Our trip is starting to near its end, but there is still a lot to accomplish.
We started off by bussing to EHL, the #1 hospitality school in the entire world. Immediately, we were in awe of the campus. It was large, nice, and modern on the inside. Breaking up into two groups, we got a tour of the school, which included notable places such as their sporting areas, cafeteria, Michelin star restaurant, and more. We even got to purchase a drink from their completely student-run cafe/smoothie bar.
While on our tour, we quickly became aware of the large balance between academic and personal life at EHL. There are many different clubs like BCA, and students have all of the creative freedom in the world to start their own if none of their interests align with any of the pre-made ones.
Once the tour ended, we got lunch like the rest of the students: in the cafeteria. Meals consisted of one main course, side, drink, and dessert. There were many different choices such as pasta, pizza, steak, and even muscles. The food was really good, and it was hard to believe it was cafeteria food.
It was then time for another presentation. Once again, the external activities available at EHL were made a point of emphasis. It was also heavily based on the internships. We saw the different connections EHL had to certain companies as well as students' ability to travel around the world for their internship.
Of course it wouldn't be Switzerland without chocolate, so at the end of the presentation, we went into one of the many kitchens in the school to attend a chocolate workshop. Dressed in aprons and hats, we learned about the different proportions associated with each chocolate brand. Furthermore, we filled molds with the pre-made chocolate, and had the freedom to fill it with as much almonds, cranberries, or pistachios as we wanted.
Once the chocolate molds were put in the fridge to harden, the chef taught us about tempering, which is a process of heating and then cooling down chocolate in an attempt to make it harder and less prone to melting.
Eventually it was time to get back our creations. There were boxes and a bag to put our treats into.
We then had a really long bus ride. After sitting in there for a while, we finally moved to our third and final city of the trip: Geneva.
We quickly made our way to the hotel, dropping our things off and changing for dinner. But before we could have another meal, we went onto a bus tour around the city. We couldn't get through the whole thing due to timing issues with the restaurant, but we most memorably saw the United Nations Office and a large broken chair sculpture.
During the entirety of the tour we were able to experience, there was a headset explaining different facts and telling you where to look to see the buildings it was discussing.
We then headed over to dinner at an Italian restaurant where everyone got either a salad, pizza, or pasta. Joining us was 2023 ACAHA alum and Chocolate Competition Grand Prize winner Caitlyn Park. We got to ask her about her adjustment to school in a new country as well as her decision making process.
It then began to get very dark, so we left and walked back to the hotel.
We were all still excited from our first day in Geneva, so we cannot wait to see what tomorrow has in store for us.
Good night!