Malena loves candy. And travel. And both together. And thus, this site was born.
Switzerland. The very name conjures up images of rich chocolate. Obviously, I had to visit. From Avignon I took a (per norm, very expensive) train to Geneva. I wanted to discover the birthplace of milk chocolate and the machine that gives modern chocolate its silky smooth consistency. The rumors of Swis efficiency are certainly correct: the train arrived right on time, and the streets had more directional instructions than any I’ve seen before - each lane carefully demarcated for bicycles, pedestrians, or cars. I also had the best meal I’ve had so far on my trip: a small restaurant serving Eritrean food - lentils, spiced beef, and salad served on a delicious crepe. (more…)
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Mmmm baklava! Not exactly a candy, but close enough for my purposes. In Turkey baklava tends to consist of pastry, pistachio, and a lot of honey. There are also kinds with chocolate, walnuts, and creme - but I tended to prefer the more basic variety. I tried the baklava in a venerable pastry shop in Istanbul, renowned by the locals as the best in Turkey, and then traveled halfway across the country to Gaziantep - the Turkish hometown of baklava - where pistachios are harvested and stalls selling the rich, sweet pastries abound. Sadly, I never learned to make it.
I am finally caught up in uploading pictures, so take a look on flickr for all my pictures from Europe, Turkey, and Syria. Next step: write lots of blog entries!
Yes, I am safe in Syria - even with the bombing the US did on the border with Iraq. The locals here aren’t exactly happy about it, but they don’t blame individual Americans as much as government policy.
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There is something for all tastes. Big ones, small ones, round ones, square ones, yellow ones, red ones, soft ones, cracky ones… even those enriched with vitamins…
Sweets are little masterpieces!
… This museum is dedicated to all those people who have devoted their lives to a guilty passion, greediness.” (more…)
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These looked and sounded amazing to me: a hard shell of raspberry flavored gummy around a soft raspberry jelly. They didn’t quite live up to the description, to me - too sweet, too sticky, and not as gooey as I was imaging inside (instead it has a thick gelatiny consistency.) Still, I enjoyed eating these traditional candies from Ghent, a small city between Bruges and Brussels in Belgium. Also, their popularity with real Belgium citizens is obvious - street carts full of these purple gumdrops were a common sight on a weekend afternoon.
I sent this to a few people who sponsored me, so if they have any comments, chime in!
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After Belgium, I took a (quite expensive) train to Paris. I had no idea what to expect… certainly popular culture gives the impression that Paris is completely made up of rude waiters charging extravagant prices and refusing to help anyone who can’t speak French without a hint of an accent. Fortunately, I found Paris (and France in general) far from the stereotype - except for the prices of course! - and probably would select it as my favorite European country so far. It was one of the friendliest places I visited… well, except for the waiters who were pretty rude. (more…)
Common in Honduras and Nicaragua, these were chewy, dark, rich caramels that stuck to your teeth and almost tasted like coffee. I loved them. They were a little bitter tasting, and extremely sticky.
Sadly I don’t have a link to purchase these… They seem to be made mostly locally.
Coming soon: Paris! I have been shooting through Paris trying to get to Syria before my visa expires, but I did have time to visit an amazing Turkish Delight factory in Afyon! Tonight I am taking an overnight bus to Gaziantep, the home of baklava. Hopefully I will get caught up one day, because I have lots of good stories…
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After Brussels, I took a much needed break from chocolate and went to Bruges - to watch some candy making in action! Bruges is a beautiful city, full of canals and horse carriages, expensive restaurants and shopping Brits. I struggled with the prices there, and couldn’t afford to stay for long (dinner didn’t get much cheaper than 10 euros.) Still, it was nice to be there after Brussels! (more…)
There are four different kind of British gummy candies in this picture… can anyone recognize all 4? (Although technically, I think one is Australian.) I’ll send a small, candy bar sized, sample of authentic Spanish or Turkish candy to the person who comments with them all first :)
Kate, you aren’t allowed to answer!
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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! (more…)
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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.