Nicaraguan Adventure - Day 11: Call me Charlie (1/6/11)

Woke up and had our hostel-provided breakfast (gallo pinto, eggs, cheese, tortillas, and some salsa with a glass of what I thought was pineapple juice), afterwards we planned the day allowing L to take a nap. I use the time to take care of some emails and planning a trip on the next day with some people in the hostel. After he wakes up, we head to the black ceramics store for souvenirs, but we cannot decide on anything so all the pretty stuff stays put. We then go try and find L some bracelets but cannot find anything. We return to hostel and go to the Italian place behind it (La Ville e Bella) as some people were raving about their pizzas. We go in and it turns out, they don't do pizza service for lunch. We order some pastas which were also delicious and then return to the hostel to meet up with Emily to go to La Castilla de Cacao for a chocolate factory tour.

Luis liked his meal so much, he decided to share it with the proprietor's cat. You can imagine, this cat hung around for quite some time after this. 

"I think I see the castle!" yeah we were getting close. So close you could taste it (not yet the tasting comes later)

The entrance/seal to the chocolate castle. Was really cool that it was actually a castle where they made chocolate.

Its a nice little place; the factory is actually in a building that looks like a castle and we are allowed to climb around on the castle after the tour. We then follow this lady around as she explains the process from bean to bar, allowing us to sample the chocolate at various steps throughout the process. After we got back taking pictures from atop the castle, we return and our tour guide has prepared chocolate samples of various types with drinks to do a tasting which was awesome. We then roam the shop and all buy chocolate bars to take home. We then head back to the hostel to do some more shopping and walk around the city.

We have stormed the castle and are now scanning the horizon for enemy combatants. Luis has spotted one.

Luis is taking down the flag after the capture. Not really, no flags were harmed/moved in any of this. He just wanted to pose with the flagpole.  I just wanted a pic of the view from on top the castle. 

Gorgeous day to be exploring a castle full of chocolate.

Our tour guide posing with us. Pay no attention to the bars of chocolate in front of us. Those are not the bars you are looking for. :p

Just trying to enjoy some chocolate and Emily photobombs. How rude! haha!

The lil guy and me learning about chocolate making and exploring the gift shop.

Apparently he is taking up arms. That is his right (at least here in Murica!), Though I dont know that I trust that smile with that gun :)

Afterwards, we chill until dinner where we hit up a local seafood place and get lobster dinners for ~10$. Was delicious (as was the shrimp cocktail) just compared to many of the other dishes we had, you can definitely get great food for much cheaper. Finished our food and returned to the hostel to grab some banana bread for dessert  and grab drinks while playing cards. We then play a hand with the bartender and have a great chill night before I turn in for the night.

Sunset from the balcony of the hostel. Telephone/power lines were everywhere in the skyline in the cities.