My last two evenings in DF were pretty uneventful. Mainly because at around 6:30pm on both Thursday and Friday it started thundering, lightening, and pouring down buckets of dirty, polluted Mexico City rain. Needless to say, this is not the kind of weather that inspires one to go out and do touristy things. And since I’ll be back in DF for another 2+ weeks, I’m not worried too much about it.
On Saturday morning I left Mexico City and came to the beautiful smaller city (about 2 million) of Puebla (also known as La Puebla de Los Angeles). Puebla is absolutely amazing. It reminds me of a Spanish city – maybe a bit of Sevilla – but with a Mexican twist or flare. It took me about two hours to get from the TAPO bus station in DF to the bus station in Puebla and another 15 minutes to get from there to my hostel. I immediately felt at home in Puebla because my taxi driver kept saying “vale.” (In case you don’t know, this is a very Spanish word that means ok. Spaniards use it ubiquitously, but if you’re friends with me you’ve probably also heard it.) I’ve never heard a Mexican say it before, so I felt that it was a good omen.
I arrived at my hostel (Santo Domingo) and discovered that I had a reservation this time and that the reviews weren’t lying about the rooms. My room is quite spacious. I have plenty of room to roll out my yoga mat, which I certainly didn’t in the YWCA. I also have my own bathroom with a shower and a sink. This has been my dream my whole hostelling life. If only the water ran hot instead of cold....
After unpacking a bit, I checked my email and then went and did some exploring. After a couple of hours I came back to use my private baño and consult my shitty guide book (which is so shitty I hadn’t bothered taking it with me earlier). That’s when I made my first friend of my trip: Guillaume. (Jaimie suggested that I hadn’t been making friends because I was putting out some sort of screw-off vibe since I’m in a good relationship place. I am in a good relationship place, but I just think the YWCA sucked.) So my new French friend and I made a pact to explore Puebla with his much better guidebook and to speak only Spanish to each other for the rest of the day. Gui was only in Puebla for yesterday and part of today, but since he’s doing an internship in Mexico City, I hope to see him again, once I’m back there in a couple of weeks. Anyway, we went back out and explored the Cathedral, the Zócalo, and the artist’s market. I found myself falling in love with the historic center of Puebla. I know I’m a dork, but it’s just so seventeenth and eighteenth century that I can’t help myself. After walking around for a couple of hours, having a couple of beers in the plaza, and walking around some more, we checked out one of the restaurants in Gui’s guide. I had some much spicier than anticipated food for dinner and a couple of Mexican beers. Delicious.
I got up relatively early today so that I could talk to Mark before he left Amsterdam for Freiberg, but somehow like ships in the night, we essentially missed each other. We only got to talk for a few minutes. Better than nothing. But I have to say that as much as I enjoy traveling, I’m pretty much over the whole being apart thing.
After a quick breakfast and a tragically weak cup of coffee, I decided to stop sulking and go out to Cholula. This proved to be a bit of an adventure. More so than getting to Puebla from Mexico City due to the inadequate signage at the bus stops and because I have the worst guidebook EVER (Seriously do not buy a Frommer’s guidebook. They suck! Pay the extra $7 for a LonelyPlanet.) It gives absolutely no instructions for traveling via bus around Colonial Puebla. After looking around on my own with no success for a bit, I asked some locals who pointed me in the right direction.
Once I arrived in Cholula I was overwhelmed. I thought that Puebla was full of churches, but Cholula allegedly has 365. There are so many churches of similar style that I could barely wrap my mind around it. Of course, Cholula is also home to the Great Pyramid. This is the widest pyramid in the world, although it’s hard to tell that now. This pyramid, dedicated to the worship of Quetzalcoatl, was almost two centuries old when it was razed by the Spanish conquistadors in the sixteenth century. And what better to build on top of what was once a Great Pyramid than a church. This one is the Nuestra Señora de los Remedios. (If you don’t have facebook, you can see pictures of this on my picassa site http://picasaweb.google.com/rachaelball ) After I got down from the top of the GP, I went through the archaeological zone. They actually allow you to go through one of the tunnels of the pyramid. I wouldn’t recommend it if you’re very much taller than I am or at all claustrophobic. It was a tight fit and a little bit on the creepy side. I eventually emerged back out into the light, climbed one of the smaller pyramid structures, and then watched a group of voladores (or flyers). I didn’t try to take any pictures of them, as I had limited success in capturing much when I’ve attempted to shoot them in the past. I ended up grabbing a bite to eat, and making my way back to Puebla.
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