User blog:007Jamesdean/Volcanic Trip Part 11

Part 11: SWITZERLAND

Vanzilla 2.0 was flying over the European Alps in Jet Mode.

Naruto: Whoa! What mountains are those?

Me: Those are the Alps. One of the most beautiful mountain ranges on the planet. That mountain over there that we're flying by is Mont-Blanc, the highest mountain in Europe and one of the 7 highest mountains in the world.

We were flying by Mont-Blanc located on the border between Italy and France.

Sakura: It's beautiful. How tall is it?

Me: It's 15,777 feet.

Varie: It's beautiful.

Nicole: You'll love our next destination.

We later arrived in Switzerland.

Nicole: Welcome to Zermatt, Switzerland everyone.

Laney: Wow! It's so beautiful. I know that mountain there. That's the Matterhorn. One of the most beautiful mountains in the world.

Luna: Dudes. That is amazing.

Luan: It sure is a Mountain of Wonder. (Laughs to Rimshot) Get it?

We laugh.

Me: (Laughs) That was a good one Luan.

Lynn Sr.: (Laughs) Good one.

Varie: (Laughs) That was funny.

Raven: (Laughs) I just got it.

We land and go to a great dessert restaurant.

Mary: I love Switzerland guys. It's one of the great Chocolate exporters in the world.

Nicole: That's right sis.

Mary: Switzerland and Belgium are the 2 greatest chocolate exporters in the world.

Lola: We love chocolate.

Lori: We literally do but we didn't know that Switzerland and Belgium are the great chocolate producers.

Mary: Oh yeah.

Jessie K: That's right. Cocoa and Chocolate are made from the seeds of a tropical tree called the Cacao Tree.

Lisa: Correct. Theobroma Cacao is the scientific name for the tree.

Shanan: That's right. We've been making Chocolate from the Cacao tree ever since 1900 B.C.

Jessie K: We started making chocolate in the Olmec civilization in Mexico. Most of the worlds chocolate comes from South and Central America. Switzerland, Belgium and Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco, California are the great chocolate producers and sellers of the world.

Mary: That's right sis.

Shanan: But in order for Cacao pods to form certain conditions have to happen. Cacao trees have pods that have the seeds inside them. They start out as little white flowers.

Naruto: It's part of a special cycle I'll bet.

Shanan: That's right bro. These flowers have to be pollinated by a very specific type of insect.

Lana: Is it a bumblebee?

Shanan: No. It's not a bumblebee. It's a tiny little fly that's no bigger than the size of your pinky fingernail. It's called a Midge Fly.

Lisa: The correct type of fly would be Forcipomiya Squamipennis. The scientific name for the Chocolate Midge Fly.

Shanan: That's right Lisa. The Chocolate Midge is the pollinator of the Cacao Tree. But in order for these Midge Flies to come to Cacao Trees they have to come from Mud Wallows that Peccary Pigs make. Midge Flies come from Peccary mud wallows.

Me: Those are serious conditions.

Shanan: Yeah.

Cody: Lots of things in nature really come with a strange set of conditions.

Vince: They sure do.

Fu: Chocolate is great stuff.

Hinata: It sure is.

Leni: Totes. We go absolutely crazy for chocolate.

Lana: We all do.

Eddy: I love Chocolate as much as Jawbreakers.

Luan: We all do Eddy. It's a sweet endeavor! (Laughs to Rimshot)

We all laugh and everyone in the restaurant was laughing too.

Later we had a good lunch and learned alot about the history of Switzerland and the Alps.

We then went to our next destination.

Continues in Part 12.