countdown to Christmas

Tomorrow its official its the first of December!

The countdown
- for the ones who still believe in father christmas -
to wait for him to slide down that chimney!
And for those of us who wish we did still believe -
vonblum will be posting a little advent post on our blog everyday until the 24th of December!

the Arc de Triunfo

Today walking around the area, we thought that:
-hmmmmm, we never really talked about our surroundings to you.
So, This is one of the nice things in our neighbourhood!
We are very close to the plaza Tetuan and just five minutes away from vonblum is the "Arc de Triunfo" from Barcelona.
It was built as the entrance gate for the 1888 Universal Exhibition so it is not, strictly speaking, a triumphal arch as it was not built to commemorate any military victory.
Nevertheless, it is built and named as a triumphal arch!

If you want some more insider information on this touristic site, follow this link!

sneak peak

a sneak peak of the webpages of vonblum
more online soon

Monday spaces

MOnday morning and most of us are all struggling to get out in these dark winter mornings.
So to keep this day lighter we decided to add some nicely lit spaces

The last image comes from one of my favourite blogs :)
camilla not only has beautiful work but also a soooo cozy home!

Time flies

It has been a week since our last post.
We are now just about to start the constructions inside vonblum. We have taken out the fridges, the draft beer machine and are finding uses for many other things to be found inside the space now.
Hopefully, by next week we can start tearing the walls down and getting closer to what we imagine the space to look like.
Another reason for not having posted was a quick trip to the lovely city of Hamburg.
The Christmas markets where all being set up and you could feel that spirit all over the town.
Met up with friends and family, wandered the city in search of inspiring ideas for vonblum, and found some nice products to be part of our space.
Enjoy your sunday and we will be back sooner than later this time ;)

Happy Sunday

We loved what Matthieu Ricard had to say - so we thought you would too!

Have a lovely Sunday evening....

visualize

Remember the bird houses from the last post?
For the ones who couldn't picture it....maybe this sketch may help!

cuckoo

birdhouses are spaces prepared for birds to nest in and protect them from the winter cold.
There are many things to be considered when putting them up, such as their position and material to be used.

Why are we talking about birdhouses? No we haven't gone cuckoo

As we get closer to the details in the vonblum space and start considering which kitchen utensils are needed, the heights of counters, position of lighting, colours of the space... we thought of how a birdshouse has to be inviting to its "guests" - so that it will be chosen and used.

One thing lead to another and we decided to add some as decor in our space.

come by when we open up & peep....

the shape of things to come

If you clench your eyes a bit and sprinkle some imagination over this drawing you can see what vonblum will be like in some months from now.
We cant wait!

Winter is coming...

A short trip to Paris, where it seems winter is closer than it is in Barcelona, and our kitchen is looking more and more like a reality. We talked to our chef, and friends who have a wealth of experience to share, and things are on their way! Organising our kitchen and bar space, designing our menu, and trying to make financial sense of the matter, is a lot harder than it seems. But with a lot of research, hard work, and a little help from our friends, the final results will soon be available for you to see.

Holiday swap

We joined in on the fun - and thought you might want to as well
( its only until tomorrow the 9th of November )
for more information go to cake& pie or freshlyblended.
Let the ornaments begin

Philosophical sunday

Its Sunday, and we have been talking about things that make us Smile.
A very important thing for us in vonblum is to keep a positive attitude in our daily lives.
Making the work space pleasant, having people we like around us, enjoying a nice plate of food or even just sitting and enjoying those last rays of warm November sun.
When looking through all those "secret" recipes and products we will be selling at vonblum, the choice is guided by the thought of a smile it will bring to someones face.
So as its Sunday and you might have some extra time to share, it would be great to hear what brings that smile to your face?


P.S. just click on the comments link below and let us know what it is :)

Rutger von Blum

As many of you know, we are located in Barcelona. To be precise, the space is located in one of the famous Eixample corners ( 45° corner blocks known as chaflanes)
at the crossing of c. Casp and c. Roger de Flor.

When we started choosing names for the space the first thing that caught our attention was the word Flower in the street name (flor is flower in english)
We researched a bit and found out that Roger de Flor was also like Jessica from German origins.
A pirate, a merchant, a Templars Knight, part of the Catalan company, married to the Byzantine emperors cousins daughter....turning him into a duke.
We have gone through diverse stories on the internet and through encyclopedias.
Some appealing and some leaving us with distraught on what a man he might have been.
Was he a bloody merchant? or was he actually helping fugitives get away from a massacre?
We only know what has been written and told by other people's opinions.

We have then decided to write our vonblum in one word, so that way we can give this name a new meaning. Yes, we will also want to be part of Catalan history, but in a very different way.

If you want to know more about Roger de Flor we have added a bibliography from the places we have searched in below.

• http://libro.uca.edu/chaytor/hac10.htm
• Wikipedia
• http://www.umiacs.umd.edu/~kuijt/dba165/dba165.html