Friday was one of the best days ever. My friends and I went on a (free!) tour of the Freia chocolate factory with the International Student Union from Uni. On the train ride there, we were all joking about how we hoped it would be like WIlly Wonka and have a river of chocolate and edible walls etc. Obviously, we were joking around, but seriously this place was magical. As we approached the building, the smell of chocolate was impossible to miss and it put a smile on all of our faces. First stop inside the factory? The super awesome candy store, where everything was at least 50% less than in stores. We all came out with bags full to the brim. One girl bought an entire display of Oreos!<\/p>\n
Next stop was the chocolate making room. By far, the coolest thing. We sat around picnic benches as our tour guide, Inge-Johanne, placed bowls full of different Freia chocolates in front of us. There were at least 6 different candy bowls on each table. Then came the fun part: we each got to make our own Freia chocolate bar! after spreading the melted milk chocolate into our mold, we used the different candies to \u201cdecorate\u201d our precious creations. It was so neat to make chocolate!<\/p>\n
After this, we headed to Freia Land, Norway\u2019s take on the concept of Willy Wonka\u2019s chocolate factory. Seriously, coolest thing ever. We gathered into the room that looked like a giant Kvik Lunsj (Norway\u2019s favorite candy car; basically a KitKat) and Inge pulled out a silver platter stacked with mini Kvik Lunsj bars. Then, a secret door opened up and we were in the middle of the rainforest, on the hunt for cocoa pods. We walked into a cave and found ourselves in an ancient meso-American temple, complete with wall paintings and a giant stone alter in the middle. We learned the story of how chocolate was discovered and revered and eventually used as a form of currency. A second secret door opened, and we stepped into a time machine! Inge asked for a volunteer to crank back the clock, so I (of course) quickly volunteered and took us to 1527. From there, we visited a 16th century ship bound for the Americas, a dutch windmill that created hot chocolate powder, Norway\u2019s first chocolate shop\/parlor, and finally crossed giant glaciers and traversed the Norwegian mountainside to get back to the factory, receiving a different Freia chocolate at each stop.<\/p>\n
When we came out of Freia Land, our chocolate bars were lined up and waiting for us in the little boxes we had decorated previously. When we moved to take them, Inge told us to wait and proceeded to add a bag of Non-Stop candies and three rolls of chocolate to each of our bars! Best. Tour. Ever. The only downside to this day was the fact that I have given up sugar for Lent, so I couldn\u2019t actually eat any of the delicious chocolates that surrounded me all day. But, it\u2019s worth the wait, and I\u2019m happy to have shared this fantastic experience with my friends :]<\/p>\n
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