museum travel tips and stories. Vacations ideas, cruises spa and resorts

The Chocolate Museum is a “delicious” museum in Barcelona, Spain. The museum has been built on the initiative of the Barcelona Confectionery Guild and is located in the very centre of the town. The museum exhibits a large collection of intricately carved sculptures made out of chocolate along with examples of traditional machinery that was formerly used to make chocolate during the past years. There are also activities and visits organized every week (high season only) inside the museum.

The history of chocolate is explained from the discovery of cocoa beans by the New World explorers, all the way through time to its present predominant position in the commercial world. Chocolate has always been seen with different purposes: as a medicinal element, an aphrodisiac product, a nutritional value and element located between a legend and reality.

 Among all sculptures, you can particularly appreciate a four-horse chariot, the Sagrada Familia, Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory.

What is a chocolate museum without metal chocolate molds. Replaced by polycarbonate molds today, metal molds still play an important part of chocolate history. The chocolate museum is open from Monday to Saturday from 10am to 7pm and on Sundays 10am to 3pm!

Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens is a municipal museum in Sunderland, England. In the Winter Gardens, rebuilt on the site of the original Victorian glass houses, a tropical rainforest flourishes with palms, tree ferns, bananas and citrus trees. The museum also holds an exciting programme of temporary exhibitions which are accompanied by activities and events for all ages.

The Winter Gardens is home to over 2,000 of the world’s most exotic and unusual flowers and trees. The Gardens also include exciting water features and a stunning treetop walkway, from which visitors can look down on the plants below.

The Art Gallery features paintings by LS Lowry together with Victorian masterpieces and artefacts from the four corners of the world.

 You can find out how people lived and worked in the past in galleries entitled Coal, Textile Traditions, Launched on Wearside and 20th Century Sunderland . It contains:  Textile Traditions, Sunderland Pottery, The Time Machine, Secrets of the Past, Sunderland’s Glorious Glass, Worlds Alive.

Paula Rego Museum, is located just outside the Portuguese capital by the beaches of Cascais. The museum includes paintings and drawings by Portugal’s most acclaimed living artist. The museum is named after Paula Rego, who was born in Lisbon but has been living between Cascais and London since the 1970s. In the British capital she married artist Victor Willing and was appointed the first associate artist of England’s National Gallery. She’s also considered one of the best living painters in Britain, and her works can be seen in several museums around the world, from the British Museum in London to the MoMA in New York.

In Lisbon, you can see a couple of her art examples at the Berardo Museum and at the Modern Art Centre of the Gulbenkian Foundation, as well as in the Chiado Museum’s current exhibition “Modern Art in Portugal – From Amadeo to Paula Rego.” In the past, there have been retrospective exhibitions of her work in Madrid’s Reina Sofia Museum, Porto’s Serralves Museum, and at the Tate Britain.

Nowadays there is a permanent home for much of her art, with the upcoming museum housed in a brand-new building designed by the renowned architect Eduardo Souto Moura. It features two conical towers that bring to mind the famous gigantic chimneys of Sintra’s National Palace, while inside it will show a total of 121 works by the artist. The 750 square meters of space will also include an area for temporary exhibitions, a cafeteria, a bookshop, and an auditorium.

The Verla Groundwood and Board Mill is a well preserved 19th century mill village. Only a handful of such settlements survives to the present day. It’s now a museum and one of the sites on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Hugo Neuman founded the Verla Groundwood Mill in 1872, but was destroyed by fire in 1876. Wilhelm Dippell having died in 1906, Verla became a limited company called the Verla Groundwood and Board Mill.

Throughout its unbroken 81-year history Verla Mill produced about 150,000 tonnes of board.

The historical machines were preserved in their places, except for several pieces brought from other buildings.

I will lead on a journey through slow food and rapid development, just right in Phoenix, Arizona. Phoenix is a city of uniqueness of the horizon and desert light. This optimistic attitude, accompanied with the arid climate and low cost of living has brought many people to the Valley of the Sun.

The Phoenix metropolitan area is one of the fastest- growing areas in the United States. It’s a pity because the car is king there – driving is only way to move around in 9, 200 square miles region. In this world it’s hard to state the foot and the bicycle as much as the car.

Phoenix is a lesson in freeway nomenclature. The endless pavement and strip malls remind of a distant Los Angles. But there’s a beautiful iridescent horizon and a new light – rail system will soon take place and run.

But behind all these statements comes the good. There’s a quality cuisine, a thriving art scene and unique modern architecture. The creative landscape has three museum institutions. They have the Phoenix Art Museum, a wonderful new second edition, and the other museum SMoCA, which was transformed from a five-plex AMC theater to 20,000 square feet of gallery space. And you have the Nelson Fine Art Center that combines the hispanic character with rich collections of Arizona State University.

The city is a totally electric mix. There is Temple’s musical heritage with the Gin Blossoms. The arts are there. There’s also a place called Red Modern Furniture, which is a little tapas. The city also got Passage, a wonderful boutique that is just blowing everybody away. It’s the coolest fashion spot with a spectacular environment and stylish items. It’s amazing and it’s affordable, accessible and cool.

If you happen to be there on the summer hiking the loop trail around Piestawa Peak or the trail up Camelback Mountain. It’s a great way to see the prespective of the city. As well as biking on the canal system is another perfect way to glimpse a diversity of neighborhoods and history of the city. And at the end for gourmets audience – whenever you’re going to eat in Phoenix or just have a snack, a cocktail, it’s a fantastic experience.

 Zurich is a city with no shortage of timekeepers. Zurich is also a city of landscape design, the Helvetica typeface and the Swiss Army Knife. Clocks are everywhere, over train and tram stations and from the facades of office buildings and church steeples. Time may rule this modern capital but also symbolizes the dynamic between the city’s history and modernity.

Zurich is the world’s most livable city, owing to its small size and population of fewer than 400, 000. It’s a place where bankers dance during summer evenings and where wealth attracts contemporary art.

Zurich is very exciting, attracting more young people and more foreigners. You have more galleries per person than any  other city in the world, after New York. Zurich offers spectacular museums, restaurants, boutiques and nature in every doorstep, which is very important. That’s why an Italian wants to compare his muscles, he does it with the German and the French.

On the west side of Zurich (also known as Kries 4), the industry is there and so its art. Everything is there. There are new apartments, lofts and cinemas in old factories. Schiffbau is a lovely theater with a good restaurant called LaSalle. It’s an aesthetic glass box.

Swiss people, in general plan the future too much, so they are not really alive. They know exactly what they will do at 60. and this is not sexy and attractive for me. There you can have the sexiness. They just want to do the best. You will see this in the benches or the design of bins- it’s too much. It’s too material.

Melbourne is a city of layers with ever changing skies and facades. Today I will represent you the real Melbourne, which is like its inhabitants and is less public and reveals itself unwilling. In the last decade, Melbourne has radically changed the urban and cultural landscape. Architecture have become adventurous within cutting-edge buildings. The contemporary art scene is dynamic and breathtaking festivals fill the atmosphere of the city. In every corner, basement and attic initiative spirits are creating hole-in-the-wall bars, multimedia galleries, design studious and other experiences.

Nowadays in Melbourne opportunities abound. They got great design schools and really everything they have is as good as anywhere in the world. People there live on the coast looking out the horizon and they know what’s behind them. The other feature about Australian creativity and architectural culture is that they are well traveled. And they choose to come back!

Melbourne has many geographical features to explore. The Yarra River is one of them but the city boasts more about its parks and gardens. The Carlton Gardens are home to the World Heritage and behind them is the Melbourne Museum. On the south side of the Yarra is the Tan – a 2.3-mile running track. There you can pass quickly seeing some great buildings.

What I think makes Melbourne unique is the ever-changing light. The city gets four seasons in one day, which can be a bit miserable in winter. Apart from being cold, it often rains and the clouds are low and makes flat light. But in the summer the light is very harsh and direct providing great contrast like lazer.

Tourists have to walk to really see Melbourne. In that way you will get glimpses of notable architecture and some Gothic revival, urban art projects and pull up at cafes, bars and restaurants in the Centre.

Miami is a world of man -made islands and the original polo fields are new golf courses – Miami first make a loud at the beginning of the 20th century. Many times I wrote about Miami but this time I will mention some other interesting facts. I love Miami in part for all its flashy invention. In my opinion the big constructions are adding some serious substance to this subtropical city.

I suggest you this time exploring Miami on a two-day bike tour visiting city streets, galleries, delicious drives, one stop Haitian voodoo shops. You can covered 40 miles and 11 islands and used up an entire tube of sunblock.

One of my favorites building in Miami is Bacardi Building north to downtown Miami, at Biscyne and Northest 21st. This building is the greater example of how the International style meets the subtropics. I’m a modernist and I reckon we should protect the buildings of the past, but also the new architecture should reflect our own times and aspirations.

A fantastic way to experience Miami cultural diversity is through its culinary culture. Just north of downtown it’s Enriqueta, a delicious little Cuban spot with hundreds of fun and mostly family-run restaurants. There are incredible Cuban Nicaraguan, Peruvian, Brazilian and Argentine food. Miami has an extraordinary influence of cultures, but you have to get out of South Beach to feel it. The botanicas in Little Haiti are just an example for getting a sense of rich Haitian culture here.

For the first time, there is massive residential development in the downtown area that will transform what was once a dark working center into a great downtown. In addition to Museum Park (the new Miami Art Museum/Museum of Science complex) and the Performing Arts Center, over the next several years we will see a new Frank Gehry Soundspace for the New World Symphony and new Herzog & de Meuron and Enrique Norten buildings here in Miami Beach.

Cologne is a very modern city in Germany, where three sharp objects have a commanding influence on the skyline, from nearly every corner in the city. One of them is the ornate cathedral, which looms over low-rise buildings and fanning arteries. The ancient city of Cologne creates a vanish of brutal modernity, but while scratching Cologne’s surface reveals a vibrant center of art and design.

Cologne used to be, after New  York, the second most important art city in the world, but that was 15 years ago. Nowadays a lot of it has been taken over by London, Los Angeles and Berlin. Cologne is also described by its cathedral more or less. You can’t really not go there, but once you step into for a half an hour you will understand.It’s good to check out one of the Romanesque church, of which there are 12 in Cologne. From a historical point of view they are quite pure and more important from the cathedral.

But the most spectacular buildings at the moment are the Kolumba Diocesan Museum and Renzo Piano Peek & Cloppenburg department store (up in the picture), which is made of 6, 800 single glass slabs, all of different sizes. It’s a shopping area that is women part. Other interesting place for me is a shop called Sign of the Times specializes in’50s and ’60s furniture. The shop offers extremely fascinating items. There’s also a very special shop called o.k. Versand. There you can buy objects from China, India and Bulgaria.

In conclusion I would say that Cologne is very proud city with fantastic history of art and art collectors. But today many people are moving away, so Cologne must be very careful in the near future. Good luck..!

The Agora Theatre is a very cultural architecture with performances and new media works. Situated in Lelystad, which is the capital of the province of Fleveland in the Netherlands. Lelystad is established in 1967 and famous for its controversial and forward-thinking city planning and with its center, the Centrale Zone, also known as West 8.

A big part of Lelystad is water. Another major area is the internationally popular nature park Oostvaadersplassen. The city is also surrounded by a square of woodlands, parks and gardens. The location of the city makes weather and skies quite wonderful. The importance of the landscape is also emphasized by many pieces of art and architecture like Agora Theatre.

Agora Theatre is not only a theater. It’s a museum and art establishment expertise as well. The structure itself worth a visit. Even if no performances were taking place, art exhibitions or lectures taking places. Also the tranquil cafe open during the day and offers sweet varieties of coffees and beautiful views over the city.

The staircase is pink and reminds of future castle. But the most spectacular premises in the theater is the red concert hall with unusual wall surfaces. Such a splendid wall gives visitors something to look at, when the actors change their costumes during the performances. The theater change the vibe of the Lelystad, both day and night.

Duisberg is a lovely German town, located on about 36 miles from Dusseldorf. Duisburg isn’t so famous, even in Europe. For those who have heard of it, it’s synonymous with the Ruhrgebiet—the former industrial heartland of Germany, now mainly remembered for the hard times of the 1980s, under the weight of ecological degradation, economic crisis, and soaring unemployment.

Today the city is known for its steel industry. There is still one coal mine in operation, but Duisburg has never been a coal-mining center to the same extent as other places in the Ruhr.

To give it a new role in the life of the city, there new inner water channels  were cut, which literally carry the water further into town, and a variety of public space was created on the waterfront. Duisburg Inner Harbor has retained between 30 and 40 percent of its old warehouses and mills, refurbished into offices, museums, and restaurants.

The whole idea was to bring the water back into Duisburg and nowadays this is reality. Lining the harbor are walkways, bike paths, lush green spaces, sculptures, a skateboard park, and cafe terraces. But the new paths are a mosaic of salvaged bricks and tiles, and while many old buildings were demolished to create these well-used public spaces, the Garden of Memories, for example, poignantly preserves certain segments of them.

The beautifully spare Movable Footbridge invites walkers to cross it, boats can moor at Steiger Schwanentor jetty, which rises and falls with the water level and a new dam has provided a more scenic stretch of water as the backdrop for the restaurant terraces, as well as a place to swim.

Duisburg has always had a lot going for it—the mentality is different from the rest of Germany, people are more open, friendlier, always ready to try new things.

The Montreal Expo 67 defined today Montreal as a design spot to watch. Though Montreal isn’t booming quite like Toronto or Calgary, the European stone streets of the Old City are still a favorite of tourists—and of the American under-21 set looking for a beer. Many famous architects have designed university buildings and museums all over Montreal like the Faculty of Music Building at McGill University and several boutiques.

The truth is, Montreal is a place to discover. The people there are very welcoming and if you talk to them they will help you see. There isn’t some organized system to discovering the city as the chambre de commerce presents. I suggest dear traveler going to smaller, lesser-known places, and that’s where you find wonderful food or nightlife. It’s all very organic there, but there’s no system to discovering it, or one place or neighborhood to go. One of the best, most established places  there is Café L’Express and they don’t even have a sign.

Montreal is also an initiative city, which makes a new center in Old Montreal. It’s lovely down there and the stone buildings are amazing, but it’s very touristy by the St. Lawrence. The western part of Old Montreal is developing in a really natural way, though. McGill Street is coming up. The way the west part of Old Montreal is going, it will help re-create the natural fabric of the city.

In the past, the east side of Montreal was Francophone and the west was Anglophone. It’s still that way to some extent, but you will enjoying a moment of harmony there. The new leadership has said that the referendum is on ice for some years in order to establish a healthier, more connected city. This is a wonderful city and it’s the only place I know where everyone really does speak two languages.

You see, Montreal is all about surprise. You come here expecting one thing and then you see a guy surfing in the river. It’s on YouTube.

The Palast der Republik — the former of East German parliament building  has left a gaping hole on Schlossplatz, a square on eastern Berlin’s main thoroughfare, Unter den Linden. Just near by is the blue-and-white prefab building that’s taken up residence for a two-year stint. Since it opened in late October, the Temporäre Kunsthalle Berlin (or Temporary Art Hall Berlin) has a purpose of showcasing locally based artists. Currently included on the outside of the container-like structure is “Clouds” by Gerwald Rockenschaub, an Austrian artist. The outer facade of the Temporäre Kunsthalle Berlin Gallery has two abstract white clouds on a bright blue background and the cubic formations that refer to the design’s digital origin and remind us, in their universal legibility, of computer icons. Gerwald Rockenschaub project’s temporal nature and the principle of transience is the foundation for creating something new.

The Cincinnati Contemporary Art Center is one of the first institutions in the United States dedicated to exhibiting contemporary art. The CAC was founded in in 1939 as the Modern Art Society by three visionary local women. First, the CAC has been an admired leader in the international art world.

Today the CAC is a non-collecting institution that focuses on new developments in painting, sculpture, photography, architecture, performance art and new media. The center showcasing contemporary art and artists relevant to diverse audience, and developing programming that examines and reflects the importance of the art.

Its current architectural redesign was directed by Zaha Hadid – a london architect known for her innovative structures. As they describe it, “From the street, the CAC’s jutting concrete reliefs trace the outlines of the galleries inside. Once inside, visitors can’t get lost: The floor is slightly tilted, and following its enforced flow around the lobby leads you to a floating stairway to the mezzanine.” CAC is a must see. If you visit Cincinnati be sure to stop by.