Austria – You Sweet, Sweet Land
You probably know Austria as being the home of Mozart or for its skiing slopes. Yet, there’s much more to the country. For instance, there’s…oh…the chocolate.
Making chocolate in Austria is not a simple human occupation; it is an art and a major component of the national culture.
Probably the most popular attraction is the Lindt chocolate factory in Goggnitz, a mountainous town in the Neunkirchen region. Lindt has its origins in Switzerland, where the headquarters of the company remain through today. But the factory in Austria is a testimony of the decades spent in the service of chocolate perfection.
You could also visit the United Chocolates factory in Stephansplatz. They are most famous for their round shaped chocolate candies, filled with various creams and flavors – sometimes even two or three types of different filling in one candy.
A final recommendation comes from the Australian country side, where Josef Zotter runs his Chocolate Factory (Schokoladen Manufaktur) on entirely organic ingredients. You can find the place at 8333 Riegersburg, Bergl 56A. You will definitely be impressed by the variety of chocolates – over 200 flavors (including unusual combinations with poppy seeds, pineapple or turmeric, and with coco concentrations up to 70 per cent), all size and shapes, (some of them even hand shaped).
At the end of the day, if you relish a piece of chocolate in an Austrian park, enjoy the sound of a street concert and gaze at the Alps, you would get a pretty accurate sense of the Austrian experience.