Free Swiss chocolate from Max Chocolatier, anyone?

The Frau doesn’t make it a habit to do so-called sponsored posts. But every once and awhile, somebody comes along with an offer so sweet she can’t turn it down. Especially since it is Easter time and she has no willpower. Every store she goes into has been taunting her with chocolate bunnies and eggs since February. So please forgive her, but she accepted some free chocolate in exchange for writing about it–but only because one of you will also get some free chocolate too.

Now don’t worry. While you’re considering whether or not you might enjoy a little free handmade Swiss chocolate, The Frau has done her best to make sure you will not be disappointed in this prize.

That’s why Max Chocolatier, in Lucerne, sent The Frau a box of Schoggiplättli so she could test their chocolate before offering some to you.

Schoggliplättli

Schoggiplättli are thin chocolate squares. But The Frau prefers to give them another name: heaven. Inside her beautifully designed box from Max Chocolatier were four different kinds of handmade chocolate—all with unique flavors you just don’t find at the Migros.

Passion fruit. Hazelnut. Rose petal. Coconut. The Frau has difficultly deciding on her favorite after eating them all, let alone thinking straight. She’s kind of on Cloud Nine, yodelers, which makes sense, considering each square tasted like a little piece of heaven.

Your prize

The Frau will stop taunting you now and showing you the chocolate bunny instead. One yodeler—that’s you!—can win a beautiful Max Chocolatier wild chocolate bunny, just in time for Easter. What’s more–you can even choose if you prefer a dark Madagascar 68% chocolate or a milk chocolate Rio Huimbi 42%? There’s no small print in this big chocolate give-away, except to say you must have a Swiss mailing address to win.

To enter for your free Swiss chocolate bunny, please leave a comment by April 7 in the comments for this post. Include whether you prefer dark or milk chocolate. Make sure The Frau can find you via your link or another winner will be chosen. The winner will be chosen at random and The Frau is guessing your odds will be good. Viel Glück!

Easter in Switzerland

When it comes to Easter planning, The Frau is frustrated. It seems like the perfect chance to get away for the long weekend, but the travel industry does their best to make sure it isn’t. Overpriced airfares (CHF 600 for a 1-hour flight anyone?), apart-hotels that usually have 3-night minimum stays make them 7 instead, and then there are the warnings from locals of heavy traffic.

It’s enough to make anyone consider staying home. Including The Frau.

Easter in Switzerland

So The Frau started researching how to have a fun-filled Easter weekend closer to home. And if the travel industry is frustrating you, don’t let them win. Here is a complete Easter weekend itinerary in Switzerland. Frohe Ostern, mitenand.

Maundy Thursday and Good Friday

Easter Procession in Mendrisio

Costumes from La Scala theater. Torch bearers. Brass instruments and drums. And 50 horses. Watch Christ’s journey to Calvary as you’ve never seen it before–recreated by 200 actors through the streets of Mendrisio.

Easter Saturday

Easter Egg Hunt at Museum Langmatt

This beautiful house/museum in Baden, filled with Monets and Reniors, also has a beautiful garden. At 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 19, they will have an Easter Egg hunt for children.  Cost is CHF 10 per child. Maximum age of participation is 8 years old.

Easter Sunday

Champagne spa breakfast in Leukerbad

Celebrate Easter Sunday in style—in your swimsuit. At the spa in Leukerbad, a champagne breakfast will be served poolside. The cost is only 42 CHF per person and the price includes spa entry.

Easter Monday

Bremgarten Easter Market

Ok, besides the Easter eggs and bunnies, there will be that odd stand selling Confederate flags. But the Easter spirit is there. And if you’re looking for a large market in a beautiful setting, then the Brengarten Easter Market won’t disappoint.

Anyone else have Easter ideas? The Frau thanks you for sharing.

Five Swiss chocolate specialties you should eat now

In case you haven't noticed the chocolate bunnies, which took over all Swiss grocery stores right after the reindeer were retired, another holiday, and therefore, another reason to eat chocolate is upon us. As if you needed the excuse. So The Frau has graciously provided five good reasons to get going on your proper Swiss 12 kilos of chocolate consumption this year.

Mohrenköpfe

Swiss Easter: another excuse to eat chocolate

PC Americans, please close your eyes now. Because Mohrenkopf literally translates to "nigger head." And you should eat one. Why? With thin layer of chocolate on the outside and marshmallow on the inside, Mohrenköpfe are like s'mores but without the graham cracker. Make sure you enjoy the right brand, where the marshmallow literally melts in your mouth as m&m’s always claimed to do but never did. The Frau recommends Dubler Mohrenköpfe. You can find them at Manor Food or even buy them direct from their factory in Waltenschwil if you are a Hausfrau and their limited opening hours actually fit your schedule. (Warning: do not feed a Mohrenkopf to your toddler unless you want to give her a bath.)

Price of one nigger head: 90 Rappen.

Mövenpick Chocolate Chips Ice Cream

The Frau was never a big chocolate ice cream connoisseur, but after trying the Mövenpick  chocolate chips ice cream, she has reformed. This ice cream tastes more like chocolate custard than ice cream. And if you can’t stop eating it, you’ll want to run for the border–and not just to burn off the calories. In Germany, you can get a package of Mövenpick chocolate chips ice cream for 2 Euros, or about one fifth of the Swiss price (CHF 12). The Frau has not figured out why Swiss products are cheaper in Germany because she's too busy running over there to get them.

Schober Hot Chocolate

Hot chocolate served with a side of chocolate? What are you waiting for? Café Schober’s famous hot chocolate is a drink that’s a meal in itself. Totally justifies the high price.

Price: Cup in café CHF 7

Sprüngli Truffle Cake

The small version of this cake claims to feed four, but it’s so delightfully rich that you could probably squeeze at least six or eight servings out of it. The Frau got this cake for Baby M to celebrate her first birthday and she enjoyed it so much that amazingly, more went into her mouth than on her dress.

Price: CHF 20

Lindt Passion Caramel & Sea Salt Chocolate Bar

Not shockingly, the combination of Swiss chocolate, caramel pieces, and sea salt is a good one. You can find this chocolate bar for sale at Manor Food and Coop.

Price: CHF 4,95

What is your favorite Swiss chocolate specialty? Inquiring Easter Bunnies want to know.

You Know it's Easter When...

It's been a tradition for the last five years. It never fails, every Easter, my grandpa sends me a package of marshmallow Easter eggs. He doesn't put them in a box or anything, he just wraps them in a brown paper bag. So they always arrive partly smashed and stale, but I love them all the same.

Confederate Gear in Your Swiss Easter Basket

I'm a little behind, but I still wanted to share my experience at the Easter Market in Bremgarten. Bremgarten is an adorable town in the heart of Northern Switzerland and I was expecting equally cute things to buy at the yearly Easter Market held on Easter Monday.

Instead, I saw booths like this:



Needless to say I was pretty disappointed. Was I wrong to expect Easter items at an Easter market? I mean, I didn’t come to a tiny Swiss town in the middle of nowhere on Easter Monday to buy things like Confederate belt buckles. If I wanted those, I would have stayed in my previous hometown of Richmond, VA.

At the Bremgarten Easter Market, there were maybe five stands that had anything to do with Easter—you know, the traditional decorative bunny and chick stuff. Even some plastic Jesus lawn art would have been something. Instead, most sellers were hawking items like license plates from all the U.S. 50 states, Mexican food, or various cleaning supplies (it is time for spring cleaning, after all).

And then there was Anis im Wunderland. (website: www.anismodel.ch)


But. Needless to say, it was all wonderfully strange.

According to Swiss Tourism, the Bremgarten Easter market receives 50,000 visitors every year. Well, after my experience, unless I hear that they’re upping the ante on the traditional Easter wares, I can tell you that next year there will only be 49,999.

Happy Easter!

In honor of actually spending an Easter at home in Switzerland this year, I wanted to post a few pictures:

View of our tulips and daffodils from our kitchen. Finally in bloom!


A number of Swiss seem to decorate their outdoor trees and bushes for Easter. Here's an example:


On Good Friday all the stores were closed, but you wouldn't know it based on the way many places just leave their stuff out, like this garden store:


And it wouldn't be Easter in Switzerland without a good chocolate bunny, like this one on display at Migros:


Frohe Ostern. Thanks for reading.