We got ready and went into the dining room for breakfast. We had the same things as we did the first two days we were here in Cusco. We used the restroom before we left. It took us a few minutes to walk down the narrow streets down to the square and then found what side street we needed. There it was!
We went in and we were a little early for our class so we went upstairs to browse the gift shop and the artifacts scattered amongst the building. I saw an entire Machu Picchu carved out of chocolate! Then we sat out in the cafe area waiting until our chocolatier was ready for us.
We got the signal that she was so we picked our stations and got our aprons and hats on. We were joined by two other people in our group of four. Elvira and Rene were on vacation from California. They were Mexican-Americans so they understood Spanish even though our class was taught in English.
Vanessa was our instructor and we all introduced ourselves, where we were from and what kind of chocolate we liked. Then we went upstairs to learn the whole process of how chocolate was made. From the plant until it was sold to consumers. It was actually pretty interesting. She showed us an illustration on the wall of how it grew, harvested and processed in the factory. She told us how they roasted the shell, cleaned the shell away from the bean, how long it took to refine the chocolate from the bean, which is about 8 hours in a machine, the different ingredients they put into the processed chocolate (sugars, milk, butter, etc.), pouring the chocolate into the molds, letting it set and then packaging it up to purchase. We could see some of the workers behind the glass doing each step in the process. It was actually pretty interesting to learn.
We went back downstairs and sat at our stations. She took out the cocoa beans with the shells on them on the table and explained what we were going to do with them. She put them into a clay pot and started the burner. We all took turns stirring the pot of beans until they popped like popcorn. She then dumped those on the table to cool and then we each got some to shuck. We separated the beans from the shells. Next, she gave us a mortar and pestle and we each got the same amount of beans and she said there was going to be a competition. We were to crush our beans into a paste-like substance and the person who had the best consistency would win a prize. We did it for about five minutes or so and my arm got tired.
Elvira and Rene were the people with the closes in consistency, but everyone each got a prize anyway. She gave us a piece of wrapped milk chocolate. Vanessa heated up some water and gave us a small cup of chocolate tea, which was actually pretty good and I don't like tea. With the paste, each of us made, Vanessa got two pitchers and in one we made "Mayan Juice". "Mayan Juice" was the chocolate paste we made, paprika, honey and trained the chunks out. We all got a small cup and tried it. It was pretty good and I didn't realize paprika had a spicy taste to it since I've only had it on deviled eggs, where you really can't tell.
Next, we made some hot chocolate. She boiled some milk, made some jokes that it was cuy (guinea pig) milk, added our paste, cinnamon, cloves, brown sugar and people took turns mixing it. We drank that and it was also tasty.
We cleaned up our areas and got ready to make candy bars in our molds. I chose a Machu Picchu one and added quinoa and cereal in mine (like a Crunch bar) and chose dark chocolate. The chocolate was already prepared for us since it takes a long time to process and many machines do it, so we added the chocolate of our choice to our molds. Then we had to shake the molds so the ingredients I added to my chocolate made its way to the middle of the bar.
Vanessa looked at our final product and stuck them in the fridge so it could harden. She told us to come back in about an hour to pick them up. We asked ourselves...what did we want to go do next? Everyone wanted to go to the market to shop. We used the restroom and then tried to remember the directions to the market.
We were well on our way when we had to turn back because Mom still needed to use the restroom. Amy and Rhonda continued on while I waited for Mom. As I waited, I looked at Google Maps to see which roads we needed to walk down to get to the market. A few minutes later, we were on our way to meet up with Amy and Rhonda at the market via the roads I chose to walk down.
We found them near the front and decided to head on in to browse and purchase some stuff. Everyone found a few things to bring home. I wanted a poncho but I couldn't find one I liked so I didn't get one.
We were in there for about an hour or so and then we walked back to the Choco Museo, grabbed our chocolate and decided on dinner.
We wanted to go to that other place Alexandria suggested the other day but it was full. Morena Peruvian Kitchen, was a super fancy place and we sat near the window but didn't have window seats because they were reserved for other groups. We could have had a great view of the Plaza de Armas but that's okay.
We ordered waters and sparkling waters while we decided what we wanted for food. Mom and I ordered the burgers and fries, Rhonda got the gnocchi and Amy got a veggie stir fry and potatoes over a bed of quinoa. We ate, people watched and then paid. I couldn't eat all of my food because there was so much of it. I should have shared one with Mom. We decided it was time to head back to the hotel.
We slowly made our way back up the hill and towards our hotel. Amy had purchased two bottles of Oxishot, canned breathable air. We browsed some of the stores and exchanged more dollars for sols. We wanted to make sure we had plenty of money for the next three days. We got back to our hotel and relaxed for a bit. Our laundry was ready by 7 p.m. so Mom went and picked it up from the front desk, we opened up the bags and sorted them out. Ours cost about $40 because it was priced by the kg in US dollars. I got in a shower and talked to Ben for a little while.
I posted more pictures onto Facebook along with Mom and Rhonda's camera so we were up to date on all of them. I listened to my podcast for a bit because we couldn't figure out the television again. I wrote in my journal for a little bit and then got ready for bed because we had a tour bus to catch in the morning. I went to bed around 10:30 p.m.
Next Adventure: Peru: An All-Day Tour Bus Ride to Puno, Peru (Day 9)
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