Belgium: chocolate, waffles, and beer.  Clearly, I had to visit.  After my week in the UK, I flew to Frankfurt and then made my way via Cologne and Amsterdam to Brussels - center of the EU and all sorts of international political groups.  It had the additional benefit on a chocolate museum.  Ultimately, that meant I went to Cadbury World, the Chocolate Museum in Cologne, and the Musée du Cacao et du Chocolat all within a few weeks.  I was a little burnt out on chocolate after that!
Continue reading Choco-ed out in Belgium

I bought a small number of these from a bulk candy store in Germany, thinking it was bubble gum.  Instead, it was one of the more interesting candies I’ve eaten to date!  It was solid the entire way through (not hollow like gumballs are) but was chewy.  At first, I thought it was just a solid gum ball… but after a few seconds the material starts dissolving and then you’re left with nothing.  The taste is excellent, tart and sweet.  There are also cola flavored sweets (cola is a very common flavor here in Europe - much moreso than in the States.)

I have  a few entries in the works - one about visiting the chocolate museum in Germany and Belgium, one about the Haribo Museum and France, one about an amazing trip to a chocolate factory (complete with all you can eat chocolate!)  and one about the “candy” of Germany - beer during Munich Oktoberfest.  Unfortunately, computer time is expensive here ($18 an hour in Zurich) and very few internet cafes are set up for uploading pictures.  Hopefully over the next week I’ll be able to fully update everyone about my exploits of the last month.

Yum! Belgium truffles are amazing! In the name of science, I tried several different types of chocolates from this Brussels chocolatier. My favorite was the hazelnut (you can actually see it in the upper right hand corner.) Delicious white chocolate covering a creamy hazelnut paste, with a bit of marzipan holding it all together. And, of course, a hazelnut. It was just sweet enough, with the center so liquid it was almost dripping out of the truffle… Amazing!

There were other delicious flavors (cherry, “Canadian maple” which wasn’t actually maple, but marshmellow, and a champagne filling… but hazelnut was definitely my favorite.) It’s interesting because French truffles or “pralines” are very different from the Belium kind - more bitter and much denser. I’ve found that sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.

I have been hanging around in southern France for the last few days. At times I like it, at times I HATE it. I’m looking forward to loving on to the cheaper Middle East though…

Ouch.  Much of my time in England was spent reeling from prices.  Still, I managed to squeeze a bit of fun into my penny-pinching week.  I was lucky enough to have a place to stay with college friend Katie (Kate) back from her tour in Afghanistan, of course!  My main plan for England was a trip to Cadbury World. 

Continue reading UK: Land of Cadbury, Pubs, and the POUND

I grabbed some of the famous (infamous) black licorice while I was in Amsterdam, along with a cannibis flavored lollipop.  I have yet to eat that, but I did try the licorice.  The small, dull black pieces were “double extra salt” and absolutely repulsive.  Even worse than the cricket!

 In short, I cannot recommend this candy.  Partly because I hate black licorice, and partly because adding salt to black licorice doesn’t improve the taste.  It was rather like chewing on a salt lick. 

I’m in Paris right now!  If anyone has any suggestions for things to do or candies to eat there, make sure to comment.

I’m in Belgium, home of waffles and chocolate… a far cry from these brightly colored Mexican obleas, made of the same material as communion wafers. 

 I have some great new stories and pictures about candy that I had planned on uploading today, at least until my computer hard drive bit the big one.  Again.  For the second time this trip.  Again, there is lost material, plus the annoyance and cost of dealing with getting my computer fixed a second time.  Basically, HP is the devil, and enough about that. 

 Also, I’m preparing goody bags for some of the people who’ve sponsored me.  If you’re thinking about it, now would be a good time - Belgium, Switzerland, France, and Germany lie ahead!

This was a large doll available in the Masaya Market.  It was entirely made of flavorless sugar, and was unbearably sweet.  I felt sick after eating a tiny portion of it and can’t imagine that anyone is supposed to eat the entire thing.  Perhaps it’s for display at weddings?

I take a lot of random pictures of candy that never get posted here.  To help fix that, I’m going to start randomly posting pictures with a small description of the candy on an irregular basis. This is something I’d wanted to start earlier, but when my laptop hard drive broke I lost all of the pictures that I never uploaded to Flickr - quite a blow!

These are gomitas.  My Abuelita’s favorite candy, we bought numerous different bags to try them all, and the ones pictured here were my favorite - sweet, soft, and flavorful gumdrops!

It was raining in Masatepe.  That wasn’t unusual. After all, I was visiting Nicaragua during the rainy season or more optimistically, “green” season.  I had spent most my time of the two hour ride on the chicken bus wondering what I was going to do when I arrived, and now I had my answer: run for the nearest shelter.  A kindly bookstore owner in Granada had directed me here, to the supposed nerve center of Nicaraguan candy, but I had no idea where to actually find the sweets.
Continue reading Nicaraguan Dulceria