Oaxaca - the city of chocolate...yummmmmm

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After regretfully leaving Mazunte, we headed to another place we had previously visited and loved.

Oaxaca (pronounced wa-ha-ca) is a beautiful central Mexican town famous for its chocolate and mezcal production.

After a tiring 10 hour bus journey through the mountains we were eager to relax in our hotel. While we were heading to the city centre our taxi passed the hotel we stayed in the last time we were in Oaxaca. We could not remember its name but we recognized the street and were keen to go back as we enjoyed our stay last time. The hotel, Las Golondrinas, is set in a beautiful old building amidst lush gardens that make it a peaceful retreat from the busy streets.

After settling in we headed out for some dinner and immediately noticed an increase in the number of Italian restaurants from the last ime we were here. After a bit of wandering we did find an authentic Oaxacan restaurant with live music. Oaxaca is also home to fried grasshoppers sprinkled with chilli. With this in mind, Danny ordered the chicken stuffed with grasshoppers (very tasty).

The next day was spent walking around the zocalo and the many markets in Oaxaca. We also found the chocolate district and enjoyed a delicious chocolate milk made with freshly grounded chocolate. As seen in the photo you could purchase a lovely gift set of a chocolate handgun with the necessary bullets - a great gift for any young boy.

Our last night in Oaxaca was spent at a first class restaurant called Los Pacos. The restaurant is famous for its different varieties of mole sauce (a sauce made from chocolate and a combination of chilli and other herbs and spices). We ordered a tasting plate of 7 different moles and after selecting our favourite, we ordered chicken with our choice of mole. This was a wonderful way to end our journey through Mexico and even though this was a first class restaurant the bill still came in under $50.

The next day we headed back to Mxico City and after getting a taxi to the centre of town the heavens opened up and torrential rain started. This was not the best weather for sight seeing and since we had already done the sites of Mexico City on our last visit we made an executive decision to spend our last night at a hotel near the airport. This was the first time we had ever done this and it was so nice to not be rushed in the morning as we just walked from our hotel room to the checkin counter in the morning and we were headed to our next destination of New York.

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