. The number of cocoa farmers worldwide today is estimated at 5 to 6 million. More than 90% of cocoa beans are harvested on small scare farms. I learned that the working conditions are often poor on large scale farms, where workers are unprotected from the use of insecticides and pesticides. Today, Ecuador is the world's largest produced of fine cocoa.
The next part of the museum went through the bean to bar process and had active machines that the public could observe. Also in this room was the most famous part of the museum, a large cocoa bean tree that has warm chocolate coming out of the bottom. If you wait in front of the tree, a Lindt chocolatier will give you a wafer dipped in this warm chocolate. This was quite tasty. Around the corner, you get to see how Lindt chocolates are packaged. Further down, you could press a button and a robot would give you a small square of chocolate from the assembly line.
Upstairs, I learned a lot about the history of German chocolate. During the world wars, chocolate was especially important to the Germans. Chocolate companies turned their focus on creating a chocolate with a lot of nutritional value that could then be consumed by the troops. So many other food industries closed but the chocolate industry still operated. Each company wanted to do their best for their country. This display even mentioned that the Hershey Company also began to develop a chocolate bar in 1937, that would serve the US Army as an emergency ration. The bar had to be light, resistant to high temperature, and it should not taste much better than a cooked potato. This was to prevent the chocolate bar from being eaten before an emergency had even occurred. There was also a timeline about the value of chocolate. During ancient Mayan times, cocoa beans were used during sacrifices and ceremonies. Later on, cocoa beans were used as currency. Once the Spanish conquistadors brought chocolate overseas, chocolate was a drink for the upper class. After industrialization, chocolate became affordable. Countless vending machines and stores began to open. Today, we enjoy chocolate as a treat at a fairly low price.
In another room, there were many displays of all the different brands of German chocolate. There was a whole display about Kinder surprise eggs (I love these). A Kinder Egg is a small hollow chocolate eggs that has a toy inside. Unfortunately, these are illegal in the US. I was surprised to see that these toys inside can be quite valuable. A certain collection of toys from the 1970s is valued at 950 Euros. I also learned that Milka is the top-selling chocolate in Germany, producing 400,000,000 bars a year. There was even a display about Hershey Kisses.
This museum gave me a lot of information about how chocolate is produced, however, I did not learn specifics about German chocolate to be able to make a comparison on the ingredient aspect of each country's chocolate. Their chocolate making process seemed similar to other companies in Switzerland and Belgium. I did learn that the Ivory Coast is the most important cocoa supplier for the German chocolate market. Additionally, Hamburg imports nearly two-thirds of the entire German annual cocoa import. Germany does not seem to focus on fine chocolate. They have a few major companies that mass produce chocolate bars, mini chocolate candies, and wrapped eggs and figurines.
I wanted to buy chocolate from Germany to take back to my friends and family so that they could do a taste analysis with a chocolate bar from each country. However, I was looking through the store and all the Lindt candy is produced in Switzerland. I might have to wait until Frankfurt to purchase true German chocolate.
After the chocolate museum, I got some Grillenwurst for lunch and walked across the Hohenzollern Bridge. This bridge crosses the Rhine river and is a love-lock bridge. There are millions of locks attached to this bridge. After reaching the other side, I sat down to relax and admire the view. I did not find Cologne to be a beautiful city but this view was nice.
I had nothing else on my to do list so I headed back to the Dom and found a huge shopping street. I went into a lot of clothing stores. Some of them were quite pricy and others, I wanted to purchase everything I saw. Self control kicked in and I knew I could not fit any of this stuff in my bags.
Today was a good but long day. I am quite tired and I am still figuring out what I want to do tomorrow. I am thinking that I might go to Bonn, Germany.
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