Another fun packed week. Dan worked tons of hours again and had two dinner appointments, so the kids and I spent time hanging out. Both Dyllan and Deagan had field trips this week. You can tell that the school year is winding down. Dyllan got to see Hundertwasser's house and museum. They went to a park for a picnic lunch afterwards. Danyon and I met her at the park and picnicked with them. Then they got to play at a playground for an hour and a half. Deagan got to go to a farm where he made himself right at home and tromped through the camel poo. He saw weird looking sheep, chickens, bunnies, camels, horses, and the farmer. It was a little stressful in the morning before he left because he needed to bring a lunch and after searching the kitchen over, we couldn't find his lunchbox. Then we remembered that it got thrown away with the backpack last week.
Dyllan had her first friend over to the house on Friday. Her friend is Chiara. She has lived in Russia and here, and speaks German and English very well. They seemed to be having a great time playing as Dan and I were working out in the yard. We are proud to say that after 1 1/2 weeks of mowing the lawn, it is finally complete. No, our lawn is not that big. Our neighbor thought it would be a great idea to get a robotic lawn mower that would do all the work automatically. He ordered one, but it took a few days to get here. When it finally arrived, he discovered that he did not have all the parts (he was missing the ones that allowed you to program the boundaries of the yard into the mower.) He charged it up anyway and set it loose on the yard. The lawn was so long, that the mower was struggling a bit to cut through it. It was able to cut a few places here and there, with no rhyme or reason to where it was cutting. After a few minutes, it needed to be charged again. He did this process three times, and ran out of time. It left our lawn looking like a bad hair cut gone worse. The next day, he tried again. More of the lawn was cut, but still not looking good. A neighbor came over to feed the cats while we were gone, and she sent me a text asking what had happened to our poor lawn! When we came back from our trip, more was mowed, but now the grass that was mowed first started to grow again so we had several different lengths going all over the lawn. After another week of trying to get it mowed (even enlisted my help to charge and set the mower free whenever I got the chance during the day), the neighbor bought a hand mower and finished it up. We bought a weed whacker and finished up the edges. Now it looks great! We just need to get the mower started again so that we can keep it under control!
Saturday we had a fabulous day! As part of Dan's birthday, we had reservations to go to the Zotter Schokolade Factory. It is a two hour drive south of Vienna. We didn't want to waste any time, so we signed up for the 9:00am time slot. We dragged the kids out of bed early that morning to be sure to get there on time. The tour started out with a video explaining where the cocoa beans come from and the kinds of ingredients that they use. The video was all in German and the kids kind of got alarmed when they showed a very close up shot of a cow pooing. They weren't sure how that would make good chocolate. Dan and I were able to understand part of the video and we reassured the kids that they used the poop for fertilizer, (at least that's what we told them). After the 15 minute video we picked up an audio guide in English. And with our kissing spoons in hand (a kissing spoon is a kind of spoon that you would find at the Chinese Restaurant), we turned on the guide and went to the first room. They had several containers of different cocoa beans from different locations like Nicaragua or India. You could taste any or all of them. I tasted three, and was amazed that there really was a huge difference in the flavor of the cocoa bean, depending on where it came from (probably different animal fertilizers!) Next we went up the stairs, where we could see all kinds of machinery to separate the cocoa beans from rocks, debris and other things. They also had roasters and other types of blah, blah, blah. We were distracted by the chocolate fountain running in the center of the room. We approached the fountain with our spoons and took a taste. The kids all but spit theirs out. They were wiping their spoons off with napkins as quickly as they could. This was pure cocoa bean with nothing else added. They had only liquefied it. It was bitter, not at all sweet, and very strong. I had one little drop, and the flavor completely filled my mouth and was not very pleasant. Next we walked down a corridor that had little samples of different cocoa powders. They started with almost nothing added to decreased cocoa amounts with different percentages of milk, sugars, and fats. The last one in the corridor was white and very sweet. Next we went down the stairs to what they call the filling station. In this room, they had 15 different chocolate fountains with different percentages of cocoa. They started at 90 percent and went down to milk chocolates of varying percents, to white chocolate. Then they added things like caramel, soy milk, or coffee to the chocolates. You went down the line of fountains and could try as many or all of them as you wanted, using your kissing spoon.
In the middle of the tour, we sat on a bench outside listening to the audio guide. When who should come waltzing out of the door? It was none other than Mr. Josef Zotter, himself. His business has been so successful, without much, if any, advertising, that they use his business model as a case study at Harvard Business School. He stopped to visit with us and to talk to Danyon. He was polite enough to let us grab a snapshot with him. It was cool to meet him. I think that if I were the owner of such a business, I would probably weigh in about 150lbs more than he does.
 |
| We each went back for seconds of our favorite |
 |
| A toast: To savoring each bite! |
The next room we pretended to listen to more of the guide, but again were distracted by all the containers in front of us. In this room, they explained different additives that they used in their chocolate; Things like coriander, cardamon, cumin, cinnamon, mint, anise, vanilla, chilies, etc. We could not eat these, only smell them. We thought we hit the jackpot at the next area. There was another long corridor with little slot handles along one side. If you pulled the slot handle, it sliced a quarter inch piece off the end of a chocolate bar. They had several kinds of chocolate bars in here to try. My favorite was the strawberry bar. Dan's was the Raspberry. There were other fruit flavors like chocolate banana or chocolate pineapple. There were white chocolates, caramel chocolates, dark and milk chocolates, etc. Moving up the stairs, you could pull more slots that had what they called chocolate lollies in them. They say these are for kids, but Dan and I didn't have any trouble trying them all on our way up the stairs. At the top of the stairs we found another huge room, with little cable cars carrying chocolate bars on conveyor belts all around the room. These were the Mitzi chocolates. These are chocolate disks that you put into hot milk and melt so that you can drink your chocolate. There were several samples of the Mitzis in both chocolate form or already pre-mixed with milk. You could try all the flavors. They even had a game where each Mitzi flavor was numbered and you rolled two dice to see what flavor you came up with. The truly indulgent part of this room was that you went to the bar and picked up your glass of foamy, hot milk. You picked a bar of chocolate from the cable car conveyor belt and you dropped it into your glass. Wait a few minutes, stir, and enjoy! There are several creative flavors to choose from--some have chilies in them and are spicy, Dan's had squash in it, and it was surprisingly very good. I went for the more traditional Caramel Cashew and I wasn't disappointed either.
From that room, we went to a hallway that had several of the nougat chocolate bars in sample sizes on a Ferris wheel conveyor belt. The nougat chocolates have a soft centered middle. I wish I could tell you in more technical terms, but all of us had abandoned the audio guide all together, and were just focusing on sampling. After all, we hadn't eaten breakfast! From that room, we went into another corridor that had several copper kettles lining both sides. In the kettles were little candy pieces about the size of a chocolate covered raisin. These came in a huge variety of flavors and had nuts or fruits in them, or just about anything.
The final room, was a hallway that had another conveyor belt of alot of the different kinds of chocolate bars they made. You took your miniature, wooden fork and went to town trying to try as many of them as you could. Eventually, we could all say that we had had our fill of chocolate and we felt guilty for staying there so long, so we continued on to the gift shop, where despite our full bellies, we still bought chocolate like crazy!
 |
| Waiting patiently, or not, for lunch |
After the factory, we toured the rest of the grounds. They have a small farm/zoo there. Everything is organic (including all processes of the chocolate manufacture). There is a restaurant that you can eat at that serves only the food grown on the property. All meat is slaughtered and processed at the farm. All cheeses are made and aged there as well. Every spice used was grown on-site. The food was alright, but I've discovered that maybe I don't mind the taste of pesticides.
 |
| My Knights in Shining Armor |
 |
| The Dining Room |
 |
| Perfect Well for Wishing |
Before heading home, we decided to stop at a castle in the area. We hiked up the long trail to the top of the mountain. (It was actually once a volcano). The castle grounds were cool to walk around. You really felt like you were experiencing a part of history. It is still surreal to me that people really did live in castles and although fairy tales and television might not be entirely historical, it is still pretty cool to think about. Looking out over all the kingdom, from the castle, to the woods, to the vineyards, and small villages, you could really see how the Brothers Grimm could come up with some pretty neat stories. This particular castle was on the borders of the land, so it was primarily just a protective fortification, with military Lords living in it. There were a lot of witch trials in the area--most of which the offenses were for causing hail and thunderstorms. They must've had a lot of storms come through because a lot of people died for causing them, particularly red heads. One of the more famous trials in the area was a woman who was charged of making a pact with the devil because she had flowers blooming in her yard in the middle of winter. She was tortured and killed for it, even though she never confessed. The dining room and ballroom in the castle had beautiful in-laid wood. Dan was in heaven looking at it all. Although they didn't happen often in this castle, the feasts were apparently something else. One menu was a 14 course meal. The well in the middle of the castle seemed to be straight from a fairy tale. It was cool to see.
The drive home was nothing short of spectacular. We drove through gorgeous forests (I'm sure a lot like Sherwood), by several farms, and through some very small villages. I hope that I never take for granted the fact that we drive through beautiful places that you only see in movies, all the time. It was a very fun day. We got home just in time for dinner. When the kids saw that no chocolate was on the menu, they all had fits. We almost had to get the oompa loompas to get them back in line!
Another fun packed week. Dan worked tons of hours again and had two dinner appointments, so the kids and I spent time hanging out. Both Dyllan and Deagan had field trips this week. You can tell that the school year is winding down. Dyllan got to see Hundertwasser's house and museum. They went to a park for a picnic lunch afterwards. Danyon and I met her at the park and picnicked with them. Then they got to play at a playground for an hour and a half. Deagan got to go to a farm where he made himself right at home and tromped through the camel poo. He saw weird looking sheep, chickens, bunnies, camels, horses, and the farmer. It was a little stressful in the morning before he left because he needed to bring a lunch and after searching the kitchen over, we couldn't find his lunchbox. Then we remembered that it got thrown away with the backpack last week.
Saturday we had a fabulous day! As part of Dan's birthday, we had reservations to go to the Zotter Schokolade Factory. It is a two hour drive south of Vienna. We didn't want to waste any time, so we signed up for the 9:00am time slot. We dragged the kids out of bed early that morning to be sure to get there on time. The tour started out with a video explaining where the cocoa beans come from and the kinds of ingredients that they use. The video was all in German and the kids kind of got alarmed when they showed a very close up shot of a cow pooing. They weren't sure how that would make good chocolate. Dan and I were able to understand part of the video and we reassured the kids that they used the poop for fertilizer, (at least that's what we told them). After the 15 minute video we picked up an audio guide in English. And with our kissing spoons in hand (a kissing spoon is a kind of spoon that you would find at the Chinese Restaurant), we turned on the guide and went to the first room. They had several containers of different cocoa beans from different locations like Nicaragua or India. You could taste any or all of them. I tasted three, and was amazed that there really was a huge difference in the flavor of the cocoa bean, depending on where it came from (probably different animal fertilizers!) Next we went up the stairs, where we could see all kinds of machinery to separate the cocoa beans from rocks, debris and other things. They also had roasters and other types of blah, blah, blah. We were distracted by the chocolate fountain running in the center of the room. We approached the fountain with our spoons and took a taste. The kids all but spit theirs out. They were wiping their spoons off with napkins as quickly as they could. This was pure cocoa bean with nothing else added. They had only liquefied it. It was bitter, not at all sweet, and very strong. I had one little drop, and the flavor completely filled my mouth and was not very pleasant. Next we walked down a corridor that had little samples of different cocoa powders. They started with almost nothing added to decreased cocoa amounts with different percentages of milk, sugars, and fats. The last one in the corridor was white and very sweet. Next we went down the stairs to what they call the filling station. In this room, they had 15 different chocolate fountains with different percentages of cocoa. They started at 90 percent and went down to milk chocolates of varying percents, to white chocolate. Then they added things like caramel, soy milk, or coffee to the chocolates. You went down the line of fountains and could try as many or all of them as you wanted, using your kissing spoon.
In the middle of the tour, we sat on a bench outside listening to the audio guide. When who should come waltzing out of the door? It was none other than Mr. Josef Zotter, himself. His business has been so successful, without much, if any, advertising, that they use his business model as a case study at Harvard Business School. He stopped to visit with us and to talk to Danyon. He was polite enough to let us grab a snapshot with him. It was cool to meet him. I think that if I were the owner of such a business, I would probably weigh in about 150lbs more than he does.
From that room, we went to a hallway that had several of the nougat chocolate bars in sample sizes on a Ferris wheel conveyor belt. The nougat chocolates have a soft centered middle. I wish I could tell you in more technical terms, but all of us had abandoned the audio guide all together, and were just focusing on sampling. After all, we hadn't eaten breakfast! From that room, we went into another corridor that had several copper kettles lining both sides. In the kettles were little candy pieces about the size of a chocolate covered raisin. These came in a huge variety of flavors and had nuts or fruits in them, or just about anything. 
The drive home was nothing short of spectacular. We drove through gorgeous forests (I'm sure a lot like Sherwood), by several farms, and through some very small villages. I hope that I never take for granted the fact that we drive through beautiful places that you only see in movies, all the time. It was a very fun day. We got home just in time for dinner. When the kids saw that no chocolate was on the menu, they all had fits. We almost had to get the oompa loompas to get them back in line!
No comments:
Post a Comment