Category: Mexico

Today started with a brief walk into town followed by a hearty breakfast at La Ola, fruit salad, green juice and a tortilla with cheese and guacamole, and coffee obviously. Then on to the main business of the morning – a cooking class.

We started at a local market, the stalls have all the vegetables and fruit you’d expect and many more mysterious things we’ve never seen or tatsed before. Our teacher, Pilar likes to buy from the ladies who bring small amounts of things to sell rather than the established stalls, its fresher and it’s better to support them. Everything is organic because nobody uses any chemicals on anything. The market feels like the centre of the community, people are eating and drinking in groups and everyone seems to know everyone else. Near the market, there is a small place that does grinding for everyone. They have machines for wet or dry corn, cacao and a number of other ingredients. People bring in a bucket of corn, for example, and this is then mashed up and used in things like tamales – stuffed corn or banana leaves. We learn that the secret to cooking corn is to add calcium as it dissolves the husks and makes the corn smooth enough for tamales pastes and tortillas.

Pilar has a beautiful house with a beautiful black cat called Matilda. The house has a large open plan lounge, kitchen and dining area with a light well in the centre to keep it bright. She explained the heaps of ingredients, which have been laid out in baskets for each dish. The class had five students and we worked our way through chopping, peeling and cooking six dishes with Pilar explaining what we are doing and why along the way. It all comes together after an hour and a half and there’s just time for a glass of Mezcal and some appetisers before lunch. The food was very good, many of the dishes have stronger or lighter hints of chilli but it’s in the background along with many other flavours. There’s also a very nice Mexican red wine to go with it (cabernet grenache).

At 2:30pm, our guide came to pick us up for our next adventure – a visit to the Zapotec town of Monte Alban. This is an older pre-hispanic town built on top of the highest hills in the area from about 500BC. The site is a strategic position with views along all the possible approach routes. It’s almost deserted, with maybe 10 to 15 other people there. We started with the Pelota court, the best preserved we’ve seen. The rules of this ball game aren’t too well understood but it’s known that the two teams of three players represented all the realms of the underworld, the earth and the sky. Zapotecs were less cruel than the Aztecs; the winners were honoured rather than sacrificed.

Around 500AD the Zapotecs discovered that cooking corn with limestone changed its texture and made it more versatile, exactly the process we’d been told about in the market that morning. This was important for them because it meant they could make bread and other food that could be stored and this led to an increase in the population and the formation of further nearby cities.

One building on the south side has a number of stone reliefs of figures, the first assumption was that these were dancers so it was named Los Danzantes – also the name of the previous night’s restaurant. Subsequent research however has shown it to be very different, the figures all have mutilated genitals and are actually contorted in pain rather than dancing; this is now believed to be what was done to captured enemies and served as a warning to others.

From the highest point at the south of the city there are fantastic views of the rest of the site, the town of Oaxaca and all the surrounding valleys and mountains. Our guide, Montserrat was very good, she had an endless array of facts at her finger tips which brought the place to life and explained many subtleties of the layout. She is passionate about the site, and archeology in general.

All too soon we have to return to our hotel. We drove through some parts of the town we hadn’t seen yet, more beautiful churches, a local religous festival and the old railway station where the remaining wagons are slowly being converted into a number of little cinemas.

We hope to come back to Oaxaca, it’s a beautiful town with so much to see, do and eat!

There’s just time for a quick shower before taking the overnight bus to San Cristóbal de las Casas.

 

Oaxaca is the hottest place we’ve been to so far, we went out to breakfast at 8:00, the temperature was just right for me, we came back at 8:30 and it was just right for Florence, after that it’s hot! In the evening, it takes a long time to cool down because the buildings are radiating their heat from the day.

Most of today was a day out at a number of sites around Oaxaca; first was a very large and very old tree. We were all a bit sceptical about this but it’s actually very impressive – 42m round, 16m wide, 2000 years old. It’s remarkable to think of everything it’s lived through. About 20 years ago, the tree wasn’t looking good, the town got some experts in, they removed a lot of parasite plants, pruned it and re-routed a road that was too close and now it’s fine. The town only has one tourist attraction so they were pleased.

Next stop was Mitla, the most important Zapotec site in Mexico. In their usual role as cultural vandals the Conquistadors destroyed a lot of the original town and built churches on it but they were so impressed with one part that they left it in place. The temple has proved to be resitant to earthquakes that have flattened most other buildings in the area. The secrets are in the quality of the stonework – all the stones fit together precisely like a huge jigsaw, also under the main structure is a thin layer of flat smooth stone that the structure can move on. These things combine to make the temple just flexible enough to survive any tremors – clever stuff.

Our third stop was the petrified waterfalls, formed of calcium deposits from springs in the mountains. The falls look they are cascading down the mountain side but are actually solid with a very thin trickle of water over them. It was a steep and hot walk down to the base of the ‘falls’ and an ever hotter one back up. At over 2,000m the air is getting a bit thin and this was a hard walk but at the top, we were rewarded with a dip in some cool pools – very welcome.

Our last stop was the least interesting one. A Mezcal factory where a perfunctory explanation of the process was followed by a tasting and gentle sales pitch. Its not a bad flavour and the variations between different plants and processes are interesting but we resisted the temptation to buy a bottle.

A Mexican Poem
For every bad, drink mezcal
For every good, mezcal as well
If there is no remedy, mezcal is a medicine
Because if cure you don’t get, at least you forget

A lot of the route today was on parts of the Pan-American highway, this stretches from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego with only a small break in Panama. If you count it as one road its the longest in the world.

Back to the hotel for a quick shower before heading to town. We don’t have nearly long enough in Oaxaca but managed to squeeze in the textile museum and the Santo Domingo church before dinner.

We had dinner at Los Danzantes. Another excellent meal, more lovely flavours and interesting combinations of ingredients. We tried to convince the Maitre’d to open a branch in London – it just isn’t possible to get most of the food we’ve had here at home.

We were at the bus station soon after 7.30am this morning. Forty minutes before our ADO bus left for Oaxaca; just time for breakfast. We grabbed some pastries, coffee and Jalapeño crisps.

The five hour journey passed quickly thanks to the dubbed films showing on the bus 🙂

No seriously, the scenery was fascinating. Puebla slowly giving way to agricultural fields, winding mountain roads and deep valleys and gorges, cacti, wide sky and vultures. We saw some pilgrims making their way to Mexico City. They now have just four days to make it to the Basilica of our Lady of Guadalupe.

Our hotel is a short walk from the bus station and a good 25 minutes away from the town centre.

Oaxaca is everything I had hoped it would be. Cobblestone streets; colourful low rise colonial buildings home to galleries, cafes, bar, restaurants and great museums.

You can’t really talk about Oaxaca without mentioning the ongoing protests in the town square. Teachers have been protesting since 2006 asking for a pay increase and greater benefits. The state of Oaxaca is one of the poorest states in the whole of Mexico. The protests take the form of sit-ins – in the middle of a street, where under canvas tents, you’ll find teachers conducting classes or in the zocalo, which they have occupied for a number of years now. On the other side of the square, couples were dancing to a live band.

We shared a tlayuda regional (a crisp tortilla with nopales, courgette flowers and cheese), quesadillas de quesillo (a local cheese similar to mozzarella), and refreshing glasses of hibiscus water at a market stall for lunch.

After more aimless wanderings, we stopped at the Centro Fotografico Alvarez Bravo museum. A very small museum which was quite inspiring. I particularly liked the Tiradores series of Andres Figueroa – portraits of rubbish collectors.

Back in our room, we organised our bags for tomorrow serenaded by the sounds of Cuban music from a local band practicing, and a cold beer.

We left Puebla just after breakfast this morning for Cholula. We climbed the Great Pyramid, admired the viewpoint (if you were to draw a volcano, you’d come up with Popocatepetl, wouldn’t you?) and went into Nuestra Señora de los Remedios church which was built over the pyramid.

From the very top of Cholula, we went to the very bottom. A walk through a narrow tunnel at the base of the pyramid enabled us to see the foundation of the temples and the many layers added over years.

A short bus journey out of town took us to the church of Santa María Tonantzintla. All surfaces are covered by colourful plasterwork – indigenous angels, chillis… Every space is filled with colourful objects and patterns, like a three-dimensional version of the trees of life we’d seen in the Popular Art museum in Mexico City. It’s fair to say we’d never seen anything like it.

Back to Cholula, we went to the food market and looked at the delicious looking fruits and vegetables, checked out the chickens and the food stalls enjoying brisk trades. It was past 11 o’clock but it had just started going; Cholula we learnt is a lazy town.

Lunch was out of this world. We went to a restaurant which specialises in pre-Hispanic food. And most of it was vegetarian. Heaven! Andy ordered a Tlaxke (a refreshing hibiscus yogurt juice combo) which was right tasty and Nopal Gratinado (cactus paddles with four types of cheese and beans). I had the Tortilla Cholulteca – a Mexican take on lasagna, with tortillas, vegetables, cheese and tomato sauce. And with seven types of chilli sauces to pick from, I was right where I wanted to be.

Back to Puebla, we had no agenda but to walk the colourful colonial streets and we did until our feet hurt. We stopped suddenly as we heard the Champions League’s anthem… looked at each other and carried on walking. The historic centre is very pretty. Most buildings are painted in bright colours (stunning against the blue sky) and decorated with tiles. We looked at antique shops and perused the ‘Street of Sweets’

We finished our walk in the Church of Santo Domingo, which is conveniently located right next to out hotel. The Capilla del Rosario (Rosary Chapel) is magnificent and one of the most elaborately decorated baroque chapels in Mexico. The walls and dome are coated in gold leaf and plaster. The stream of light catching the saints, cherubs and angels made for a golden spectacle.

Puebla’s my kind of town. It is obsessed with food. People are either eating, queuing to eat at street stalls, carrying food or talking about where to eat next. In fact, we’re about to hit the town again to look for cucumber and chilli sorbet.

 

Today we said goodbye to Mexico City and goodbye to Diego Rivera who seems to have been with us for most of our time in the city.

We started off with breakfast, trying a few words and pointing at things on the counter created a very tasty bean, cheese and avocado sandwich.

We had another quick look in the cathedral but it still didn’t grab us; the main targets this morning were murals. The Supreme Courts of Justice are a large four storey building with a large stair-case in each corner. The walls of each staircase have been painted by a different artist. The first two are large-scale historical works, the third has huge faces of people, particularly children which are both simple and poignant at the same time. The faces are those of people struggling for justice. The most impressive was the last, it mixed themes of revolution, the holocaust, imprisonment and torture, the top floor windows were blocked by representations of riot police. Unfortunately no cameras were allowed.

Next was the Ministry of Education which has 120 wall panels by Diego Rivera. The scale of the work and breadth of subjects is incredible. Each image deserves close study, his style is flowing and fluent, figures appear out of almost abstract swirls and curves. His politics are never far from the surface, red stars and hammers and sickles abound; one image of a ‘Capitalist Meal’ leaves you in no doubt where his sympathies lie.

Time for a quick coffee before returning to the hotel to check out and catch a bus to Puebla. It seems to take forever to leave Mexico City, the traffic and endless small houses eventully petered out and we climbed into pine covered hills, in the distance dramatic clouds swirled around snow-peaked mountains.

The traffic was bad on the way into Puebla and the subsequent taxi ride which took us to our hotel.

Short walk to the Zocalo to get our bearings and time for a quick meal. We had a couple of local specialities. Tlacoyo are fried corn cakes with avocado, cheese and red or green chilli sauce and some fried cheese. The guide also asked for a couple of samples of local mole sauces for us to try. These are rich dark sauces that meats and vegetables are roasted in; each area has its own versions. Dinner was washed down by some local craft beers – very fine.

Finally the highlight of the day – Lucha Libre (Mexican Wrestling). The Puebla Arena holds about 300 people but it sounds like 10 times as many. The wrestlers are in teams of three and the bouts last three rounds each. For each fight one team of three are Tecnicos, skillful and playing by the rules, the other are the Rudos, the bad guys who cheat the most and seem to win more often (it seemed like the referee is on their side). One side of the arena roots for each team. Rules seem to be vague at best, the number of fighters in the ring varies from two to six and sometimes there are multiple fights going on at the same time inside and outside the ring. It’s very well choreagraphed and executed and great fun.

Today was our last full day in Mexico City. We’ve barely scratched the surface and are plotting a return trip already 🙂

On our way to the Templo Mayor, we stopped at Pasteleria Ideal, a Mexico City institution, for breakfast. The bakery’s vast and filled with baked good as far as your eyes can see. So much choice! I found it hard not to get carried away. Most people there were pilling their trays high.

All museums and sights are free for Mexicans on Sunday, which is a great but it does mean places get busy. We got to Templo Mayor by 8:45am, and we had the sight more or less to ourselves for a little while. It was one of the main temples of the Aztecs in their capital city of Tenochtitlan. We were underwhelmed and found it hard to visualise its grandeur as the cathedral dwarfs it. A lift in the Porrua Bookshop nearby took us to a roof terrace café where we drank a cooling freshly squeezed orange juice whilst taking in the view of the archaeological site.

The site is just north of the Zócalo, one of the biggest public squares in the world. This is the heart of Mexico City and by then, it was heaving with people. We made our way to a metro station nearby. We’ve used the metro a fair bit over the last few days. At five pesos a journey (£0.19), we’d be mad not to. The metro is clean, runs a frequent service and has a separate section for women and children. It carries over five million people a day… If you think your commute is bad, try this one! On our first journey on Friday morning, we caught the end of the rush hour, and I was literally pushed out of the carriage by an old lady!

Our next stop was the Museum of Objects – a celebration of all things food related. Vintage toasters, tortilla makers and baking moulds (a whole wall of them). Quirky.

Quick coffee stop at Café la Habana, where Fidel and Che are said to have plotted the Cuban revolution. The café itself wouldn’t be out of place in Cuba.

Our last stop of the day was the Museo de Arte Popular. We got in for free. “But are you sure? We’re not Mexicans”, said Andy. It was a bonus but we would happily have paid. All museums should be like this. We spent close to two hours there, and it was just pure fun. “Come and see this”. From one gallery to the next, we kept coming across gems. Colourful and vibrant. Just like Mexico City.

We started the day at the wonderful Museum of Anthropology. The museum has rooms for each of the major areas of pre-conquest Mexican civilization as well as sections on the lives of indigneous communities today.

The museum is large, spacious and well layed out, it seems to swallow a huge number of people without ever seeming busy.

Miguel, our guide on Thursday, had told us that two days would be sufficient to do it justice. We had 3.5 hours.

The museum has so many interesting artefacts, from tiny figures an inch high to parts of temples many metres tall.

Two things stood out, the quality and creativity of the workmanship at a time when Europe was still in the dark ages and the way that so many faces look like real individuals with personality and expressions that you might see outside on the street.

The Mayans were particularly advanced in mathematics and astronomy, they had a detailed calendar and had invented the concept of a zero long before Europe had imported it from the Arabs.

We treated ourselves to lunch at Quintonil, if these things mean anything it’s currently rated twelfth in the world. The food is as far from any stereotype ideas of Mexican food as you can get. It was subtle, original and beautifully cooked and served. The theme of insects and guacamole continued – although highlighted as vegetarian by the waiter it comes with ants so again it was a no.

Last attaction of the day was Diego Riviera’s murals in the Palacio National. These huge works have many themes in them from the lives of pre-conquest Mexicans to the workers of Mexico’s Socialist struggles. His exuberance and confidence come through all of the work but at the same time his Socialist beliefs and dislike of foreign powers from the Spaniards in the past to the US at the time are also clear.

In the centre is an Eagle with a snake in its beak; Aztec history says that this is the sign that showed them where to build Tenochtitlan, now Mexico City.

We return to the hotel to meet Valeria, our tour leader for the next fifteen days and the rest of our group – both of them!

 

 

 

 

 

Today was a really good day, yesterday was a fascinating place but we were tired from the flight and it was hot and hard work. Friday was museum day, which in comparison to yesterday means no steps, air-conditioning and shade.

The day began with a ride on the Metro, it works, it’s cheap and it’s very busy.

We started at Frida Kahlo’s House; she lived there for many years, mainly with her husband, artist Diego Riviera and a steady stream of visitors and guests, mainly other artists and left-wing intelligentsia.

The house, her life and her art are all intertwined, she suffered serous illness and injury as a child which led to her being disabled the rest of her life, unable to have children and ultimately to dying at the age of 47. She wore traditional Mexican clothing to hide her disabilities, this developed into living a traditional Mexican life, the kitchen had only a wood stove and no attempts at modernity. Everywhere in the house the two artists left their mark, in the kitchen their names are written on the wall in what appear at first to be small dots but are actually tiny dolls house size pots. The house is coloured in typical bright Mexican colours, predominantly a rich blue with red and green details. It’s an inspiring place that I think would make an artist out of all of us.

Next stop was the house of a near neighbour and close friend of Kahlo and Rivera, Leon Trotsky. He came to Mexico in 1936 after being exiled by Stalin, who after one failed attempt on his life ultimately had him assassinated in 1940. Trotsky was assassinated by a Catalan working for Stalin; the murder weapon of choice? An ice axe. In contrast to Khalo’s vibrant house, Trotsky’s was functional and austere. A simple memorial in the garden marks where his and his wife’s ashes lay. Of the many images of his life on the wall one from 1937 stands out; 24 members of Lenin’s ruling committee of 1917 are shown, all were now dead, mainly at the hand of Stalin, except Stalin himself and Trotsky who soon would be.

Next was a very good lunch at Taco Gus – small tacos with many different fillings, four of which were vegetarian, two each proved to be just right.

Lowlight of the day was the Modern Art Museum, we’d been promised Kahlo, Rivera and other leading lights of Mexican art but the nearest to any of these was a copy of one Frida Kahlo work. The rest was poor copies of other artists, like a local art fair Rothko or Braque, and some splashes of colour with no apparent idea behind them. Did we get the wrong museum?

As the sun was slowly going down we ended the day in the top-floor bar at the Latin American Tower, a 47 story skyscraper that has taken more than a little of its design from the Empire State Building. The views however are incredible, the city is surrounded by mountains, some with snowy peaks, even from this height it goes on further than you can see. The sun slowly dipped behind the hills, the city lights came on and we enjoyed a cold Mexican craft beer.

On the way back to the hotel we walked through a small street which appeared to be a small Chinatown, all the shops and restaurants looked just as you would expect but were entirely staffed by Mexicans.

Nice little restaurant for dinner next door to the hotel, two mezcals to start. Having told our waiter we would like vegetarian he asked whether we would like crickets with our Guacamole; we politely declined.

Our guide Miguel from Insólitours picked us up at 8am, the early start justified by the fact that this is the most visited archaeological site in Mexico.

There were only a handful of people there when we arrived, and the experience of Miguel was priceless as it felt like we had the place to ourselves (and this, despite the many coaches in the car park).

We started in the museum which was excellent, well captioned and full of artefacts which gave us an idea of the workings of the place. At its height, Teotihuacan was the epicentre of culture and commerce for ancient Mesoamerica. Yet, its inhabitants abandoned it suddenly for reasons still unknown.

The main thoroughfare, the Avenue of the Dead, runs north to south and if you were to follow it, you would end up in Tikal, Guatemala. This gives you an idea of the trade going on at the time.

When the Aztecs ‘discovered’ the abandoned site, they appropriated it and the site enjoyed a new lease of life.

Teotihuacan is located at an altitude of 2,121m. Slightly jet-lagged, covered in factor 50 (this you probably didn’t want to know), we made our way up the Pyramid of the Sun, the Pyramid of the Moon and the Temple of Quetzalcoatl (where remains of 260 human sacrifices were found). That’s a lot of steep steps.

On the way back, we stopped briefly at the ex-convent of Acolman. We spent a good twenty minutes there, enjoying the shade of the garden and the coolness of the church. Oh, have I mentioned how hot it was today?

Our final destination was the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. This is one of the most important places of pilgrimage for catholics. And on 12 December, millions of people will descend on the place, with pilgrims currently making their way to the site. Already, there were easily a couple of thousands of people there today. There are various churches on site; the biggest one can hold up to 10,000 people and is earthquake proof. Which is a big thing. The oldest church will probably go when the next earthquake strikes. That was an odd experience, going into the church and walking down hill! We did not expect that. We’d come in through a side door. Which is just as well, as from the front, you can see the building leaning.

Culinary experiences of the day: we tried cactus paddles, sopes (tasty!), frijoles negros, cactus flowers in syrup (too sweet) and pulque.

From the air, Mexico City (or the City as locals refer to it) goes on for ever. It’s quite something.

Here are two things I remembered from school: it’s a metropolis and it’s 80 kms long. Chatting to our guide Miguel today, we learnt new crazy facts: over 25 million people live here, it’s more like 100 kms these days, the city is sinking. And life here can only described as chaotic.

Back to last night. We landed with some delay due to turbulence but after that, things happened quickly. From immigration, to collecting our bags, clearing customs (Andy was feeling lucky so he pushed the button and got green so we went through; you get red, your bags get searched) and sorting out an authorised taxi to the hotel took less than an hour. Not bad hey? I declared this the second most efficient airport I have used (with Helsinki claiming top spot).

The drive to the Hotel Metropol, our base for the next few nights, took just over 30 minutes. The streets were teaming with life – street food stalls, bars and restaurants with small doors offering the briefest glimpse of what was inside.

We got the key to our room, dumped our bags and with a full day sightseeing ahead of us did what any sensible person would do and headed to the bar.

Welcome to Mexico!