Holy Cow!

I love cheese. No doubt about it. My fridge is always stocked with Cheddar Jack or Brie.  I have a tendency to order the cheesiest dishes at restaurants and my friends call me "cheesy." (Though the last one may not be due to my preference for cheddar)  Therefore, it was a pleasant treat when we headed to the sleepy, quaint land of Gruyere, Switzerland for a tour of the Gruyere Cheese Factory, birthplace of my favorite afternoon-and mid-morning-and midnight-snack.

There, we endured an awfully long and mundane guided tour of the factory, using a listening guide to hear Cherry the Cow narrate the cheese's journey in a much too chirpy Swiss-English accent.

Our ears weren't the only senses tickled. We also worked our noses...

our hands...

and our tastebuds.

After the tour, we ventured into the village near the factory where we were transported to another time...a time of pretty buildings and cobblestone roads. 

Dinner that night was just the gooey mozzarella topping to a splendid Domino's pizza day.  We were treated to "raclett," a meal that consist of meats or potatoes covered with slow melted cheese that were grazed off its original chunk. YUM YUM.  

Happy cheese comes from happy cows which makes a happy Janice.