Hmmm… chocolate & anchovy. If you ever yourself in Madrid with a massive craving for chocolate, head straight for Cacao Sampaka. This boutique style chocolatier controls the whole process of manufacturing their chocolate, from the selection of the cocoa beans through to the packaging of the product. Using only authentic cocoa, everything is made by artisans in a small factory, who try to create a whole new language of forms and flavours using chocolate.

Thinking that I’m an adventurous sort of guy, I was tempted by their ‘Gastronomic Innovations’ selection that is “only for the risky one.” I was fine with choices such as balsamic vinegar and chocolate, and even the parma cheese and chocolate was interesting, but the chocolate anchovy! Dear god, it was horrific. For the love of god, save yourself the torment, and never mix salty fish with chocolate!

Find out more about Cacao Sampaka.

Water, water everywhere. Whilst wandering around Rome this summer I came across Aquastore, a shop entirely dedicated to nothing but water. Located in the Galleria Centrale of Rome’s Termini train station, the Aqua Store is a kind of high-end boutique offering a massive array of different types of water.

The water available is treated much like wine, in that there are many different types of water, and each has it’s time and place within certain situations. An in-store touch-screen computer acts as an electronic sommelier to help guide you in your water selection of choice, ensuring you make an informed choice. Unfortunately, a shallow design-whore like myself is just drawn to the pretty bottles, so the service would be wasted on me.

It seems the store have spread across Italy, and even branched out as far as Japan. Perhaps it’s only a matter of time before we’ll all be visiting the local water merchant to pick up a cheeky little vintage bottle for that hot date on the weekend. Until then, keep your eyes on Aqua Concept as they appear to be opening an online store soon!

The internet caters to every fetish… so if you’re particularly fond of beautifully designed staircases you might want to spend some time on Stair Porn, which, as the site says, features ’stairs, and nothing but.’

I can’t believe someone made some steps out of skateboard decks!

Check out Stair Porn.