Hi Everyone
Am writing my daily blog from Puebla, Mexico. We left Mexico City at about 8:30 for our three hour drive to Puebla. Along the way we passed by three volcanoes. They are named Pico de Orizaba, Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl. Bet you cannot say those three names. One is active and the other two are snow capped. The one that is active had smoke coming out of the cone constantly. Hikers are not allowed up to the active one anymore as it is in an unstable state now. We saw another smoking volcano in the Sacred Valley of Peru two years ago.
We finally arrived in Puebla at around twelve thirty. There is a beautiful big public square in the middle of town. It seems that all of the cities that we have ever visited in the Spanish speaking areas of the Western Hemisphere have this town square in the center of town. The square has a central fountain and is surrounded by shops and restaurants on all sides.
Before we arrived in the center of town, we stopped at a famous ceramic factory that has been making local ceramics since the mid eighteen hundreds. Each piece is hand made one at a time. Imagine making pottery in this way in America? What would each piece cost?
It was then onto the center of town and lunch. Puebla is an old colonial town with lots of colonial buildings dating back hundreds of years. The architecture reminded me of Mexico City and Madrid. Balconies and beautiful sculptures done in a very ornate way. Of course, Puebla has lots of churches. Both Olivia and myself felt that Puebla reminded us of Arequipa, Peru. Lunch was enjoyable in a beautifully styled Mexican restaurant.
It was then onto our hotel. The hotel is named “Quinta Real”. The hotel was a former convent that was originally built in 1593. There are two large squares and gardens with the rooms surrounding the squares. You eat outside on one of the squares. So beautiful and unique. Imagine the ghosts and spirits living here.
After check in, our tour guide took us for a walk around town. We visited the Puebla Cathedral in the center of town. This is the church that should have been built in Mexico City and the Mexico City church that we visited should have been built here. This church was in far better shape than its sister church in Mexico City. This church is, of course, not sinking and has far less people to handle. We then walked the streets and even visited the first public library in the Americas. The streets were cluttered with lots of small shops, restaurants and small bands roaming around playing for tips.
We then walked back to the hotel for a short rest and met at 6 PM for dinner. The US dollar goes far here. After taking a long walk around town, we settled on having traditional food. For eight of us including drinks and a tip came to 640 pesos or $32 US dollars or $4 per person and the food was excellent.
Tomorrow it’s on to Veracruz.
Love
Larry