La Revuelta

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So, first I have to thank my cousin Kevin for setting up wireless at Mimi’s house so that I can bring you this blog. I know this is late, but I promise it has been written, I just did not have Internet to update. I have asked my mom to write a guest blog about Cholula, Puebla, and Mexico City since I have already written on them. I thought it might be nice to get a second opinion on these places in Mexico. Before I add her section in I just want to say that we spent two weeks in Mexico, 2 days in Cholula/Puebla, 2 days in Mexico City, 2 days in Barra de Potosí, 3 days in Troncones Beach, and 3 days in Zihuatanejo.


“I think I am supposed to guest blog on Mexico City only, but I don’t think I can do that. Our trip is half over today and I can’t believe how much we’ve seen and done so I need to put some of it down so I don’t forget it.

We arrived in Puebla last Monday night when it was dark so I couldn’t see much. When our taxi pulled in to a tiny street that looked like nowhere with graffiti all on the wall across the street from our B&B, I was surprised to walk in the door (Which was an issue for me, as the giant wooden doors were recreated to stay open on a slight angle with a glass in between them. I thought it was revolving and couldn’t navigate my way through.) and find the most charming little “mini castle” on the inside. It was originally a home and there are 6 guest rooms and a library surrounding a beautiful courtyard with tiles made of slate and stone, etc. Our room was adorable and the most surprising thing to me was that I was freezing! I just thought that since Mexico is south of the United States that it would be hot, but the higher altitude made it a lot colder. I did have my 1st view of the church on top of the pyramid and the cute little city all lit up from the roof (where the garden and pool are located). We walked to the adorable zócalo and had some dinner before going back to bed. We were the only guests at Estrella de Belem B&B so we were like the “Queen & Princess” of the castle. We were served breakfast the next morning in the smaller courtyard by the entrance which was about 5 courses and I had a marvelous spinach and mushroom quiche. At this point I had eaten more than I normally do for breakfast & lunch at home.

The next morning we started with a hike to the top of the church for a view of Cholula and the surrounding area. They shoot off big firecrackers from different churches during the day and at first it was scaring me, but after a while I got used to it. Then we walked along the main street that leads to the other side of Cholula towards the University. Kristin was getting pretty annoyed with me as the trip was very slow with me and my new camera. I was absolutely amused by the each drive way/courtyard entrance. When you walk down any street it is sort of like an on going wall that changes by home or business, but the amazing thing is that you can walk by a graffiti, chipped, dirty wall and then in the courtyard see a gorgeous fountain or garden or trash, chickens, and rusty old vehicles, etc. Each space has it’s own personality and all are so different. You can look in and see something amazing or just a dirty, garbage filled lot. It is so deceiving and a great security ploy. So being the curious, nosy type, I had to look in any one I found open. We came upon a small Talavera Ceramics shop and hunted down the owner. She spoke a good amount of English and had the most beautiful things. We picked out a few small things; she had these wonderful giant pots and stuff that would have been great, but shipping them home would no longer make the prices as good. Then she gave us a tour of the whole process of how they make it in the rooms behind the shop was interesting and fun. We left her daughter, who was around Kristin’s age and a very cute girl to pack the stuff up for us to pick up later. We then walked a little further to the area of the University and Kristin got an orange juice from the vendor at the end of the street where she and Julia got one on the way to class each day; I also got a picture of him of course. The campus was just awesome with fountains, flowers, and pretty walkways. The library was closed so we couldn’t go in but we walked around the rest of the campus. It wasn’t really big but bigger than I imagined. It is the 4th largest University in Mexico.

Later we took a bus to Puebla, a short ride, and when we got off we were just outside of a large covered market that seemed to have all kinds of fresh food, small eating-places, many interesting people. I don’t know what else was there because as I gravitated toward it, Kristin whisked me past it and up the street, adamant that we could not go in there. I guess it’s good she was with me, because I would have been in the thick of it without being able to speak the language. A few blocks later we were in the Zócalo; all their parks and city centers are so pretty with many trees and flowers. We had lunch at a small café on the sidewalk where we could people watch in the park. It was great. A few streets behind we came to a market with all Mexican and local crafts. All the things were so colorful and fun with so much going on you just get dizzy. I really couldn’t even shop because it was overwhelming. We wandered around and down a street with pastries and chocolates, etc. and again, I was so overwhelmed I just didn’t know where to start and at the same time we were sort of hurried to get back to pick up our pottery before they closed. We went back past the forbidden market, to the bus, to the pottery, and finally took a smaller bus to the “mini castle”. We changed and then took a cab to a mall that was just like being home. There are extreme differences here in economic status, more so than at home. We went to the VIP movies and Pope; you would never leave this place. For the same price as regular movies at home, you have a lovely lounge area before you go in then sit in your lazy boy chair with a tiny table that swings in front of you and order sandwiches, snacks, cocktails, desserts or whatever, of all which are served to you during the movie. It was awesome. Obviously, I was exhausted and slept well.

The next morning we woke and repeated our gigantic breakfasts. Then we walked to purchase tickets for Mexico City, but the computer was down so we just enjoyed a walk around town. Sylvia, Kristin’s Mexican mom, picked us up and we went to the Cholula zócalo for lunch; she was adorable and really misses her “American hijas (daughters)” and loved her gift from Anthony’s. We took a cab from the B&B to the bus station in Puebla with a quick stop to the doorman of our hotel for our last night in Puebla. We decided to leave him our couple of boxes of pottery so we wouldn’t have to lug them around. Also at this time, we had an entire suitcase filled with school supplies and crafts for the children in Barra de Potosí. The bus ride to Mexico City was interesting and their buses are big and comfortable. We took a cab to our hotel in the city, which was not far, but there was mucho tráfico (a lot of traffic) arriving at rush hour. The hotel was cute, definitely a Kristin pick; simple and minimalistic, not all whimsical and crazy like my picks. The hotel was a triangle shape with an open courtyard in the middle, open to the roof, decorated in simple teal and white patterns. Our room looked down on a quiet tree lined street and the ex-vice presidents home, which was located right across the street. It was nice and cold! We walked around the neighborhood and found an outdoor restaurant to have dinner while watching the Puebla/Puma “fútbol” game.

The next morning, I think I am on Thursday now; we took the metro to the main zócalo in Mexico City and looked at the area where a small section of ruins are still sitting there as they always have been in the middle of the city. There is so much to look at everywhere; I had a hard time not walking into people and things. There was a cathedral there as well that we walked through and Kristin showed me a contraption that they have devised to measure how much the city is sinking. It is a metal thing hanging from way high up in the ceiling and there is a line on the floor that it continues to move down as the city sinks. Sounds like a great thing to know, right? We went through an exhibit in an art museum I think for architecture where there were giant murals. Diego Rivera and another artist that I really liked painted several of the murals, but I can’t remember the name right now and they did not have prints or post cards or anything to buy of copies of them. Next I had maybe the best triple chocolate ice cream cone I ever had and we bought a couple cute hair things on this street that had a million shops of jewelry, again too overwhelming to even shop that quickly.

When we got back to our hotel, we cleaned up quickly and took a cab to visit Rita and Pancho, who were so unbelievably hospitable and fun. Being at there home was one of the most enjoyable parts of my trip as it was just amazing. They were so comfortable to be around. After a visit to their club, almost next door to their casa (home) with a great view of Mexico City over the green of a golf hole and a rainbow, they surprised us with dinner at the BIKO. This was a great experience in trying some new foods that were delicious and they suggested as Pancho has an interest in this restaurant. They returned us to our hotel with a little more tour of Mexico City and much information and suggestions for places to go to on the next part of our trip.

We headed out the next morning to explore on our own on foot. I think we walked in a lot of circles looking for a hotel called the Hippodromo that we wanted to see (it’s pretty amazing how many people don’t know where something is that is in their own neighborhood). We looked on a map when we got back and we were right next to it a couple times and never saw it. We did see many cute parks, soccer games, exercisers, and dog-walkers. We had lunch in another café - you will see what our idea of lunch is when you see the pictures. The food is so good everywhere I feel like all we do is eat!

After our aimless wandering, we headed over to the airport to catch our flight to Zihuatanejo (Zihua to the locals). While waiting for the flight, we were reading in the main area and all of a sudden it felt like my seat was moving (almost as if someone was sitting down or jumping around on the backside of the chairs, but then we realized that the floor trembling like it feels on a plane as well. When I looked up, signs and everything were swinging and moving., including the walls. At first we were confused, but then we realized that we were experiencing our first earthquake. We could also tell that the other people in the airport were pretty used it because they did not even flinch, meanwhile we were planning our escape route. So we got on the plane to Zihua and that is where I sign out and pass it back over to Kristin.”


All right, I hope you enjoyed my Mom’s take on Cholula and Mexico City, but now I am back to finish telling you about the rest of our trip. I am sitting on our porch all of 30 yards from the ocean and I decided to write about our trip here. We are in Barra de Potosí about 20 minutes south of Zihua and Ixtapa. As of right now it is a quiet sleepy beach town and village, but I can tell that probably in the next 5 to 10 years it will grow up and become much the same as Troncones and Zihua. I am glad I got to see it in this state before it becomes a tourist spot. Mom and I are the only ones here at Solecito, a group of bungalows right on the beach. Mom is down right now in the village meeting with Laura, an American who has been living here for 12 years now and started a library here. Mom brought down some school supplies and crafts to give her for the children. I am here because I have essays to write for my BUAD class and though I have finished one, I am procrastinating the other.

We got here two days ago and it has been nothing but relaxing; I generally sit in the hammock on the porch and read and every once in a while we go for a walk on the beach. This really is not an atmosphere for getting any work done. So anyways we flew out of Mexico City to Zihua, and in Mexico City and while we were in the airport we felt the earthquake. We were sitting in the lounge area waiting for them to announce what gate our flight was going to leave from when our seats started to shake. I just thought it was someone sitting down on the other side, so I looked up to see if someone was sitting down or moving around a lot, but then I could swear that the ground was swaying. We then noticed that the whole building was moving, not really shaking so much as swaying. It only lasted a few seconds, but it was an interesting feeling.

When we landed in Zihua, we pulled up next to Alaska Airlines aircraft, which surprised us because it was one of the last airlines we would have guess flew to this airport. Although if I was in Alaska, I think I would want to come here too. We got off the plane and walked down the stairs and I almost felt like I had gone back in time 20 or 30 years. The airport was a little outdated but in a very charming way and reminded me of what airports used to look like before they were all updated and modernized. Here we caught a taxi to Barra de Potosí, were we have been pretty much sitting around for two days doing nothing.

The afternoon we got here we walked down to the little town at the end of the beach to find some food. Our bungalow comes with a full kitchen, but we did not have any food to cook so we went looking for some. None of the restaurants looked like anywhere we wanted to eat so we found a little convenience store and got some oranges, snacks, and drinks to bring back. The cook at Solecito had also prepared some fresh guacamole for us.

The next morning when we got up we had breakfast right here at Solecito, prepared by a Mexican lady who works in the kitchen here. We had a nice meal of fruit, juice, coffee, tea, and toast with some fresh strawberry jelly. Then we went for a walk down the beach in the opposite direction from the town for a while, followed by some lying by the pool, reading, and swimming. In the afternoon, we walked back down to town to look at two properties here: Casa Frida and Betseyville. It was really just for fun, but they were cute little places, decorated in different eclectic styles. Designer Betsey Johnson owns Betseyville so it was pretty cool to see a house of hers. After we looked at the houses we went and looked for Laura in the village. We finally founded her; she lives right next store to the library. We sat and talked to her for a while and learned some things about the area and about her life, which was all very interesting. After that we walked back along the beach, relaxed and read for a while, followed by a pizza on the beach.

This morning we moved at the same “no pace of life” as I call it, had breakfast and then I went for a swim and worked on my paper. Now I must go pack up my suitcases and move over to Troncones.

It was amazes me the way I think about places once the nostalgia sets in; I know that I loved the places while I was there and even just a few days following, but here I am two weeks and two days later and I miss them even more. Guess what, I am on yet again another plane on my way to Boston, where I will be spending my summer on the Cape working at the Cape Cod Sea Camps. I know I live such a difficult life, but hey anyone could plan there summers and semesters this way if they really wanted. I will hopefully finish this trip soon and I will have my mom write about our final night in Puebla and I will also give my opinion on the area. Also la revuelta means "the return."

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