Our final days in Mexico

It’s hard to believe, but in just a few hours we’ll be boarding a plane and heading back to the United States. We have a 20-hour layover in L.A. – we’ll be spending it with my wonderful Uncle Ron and Aunt Pam – and arrive back in Washington on Wednesday evening.

Yesterday we woke up in Puebla and did a little more sight-seeing. Our first stop was the Taller Uriarte Talavera, a pottery workshop. Talavera is a type of majolica earthenware which is glazed and fired at very high temperatures. The style originally came from Spain, but has become uniquely Pueblan. We received a tour of the factory from a man whose family has worked in the factory all 200 years it has been in existence.

The pottery is all hand-made and the process very labor-intensive. It takes approximately six months to make a piece. The tiles we’ve seen all over the buildings are Talavera. The tour was very interesting and the pottery is just beautiful.

Next we went to Puebla’s Catedral, which has three organs and a large octagonal main altar. From here we wandered back through the zocalo, were Selso got a much-needed shoe-shine. Back at the hotel, we packed up and then hit the road.

We drove about 15 miles to Cholula, a city that is home to the largest pyramid ever built in Mesoamerica. Unfortunately, most of it is still buried and a church sits on top of the mound.

We walked up to the hill to the church first – it is very pretty.

Next we walked through the inside of the pyramid. The kids loved this! About five miles of tunnels have been dug through the pyramid, but only a small portion of that is accessible to visitors. It was kind of spooky and we all thought it would make a great haunted house. After exiting the tunnel, we were able to see some other parts of the ruins that have been excavated.

By now it was 3:30 p.m., so we made our way to Mexico City. We spent last night in a hotel very near to where we stayed our first week here. It almost felt like coming home when we saw the familiar Parque Alameda and Palacio Bellas Artes.

This morning we couldn’t resist breakfast at Café El Popular (I had an amazing omelet there our first week that I’ve been dreaming about since) and one last look at the Diego Rivera murals at the Palacio Nacional.

And so we say, Adios Mexico! We’ve had a great time and look forward to coming back someday!

Puebla

Puebla is the fourth largest city in Mexico, with nearly 1.4 million people living here. The city is the capital of the state of Puebla. Unlike most of the cities we’ve been to, Puebla was founded by the Spanish in the 1500s (instead of being an established city the Spanish took over).

Many of the buildings here are covered with tiles – it’s a beautiful effect. Many also have elaborate white molding, and it reminds me of the piping along a wedding cake. The building above is the Casa de los Munecos (House of Dolls). Some tiled panels show figures.

Since we are only in Puebla for one full day, we crammed a lot into Sunday. We took a walking tour of the city center, and stopped along several museums along the way. At the Museo Jose Luis Bello, we received a guided tour of a 19th century collectors home and art.

Our next stop was the Iglesia de Santa Rosa, and the museum now housed in its ex-convent. The museum was quite interesting; unfortunately I couldn’t take pictures inside. Once again we received a guided tour, which was very informative. The museum contained arts and handicrafts from each of Puebla’s seven regions. We also saw part of the convent, including a bedroom. Girls arrived at this convent between ages 12 and 14, took a vow of poverty and silence, and never left. My girls were amazed! Most exciting in this museum was the convents large and beautifully tiled kitchen.

As we exited the museum, we saw the patio of the ex-convent was set up for a concert. We watched the orchestra for a about 20 minutes, and then were ready to move on.

We walked up a street filled with candy shops, and bought a few pieces of candy for after lunch. Our final museum of the day was the Museo Regional de la Revolucion Mexicana (Regional Museum of the Mexican Revolution). This was the home of the Serdan family and they were attacked two days before the planned uprising against Mexico’s dictator-president Porfirio Diaz in November of 1910. Notice the bullet marks on the exterior of the house. The house contains artifacts and information about the revolution as well as the family that lived here.

By now we were ready for lunch, so we walked to the zocalo and had lunch. I had chilaquiles, which I’ve seen on the menu for weeks, but never had. They are chip-shaped tortillas (not fried), covered in sauce (I had red sauce), with just a little cheese, chicken and avocado slices on them. Very tasty.

In the afternoon we drove over to a park a few miles from the city center. It contains a planetarium, some wide open spaces, a playground and a Mexican fort. We checked out the fort, which was the site of the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862 (Cinco de Mayo). A small Mexican army defeated a much larger and better equipped French army on this day. The French eventually occupied Mexico and Benito Juarez’s government went into exile until being reinstated in1867, after the U.S. helped Mexico kick out the French.

After touring the site, the kids played at the playground for a bit, and then we returned to the hotel.

After a little R&R, we walked to the zocalo, which was bursting with activity. It was a beautiful night and after a short walk around, we sat down to dinner. Unfortunately, Isa wasn’t feeling too well, so we came back to the hotel and called it a nights.

Good-bye Oaxaca, Hello Puebla

Friday morning we spent shopping for souvenirs and more crafts (the Mujeres Artes Regionales de Oaxaca is below). We went to the zocalo for lunch, and unexpectedly ran into my parents, who had spent the morning in Ocotlan. We chatted briefly and went our separate ways; our plan had been to meet in the evening. After lunch we headed to the Museo de Arte Contomporeano (the Museum of Contemporary Art), however, as usual (we’ve gone by there before) it was closed.

Back at the house we spent a couple of hours packing. My parents brought us an extra suitcase for everything we’ve purchased down here, so that was extremely helpful. We have a few more days of our trip, but my parents return to Washington on Sunday.

Around 5 p.m. we met my parents at their hotel room and walked over to the zocalo. It was alive with protests (communist), vendors, mariachi music and all kinds of people enjoying their Friday evening. I bought the kids some bubbles and they played while we watched the activity and listened to the music. We had a wonderful dinner – tlayudas one last time – and as has become our custom, discussed our favorite and least favorite part of Oaxaca.

Rafael, Isa and Davis all agreed that swimming at Hierve el Agua was their favorite. Davis also really enjoyed the zocalo and great food. Rafael’s least favorites were walking and the ruins (although he seemed to enjoy some of them). Isa’s least favorite was going to so many markets. Davis’s least favorite were all the vendors at the zocalo. My folks agreed that both Monte Alban and the zocalo was their favorite part of Oaxaca; my dad also really enjoyed the markets. My dad’s least favorite was dealing with Hertz and my mom’s was the vendors. I had so many favorites: Monte Alban, the zocalo, my cooking class and the wonderful arts and crafts. Selso’s favorites were Monte Alban, the Rufino Tamayo museum, and both the Templo de la Soledad and Santo Domingo. Selso and I agreed that our least favorite was the water problems and quality at the house; Selso also didn’t like the vendors, and I was sick of city traffic and parking.

We were up bright and early Saturday morning and packed up the car; with an extra suitcase, that was no easy feat (go Selso!). The drive to Puebla took about four hours (including a couple of stops) along a very smooth freeway. We saw lots of agriculture along our route.

We are staying in a lovely hotel here, just a block off the zocalo. The hotel is a former Jesuit convent (above is the staircase) and right across the sidewalk is the Iglesia de la Compania, the Jesuit church. It is beautiful and airy.

Next we walked around the zocalo – which looked much like Oaxaca’s zocalo, with its balloon vendors, families and activity. A few blocks past the zocalo is the Museo Amparo, which houses pre-Hispanic and colonial era art. We’ve seen tons of pre-Hispanic artifacts in Mexico, and we’re starting to get a feel for the different styles of each area. Fascinating stuff.

We had some delicious churros (fried sweet light dough – I’ve never had a good one in the U.S.) on the walk back and then stopped and watched some clowns in the zocalo. We had dinner out at a pretty restaurant; I had mole poblano, Mexico’s national dish which originated in Puebla.

Another day, another church, another market, another group of ruins

Yesterday morning, after dropping off our laundry, we met my parents at their hotel. We all piled in their rental minivan (it was the only vehicle they had available for rent, even though they would have preferred a smaller car) and headed southwest.


Our first stop was the Zaachila church. It was simple and pretty. Selso and my dad are standing in front of the church.

Next we checked out the archeological ruins – basically a pair of tombs. All around, however, there were mounds (see above) which have yet to be excavated. Zaachila reached its height after Monte Alban. The tombs were discovered in 1972 and still contained their treasures. These are now housed in the Museo Nacional de Antropogolia in Mexico City.

One of the tombs in particular was decorated with bas-reliefs of owls, two men with a headdress and a man with a turtle shell on his back. It was very interesting.

From here we checked out Zaachila’s market – this village has it all! It was more of the same, but we enjoyed it. We picked up some empanadas for lunch, which turned out to have pig brain filling. I had no idea, and they were pretty tasty.

We got back in the car and drove to Cuilapan de Guerrero. This village is home to the Dominican ex-convent of Santiago.

The church attached to the convent was never finished – apparently King Philip of Spain quit sending money. The church would have been huge – but as it is, there is only a base and some walls, but no ceiling.

Our final stop of the day was San Antonio Arrazola, another village that makes alebrijes. My parents want to check them out. This was a brief stop and then we returned to Oaxaca.

We came back to the house for a couple of hours, and my parents went to their hotel. They came over in the evening and we had take-out for dinner, which was fun and easy.

Santa Maria Atzompa and Etla

Our first stop on Wednesday morning was to meet Antonio Irala, the artist whose work we so admired. We met at the pedestrian walkway and purchased one of his gorgeous paintings. Now, to get it home!

From here we drove to the village of Santa Maria Atzompa, a few miles west of the city. Atzompa is known for its pottery. We have seen (and used) the green glazed pottery all over Oaxaca – mugs full of hot chocolate in Puerto Escondido, bowls filled with salsa in restaurants, vases packed with fresh flowers in shops and hotels. We met my parents at the Mercado de Artesenias, which had row upon row of the gorgeous pottery.

In addition to green, they had a few other colors and designs with flowers. We saw had ceramic animals, lamp bases, candle holders and pots, as well as bowls, vases and mugs. I loved the gorgeous vase above (and it only cost $2.27!), but it was much too large to bring home. I was content to settle for some smaller green pottery, however.

Our next planned stop was San Jose El Mogote, home to a small museum and some ruins. It took forever to find the town, and by the time we arrived, we were getting pretty hungry. We looked around for a restaurant, but amazingly, there weren’t any. It must be the only town in Mexico that doesn’t sell food! And the museum was closed! So we moved on.

We went to Etla a few miles up the road, which has a market on Wednesday. We found some lunch and wandered into their church and around the market.

All over Mexico, you find people selling cut up fruit. Often it is in the shape of flowers, and chili is put on top. I bought some coconut from the women above for 5 pesos ($0.35). Later on, the kids bought apples, imported from the U.S.!

After the market, my parents headed back to their hotel, we stopped by the grocery store and then returned to our house. The last couple of evening have been nice and relaxing.

Santo Domingo

We met my parents at the Iglesia de Santo Domingo on Tuesday. Construction on the church was begun in 1572, but took 200 years to complete.

The church is extremely ornate, with carved plaster statues and stucco flowers. No part of this church is unadorned – everywhere you look, there is something to see.

An altar to the Virgin of Guadalupe was being built, and it was fascinating to see the process.

Next to the church there is a convent, which is now houses a museum as well as a library of books hundreds of years old.

The ex-convent is a beautiful building, with several patios and lovely halls.

The museum is quite interesting and presents a comprehensive history of Oaxaca with artifacts of each time period. Particularly impressive were the treasures of a tomb found at Monte Alban. As I’ve mentioned before, most of the tombs found at the archeological ruins we’ve been to were looted hundreds, or even thousands, of years ago. The items found in this tomb are simply astonishing: gold and turquoise jewelry, figurines, intricately carved bones, pottery, and much more.

The monks’ former garden is now an enthobotanical garden. Unfortunately, there were no self-guided tours of the garden, so we had to be content to see it from the convent.

By the time we finished touring the museum, we were ready for lunch. We walked down the pedestrian walkway in search of a restaurant, and of course couldn’t find anything we liked. We ended up back at the zocalo, where four of us ordered tlayudas. They were huge! And delicious. After stuffing ourselves silly, we were ready for a siesta, so we went our separate ways. We had a relaxing afternoon and a very light dinner!

Temazcal and more dancing

Monday morning we gorged on TV, Gameboy and computer – I think we all needed a little veg time. We headed to the Centro for a light lunch around noon and then did a little window shopping on our walk to my parents’ hotel. We even ran into an artist whose paintings we had seen and enjoyed at the library on one of our first days here (he was piling the paintings into his VW bug), and Selso got his card. We dropped the kids off and Selso and I went to have a temazcal.

Skeleton decorating the entry way to shop.

A temazcal is an sweat bath used by indigenous people for therapeutic and medicinal purposes. Evidence of temazcals has been found dating back to ancient times – in fact we saw the remains of one at Lambityeco a few days ago.

We arrived in a lovely garden and then undressed and entered the temazcal. It is a small room (good thing we aren’t clausterphobic), probably no bigger than 5.5 feet, by 5.5. feet, by 4 feet tall. We had to crawl in and remain seated the entire time. Our temazcalera got the room nice and steamy, then left us to sweat and meditate for a while, with only a small candle for light. The room was so steamy that I had a hard time breathing, but the quiet was luxurious. When the temazcalera returned she performed a cleansing, where she stroked and swatted us with bundles of fresh herbs while humming. After a while of doing this, she poured warm rose petal water over us, to cool us down. That felt great!

We exited the temazcal and then rested on some prepared bedding. After cooling off, two women came (the temazcalera and another woman) and we each received a very relaxing massage. We rested a bit longer, then dressed and had a quick cup of lemon tea before we had to return to reality!

When we arrived back at my parents’ hotel, we heard about the fun activities of their day (the highlight being a trip to get ice cream). We visited for a bit, and around 6:30 left to find dinner. We ate a delicious meal (Selso and I both had mole Amarillo) at Casa de la Abuela (see view from our table, above).

After dinner we attended yet another dance performance, this one at Hotel Monte Alban. It was an intimate setting with only about 20 people in attendance. These dances were all from the state of Oaxaca (as opposed to other shows we’ve seen where the dances are from all over Mexico).

I was particularly interested in La Danza de la Pluma (The Dance of the Feather), in which men dance while wearing a large feathered headdress. The dance represents a conversation between Montezuma of the Aztecs and the Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes, and the eventual conquest of Mexico by the Spanish. The dance actually dates to pre-Hispanic times, when it represented the Aztec prayers for rain. After the Spanish took over, the meaning of the dance and costumes changed, although the dance itself is remains similar to its ancient counterpart.