Finally able to enjoy a bit of respite from these hectic past couple of days. I got back from Austria on the 26th of September and it's been constant work, work, work since then.
I sound like I'm complaining but I'm not! It's a bookstore that is opening in the mall in my area and I'm really excited about it. They don't just have books, they also focus on other physical media such as DVDs, CDs, and vinyl which is very much up my alley. We are in the process of setting up fixtures and putting away boxes and boxes of books. I was assigned in the Graphic Novel and Comic section of the store, and I don't mind at all. It gives me such creative inspiration as I'm exposed to covers of intricate and beautiful art. I've already set aside of couple of books to buy later....
It's physically grueling 10-hour work days, consisting of lifting heavy stacks of books and organizing them, and for someone so out-of-shape as I am I've been walking with a dull ache in my thighs from bending down over and over but my god am I loving it anyway. Stick me in a quiet corner with my headphones in while I alphabetize hundreds of DC and Marvel titles and I'd perfectly okay. I barely know anyone there but the people I've worked with have been very nice so far. The work environment is strangely so chill that's its almost unnerving, and in some weird way I'm almost apprehensive to how kind everyone is, like this is actually an elaborate ruse and I'm about to get the rug pulled out from under me at any second... my brain works in strange ways.
For the last day in Austria we took a tour in a place called Zotter Schokolade, which is a chocolate factory / outdoor art exhibit / park / zoo? It's a crazy amalgamation of things residing besides a mountainous view of a castle and it was probably my favorite part of the trip.
We started off by being huddled into this tiny theatre with stuffed heavy sacks for seats. They show us a documentary of the Zotter Family alongside their resident artist, Andreas H. Gratze as they go through the process of perfecting the most rich and scent-enhancing chocolate. After the film ends they hand us a plastic spoon and the chocolate tasting tour begins.
I got into a chocolate feeding frenzy in this place. There were fountains of chocolate, robots that dropped off chocolate into a shoot, chocolate balls that paraded down in spirals like a Rube Goldberg machine. Chocolate drinks, puddings, anything you can dream of. My stomach ached but I enjoyed every second of it. What I also loved was the various works of art being displayed throughout the place. The art on every single package of chocolate was as delectable as its' taste.
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| I think this was the Raspberry. The art is so pretty! |
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| Funny little robot that dropped off little chocolate cubes to me. |
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My favorite flavor was the Coffee and Raspberry. After the chocolate tasting tour you are led outside to a variety of activities. There's a cafe and a gift shop (of course), where I purchased several bars to indulge in later. It was such a hot but beautiful day. They had a small petting zoo and unfortunately most of the animals had huddled inside, except for a lazy alpaca that basked in the sun, offering himself to be my muse for the day. There was the outdoor art exhibit with.. questionable pieces. I don't even think I can include the photos for how avant-garde they were. There was various playground equipment, a bouncy trampoline-bubble thing, a graveyard with tombstones of discontinued flavors. It would be hard to describe this place with a few simple words.
I felt like I was in strange, whimsical fever dream in the most quiet part of Austria. Seriously. There was a time in the day where my boyfriend and I took a walk to a random field in the middle of the country and I was taken aback at how quiet it was. The both of us just stood there, taking in the feeling of the breeze amongst our faces and the absolute stillness in the air. It was transcendent, I swear. I felt like I was in a painting.
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