The downside to the Blue Line tour is there is no stop for lunch, so you have to shorten your sightseeing and make a mad dash for any available coffee bar to see if there is any food on offer. As of the third stop, I’d had two rather large local beers and a couple of granola bars from my bag, but no real food. The promise of sample tasting at the Olive museum was going to have to keep us going until we got back to Split.
I had pictured we would arrive at a small olive tree grove and the museum would be similar to Salone. Instead, it was located at the end of a cul de sac in a small residential neighborhood. Technically closed for the Easter holiday, one of the directors was on hand to give us a streamlined tour without active production.
First he walked us through all the beauty products made with the herb garden and olive oil.
Next, the director walked us through the number of kilos of flowers like calendula, lavender and immortalis that had to be distilled to make the purest of essential oils. Ancient romans used to cover the flowers with olive oil and in large covered urns, set out for over 90 days in the hot sun to extract all the useful health properties and their scent.
A short walk across the herb garden led to an air-conditioned series of rooms with posters I’m finding are standard with newer EU museums.
As we rounded the last corner from the warren of small displays, I noticed some recipes on the wall that I might want to try someday.
Lucky for me, had I been ready to try the recipes soon, the next stop was a beautiful shop full of all the products produced by the museum.
Given my non-existent room in my overstuffed bags, I just tried the miniscule samples and jumped back on the bus.