Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Christchurch, Earthquakes, Ron Mueck and... Pinot Gris





It is always lovely to visit the city of Christchurch, and family and friends (including meeting for the first time in person a fellow food blogger, the talented Bron Marshall).

Sad to see that earthquakes are still very much present, the after-shocks are set to continue for a while longer and we felt a few ourselves, the biggest being a 5.1. Some buildings still show the signs of damage from last September, but everybody is grateful that there were no casualties.



One of the highlights for me was to visit this: Ron Mueck's work is realistic, emotional, and strong and fragile at the same time. I have a few images here, some sculptures were small, some huge, some really looked at you.











We had a big tremor while we were inside the gallery, no damage, but everybody stopped talking, and then all talked together again, nervously.



And of course no visit to Christchurch would be completed for us without visiting our friends Wilma and Alessandra Laryn. Wilma and Alessandro are Italian and moved here several years ago; they planted grapes, and started making an excellent Pinot Gris. This is their vineyard.





In New Zealand Pinot Gris tends to be quite 'sweet' and fruity, but Cracroft Chase Woods' Edge Pinot Gris is more like an Italian Pinot Gris: drier, just as I like it. If you are into wine, a few years back I wrote and article about the Laryns in Cuisine Magazine, you can read it here.





Wilma and Alessandro also make Grey Pearl, a lighter off-dry café-style Pinot Gris. For more info check their website



18 comments:

  1. The artwork is awesome looks real.

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  2. Christchurch looks really a nice place to visit. Thanks for showing us good photos!

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  3. Sweet Snow Flakes, you know that a lot of Japanese travelers love Christchurch? It seems to be the favourite New Zealand city in Japan!

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  4. it's amazing.
    thanks for showing!
    best regards, kiss

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  5. Christchurch has now been added to my bucket list :-). The artists work is amazing. You asked about the peanut butter used to make the torte. It must be commercial. There are stabilizers in it that are needed to keep the peanut butter in suspension once it's added to the heavy cream. Have a great day. Blessings...Mary

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  6. Your first pictures remind me Summer days we enjoyed there 2 years ago -already !
    Good you could meet Bron and see the intriguing work of Ron Mueck.

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  7. I remember a very cold day in Christchurch last year, even though it was summer. A very nice city, though, I loved it.

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  8. Yari, a dire il vero Christchurch e' freddina anche per e... tutto l'anno!!! Ma gli abitanti negano :-)!

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  9. Is that the wine I had at your place Ale? Yum!

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  10. Con la speranza di volare nelle tue terre al più presto..Grazie!!!!tUn bacione Ale

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  11. Più che passo da qui e più che non vedo l'ora di volare direttamente nella tua splendida terra...e queste foto non hanno fatto altro che farti invidiare ancor di più!

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  12. @ Jo, yep, that's the one!.

    Saretta e Claudia, vi aspetto :-)!

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  13. Posti magnifici che desidererei visitare!Un abbraccio...

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  14. The artwork is amazing, Alessandra! Very compelling on such a large scale. (And so is that vineyard!) What a lovey trip you must have had. I hope the tremors have stopped. We are getting pummeled with snow, here in the Northeast. Mother Nature can be fierce.

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  15. quel museo mi fa un po' impressione.....meglio rifarsi con un bicchiere di pinot grigio ;-)

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  16. oh my the sculpture looks amazing and how sad about the natural disasters!

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  17. This is really fantastic! Get Inspired with http://www.bocadolobo.com/

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