There are steamboats on Lac Léman too. I was in Montreux exploring when a steamboat bound for Vevey pulled up and I hopped on.
I was fascinated by the workings of the steam engine and paddle mechanism.
They stop and reverse the engine using mechanical controls. It was amazing to watch.
So why did I want to go to Vevey? That is where the "Alimentarium" or "Museum of Food" is located and you all know how I feel about food!
The building was quite beautiful.
With a cool sculpture in front.
The gardens all around the building were a veritable potager with hundreds of different vegetables and culinary herbs. There were even vegetables planted in the walkway that runs along the lakefront through the town of Vevey.
The museum itself had all kinds of educational exhibits about food, nutrition, digestion, eating habits and food history from around the world. It also had a kitchen with demonstrations and a cafe with a three course swiss lunch.
I was well into my visit before I realized that the building was the former world headquarters for the Nestle corporation which is based in Vevey. Nestle is the largest food company in the world with ~$100B in revenue per year. I suddenly had a sinking feeling as I remembered the Nestle boycott which started in the late 1970's due to promotion of infant formulas over breastfeeding in the third world. The controversy continues and I noticed in hindsight that there was no mention of infant formulas or breastfeeding in any of the exhibits.
I was fascinated by the workings of the steam engine and paddle mechanism.
They stop and reverse the engine using mechanical controls. It was amazing to watch.
So why did I want to go to Vevey? That is where the "Alimentarium" or "Museum of Food" is located and you all know how I feel about food!
The building was quite beautiful.
With a cool sculpture in front.
The gardens all around the building were a veritable potager with hundreds of different vegetables and culinary herbs. There were even vegetables planted in the walkway that runs along the lakefront through the town of Vevey.
The museum itself had all kinds of educational exhibits about food, nutrition, digestion, eating habits and food history from around the world. It also had a kitchen with demonstrations and a cafe with a three course swiss lunch.
I was well into my visit before I realized that the building was the former world headquarters for the Nestle corporation which is based in Vevey. Nestle is the largest food company in the world with ~$100B in revenue per year. I suddenly had a sinking feeling as I remembered the Nestle boycott which started in the late 1970's due to promotion of infant formulas over breastfeeding in the third world. The controversy continues and I noticed in hindsight that there was no mention of infant formulas or breastfeeding in any of the exhibits.
Neat! We went to a fashion museum in Bath, England and it was really neat to see! It sounds a little similar to this, only different topics.
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