Day 6

Today was my first full day in Geneva and I used my time to get a feel for the city: locating the chocolate store I will be visiting on Monday, utilizing public transportation and seeing what food options they have.

For breakfast, I had eggs and bacon. For some reason, my Airbnb does not have a frying pan, so I made breakfast in a pot. After breakfast, I needed to go to the train station to reserve my trains from Geneva to Brussels. Little did I know that these reservations would cost 106 Swiss Franks. I am glad that I have these trains reserved but I have a tough connection to make in Paris that I am very worried about. Soon, I went back home and set off to explore. I located Du Rhone Chocolatier. I was surprised how small the shop was. I will be meeting with the head of this chocolate company on Monday.

I then went to see the lake and the Jet d'Eau, which is a famous water fountain, shooting water 460 feet above the water level of the lake. The lake and the fountain with the mountains in the background are absolutely gorgeous. Like Zurich, they have many fancy stores. I went into a few and walked right out because of the high prices.


After exploring the lake, I decided to take the tram to see the United Nations Headquarters. I was quite underwhelmed. There was giant chair in front of the headquarters which was pretty neat. But the headquarters themselves were gated off. I was only there for about five minutes just to get some pictures.





I got everything I wanted to do in Geneva done in one day. I am ready to go to Brussels but I still have three more days here. Tomorrow I think I will take a train to Buchs, Switzerland to visit the Frey chocolate factory. I had been in contact with them before and they invited me to come to their facilities. Their facility is popular so they could not offer me any special tour or meeting. Hopefully I can get in on a group tour of some sorts. I am excited to get out of the city for the day and go back to a German speaking part of Switzerland. The train is a bit complex to get there so I am a bit nervous about that.


I am starting to realize the luxury that I have living back home. I can hop in my car and go anywhere. There is always food available at my house for me to eat. I have Wifi and a SIM card that works in America (PS my SIM card is finally working over here!). I am getting a bit homesick. This trip is harder than I thought. All the travel stresses me out and I sometimes wish my friends and family were here with me. I am managing along fine though and I need to realize how lucky I am.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 4

Image
Today, I woke up and made breakfast. I then headed straight to the train station to go Läderach chocolate factory. I was very nervous about taking the right train and getting off at the right stops, however, I had no problems. Thanks to my Eurail Pass, I was able to get from Zurich to Bilten, Switzerland without having the stress of purchasing tickets. The train was quite comfortable but I was paying more attention to the views. The commute lasted about an hour, where the track ran right along Zurich Lake. Here is a video of the view of the Lake from the train and a picture of my first Eurail Global Pass trip that was stamped by the conductor. My experience at Läderach was more than I could have imagined. Upon arrival, I asked for Susi Baumann, the woman that I had previously emailed. She arrived with a warm welcome and took me on a private tour of their chocolate facility, explaining the history of the company, their chocolate making process, and why she thinks Läderach chocol
Read more

Day 8

Image
Today I went to Du Rhone Chocolatier in Geneva, Switzerland. This visit was amazing and added so much depth to my project. Street View of the Store Upon arrival, I was greeted with fresh lemon water and a piece of chocolate as I waited for Mr. Federico Marangoni, the owner and CEO of Du Rhone Chocolatier, to arrive. Once he arrived we sat at a table in the store and talked for about an hour. Du Rhone began in 1875 and is the third oldest chocolate shop in Geneva. Geneva contains 27 chocolate shops, Du Rhone being at the highest end of Swiss chocolate. There is only one store in Switzerland, but the company has expanded abroad and has shops in cities such as London, New York, Berlin, Hamburg, Taipei, Shanghai, and Riyadh. Mr. Marangoni bought this company about two years ago and strives to improve and expand everyday. Currently, they are building new production facilities outside of the city and he hopes to redo the inside of the store and upstairs manufacturing area that has b
Read more

The Magellan Project: My Project

For my Magellan Project, I will be traveling to Switzerland, Belgium, and Germany to research each country's chocolate industries. I hope to find similarities and differences in the taste and production strategies between each country. I also hope to make a general comparison between European and American chocolate. Inspiration for my project: In the summer of 2014, I was fortunate enough to go on a Europe trip with my high school. While in Switzerland, I was constantly reminded to purchase and try Swiss chocolate. I was pleasantly surprised by the taste and noticed an extreme difference between Swiss and American chocolate. One thought lingered in my mind: What makes Swiss chocolate so much better than American chocolate? Thanks to the Magellan Project, I will hopefully be able to obtain the answer to my question. While researching, I noticed that not only Switzerland, but also Belgium and Germany boasted the best chocolates in the world. I began contacting chocolatiers in
Read more