This is undoubtedly the longest blog we've written, but rather then writing a little bit everyday on our trip, we waited until we were home and could edit the pictures and put all of our notes down for you to hear about this new area we've explored.
DAY 1
Our friends Patrick and Sandi came from Mazatlan and here we are enjoying a glass of Angel Blanco from the wine that we made and opened on their arrival.
Our latest exploration of Mexico was the city of Morelia and the surrounding
area. Morelia is a city of around 500,000 people with a municipal area of around
700,000. The Spanish occupied the area in the 1520's and established the city
in 1541. In the 1800's the city was renamed Morelia after Jose Maria Morelos y
Pavin who was born in the city. He was the leading general in Mexico's
revolution against Spain. He was captured by the Spanish and shot in 1815. His
picture is on the Mexican 50 peso bill. (okay, that was your history lesson of
the area)
Our first day we drove from Ajijic following
Patrick and Sandi Ingalls, our friends from Mazatlan. They led our caravan and
shared an apartment with us in Morelia. We stopped for lunch in a small village
along the way and then later stopped to shop in Capula. Capula is known for the
making of "Catrina Dolls". This is a unique Mexican doll that are
skeletons adorned by fashionable clothing. They come out on "The Day of
the Dead" festivities or are displayed in collections. They are made out
of barra or clay. This village is only about 10 miles out of Morelia. We
arrived in Morelia around 5:00 PM and then following Patrick's GPS we managed
to find our apartment in old town Morelia
Patrick and Sandi lead the way and hit our first Toll both entering the Autopista.
Many fields of cosmos along our way growing wild.
Janice is concentrating on making sure we get to Morelia safely. It's a pretty long drive.
The remnant of a volcano in the background.
DAY 2
On the second day we drove to Patzcuaro. This is a city about 40 miles
outside of Morelia. We shopped at different places and Janice found a mask for
her collection of masks that decorate our entry wall in our Mazatlan home. They
had a great plaza square. We observed dancers from the Isle of Patzuaro. The
group had both children and grown-ups. They all danced bent over leaning on
canes. They have masks with faces of old people. We were told they were famous
for their performances and many of their performers were of low intelligence
which we took to mean they we developmentally delayed. They passed the hat and
this is how they support themselves. After we left Patzcuaro we drove to the
village of Santa Clare de Cobre. The city of copper. The village was known for
working with copper. There were many ornate copper bowls, candle sticks, etc.
Janice added our collection of copper items at two different shops. After a long
day we drove back to Morelia to have a nice meal, cerveza and vino.
Above is a little video of la danza de los Viejitos. They are very well known in Michiocan.
Ollie didn't know if he was coming or going.
They were both feeling frisky here and enjoyed play time.
Yes, men still walk around with their horses and donkeys
carrying their large loads.
Sweet family that we enjoyed 'trying' to visit with in Spanish. In Santa Clara de Cobra,
this is the village that people make all of the copper pans, jewelry, decorations to sell and make money for their family. All four of us were happy to purchase some beautiful items from them.
DAY 3
On the third day we spent in Morelia enjoyed strolling the streets of old town.
The high point of the days was the parade celebrating the birthday of Jose
Morelos, who the city was named after. He was born in 1765 and was shot by the
Spanish in 1815. We had to wait almost two hours for the parade to start, but
it was well worth it. The parade was led by the President of Mexico and the
President Elect of Mexico. There was loads of security and the rooftops had
security and cameras scanning the crowds, The car of the president was led and
trailed by loads of carloads of security and dignitaries. After they passed
there were many military units marching. Air Forces planes must have passed the
parade route, flying low, four or five times. I would estimate several thousand
military people passed by and took over a half hour to pass. There were Golden
Eagles standing on the wrists of their handlers in front of their units. Some
had fatigue uniforms, other had formal uniforms, and some had 19th century
uniforms. After them came the schools. There were bands and drill teams. Also
different from US parades, they had formations of the faculties of the
different schools on parade. These also took well over a half hour to pass as
there were many schools represented. The last part was many different units of
people on horseback. There were cowboys twirling their ropes, equestrian riders
demonstrating their riding skills. Proud Don and Donnas in traditional Spanish
costumes with ornate saddles and tack. Many of the ladies were riding side
saddle. Near the end were the prancers and dancers. The horses of this group
were impressive and their movements could take your breath away. All in all the
parade took two hours and it was well worth our time. The rest of our day was
getting to know the city better.
DAY 4
The fourth days we drive to the city of Urupan. This was about 20 miles
farther that Patzcuaro. We toured the Parque Nationale. This was a 1500 acre
park that had many scenic waterfalls and beautiful foliage. Our guide Jesus,
told us about the plants and waterfalls. This originally was the estate of some
very rich people that had the river diverted through there and the waterfalls
constructed. This park was beautiful and our pictures do not do it justice.
After we left the park we headed out to see a pyramid and ceremonial grounds of
Tingambato. On the way there we were caught in a downpour and stopped at a
roadside cafe. It was just a frame with corrugated metal roof that made the
rain seem very loud. This was a cafe that had rarely if ever had seen gringos.
The servers only spoke an Indian dialect, so the owner had to translate
Patrick's Spanish into the dialect. The meals were good and inexpensive. I
suspect they will have this strange group of gringos to remember for a long
time.
The rain finally let up and we drove to Tingambato. This was an impressive site with a pyramid and many surrounding ceremonial buildings and one game field. Most of this had been unearthed and there was still a lot to excavate. We then drove back to Morelia and enjoyed a wonderful meal at Lu's. This is a great restaurant where we ate outside. The meal was top notch and we sat across from the cathedral. We took a cab home and the driver tried to scam and frighten us. When we arrived at the apartment I gave him a 100 peso note to pay for the 30 peso cab ride we had negotiated and received 70 pesos change. About five minute later the cab driver came back, rang our bell and said we had only given him a 50 peso bill and demanded more money. I had no 50 peso bills on me and Janice also saw me give him the 100 peso bill and also saw him count out the 70 pesos change. I told him no, I had given him a 100 peso and wouldn't give him more money. He took a step toward me in a threatening manner when Janice said she was calling the police. He stepped out of the door which I quickly closed. He struck the door with his fist and left. I don't think either of us slept well that night. Luckily, we never heard of him again, however Janice said until we left, she did keep looking over her shoulder checking to see if that taxi driver was around. After so many great interactions with the locals we decided not to label everyone by the actions of this one man.
DAY 5
Our next day we spent in Morelia. We all took a double decker bus that took
us through historic Morelia and told us about the buildings. There was home of
various leaders of the revolution and where Father Hildago, Morelos and others
had announced that Mexico was rebelling against Spain in 1810. It took Mexico
until 1821 until it gained independence. Unlike the US revolutionary war, in
Mexico many of their leaders were caught or killed before they finally
prevailed. There was an impressive monument to Morelos. I suspect if he would
have survived the War of Independence he would have been known of the
Washington of Mexico. We then went to a Mexican institution, Costco? After a rest,
Janice, Ollie and I went on a walk through the large and beautiful park just
past the aqueducts. They have a large Roman style aqueduct that brought water
to the city. It had 253 arches.
DAY 6
The
next day we went out of the city again. We first went to a small village where
they made furniture and after that we went to another village that specialized
in Masks. The mask maker and his family are known around Mexico and in other countries
for their masks and although they were impressive, the prices were very high
and would be for the high end collector only. After the villages we returned to
the city of Patzcuaro and caught a boat to the Isla de Patzcuaro. There was a
great mariachi band on the board and while coming into the island there was a
demonstration of net fishing by several fisherman in their unique boats, which
then they came along our boat asking for tips. The island was a tourist spot
for Mexican nationals. It had loads of souvenir shops and many well-dressed
kids that were asking for money. We had a nice meal there while Patrick and
Sandi climbed the stairs to the statue perched on the top of the island.
After we ate lunch we took another boat back to Patzcuaro and drove to two
different archeological sites. The first was Ihuatzio. This had a huge walled
field where ceremonies were held at the pyramid. It was a large area capable of
holding thousands people when special rites were held.
Then we went to the ruins at Tzintzuntzan. There were a large, long pyramid and then other small structures. There were also petroglyphs on the rocks below the hill approaching the pyramid. The two sites today and the previous site of another day although impressive, they still have a lot to be unearthed. I suspect if you come five or ten years from now there will be new discoveries.
DAY 7
Our last day in Morelia was a slow day. Janice and I went out on our own to
stroll old town Morelia. We poked our heads in various places and toured five
museums including the birthplace of Morelos. In the evening we had a great last
night of vacation dinner. That night we got packed up as Patrick and Sandi were
heading out at 7:30 AM and we were leaving around 9:00.
DAY 8
On the way home we stopped again in Capula, but very little was open. We
then went to the village of Tzintzuntzan. They had a market full of locally
made Christmas ornaments and decorations. Janice managed to buy several items
to make our home in Mazatlan festive this Christmas. We then made it close to
home in Ajijic when we were rerouted on a highway toward Guadalajara that we
couldn't get off.
We had to stay on it
until close to the city. We finally found an exit and as we were going onto the
exit a semi truck cut in front of us from the next lane over to try and make
the exit. The rear of the truck smashed our side view mirror and scratched our
left front quarter panel. I suspect the trucker never realized he hit us and
kept on going. Luckily, outside of the mirror, the damage was cosmetic and we
were able to get back on the road to Ajijic and arrived home shook, but
uninjured. After we got home we had to open a bottle of Janice's home-made wine
and finish it. Such ended our one week adventure.
OUR OVERALL IMPRESSIONS OF THIS TRIP
Our overall impressions of Morelia is that this is a very large town full of history,
beautiful architecture, interesting villages around the city. Neither of
enjoyed the business of it as perhaps we once would have. We are both becoming
small town people where life is more laid back and relaxing. We are no longer
enjoying driving around in Mexico with all the narrow streets, bumps and holes
in the roads, inability to communicate and for us, we are glad to be back home
(until Oct. 31) in Ajijic when we head back to Mazatlan.
This blog would not be complete if I did not add pictures of a few of our food adventures. Joel and I both put on a little weight here, but are now working at taking it back off again.
