For all you chocolate lovers....

[Hound-of-Ulster]

I’ve see the Museum talked about on YouTube and how people got there to find it was closed when the guide book said it should be open, here are it’s opening hours in Astorga....

 

[Deleted member 3000]

I’ve see the Museum talked about on YouTube and how people got there to find it was closed when the guide book said it should be open, here are it’s opening hours in Astorga....

It happens! Lots of hours are somewhat theoretical in Spain. It might be personal reasons or a longer shutdown.

 

[AndreaCT]

I walked up and down that street and couldn't find the museum. I guess I'll have to walk another Camino to go see it.

 

[nycwalking]

It was a nice museum.

Thanks for remembrance post.

 

[JamesGeier]

Astorga is a very interesting and underrated city. Stunning cathedral, rich history, good museums. The Museo Del Chocolate was a little more challenging to find than we expected, but well worth the effort. We thoroughly enjoyed the museum and the chocolate we purchased. (And some even made it home.) We learned that Mexican cacao beans were brought to Spain in the early 1500s, and Astorga became the birthplace of European chocolate. By the early 20th century, there were 50 or more chocolate manufacturers in Astorga.
Buen Camino!
--jim--

 

[naplesdon]

And there is also the claim to fame of the birth place of chocolate production in Europe for Bayonne and Biarritz in France.

 

[KinkyOne]

And there is also the claim to fame of the birth place of chocolate production in Europe for Bayonne and Biarritz in France.

That's symptomatic in Europe I think.
Poles and Russians both claiming they "invented" vodka.
Italians and Spaniards doing the same about pizza.
And what about prosciutto/pršut/jamon and olives in almost all Mediterranean/Adriatic countries?
Etc.

 

[VNwalking]

Not to be the spoilsport, but am I the only one who is not wild about Spanish chocolate?
It's OK, but I don't think it's anything to write home about.
Maybe I got the wrong kind - but it was not cheap, and made in Astorga.
(A cup of chocolate with churros is totally another story..it's definitely worth writing home about.)

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

At the Chocolate Museum in Astorga in 2015 all the descriptive placards explaining how the machinery worked or who did what was in Spanish. I had found that my Spanish was good enough in most museums to understand at least half of what was written but it was better than that at the Chocolate Museum. Peg's Spanish was recent and self studied so not as good. We both enjoyed the museum a lot.

 

[Helen1]

And there is also the claim to fame of the birth place of chocolate production in Europe for Bayonne and Biarritz in France.

The history of chocolate in Bayonne is really interesting: https://www.timesofisrael.com/france-thanks-sephardi-jews-for-chocolate-500-years-too-late/

 

[Hound-of-Ulster]

I walked up and down that street and couldn't find the museum. I guess I'll have to walk another Camino to go see it.

Sorry to hear that Andrea, it is fairly well signposted to the street but must admit no great signage announcing you’ve arrived. It was far down the street on the right hand side at a bend in the road. Apparently it used to be closure into the city centre. There was a plaque on a pillar that could easily be missed and no other signage that I noticed to say we had arrived. Buen Camino...