Back from the Chocolate Museum
February 14th 2008 18:45
Category: No Category
Today was a day devoted to things luxuriant and pleasurable... It started with a glazed Italian cream bun in bed as I gazed at the sole yellow-orange wall in our hotel room, feeling warm and cheery.
The first stop was the Perfume Museum, which consisted of thousands of bottles of all shapes and sizes, and a small selection of perfumes to take a whiff of. They had bottles from everywhere from Argentina to China, any size from an inch to 30 cms. My favourite were the irregularly shaped bottles, and the iridescent glass ones recovered from many centruries ago. The bottle lids were often quite fancy and/or experimental (by the way, the / button is above the seven - will the discoveries never end?). The only problems was that they were crammed so close together that some were obscured by others. The Museum was at the back of a modern perfume shop, and only a small sign alerted us to its presence in the first place, but it´s a great idea from a commercial pov to connect the two sites.
After an oily paella with not enough meat in it and a tasty slice of chocolate cake, we continued to the Egyptian Museum, which was fascinating. I was most struck by the head of a grey statue which was very refined and beautiful, four canoptic jars with the heads of Horus and co on the lids, and wall reliefs which had been recreated faithfully.
Our next stop was the Chocolate Museum, which had smooth and elegant displays documenting the making of chocolate, its origins and how it made its way into Europe. Did you know that pastry shops were only in existence from the 19th century? Chocolate was seen as a food for the upper classes at first, and French ladies carried aound boxes of bonbons so they could have a bit of chocolate at any time. Offering someone a bonbon was considered a gracious and distinguished act, and was sometimes a courtship ritual.
They had models of the Sagrada Familia, Casa Amattler and a bull fighting scene made out of chocolate, amongst many others (and we´re talking very large scale here - think more than a cubic metre in most cases!), including a ´painting´of Dali using large chunks of milk, dark and white chocolate.
I was thinking about visiting the Historical Museum to top it off, but my feet had had enough so we relaxed at our hotel, going out for a lovely biryani in a nearby Pakistani restraunt. I am still yet to find a Thai restraunt in Europe... there seems a surprising absence of them. If so, I may have to reconsider living in Europe, for I can´t do without my Thai. Okay, so maybe I can, but I totally feel like there´s something vital missing from my diet.
People here seem to be fascinated by Sydney and Australia, and the prospect of living there.
A few questions on my mind:
To what extent is self-esteem 'in' in our culture? I haven´t come across any eternal optimists of late, and this bothers me. You?
The first stop was the Perfume Museum, which consisted of thousands of bottles of all shapes and sizes, and a small selection of perfumes to take a whiff of. They had bottles from everywhere from Argentina to China, any size from an inch to 30 cms. My favourite were the irregularly shaped bottles, and the iridescent glass ones recovered from many centruries ago. The bottle lids were often quite fancy and/or experimental (by the way, the / button is above the seven - will the discoveries never end?). The only problems was that they were crammed so close together that some were obscured by others. The Museum was at the back of a modern perfume shop, and only a small sign alerted us to its presence in the first place, but it´s a great idea from a commercial pov to connect the two sites.
Our next stop was the Chocolate Museum, which had smooth and elegant displays documenting the making of chocolate, its origins and how it made its way into Europe. Did you know that pastry shops were only in existence from the 19th century? Chocolate was seen as a food for the upper classes at first, and French ladies carried aound boxes of bonbons so they could have a bit of chocolate at any time. Offering someone a bonbon was considered a gracious and distinguished act, and was sometimes a courtship ritual.
I was thinking about visiting the Historical Museum to top it off, but my feet had had enough so we relaxed at our hotel, going out for a lovely biryani in a nearby Pakistani restraunt. I am still yet to find a Thai restraunt in Europe... there seems a surprising absence of them. If so, I may have to reconsider living in Europe, for I can´t do without my Thai. Okay, so maybe I can, but I totally feel like there´s something vital missing from my diet.
People here seem to be fascinated by Sydney and Australia, and the prospect of living there.
A few questions on my mind:
To what extent is self-esteem 'in' in our culture? I haven´t come across any eternal optimists of late, and this bothers me. You?
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Comment by Nina
I hope you continue to have a wonderful trip
Take care,
Nina
Comment by Ash
Australian Traveller
Flashes of memories
Have to reiterate Nina`s words here - sounds like you are having a wonderful time. All those museums and interesting facts... wow! I`d be in heaven.
Ash
Comment by postmoderncritic
Postmodern Critic
Relativity Watch
Padsoc
I lam a fan of Dali also...
I hear that there's a wax figure of him in the wax museum, but unfortunatey I didn't have time to see it... I did see plenty of photographs of him in the Barcelona Dali Museum, including a pic of him looking very dignifed and stern while in the ocean - his pose was very funny and I took a photo. For more details of his other manifestations in the museum, go back a post or two.
Hey Ash,
I almost forgot: At one point cocoa beans were used as currency by the Aztecs! I almost couldn't believe it... Harsh punishments were in place for anyone caught forging the beans. I think this was about 1200 AD. Hee hee.
You have to write all about your own trip, missy!