Puebla

This morning we got up at the crack of dawn for a trip to Puebla. The bus ride took us through many previously unknown parts of the city, and after about 45 minutes, we finally got out to the countryside. The highway to Puebla runs through a mountain pass near the volcanoes, and the scenery actually reminded us of Washington state.

Leaving the sprawl...
 Volcanoes: Popocateptl and Iztaccíhuatl
 Please call me Popo!
Thank god we were protected by this tiny concrete wall in case of eruption!

Our first stop in Puebla was the main square called the Zocalo. There we saw the tallest church in all of Mexico, the Catedral Central.

Zocalo with Catedral Central in the background.
 Fountain in the central square.

Us with the fountain and the church!

City hall wishing Mexico a happy 200th birthday! Feliz Cumpleanos!

Our next stop included checking out the world-renowned Tavalera pottery which apparently takes six months to make each piece! No doubt absolutely true and not just a claim to jack up the prices for tourists!

Tavalera tiles on the facade of a museum.

Tavalera plates in a 100% genuine tienda with guaranteed factory-direct pricing!

Balloons anyone?

After browsing through the historic center, we made our way through a number of Catholic churches. Mostly built in the Baroque period, and thus mostly built of solid gold. They were a sight to behold, and if anything, I would say they were tastefully understated...

Ok...pretty normal...

Bling! Gold, gold, and then just for good measure, a little more gold!

...and if that wasn't quite enough, here's a wee bit more!

By comparison, the Catedral Central seemed quite plain, but it made up for it with 200+ foot ceilings.

This one seemed to have spent their money on crystal chandeliers, so not as much gold here.

White marble seemed to be preferred here.

Farther into town, we came across the ever-popular styrofoam, glitter and plastic flower look.

I think there might be a roughly 1:1 ratio of people to churches in Puebla!

We wrapped up the day in the artist's market. We didn't end up buying anything the whole day, so we decided to wait for the bus with a few margaritas, which made for a great pre-bus-ride/nap happy hour!

Artist's market

After leaving the artist's market and before the much deserved drinks, I (Eric) was foot raped by an overly agressive shoe-shiner named "Tony", who after chatting me up in English and after about 10 "NO's" from me with regard to the shoe shine he was offering for my...what else...gym shoes!!!...dropped to his knees and immediately drenched my left foot with his "cleaning solution". I told him NO! for the 8 millionth time and demanded that he dry it off. He pulled out a little towel from his kit and told me to put my foot on his little box which I did. Then the old bait and switch again! He swapped the towel for his little wet brush and got me a second time! Yanking my foot away I gave him 5 pesos and ran away, wondering if there was a crime victim's support group for this sort of thing and swearing to never talk to a street vendor again.

I felt better after three beers and a margarita.

Update: My foot did not fall off overnight, so I think I'll pull through!

Coyocan and San Angel

This morning we took the metro out to Coyoacan with some friends. We browsed the arts and crafts markets looking for gifts for people back home, and Autumn even haggled. Next stop was the world's slowest coffee shop with the bonus feature of having the world's ricketiest stairs! I know I shouldn't expect instant service, but REALLY?!? an hour and a half for four coffees and a crepe? I mean REALLY!?! Oh well, we made up for it with some delicious tacos al pastor downstairs and all was right in the world again.

The main plaza in Coyoacan.

An old church (the first of many).

Entrance to the arts and crafts market.

Tree of Life sculpture in the Museum of Popular Arts.

Mmmmm! Meat!

Afterward, we headed up to the Frida Kahlo Museum which was converted from a bright blue house that she shared with Diego Rivera. The art and her house were great, but the interior courtyard was amazing! There were tons of Pre-Colombian statues and it was landscaped beautifully. By the time we were through, we had worked up our appetites and stopped by a cafe for churros and hot chocolate, a specialty of the Coyoacan neighborhood.

Happy and full of tacos!

Hola?
Oh hi, I'm just talkin' on the phone and drinkin a beer!
I am king of the Aztecs!

Courtyard in Frida's "Blue House"

I'm having a pyramid in my next yard too!

Heeding our guidebook's advice, we strolled down "Mexico City's most beautiful avenue." I don't know if it quite deserved that award, but there were some pretty amazing mansions and churches from the 16th century along the way.

Another old church...

NINJA - ANGEL!!!

Ode to doors...

Monument to Obregon.

The second biggest flag I've seen...

That took us to San Angel, another neighborhood know for arts and crafts markets. Parts of it were very hectic and crazy and the rest was all old and colonial. We went into a fabric store to pick up a needle and thread which involved giving the stuff to a guy at one counter in order to get a ticket with the prices on it, then heading over to the cashier to pay, then picking up the stuff from a third counter. It seemed a bit overly complicated for a transaction that amount to about $1.50! Purchases in hand, we trekked forward and finally got to the main square with the market. But by then we were all pretty worn out, and decided to take a cab back home.

San Angel...I'd hate to see it when it's "busy"...

Guess what....

...another old church!

On the way home, Autumn and I stopped for pizza and beers in a great little sidewalk cafe around the corner from our house to relax and unwind.

Ahhh...!

BBQ

Today we went to a BBQ for the newbies in Autumn's section and had a great time. We got to meet a bunch of new people and hopefully made some friends!

I made mini key lime pies!

Where's the beef?

Today I made a Beer & Cider Beef Roast, and it was delicious. I have to say that my housewife-ing abilites reached a whole new level.
 Mad skillz with a side of corn on the cob and salad!

Mothra Strikes Mexico!

There are the most enormous moths here, and one has creepily made it's home right outside our window. These are big enough that we thought they were bats the first time we saw one. The wingspan is almost 12 inches!!!


Eric: Quick! Throw it a sweater to distract it from eating the city!

Autumn: No! Call Godzilla and tell him to bring the
extra-strength moth balls!!

Cooking Time!

Today, I cooked just about all day. First I made Peach and Almond Tartlets with Cream Cheese Filling, and followed that up with a big batch of chile verde.

Am I the best husband ever?
In a word, yes!

Peach Tartlets with a side of cinnamon-sugar crust chips.

Roasting poblano chiles for the green sauce.

Get in my pot, señor cilantro!

La Merced

This afternoon, we took the Metro over to La Merced, the biggest market in Mexico City. It was huge! It seemed like it went on for miles. We probably explored about 10% of it today. There were dried chiles and spices piled high, all sorts of fruits and vegetables, and a huge kitchen supply section. Of course there was tons of street food too. We didn't try any there, but we did have some delicious deep fried quesadillas from a cart on the way to the subway. They were so good, so cheap and so covered in some of the hottest hot sauce that I've ever had. At the end of the day, our prize from the market was a mortar and pestle set carved from volcanic rock shaped like a pig called a molcajete.

El Metro

¡Piñatas!

Tons of people and stuff!

We bought some adobo paste from this stand and are going to have delicious tacos!

Holy jalapeños!

Bananas anyone? Yuck!

Our prize! The molcajete!