Monday, March 28, 2016

Riding up to Cerro Otto and the Surprise at the Gallery.

Friday, February 13th, our final day in Bariloche, was sunny, cool and very, very windy. 



We walked around town in the morning and then rode the Teleferico or Cerro Otto tram up the mountain. This mountain was much taller than the one we first visited.







It was pretty windy, and the tram cars swayed just a little, but it was a beautiful ride.

As we looked down on lovely houses and the town, we were wondering why they have this little pyramid?



The views were spectacular! 




We spent about 40 minutes walking around outside the round building on top of the mountain taking in the beauty of the area and taking pictures.



It was fun to see how far it was to Sao Palo, Alaska and other places.


It was pretty chilly, so we decided to go inside to see the art gallery and get a bite to eat.

Imagine our surprise when we found that the art gallery had life size, exact replicas of Michael Angelo's David, Moses and Pieta sculptures. 

These were incredible so see up close and there were many photographs on the walls of the originals to study.

The Pieta was made in 1499 A.D.



David was sculpted in 1504

And he is huge!





I had only ever seen photos of this statue with David wearing the Fig Leaf. This sign tells of how the leaf was made to cover the private parts of David shortly after the statue was presented to Queen Victoria and housed in the South Kensington Museum. They did this to "..spare the blushes of visiting females..".



 Moses was sculpted in 1515 and the detail on this statue is incredible.







Darryl at the revolving restaurant taking a look "around".  
(pun intended) 

What a wonderful time we had on Cerro Otto!

Sunday, March 27, 2016

The Chocolate Museum of Bariloche, Argentina

On our second day in Argentina we took a walk to the Havanna Chocolate Museum and Factory in Bariloche.

I had no idea that this is what a Cacao tree looks like. This model is the first thing you see when you start the tour. 

They gave us a history of how the cacao pods are pressed, separated and eventually become the chocolate we know and love today.

A map of where Cacao is grown in the world.

Cocoa is pressed and separated into two products. The cocoa butter, which is white and the cocoa liquor, the cocoa from which we get Chocolate.

Cocoa Beans


Quotes about how wonderful Cocoa and Chocolate are by Cortez and Montezuma. The Aztecs were the first ones to drink the cocoa drink (cocoa and water) hot.

Tools of the trade (from a thousand years ago.)

More modern equipment.



When the monks arrived, they became experts in Chocolate.


In the 18th Century, the new Chocolate drink inspired chocolate houses and salons for the wealthy throughout Europe.

I loved this time line of the evolution of modern chocolate.

Here is a little hint of the beginnings of Valentines day obsession with chocolate. It was started when Richard Cadbury gave bonbons to a friend on February 14th.





It was in the 1940's when one family from Europe settled in Bariloche and started making chocolates.


We toured the chocolate factory where they had many chocolate sculptures on display.

Each display told how many Kilograms of chocolate was used to make each animal. Sandy, I took this photo just for you!







After the tour we had a delicious cup of cocoa and bought some chocolates to take back to our friends and co-workers.

I can say, I highly recommend a chocolate tour in any language.