Its 3:30a.m. and we are on a bus to Switzerland! After almost six short hours later we are in one of the most scenic places we have ever been to. There is nothing but beautiful mountains covered with greenery and dairy cows sprinkled in what seems to be a dreamland of sorts. The air is crisp and approaching our first stop there is a faint smell of cheese in the air.... I mean we are in Gruyeres! Home to cheese and even better for most chocolate!
*We luckily had a stop along the way at a rest stop of sorts and inside had a chance to get some go juice (also known as espresso) and a pastry. Note to self: Switzerland is expensive. Obviously their economy is doing quite well by the prices we paid for our quick bite. It was the equivalent of twenty U.S. dollars. However, we did learn on the bus ride from our new friend (Col. DuBois) that Poland is the place to visit. It's exchange rate is in favor of the dollar (2 to 1)
Our bus parked directly in front of our first destination, "La Maison Du Gruyere"
An awesome dairy cheese farm. We got to see how the cheese is made and sample different aged Gruyere.
David and I are huge cheese fans so this was pretty cool getting to see from start to finish what all goes into the process. I never knew how much the flavor of the cheese depends on the diet of the cow.
Next stop.... Cailler. World famous and international chocolate maker. A better known branch we call "Nestle" in the States. We got to take a very animated historical tour that is housed right inside this chocolate wonderland. I kept thinking, "Where are the little Oompa-Loompas?" Although I did find Augustus on this trip....David ate himself into a chocolate coma at the end of that tour! At the very end of seeing all this delicious chocolate they leave you inside this little room with all the different types of chocolate they make and endless amounts of time to eat as much as you like....which was fine for David - he could not have been more happy! However, someone like myself saw this as some cruel trick these little Swiss chocolate makers have going on there....they leave you inside a room with endless amounts of chocolatey goodness and NOOOOO MILK!!!! Wtf..seriously I was in a diabetic state and parched beyond words. Before going on the chocolate tour we had decided to purchase a bunch of chocolate and afterwards David said, "I think I've had enough chocolate for the next year" and "maybe we don't need to buy any chocolate right now." Me - WHAT!? We are in SWITZERLAND! Of course we are going to buy chocolate! Silly David.
The end of our tour was a nice relaxing few hours in the town area of Gruyeres. We visited the castle there, went into all the little shops, had lunch, saw a few brides in the streets with their wedding parties, were serenaded by cute swiss men in the streets (I mean David probably didn't fancy them but I did) and finished this lovely day with gelato.
*The video I shot was when we were overlooking the mountainside standing in the castle gardens. It was majestic just to hear bells ringing in the air. What was even cooler was this time the bells we were hearing that almost sounded like church bells were actually cow bells. All the swiss cows wear those cute leather bell collars. David thought it would be a good idea to put one on me too because I have a tendency to wander off. HA HA. He's a comedian that one.
Well all for now.
Talk to you soon,
Tiffany, David & Oliver
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