The home of Mole

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Arriving in the city of Puebla (population over 2 million) we were greeted by the biggest bus terminal we had ever seen. In other Mexican cities there were often individual terminals for the different companies and at least they were split between first and other classes of bus. But in Puebla they were all in the same location, hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of them.

We were only staying for one night and didn't want to waste time looking for a hotel. Taking a Lonely Planet recommendation we took a taxi straight to the Hotel Puebla Plaza. It was a little pricey at P$550 (US$52) but the room was quite lovely and a little posh so we took it.

It was around midday that we started to explore the historic town. We obtained a map from the tourist info office and the lovely lady highlighted the most important sites and suggested a route. We sat only briefly to have a yummy torta (bread roll type sandwich) lunch then found the Museo Amparo. It was full of pre-hispanic artifacts and there were some lovely restored colonial rooms with lots of nice furniture.

Following the suggested route we passed through a fantastic antique market and then a tourist market. We visited the very ornate Museo Casa de Alfenique, a beautiful 18th century house, then found the Museo de la Revolucion. With bullet holes in the front and in a mirror inside, the 1910 revolution had started there. The resident family had fought to the last.

On the same street we found lots of shops full of sweets. We resisted the temptation and fought our way through a very busy street market to find the Convent of Santa Rosa. We paid P$20 each and got a very long tour. There were two German's also. One was in Puebla studying mechanical engineering so he understood the lovely young Spanish speaking guide. He translated to his girlfriend in German who translated to English for us. The convent was a little run down. It contained costumes and craft work from all the different regions of the state. There was some lovely stuff but most interesting was the kitchen where the 'mole poblano' is said to have originated. Story goes that the king was visiting and requested in advance the creation of a new dish that was not so spicy. This caused the nuns to combine chili peppers and spices with chocolate creating this wonderful dish.

In the old market we found a snack before visiting the cathedral which was big and beautiful. By this time we were exhausted and had to rest. Later we emerged for a fast food dinner and to return to the sweet shops. Many things were marzipan-like, made from pumpkin seeds and very yummy. We got some biscuits with this in the middle and also bought some borrachitos which were sweeties soaked in Tequilla. We slept well on those.

It was a very short visit but enjoyable. As we left the next day for Cuernavaca the bus swept around the smoking Popocatepetl volcano.

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Photos

The kitchen of Santa Rosa
Where the mole was created