Perhaps it was the overwhelming aroma of Floriade or the joy of a brand new baby boy but excitable television chef Miguel Maestre has compared Parliament House to Barcelona and praised the cleanliness of Canberra Airport.
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Maestre, who is best known as the food host on Channel 10's The Living Room, taught a packed crowd at Floriade how to cook paella and churro in their own kitchens on Saturday afternoon.
But they got more than they bargained from the Spanish chef.
"I just love at night time how the Parliament House looks like the coolest, you know it looks like Holland or Barcelona it looks really European," he said.
"And the airport is spotless."
It may not have been a Spanish summer afternoon but Mr Maestre was blown away by a gorgeous spring day with a top of 18 degrees and fresh flowers everywhere.
"I love the smell of beautiful," he said.
"When you walk around you can smell beautiful everywhere, all the flowers and so many people, what's going on?
"Seriously I forgot my boardies; I should have come in my boardies."
A Floriade spokeswoman said Saturday was the busiest day of the festival so far and tickets to Nightfest had sold out by early afternoon.
Maestre told the Floriade crowd that too many Australians were unduly scared of cooking Spanish food like paella because they thought it was complicated or difficult to prepare.
"Hold onto your undies really tight because this is real food," he said.
