Barcelona, Spain; October 2008
You can’t get more classically Spanish than bull fighting but as an animal lover it’s not particularly appealing to me. Stumbling across this chocolate sculpture of bull fighting at the Chocolate Museum in Barcelona was as close as I got to witnessing the real thing during my holiday in Spain, and that’s fine by me.
If you are thinking of going, I must warn you that the Chocolate Museum is not quite as good as it sounds but there are some fun sculptures and a few examples of machinery used in chocolate processing. The ticket is a piece of chocolate with the entry details printed on the wrapper, which got me in the mood straight away. You don’t need to pay to get into the café where they serve a decent hot chocolate and sell handmade chocolates from the attached pastry school.
Bull fighting might be classically Spanish but it’s not Catalonian and it seems the citizens of Barcelona don’t care for it much either. Rather than the matador, the ultimate Catalan symbol is almost certainly Gaudi’s famous colourful lizard. The original is in Parc Güell in the city’s north, but naturally the Chocolate Museum had a sweet copy as well.
The Chocolate Musuem is nothing if not international so not all the scenes were Spanish - there was also an American presence with Bambi and Ben Hur and, my personal favourite, the classically French Asterix.
This post is part of Photo Friday, an event run by Debbie at DeliciousBaby, a travel blog for parents. Bloggers can post a photo that tells a story and link to Debbie’s post. Check out the other submissions this week and my photo post on the famous Gaudi-designed cathedral La Sagrada Familia over at my travel blog Roaming Tales.
October 31st, 2008 at 11.06am
[...] at travel blog DeliciousBaby. Check out the other submissions this week and also my photo post on chocolate bull fighting at my food blog The Gooseberry [...]
October 31st, 2008 at 2.42pm
I’m always amazed at the creations people can make out of chocolate. Fun pictures!
October 31st, 2008 at 2.48pm
Oh.. I would love to walk around there wiping off my mouth. Those sculptures look amazing. I admire all the artists who spent hours and hours creating all these amazing scultures. Talking about talent and patience.
October 31st, 2008 at 6.11pm
I loved what little I saw of Gaudi’s stuff in a great “Barcelona” exhibit at the art museum in Cleveland (Ohio).
Looks like a fun museum, though
October 31st, 2008 at 7.40pm
I love Barcelona and Gaudi. I haven’t been to Spain since 2001 (eeek!) and this put a little heat on the burner to get there again.
Never got to the Chocolate museum. Fun pictures.
Cheers,
Adrienne
I don’t think the Chocolate Museum is a must-see to be honest! One museum I really loved was the Pre-Columbian Art Museum. It’s opposite the Picasso Museum but half the price and twice as good. It was also virtually empty, while the Picasso Museum was packed. - Caitlin.
October 31st, 2008 at 8.48pm
OK - I missed a lot in barcelona. What it in the old town section?
Yes, it’s pretty central - there’s a map on the website: http://pastisseria.cat/en/Localitzacio:CosMuseu. - Caitlin
October 31st, 2008 at 10.51pm
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November 2nd, 2008 at 12.22am
What a great angle these pictures make for your story. We skipped this museum in Barcelona (but did enjoy lots of chocolate), so it’s nice to see some pictures!
Thanks so much for sharing