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During the week of Semana Santa (Holy Week), we took a bus down to Oaxaca for a much-needed vacation. Look, 17.5 hour work weeks are rough-- we deserved it! (Actually, the craziness we went through preparing to leave the US did leave us a bit tired and torn, so we really did need it :). Anyway, Oaxaca is a beautiful place, and we had SO MUCH FUN!
On our way to Oaxaca we stopped in Mexico City. Actually, we were forced into a 6-hour layover there. When we tried to buy tickets from Mexico City to Oaxaca at around 2 pm, we found out the next bus with available seats didn´t leave until 9 pm. Anyway, it turned out to be a lucky inconvienience. We took the metro (subway) and visited the main sqare there-- the buildings seem ancient and are spectacular, beautiful monstrosities. Mexico City is rich with culture, and we plan on returning there many many times over the next year. In addition to checking out the vast city plaza and wandering the beautiful streets, we also stopped for our favoite tacos al pastor, which are little mini tacos made of pork, onion, and cilantro. We like ours with lime and pineapple as well. It is definitely something we will miss when we come back, because I know they don´t have tacos al pastor in America (trust me, after I did my study abroad in Cuernavaca and fell in love with them, I looked relentlessly at US Mexican restaurants to no avail).
Anyway, once in Oaxaca, we had an experience searching for the best hotel. The first night we stayed at a cute place for around US$35/night, although the next day we found a haven that we are likely to dream about for the rest of our lives (for US$30). It is a super cute hotel called Casa Arnel. Holy cow this place is awesome. Granted, the rooms aren´t anything to write home about (although here we are, doing just that), but the place itself, well-- it's quite heavenly. The courtyard is massive and filled with all sorts of tropical plants and such. There are so many little plant-filled balconies and hidden surprises at basically every turn. We spent a lot of time just chillin' in the hammocks there, listening to the parrots, and now and then playing some cards. We did leave Casa Arnel for one night (against our better judgment) to stay in another even-cheaper hotel called Hotel Chocolate Posada. This place was super cute as well (although really not very cute at all in comparison to Arnel), and it housed a chocolate factory that of course acted as constant air-freshener / evil temptress. The chocolate in Oaxaca is amazing, and so we thought it would follow that an experience at this Chocolate Hotel might be a fun deviation. Umm, not so much. Aside from the aroma and outward aesthetic appeal, Hotel Chocolate Posada sucks. We have never heard so much noise so early in the morning. Starting at about 5 am, we were greeted with the pleasantries of steel garage-like doors being flung open, people yelling, and other things that sounded like barrels being thrown around on concrete. All of this nicely echoed in the cinderblock courtyard that the hotel rooms surround. Needless to say, we returned to our wish-it-was-our-second-home Casa Arnel the next night.
While in Oaxaca, we tried all sorts of yummy foods, many of which you´ll see Billy eating in the photos we promise to post soon (he wants a running visual account of his foodie experiences). These food experineces included both of us trying mini fried grasshoppers (not too gross), and walking through a chaotic barbeque-smoke filled market with people on all sides yelling at us to buy their meat and their vegetables.
We also visited the ancient ruins of Monte Alban which were amazing. It really makes you (or at least us) wonder what it must have looked like when those cultures were in their prime. Wish we had a time machine. Anyway, we also checked out some cool museums and such, in addition to walking the many many cobblestoned streets of Oaxaca´s colonial center. It seemed like every little doorway you looked into held exciting secrets (FYI, much of Mexico has streets lined with homes and/or businesses that look like plain flat facades squished tightly together from the front-- to see what they really are, you have to be allowed inside. All their courtyards, etc, are hidden from street view and are accessible only upon entry). There were also coutless food vendors, artists, etc, etc lining the streets and established "mercado" areas. We loved hanging out in the city´s various plazas and soaking in the cultural ambiance. Very, very fun.
Since we were in Oaxaca during Semana Santa, we were also able to watch their Procescion del Silencio (Procession of Silence). I had seen more dramatic versions of this tradition when I was in Cuernavaca years ago, but it was still very interesting. Huge amounts of people come to watch this holy "parade", wich basically consists of people in various types of dress carrying several flowered "floats" with statues of Christ and Mother Mary (many of them being ones of Christ on the Cross). In Cuernavaca, there were men who would actaully whip their own backs into bloody messes, others who would carry huge wooden crosses, and women who would walk miles hunched over carrying mini-crucifixes. The Oaxaca version wasn´t as gruesome, thankfully.
Finally, (on a lighter note) before leaving, we also checked out a 2000+ year old tree called El Tule. That thing was amazing. It is really hard to capture the perspective via photo, but believe us, that was one big tree. The trunk seemed to house many many other trunks within it, all worthy of their own little zip code.
On our way back to Queretaro, we once again stopped off in Mexico City (this time by planned choice). We got up early and went to the temporary museum, Ashes and Snow. This is travelling museum, and believe us, if it comes to your city, GO. We were lucky to have gotten up early, because by the time we left at around 10:30 am, the line to get in was already as long as the notoriously horrific Disneyland ones. We found out that the musuem gets an average of about 250,000 visitors per day. No admission price, but trust us, this place is making money. Almost everyone buys something in the gift shop after going through that spiritually-enlightening exhibit. We certainly did. Just go-- we really can´t explain what it´s like, but you can also check it out at http://www.ashesandsnow.com/
After Ashes and Snow we headed to the famous ruins of Teotihuacan. They had a different feel to them than did the ruins of Monte Alban, although they are equally impressive and appealing. We climbed the huge pyramids and wiggled our way through the zillions of people selling souveniers. Once again, pictures will follow soon. And after Teotihuacan, we said goodbye to our Semana Santa vacation and bussed it back to our cozy mattress-on-the-floor abode.
On our way to Oaxaca we stopped in Mexico City. Actually, we were forced into a 6-hour layover there. When we tried to buy tickets from Mexico City to Oaxaca at around 2 pm, we found out the next bus with available seats didn´t leave until 9 pm. Anyway, it turned out to be a lucky inconvienience. We took the metro (subway) and visited the main sqare there-- the buildings seem ancient and are spectacular, beautiful monstrosities. Mexico City is rich with culture, and we plan on returning there many many times over the next year. In addition to checking out the vast city plaza and wandering the beautiful streets, we also stopped for our favoite tacos al pastor, which are little mini tacos made of pork, onion, and cilantro. We like ours with lime and pineapple as well. It is definitely something we will miss when we come back, because I know they don´t have tacos al pastor in America (trust me, after I did my study abroad in Cuernavaca and fell in love with them, I looked relentlessly at US Mexican restaurants to no avail).
Anyway, once in Oaxaca, we had an experience searching for the best hotel. The first night we stayed at a cute place for around US$35/night, although the next day we found a haven that we are likely to dream about for the rest of our lives (for US$30). It is a super cute hotel called Casa Arnel. Holy cow this place is awesome. Granted, the rooms aren´t anything to write home about (although here we are, doing just that), but the place itself, well-- it's quite heavenly. The courtyard is massive and filled with all sorts of tropical plants and such. There are so many little plant-filled balconies and hidden surprises at basically every turn. We spent a lot of time just chillin' in the hammocks there, listening to the parrots, and now and then playing some cards. We did leave Casa Arnel for one night (against our better judgment) to stay in another even-cheaper hotel called Hotel Chocolate Posada. This place was super cute as well (although really not very cute at all in comparison to Arnel), and it housed a chocolate factory that of course acted as constant air-freshener / evil temptress. The chocolate in Oaxaca is amazing, and so we thought it would follow that an experience at this Chocolate Hotel might be a fun deviation. Umm, not so much. Aside from the aroma and outward aesthetic appeal, Hotel Chocolate Posada sucks. We have never heard so much noise so early in the morning. Starting at about 5 am, we were greeted with the pleasantries of steel garage-like doors being flung open, people yelling, and other things that sounded like barrels being thrown around on concrete. All of this nicely echoed in the cinderblock courtyard that the hotel rooms surround. Needless to say, we returned to our wish-it-was-our-second-home Casa Arnel the next night.
While in Oaxaca, we tried all sorts of yummy foods, many of which you´ll see Billy eating in the photos we promise to post soon (he wants a running visual account of his foodie experiences). These food experineces included both of us trying mini fried grasshoppers (not too gross), and walking through a chaotic barbeque-smoke filled market with people on all sides yelling at us to buy their meat and their vegetables.
We also visited the ancient ruins of Monte Alban which were amazing. It really makes you (or at least us) wonder what it must have looked like when those cultures were in their prime. Wish we had a time machine. Anyway, we also checked out some cool museums and such, in addition to walking the many many cobblestoned streets of Oaxaca´s colonial center. It seemed like every little doorway you looked into held exciting secrets (FYI, much of Mexico has streets lined with homes and/or businesses that look like plain flat facades squished tightly together from the front-- to see what they really are, you have to be allowed inside. All their courtyards, etc, are hidden from street view and are accessible only upon entry). There were also coutless food vendors, artists, etc, etc lining the streets and established "mercado" areas. We loved hanging out in the city´s various plazas and soaking in the cultural ambiance. Very, very fun.
Since we were in Oaxaca during Semana Santa, we were also able to watch their Procescion del Silencio (Procession of Silence). I had seen more dramatic versions of this tradition when I was in Cuernavaca years ago, but it was still very interesting. Huge amounts of people come to watch this holy "parade", wich basically consists of people in various types of dress carrying several flowered "floats" with statues of Christ and Mother Mary (many of them being ones of Christ on the Cross). In Cuernavaca, there were men who would actaully whip their own backs into bloody messes, others who would carry huge wooden crosses, and women who would walk miles hunched over carrying mini-crucifixes. The Oaxaca version wasn´t as gruesome, thankfully.
Finally, (on a lighter note) before leaving, we also checked out a 2000+ year old tree called El Tule. That thing was amazing. It is really hard to capture the perspective via photo, but believe us, that was one big tree. The trunk seemed to house many many other trunks within it, all worthy of their own little zip code.
On our way back to Queretaro, we once again stopped off in Mexico City (this time by planned choice). We got up early and went to the temporary museum, Ashes and Snow. This is travelling museum, and believe us, if it comes to your city, GO. We were lucky to have gotten up early, because by the time we left at around 10:30 am, the line to get in was already as long as the notoriously horrific Disneyland ones. We found out that the musuem gets an average of about 250,000 visitors per day. No admission price, but trust us, this place is making money. Almost everyone buys something in the gift shop after going through that spiritually-enlightening exhibit. We certainly did. Just go-- we really can´t explain what it´s like, but you can also check it out at http://www.ashesandsnow.com/
After Ashes and Snow we headed to the famous ruins of Teotihuacan. They had a different feel to them than did the ruins of Monte Alban, although they are equally impressive and appealing. We climbed the huge pyramids and wiggled our way through the zillions of people selling souveniers. Once again, pictures will follow soon. And after Teotihuacan, we said goodbye to our Semana Santa vacation and bussed it back to our cozy mattress-on-the-floor abode.
1 comment:
It is so good to hear from you. We love to hear all your stories and adventures. Oaxaca souds really cool and we are excited to see all the pics you have taken. Sorry we took so long to comment, we're just busy with baby life. We will get our butts moving and send more updates on us and some pics. We love you guys, have fun and write us often.
Sherri, Thurop, Leif, Hazel, and Grandma
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