Puebla, March 2016

In March we had to vacate our house once again in return for another home exchange. This time we headed to Puebla, another colonial Mexican city.  This one is just a bit south of Mexico City.

We found a rental through Home Away and enjoyed 10 days mostly just hanging out. 

We had some great food.  We had a couple great day trips. And we spent the rest of the time exploring the “City of Angels”.  

One of our day trips took us to two other (smaller) cities in the state of Puebla.  We visited 

Zacatlan and Chignahuapan, cities just to the east of Mexico City, and a long drive from the City of Puebla. Our first stop was to see a series of waterfalls (the upper falls called "Cascadas Tuliman" and the lower falls called " "Cascadas Quetzalapa". This is a great spot but would have been better on a sunny day.  

The outstanding feature in Zacatlan is the extensive series of mosaics reflecting the history and culture of the town. 

Chignahuapan is noted for it’s Basiliica of the Immaculate Conception with the largest figure of the Virgen in Latin America (maybe 50 feet high?  We don't recall). Nearby is a cute little church, Santiago Apóstal, decorated in primary colors. The town is also noted for the manufacture of Christmas ornaments.

The Virgin 

Santiago Apóstal

Close-up of Santiago Apóstal

Christmas ornament shop

Another day trip took us to Cholula, a pre-Columbian pyramid. Two small modern cities surround the site which is topped by the San Gabriel monastery. It’s a pretty massive site and fun to tour. 

We also stopped at two nearby towns noted for their churches…the Church of Santa María Tonantzintla (which is richly ornamented on the outside, but simple inside) and the Temple of San Francisco Acatapec (which has a simple facade but is very ornamented inside). 

Church of Santa María Tonantzintla

Temple of San Francisco Acatapec decorated for Good Friday 

Some of the details inside Temple of San Francisco Acatapec

Other things of note in Puebla...the food

Huauzontles en Tempura, a local spring veggie, reminiscent of a skinny broccoli
at one of our favorite restaurants, Moyuelo 

Banana creme brulee, also at Moyuelo

At the street market...Jicama coated with the sweet and/or spicy sprinkles of your choice

Tostadas Poblanas

Excellent moles!  (not the rodent, the sauce.)

Cemitas, creative sandwiches, on our return trip to Moyuelo

Tacos Arabe, a variant of Gyros

One of the shops on Calle del Dulces, the street of candies.

We especially enjoyed our visit to the Amparo museum. The needlework samples were amazing. As was the view from the rooftop of the many church domes.