Sweet chocolate afternoon in Cologne

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Where to start exploring a new city, with a list in hand of so many museums, galleries and other places of interest...the chocolate museum/factory of course.

Please check next page for lots of pictures. Sorry the blog can't pass you a free sample.

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Photos

Famous cantilevered buildings on the Rhine waterfront
Walking over the bridge to get to the chocolate factory, we saw these unique upscale apartments.

The chocolate museum and factory
This building houses a terrific exhibit of the growth and processing of chocolate beans, including a tropical greenhouse, much like what we had seen at the Sydney Royal Botanic Garden exhibition called "The Sweet Obsession" in the Calyx. But it also includes a working chocolate factory and exhibits on the cultural history of chocolate in Mesoamerica and in Europe.

Freshly dipped chocolate
This lady hand-dips wafers in her vat of liquid chocolate and gives them to all the visitors.

Boxing up the freshly machine-wrapped chocolates
I couldn't help thinking of that hilarious scene in the old "I Love Lucy" show when Lucy is working on a production line and gets completely bamboozled by all the candies coming down the conveyer belt. Can you remember that?

Robot at work, position 1
Picking up a raft of chocolates

Robot at work, position 2
And depositing the raft of chocolates to the wrapping machine.

Moulding machine
This machine squirts the liquid chocolate into the moulding trays.

And give it a shake
In this step the moulding trays are rapidly vibrated so the liquid chocolate settles to give each chocolate a flat top surface.

Chocolate Factory Choo Choo
We rode this back to the Cathedral area.

A dramatic street theatre event.
But all we could understand was there was angst being expressed.

The scene when the Three Kings visited the newborn Jesus
The Cologne Cathedral claims to contain the bones of the three kings.

The 4th organ hangs from the roof!
Thirty-two tonnes of high-rise organ for improved acoustics.

Comments

[michelleandkev]

Vat of chocolate at the factory
Lucky you; I bet it tasted wonderful. My Auntie Hilda used to work at the Rowntree Chocolate factory in York many years ago. You were allowed to eat as many chocolates as you liked she told me, but after a week there you couldn't even stand the smell of chocolate!!

[Robyn]

4. 7 11
Did you buy any perfume in Cologne , very refreshing