Gringo Peru

Groot has touched down in Perú! in Cuzco to be precise. This sculpture was created by students from ""Escuela de Bellas Artes de Cusco" (Diego Quispe Tito) and it's made of recycle materials. Although this piece of art was not display in the parade of the institute it was given recognition by the director of the movie (James Gun) who posted pictures on his facebook and twitter.

Sadly a lot of art work like this are lost; however, due to the popularity of this piece it will be preserved and put on display in the gallery of the institution where it was made.

To promote tourism, Groot is now available to the public, you can find it in Checacupe, 80 Km from Cusco....don't miss the opportunity to visit it when you're around!

Photo credit to: Cusco desde El Lente de Mi Camara

When travelling to Peru you will hear of a drink called Chicha Morada and even a dessert called Mazamorra Morada, this colour is not artificial but is from the purple maize that grows here.

When I came from England I had never heard if purple maize in my life only yellow, what gives it this colour is the anthocyanins which the maize is really rich in.

This maize was used long before the Spanish and the Inca’s were in the area now known as Peru and scientists put the consumption of maize at 3000 and 1800 B.C or 5,000 years ago.

Many people believe that this maize has properties that are good for the health ranging for example blood pressure.

Although there is now substitutions for purple maize in Peru you can easily start to tell the different between what is real and what is not. So come and check it out and start making your Chicha Morada today or if you wish something sweet and warm for this winter, you could try the Mazamorra Morada.

Next time I'll post a video about how to cook your own Mazamorra Morada =D

From the 20th to the 29th of June Invita Peru open its door to the many tourist (Peruvian and foreigners) who want to come and enjoy the marvellous food and music of Peru.

This event is also know as a small "Mistura", this event is held in the Exposition Park (Parque de la Exposición, Av. 28th of July with Av. Garcilazo de la Vega) .

This event lasts for ten days and allows you to explore all kinds of different foods for the traditional to the exotic also here you can try out many kinds of desserts and drinks. (Above you can see a picture of "Picarones" a dessert made of sweet potato and pumpkin cover in "chancaca" it's like syrup)

The most popular I believe is always the traditionally cooked pork which is cooked in the open over wood or charcoal, also there's smoked pork and pork cooked in a cylinder... the possibilities are endless when it comes to cooking in Peru.

You will also get to see a live performance by one of Peru’s musical artists, when I went I managed to see Pelo d'Ambrosio for the second time. Pelo d'Ambrosio is famous for his folk, pop, rock music and Andean fusion music.

(The drink I'm holding in this pictures is called "Machu Picchu Sour")

Of course you can't leave the event without sampling some of Peru's finest Pisco, here you can buy a wide range of cocktails ...although this event started in 2011 and may not have the reputation of "Mistura" it's quickly growing and becoming a well-known and well loved event.

I would recommend this event as a starter to all newcomers who wish to get a glimpse of Peruvian gastronomy, I'd definitely come again next year!

Do you like chocolate? I LOVE IT! That's why after reading an article on "El Comercio" (peruvian newspaper) I told myself: Hey, Why don´t you write about this fabulous place that you saw last week and didn't bother on enter? ~~(I know, now I wanna kill myself xD ahahahah)~~

So let's read a bit about CHOCOMUSEO :

"Everybody knows about Belgian, Swiss or French chocolate but have you ever heard about Peruvian, Guatemalan, Dominican or Nicaraguan chocolate?

Sometimes Peru or Dominican Republic might be mentioned on the chocolate wrap but it is often to describe the cacao producing country rather than the chocolate making country.

At ChocoMuseo we decided to make chocolate in countries where cacao grows: We source the best quality cacao beans and then process them artisanally to obtain delicious chocolate.

When you visit us you will be able to see the chocolate making process from the cacao bean to the chocolate bar. If you have time, you should participate in one of our chocolate making workshop and experience the feeling of a chocolate maker."

That's from the author website, also let me mention that this great idea belong to a French couple (Alain Schneider & Clara Isabel Días, both Engineers) who fall in love with the idea of creating a Museo of Chocolate in which they could share qith people the experience of making your own chocolate and even better using national cacao.

They both quite their jobs, started with this crazy idea and now they have 4 ChocoMuseum (Perú, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Dominic Republic).

They were also in Mistura (Peruvian biggest gastronomic festival), they offer different workshops in ChocoMuseo, you can learn to prepare ice cream, chocolate and also there's a free interactive museum about cacao and chocolate.

(Images from ChocoMuseo in Cuzco. Credit to: El Comercio)

I think as part of your tour in Lima or if you're in Cuzco, this is a place to add in your list! It's really embarrassing to say I haven't been there yet in my 3 years in Perú.

I'm hopefully going there in my next tour around the great city of Lima ...as I said once, there is always a new place to discover in Lima...just imagine in all Perú.

Opening hours

Sunday to Thursday:

11:00AM to 8:30PM

Friday and Saturday:

11:00AM to 9:30PM

Workshops in Lima:

11:30AM, 2:30PM, 5:30PM

in ChocoMuseo Miraflores

1:30PM, 4:30PM, 7:30PM

in ChocoMuseo Barranco

Contact

Lima@ChocoMuseo.com

tel: (+51) 01 445 97 08

cel: (+51) 983 361 342

http://www.chocomuseo.com/english

In the Rimac district of Lima you will find a park close to the presidential palace this park is known as Parque de la Muralla (Park of the Wall) what is interesting about this park is that you will see the remains of walls that were constructed in 1684 and finished in 1687 by Viceroy Melchor de Navarra to prevent the city being attacked by pirates or would-be attackers however, the walls were torn down under the presidency of Jose Balta in 1872 under news expansion plans of the city.

Also in this park hidden away in the corner you will see a statue of Francisco Pizarro, this was never originally place here but was near the presidential Palace and Cathedral in the main square (Plaza de Armas) so, Why did it move? Well ... Pizarro was the Spanish conquistador who lead the invasion into Peru in 1530 but due to his cruel and heavy hand in the country many question the validity of him being praised and due to lobbying especially by one an architecture professor named Santiago Agurto Calvo had it removed in 2003, it moved twice before being officially placed in the Park of the Wall. I wish to add something else to this history:

The statues were made in the 1930’s by Ramsey MacDonald and I say statues because three were made. Ramsey made the statues not as a representation to Pizarro but to an anonymous European foot soldier and some back up this claim because the sword, horse and helmet are historically inaccurate. So where are the statues? Well the one in Peru was never really destined for Peru but was given to Mexico to represent Hernan Cortes (Conqueror of Mexico - 1518) however, they rejected it and it was sent to Peru, the second one is in Wisconsin and the other although created by Charles Rumsey resides in Plaza Mayor in Trujillo, the hometown of Pizarro.

This park is great for all kinds of people, history lovers to people who just wish to take a stroll and being located in the centre you will never be too far from other tourist attractions, also It has a really nice restaurant and a museum inside in which you can read more about Lima's history, It's open from Monday to Saturday from 11:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. and Sundays from 11:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. and it only cost S/. 1.00 Nuevo sol the vist. So don't miss it, if you're in Lima downtown this has to be one of your destinations!