Puebla - Change in Plans

The lovely Zocalo.
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So I forgot to mention that in DF with only fifty minutes to spare until check-out time we decided to break down and buy a Lonely Planet. Of course the store in the hostel had every country but Mexico (seriously Thailand? Scandanavia? no Mexico) so we asked the front desk and went tearing off through the historic center to find the American bookstore and peg down 440 pesos for a guide book.

Then it was back to the hostel and off to Puebla. It is only a short bus ride from DF. If this were a different time or weather had been more cooperative there should have been good views of the two mountains that hang over DF on the road, but the smog turned the landscape indistinct.

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Luckily it clears a bit as you get to Puebla. It was another case of me being a little leary as we start the taxi ride because the town is not really beautiful as it begins to pass my window. But then we turned toward the historic area and things look up.

Puebla is a large city, over 1 million, so there are a lot more signs and stores and American chains than I am used to seeing in a colonial city but the Zocalo is gorgeous. Leafy and shaded with a large fountian in the middle. We had been planning to visit during the Cinco de Mayo festival (which is the anniversary of the Battle of Puebla, and is only really important in Mexico in Puebla) but when we tried to sketch out our travel plans we kept running into the problem of having to back-trak to get to Puebla then, so we moved it up in the schedule, and amazingly we landed in town on the anniversary of the founding. So there was an orchestra on Friday morning in the Zocalo tuning up.

The main cathedral
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All in all, we tried to rest a little in Puebla, our days had been packed for the last week so a little relaxation was nice. Matt slept one afternoon while I went to Museo Amparo and had a coffee in one of the dozen or so Italian Coffee Company locations around town. We successfully managed not to eat at Carls Jr. on the Zocalo, though it was tough.

We did splurge on one thing. We went to eat at the Meson Sancristia, and had amazing chipoltes rellenos, moles, and the juiciest carne asada ever, with a coconut flan to finish it off. We also tried the local mole poblano (amazing!!) and the chalupas (corn tosada-like things with salsas and shredded meats on top, also yummy!). Also one night after going out to the bars I orded something from a street vendor and ended up with a breaded chicked strip and shredded potatoes in a tortilla with guacamole and green salsa. It was incredible.

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Puebla is also the home of the cathedral which is featured on the 500 peso bill. Its towers are the tallest in Latin America apperantly, and one morning we visited very early and then sat in the coffee shop across the street with a lovely view with our cappucino and iced tea. This is also the one moment of saddness in Puebla, because as we were walking ten minutes later on the way to the Artists Market Matt realized his wedding ring was gone, most likely down the drain at the coffee shop, whose sinks had no guards. But its okay, these things happen.

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So after resting up and reading many books and eating meals and expensive lemonades along th Zocalo we decide to head south about 6 hours to Oaxaca. Not realizing we will also be adding about 15 degrees in temp, and some humidty as well.