Cindy, her husband Chris and their 3 Kids - Naya, Teo and Solia are on a year-long trip around the world. They both took sabbaticals from their work, the kids out of school, put their stuff into storage, rented out their home in San Diego and off they went -- seeking out new experiences & adventures into the unknown, making new friends and catching up with old ones..

So when she pings me to ask if I'm in town while they're out & about in Europe, I just ask her to come-on over. And what a lovely time we all had together -- morning walk, talks, baking Zopf together, visiting the local Cheese store, hiking along the Angel's path in Seelisberg, savouring Crêpes & Hot Chocolate, enjoying authentic veggie Chinese dinner (Thanks to Cindy and Solia), and of course an Indian meal.. (Gotta have that!)

Though I've known Cindy for a few years, it's the first time that I'm meeting her hubby and kids, but it felt like we'd known them for a long time. We're amazed at how independent and easy-going the kids are. They earn their own money by doing house-hold chores from which they not only buy their food, and pay for their health insurance, but also pay back the taxes to their parents. Wow!! These kids are ready to take on the real world head-on... 

They're not addicted to TV or other online media like most others, though they need to be online for an hour each day to finish their home-schooling assignments. Each kid has a project for the World trip: Naya is delving into the History of each continent they visit; Teo - tests the water quality from each region and Solia, who dreams of having her own Restaurant one day, has picked Chocolate as her project. She has visited chocolate farms in each continent and has collected chocolate samples and is eager to subject us to a chocolate tasting session. Whoa... the evening just got better -- Dark chocolate degustation session!! She picks out 7 chocolates from different regions, we throw in a Swiss one (just for fun!) and we're asked to rate each chocolate on the Look, Aroma, Snap, Taste, Texture and Flavor. Solia has grapes & water to clean our palate between tastings... And for ~ half an hour we try one chocolate after another.. almost all 70% or higher but amazingly different in characteristics.. And finally the results are in -- We all end up picking the Swiss Chocolate (huh??) over the South American or the African. The difference was probably due to the long Conching process which gave it the well rounded Flavor and the melt-in-the-mouth smoothness!! The chocolate factory Felchlin confirms it. On learning that Solia is working on a Chocolate project, the lady giving the tour hands over a complete book of Chocolate processing to Solia!! 

On our walks we learn that it wasn't always easy to travel together for 9 months. Initially the kids missed their friends, school and just being home, but each new experience helped them grow. Now they're not sure how they'd feel when they get back. Cindy and Chris hope to start something new - they have some ideas about "Doing Good".

Soon it's time for them to go.. we wish them more fun adventures as they drive off to Italy!!