Frau Robertson and the Schokolade Factory

I'm not sure if it's the clean-cut, square branding, the seemingly unlimited variety, or the fact that it's German, but I have been hooked on Ritter Sport chocolates since arriving in Germany. This Christmas, I developed a serious addiction for their winter coconut macaroon flavor right before they decided to take it off the shelves. After searching through all the local grocery stores, I decided to go straight to the source: the Ritter Sport ChocoShop in Waldenbuch, Germany.

Ritter Sport headquarters in Waldenbuch, Germany 

In case you haven't heard of Waldenbuch, neither had I. Thankfully, it lies just outside of Stuttgart, and the Ritter Sport compound looks like a green, square-themed oasis right off of the main street.
The Ritter Sport factory offers three attractions for their fans: a free exhibit detailing the history and process of making such delectable square morsels, a museum of 3rd generation co-owner Marli Hoppe-Ritter's square art (literally), and, of course, the ChocoShop.
Unfortunately, for sanitary reasons, there are no factory tours. Also, when debating the €5 entrance fee to the museum, we asked how the museum was. "Squarey" was our answer. Needless to say we skipped the culture to fast-forward to the chocolate.

Though not extensive, the exhibit was pretty interesting. Ritter prides itself on being socially and environmentally responsible in everything from cocoa bean farming straight to their eco-friendly packaging; therefore. there is a heavy emphasis on their work in Central America and their green production process. They did also have two free samples - one of cocoa beans (I will never make that mistake again) and one small Ritter square. At least it was delivered cleverly!

The grand prize was definitely the ChocoShop. All of the flavors in one spot, and for €0.50-€0.60 a bar! In the back, they had a section for "damaged" chocolate (though I saw no evidence of such) and test flavors in mysterious white wrappers. If we spoke German, we would be able to decipher what the test flavors were made of, but for us it turned into a Ritter surprise section, which was probably even more fun! Hours and contact information are below and on their website, and in case you were wondering, they did have my winter coconut macaroon favorite...and it was on sale!!


RITTER SPORT SCHOKOLADEN
Alfred-Ritter-Strasse 27
71111 Waldenbuch
Info-telephone: 0 71 57 / 97-704

CHOCOSHOP opening hours:
Mo-Fr 8.00am to 6.30pm
Sa 9.00am to 6.00pm
Open on selected Sundays and holidays from 11.00am to 6.00pm. Inquire at the CHOCOSHOP for dates.
Please note that the CHOCOSHOP has closed on the following dates: January 1st and 6th, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Easter Monday, Whit Sunday, December 24th – 26th and December 31st.

Weekend Getaway: The Alps!

A huge bonus of living in Bavaria? The Alps are literally a short drive away! We took advantage of our prime location and a base-organized trip which included transportation, lodging, breakfast, and super-discounted ski and snowboard rentals for a long weekend skiing in the Alps.
Though skiing in Axamer-Lizum, Austria (home of the 1964 Olympic alpine skiing events) and Garmisch, Germany sounds advanced, it sadly didn't magically improve my ski and snowboard skills. Regardless, here are some of the most memorable pieces of the trip:



Après-ski at the top of the mountain:

Though I was not skilled enough to make it to the authentic ski-in Apres-Ski on the Olympic run, the huts I made it to still had a way of making Jager shots (thanks, Chris!) seem chic.










Crazy European outfits:

I honestly felt like I had stepped into a mid-70s ski lodge movie set at times. It was harder than I thought to capture this on film, so these may or may not be American stand-ins...










'Learning' to snowboard:

A reliable source told me that the bunny-hops on the Alps are equivalent to double black diamonds in Colorado.

The views: 

Almost everywhere you looked there was another absolutely breathtaking view. Thanks, Dan for snapping this one since I didn't make it that far on the snowboard!






Staying in the bachelor pad:

That's right, I was the lone girl in a hostel apartment with seven guys. Girls - they are all in the Army so you know they are fit, and did I mention there are a few doctors in the mix? If you hadn't planned your trip to Germany before, I bet you're looking at flights now!
Photo credit: thanks again, Dan!