My parents are here!

My mom and dad arrived late Friday night, so we saw them yesterday. We drove by the zocalo to collect them, and we followed their taxi to the Mercado Abastos, the big Saturday market in Oaxaca.

Abastos is similar to the other markets we’ve been to, but we had fun. My dad in particular enjoys the color and activity of markets. I was excited to point out so many things to my mom that I’d learned during my cooking class.

Walking through these markets with their gorgeous, fresh fruits and vegetables really makes me want to cook, and I long for my kitchen, as the kitchen where we are staying leaves a lot to be desired!

We returned to the zocalo where we finally went inside the beautiful Catedral. Although originally constructed during the 1500s, it was extensively rebuilt in the 1700s due to earthquakes and fires.

The Catedral contains numerous altars and a beautiful organ and choir area (above). Seeing all these Catholic churches has piqued Davis’s curiosity about the religion, and luckily my mom, who was raised Catholic, had the answers.

I loved these beautiful etchings in the doors.

After leaving the Catedral, we listened to some music playing in the zocalo for a few minutes, then had lunch. It had warmed up quite a bit by now, so we decided to go our separate ways for a siesta and quite time.

We joined my parents at their lovely hotel around 5 p.m. and walked to the Museo Rufino Tamayo. Tamayo, born in Oaxaca, was an artist in the 20th century – a contemporary of Diego Rivera. We saw some of his paintings in Mexico City, however this museum contained his collection of pre-Hispanic artifacts. The museum was nicely done and housed many fascinating pieces.

We had a glass of wine in my parents’ hotel room, then headed to the zocalo for dinner. We are all happy they are here.