Morelia

Morelia: November 6-January 17, 2017

the cathedral

This is a fairly long post of my ten weeks in Morelia, including over 40 photos. There are a zillion ways to experience any place, but this is how I saw Morelia and area.

Driving into Morelia on a Sunday was going to be easy. Well, I missed the road I wanted (no signs...big surprise) and got pushed right into downtown. It turns out that Morelia closes off the main street called Madero that runs in front of the cathedral most Sundays. This forced me to negotiate the crowded side streets, often one-way and narrow due to the fact that this city is 400-500 years old. In fact, the historic centro area is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

a caguama

Finally, I found Nacho's house. Nacho is my host and I rented his place on airbnb. He and his family live in a walled off compound about a 15-20 minute walk from the centro (where the cathedral is). We got acquainted over a large bottle of beer, what they call a caguama. Caguama (cah-wah-mah) is Spanish for a loggerhead turtle and slang for a large bottle of beer. I'm told that when these large bottles first came on the market a caguama is what they got compared to, as in something large. In other parts of the country it may be called a ballena, for whale, another large thing. 

The weather for my first 8-10 days was often cloudy with some rain, which was atypical. Over the next two months, though, most days were sunny and in the upper 70's. The nights and mornings were usually quite chilly reflecting Morelia's elevation of 6000'+.

bougainvillea and poinsettias at Nacho's 

Morelia's Acueducto

I spent that first week getting used to the neighborhood and with what it had to offer and meeting friends and family of Nacho's who would drop by throughout the day. And I wandered around much of the historic centro area where there is always something going on.


Here, for instance, is a 3-1/2 minute video of the Danza de los Viejitos (Dance of the little Old Men) that takes place on weekends in the main plaza next to the cathedral. Notice that there is a drunk guy harassing the line in the beginning of the video (earlier I had watched him chasing pigeons in the plaza).

Hilda (Elena's friend), me, Nacho,

Elena at a hilltop restaurant
(w/bottle of mezcal in front)

One of the reasons I chose to spend time in Morelia was that, when I first stopped by here last year, besides the downtown being beautiful, I noticed there were few gringos. I thought this would be a perfect spot to learn Spanish. As it turns out, I decided not to spend the money on a school and Nacho, having lived in the Seattle area for about 12 years, spoke perfect English. So that plan went out the window.

looking north to Morelia from restaurant

Whenever I went out with Nacho and Elena (his gf) and some of their friends the rule was to try to speak Spanish only, like in the restaurant photo...I really could have used more of those days. There was a birthday party going on at that restaurant and we were all given a slice of cake...that's what I'm holding.

Massimo, Almendra and the oven

the pizza...look at that crust!

One thing that I've found it hard to find in Mexico is good pizza. There are a lot of Italian expats in most every city I've been in, but the pizza always misses for some reason. And being in México for months at a time, I get those cravings.

I found a place in Morelia! It's called Pulcinella and it's owned and operated by Massimo and his wife Almendra. He is from Italy, she is from nearby Patzcuaro. Small world as Massimo owned a couple of restaurants in Colorado for about 10 years, in Littleton and Morrison, to be exact. Check this place out, especially if Almendra is making the pies, she does the crust perfectly.

clusters of monarchs in the trees and flying about

Morelia is the capital of the state of Michoacán, which is where the monarch butterflies famously come back to every winter from the U.S. and Canada.

Marcelo (our guide), me, Joan

In late November my friend Joan came down for a week and we spent a couple of days in the eastern edge of Michoacán near the towns of Zitacuaro and Angangueo to see the butterflies.

the butterfly whisperer (on my knee)

They had only opened the reserves to the public a few days earlier, but we had perfect weather and the butterflies were very active. We rode horseback to get up to where the butterflies nest for the winter at the El Rosario Sanctuario.



Below is a short video of lots of butterflies flying...

We stayed at the excellent Rancho San Cayetano just south of the town of Zitacuaro (thank you, Lonely Planet), run by Pablo and Lisette. This is a large compound with a small hotel and beautiful pool and where they grow many of their own organic vegetables, along with fruit trees, etc. And they put out delicious, healthy food from their kitchen. I would be surprised if this isn't the best place to stay for miles in every direction.

Diana Kennedy, me, Joan at San Cayetano

Our last morning there, the lady at the front desk asked me if I wouldn't mind talking to Diana Kennedy. I was not understanding - who? and how do they know I'm here? - and then she pointed to a cookbook on the shelf and said Diana was hoping either Joan or I could mail a letter for her when we got back to the states. Oh, that Diana Kennedy! I used to have one of her cookbooks back in the day. I think she must have called the hotel to ask if there were any gringos staying?

Anyway, it turns out Diana lives very close by. If you don't know, Diana is a famous chef known for seeking out and recording traditional dishes and cooking methods of Mexico over the last 50+ years. You'll read about her being a feisty 93 year-old, and she's exactly that. I mentioned to her that I had seen where "her good friend Rick Bayless" had recommended online a restaurant in Morelia we were wanting to try. I honestly thought they were good friends. She went off on that a bit, calling R. B. an ass (!) and accusing him of "jumping on the bandwagon", and that he had no right to recommend that particular restaurant as she thought "the coffee was like colored water", among other sins. It was fun and an honor to meet and chat with her.

in the (dry season) mountains southeast of Morelia

Afterwards, we took a slow, beautiful drive back to Morelia by driving south and then north through some of the rural mountain areas of Michoacán.






You can see our route, and others I took, on the map below that I attempted to draw on.

the area around Morelia

tortilla soup at Frida Kahlo

chairs in the road for a concert

When we got back to town the main street in front of the cathedral was shut down again, this time for a concert. Later, we decided to try a restaurant that Diana had recommended to us called Frida Kahlo. Joan enjoyed her salmon a lot more than I did my goat tacos. But, the guacamole appetizer may have been the best guac. I've ever had and the tortilla soup was excellent.

Patzcuaro's lakeside dock

Elena, Nacho/Messi, Joan/Marci, me

One day Nacho, Elena, Joan and I drove over to Patzcuaro, a Pueblo Magico and a popular gringo hangout. We wandered through a few of the artisan shops and had some beers and a meal at two of the many restaurants surrounding the main plaza. The photo is taken on the plaza and the two dogs belong to Nacho. Believe it or not, Messi (half poodle) is a son of Marci's.

unloading agave "pineapples" at Flor de Mezcal

A few days later Nacho took me, along with his friend Margarita, to the town of Etucuaro. Michoacán has it's own mezcal industry, albeit on a much smaller scale than Oaxaca's. Etucuaro, an hour south of Morelia deep in the hills at the end of a very slow and winding two lane country road, has one of the better small distilleries called Flor de Mezcal.

Margarita, me, the owner, Nacho with Chato

Flor was our first and last stop that day as we sampled what they had...quite a bit of it, actually. The owner even brought out some of his private stash to share with us.

my two bottles of mezcal

I bought two bottles of their very good anejo, for which I paid $14/each. You can see pictured on the label slices of orange. That's how you're supposed to drink mezcal, with oranges and chile/salt powder. It's much tastier than lime and salt, the traditional tequila go-with. I don't see why you can't do oranges with tequila, instead? Nacho also bought ten liters of mezcal from a woman at another location for some ridiculously low price.


The dog, by the way, was one Nacho found on the street and no one seemed to own it so he adopted it. He named it Chato, which means "flat", for it's face. How we made it back to Morelia in one piece I couldn't say.

the dance floor...I did not bust a move

The next night there was a birthday party at the family compound for one of Nacho's nephews and I was invited. They set up a dance floor right in the driveway, as well as serving tacos al pastor. Someone even introduced me to the crowd and I took a stupid bow. It was fun, and it ran way past my bedtime.

Santuario de Guadalupe, a month before the crowds

a peregrino making his way to the church

The 12th of December was the culmination of a religious holiday, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patron saint of Mexico.

This is at times serious, with some pilgrims ("peregrinos") making their way to the Santuario de Guadalupe church on their knees along the beautifully shaded stone street Calz Fray that leads to the church from one end of the Acueducto, about 1/3 mile. I'm told the church long ago said this type of sacrifice is not necessary but a fair amount of people continue to do it, anyway. The man in the photo was doing what most were doing...using some padding. Others used nothing, with only their pant leg between them and the stone. Sorry, but that's just stupid.

two boys as Juan Diego and their mom

(I asked permission)

Another tradition of this holiday is to dress little boys up like a man. The children are dressed to honor Juan Diego, to whom the virgin Mary appeared in 1531. They wear a traditional outfit and paint a mustache on their faces.

there were many canas stands to feed the crowd

It's no fiesta without tons of food stalls. I chose to try the canas, sugar cane chopped into about 1" sections and then mixed with lime juice, chile powder and salt. I had never tried them before, but there is a surprising amount of sweet juice in each piece. You need to chew on it and spit out the pulp (they give you another bag for that).

along the road to Tlalpujahua

The next day Nacho and I drove east about 4 hours to get to the Pueblo Magicos of Tlalpujahua, where they make Christmas ornaments by hand, and El Oro, an old mining town about 10 minutes further down the road. 

The photo at left is just a portion of a wall that enclosed a rancho we passed. They painted countless rocks in the wall all different colors. They did the same with all the concrete fence posts dividing the fields...it was amazing, the time and effort that must have taken.

the big sign in town

First we went to El Oro, a very attractive P.M. and probably one of my favorites in that regard. This town is actually just - by less than a mile - in the state of Mexico. It's really clean and located in the crisp, clean air of the surrounding hills.

Teatro Juarez, El Oro

One of the more attractive buildings is the Teatro. It and many of the buildings have a European feel and look to them, making this town a bit different than most of the colonial Spanish towns that you see.

cantina in El Oro

After having a beer in a really neat, tiny cantina with the classic swinging saloon doors, we headed back towards Tlalpujahua. First, we made a side trip to Tlalpujahuilla, a small village where I had read of the workshops of Martin Marin, who does some of the fancier glass blowing, a lot of it in the shape of apples and other fruits. 

what I bought, painted

with butterflies

We saw the men shaping the glass and painting the finished bulbs and I bought one of their painted apples for 50 pesos (~$2.50), which seemed a very low price considering the time invested.

men shaping glass in a street-side shop

in Tlalpujahua

The streets of the bigger town of Tlalpujahua have many shops selling finished Christmas ornaments and you'll even see little family operations where they're making and selling their own creations.

Angela (Nacho's sister), Lita, Hilda's daughter,

Hilda, me, Nacho, Elena

A few days later I went with Nacho and several others shown in the photo up into the mountains east of Morelia to a small restaurant called El Mirador for an early dinner. They serve everyone a complimentary shot of the house mezcal to get things started.

After getting back to town I went with everyone to the Rock Paraiso Bar in the centro area. They play live rock music here, singing everything in English. I seemed to be the only gringo, but lots of locals apparently like to listen to old 70's and 80's rock. I "danced" for the first time in years, and I don't think it was pretty.

the best carnitas, Tacambaro

Later in the week Nacho and I headed west and south to see two more of the Michoacán Pueblo Magicos. South of Patzcuaro are the towns of Tacambaro and Santa Clara del Cobre. The main attraction of Tacambaro is in the lush, fertile countryside surrounding the town. And for us, we found the best carnitas in Michoacán, if not all of Mexico.

just pork with a jalapeno, it's traditional

and awesome

Of course, impossible to prove, but after Nacho put this place up on his Facebook page a number of friends agreed they were the best. Better than in the town of Quiroga, which is renowned for their carnitas, but we tried theirs some time later and while good, they do not compare to Rey Tacamba. Rey's are the tastiest, the moistest and the best-est!

one of many copper shops in Santa Clara

Looping north to Santa Clara is a slow but pretty drive through rolling hills filled to overflowing with avocado orchards. This is in the general area where most avocados from Mexico are grown.

Santa Clara's main plaza

Santa Clara del Cobre (copper) has been known for copperware for generations, going back to the original inhabitants, the Purepechas. It's their descendants that still do much of the work. A note about the photo: it wasn't until I was looking at it on my laptop that I noticed the signs saying "no photos". Oops.

As Christmas rolled around I was invited to Nacho's family cena (dinner). This is traditionally done on Christmas Eve with everyone gathering around for talking and celebrating. One of the treats they made is called ponche. It's a punch made of water brought up to temperature with a lot of simmering fruits and some spices and you drink it hot. It's sweet and delicious.

the piñata

The family had a piñata for the kids, though when it was finally busted open everyone went for the candy, including me. Dinner was an informal affair of several dishes and service began as the clock hit midnight and it was Feliz Navidad.

Things were kind of quiet through the new year where I did my usual and hit the sack by 11pm. Been there, done that. Nacho and I took another road trip a few days later to the Pueblo Magico called Tzintzuntzan. A center of traditional Purepecha culture and Day of the Dead ceremonies, Tz. sits next to Lago de Patzcuaro.

perfect imitation, no?

On the way there you drive by the town of Capula. This town is known for ceramics and Catrina dolls, and they have a giant doll made of ceramics at the town entrance. It's actually quite well done.

Las Yacatas and the circular pyramids

Some 600 years ago the Purepecha built a large stone site with unique circular pyramids overlooking the lake and the town became their capital. Of course, one of the uses was for human sacrifice. These guys must have been really badass because they were one of the few to not succumb to the Aztecs. They did, however, surrender without a fight to the Spanish after they saw what the Spanish did to the Aztecs!

"Sleeping Mexican"

Tzintzuntzan has a beautiful and peaceful convent with a large lawn shaded by old olive trees. On the edge of town are some of the better craftsmen who do large stone and wood statues. They have them lined up right next to the road and I really liked this "sleeping Mexican", although it was one of the more simple works.

The next day, January 6, was Three King's Day, another religious holiday. One of the traditions is to serve a cake called a rosca del reyes. I bought one from Gustavo, Nacho's brother-in-law, who runs a bakery with his wife Lori in the house right next to mine.

my rosca del reyes with

one of the babies

It has dried fruit on top, a glaze and a filling that goes all the way around. Also inside is a little plastic baby Jesus. My cake (in the photo) had three babies. I'm not sure what the rule is on that. Whoever gets the slice with the baby is then supposed to fix a dinner on another holiday in early February called Candlemas. There should be tamales involved. And I think this is the end of holidays for a while?

Marilyn, Nacho, me, Bob at Las Juanitas

in Yuriria. Good comida.

The next week my friends Bob and Marilyn, who I met in Mexico last winter and then I visited in Idaho back in July (see earlier post) showed up at the Cuitzeo campground north of Morelia. The three of us and Nacho got together and went to, yes, another Pueblo Magico.

the Ex Convento in Yuriria

the 7-hole privy at the Convento...lovely.

This one is called Yuriria, a bit north in the state of Guanajuato. After stumbling our way through a couple of towns on the way (I may have given some iffy directions at one point) we made it to the busy town of Yuriria. The highlight and center of attention is the very large, imposing, dense Templo y Ex Convento de San Agustin. This may be the largest such structure I've seen in Mexico and you can see that it has a somewhat unique fortress-like profile to it.




I've said this before, as have countless others, but the best part of any trip ends up being the people you meet along the way. I'm always making plans to see new places and take lots of pictures. Sometimes, that's what you walk away with. But, in Morelia, I left having made a new friend. Nacho was a guide, an invaluable interpreter and someone who introduced me to so many other good people. Elena, Gustavo and Lori, Angela, his friends Norman and Gabriel, his cousin Victor, Hilda, Margarita y mas. I can't forget the perros buenos Marci, Messi and Chato. That's why I'll be coming back to Morelia in the future.           

All good things end and it's time to move on. Check back for new posts.       

Mexico, from the border to Morelia

Santa Teresa, N.M. to Morelia: October 20-November 6

border crossing, Mexico side

The drive from Las Cruces to the border crossing at Santa Teresa took less than an hour. On the Mexico side it's called San Jeronimo. This crossing allows you to bypass the whole El Paso/Ciudad Juarez cluster.

border to Chihuahua, in green

In fact, this was another of those very quick and efficient crossings along the lines of Del Rio last fall. Everything - passport and vehicle - is taken care of in one big room in the building shown in the photo. 30 minutes, tops. Easy peasy!




The only drawback to this crossing is that it is a long, long drive across lots of desert just to get to the Chihuahua area. There isn't much in the way of campgrounds in this area so I thought I'd try my luck driving into the Parque Nacional Cumbres de Majalca (green dot #1,2 on the map). While it's difficult to find any camping information regarding Mexico's national parks on-line, at least for me it is, I assumed it would be similar to the U.S.

view looking east from the P.N. Majalca

The road west to the park turned to dirt, some of it very rough and washed out. The gatehouse at the park entrance was closed and even looked abandoned. The park itself looked, if not abandoned, neglected. There were some formal campgrounds, however, with concrete picnic tables and fire rings, some of the sites having been washed out from heavy flooding at some point. It was getting late so I picked a spot and stayed for two nights, for free.

one park road petered out at this riverbed...I turned around

Most of the traffic going by appeared to be locals making their way to small villages on the other side of the park, but there were some tourists. I met one family that had come down from Juarez to enjoy the weekend.

wood sculpture in a park village

(the village also looked abandoned)

This park, it turned out, was not abandoned. As I retraced my steps out I passed the gatehouse again where there was a guy sitting outside taking fees for those coming in. I waved as I drove by and he waved back. I think they collect only on the weekends?







Drug wars...

I took the periferico (that's what Mexico calls the roads that bypass the congested downtowns of most cities...some are more effective than others!) around Chihuahua heading west on Hwy. #16. About 10 miles west of the city traffic got funneled into one lane and I assumed there was an accident ahead. I saw a police car and a sedan in the middle of the two eastbound lanes, and then I saw a dead guy lying in the road in a pool of blood next to the sedan. I was wondering about where the other vehicle that caused the accident must be when I pulled up even with the sedan.

It was riddled with bullets!! Only then did I realize, holy shit, there are a boatload of police and plainclothes guys all armed with automatic rifles. An honest-to-God shootout. CSI guys were zipping on their hazmat suits, another was snapping photos. No one was tending to, or caring about, the dead guy. That was a first for me. My only regret is that I didn't take any pictures of my own. You know, in hindsight, and all.

...back to the real world

Cuauhtémoc to Torreon

(green #3 and 4)

I wanted to see Cuauhtémoc again, a center for the Mennonites of Mexico. It had certainly gotten bigger in the last ten years and I quickly lost interest, so after one night I continued south all the way to the city of Torreon. A big 372 mile, 7-1/2 hour day that ended at a Crowne Plaza Hotel. Quite fancy by my usual standards, and expensive, at almost $100, by Mexico standards. Still, that same room in the U.S. would have been at least double.

Viesca's plaza

Having spent way too much on toll roads the previous day, I quickly got on the free road east then south to a Pueblo Magico called Viesca. This is a very small town with a clean central plaza that is situated near some small sand dunes. Otherwise, not the most interesting P.M. Maybe someday.

excellent free road between Viesca and Parras

Torreon to San Luis Potosi
(green #4-8)

I continued east to Parras, another P.M., but one I enjoyed on my trip last year. I even stayed in the same hotel called the Hostel El Farol, just off the main plaza (room #6 was nice).

my shots of a banderia at Farol

My main reason for being here was to buy some of the sotol that is for sale in a tienda on the plaza. I bought four bottles this year. The price went up from 75 pesos a year ago to 85 pesos, just over $4 a bottle. Sotol is a northern version of mezcal.

flower farm east of Parras

Back at the hotel I asked for a shot of a banderia. This is usually a single shot glass of tequila, lime juice and sangrita layered atop one another to mimic the colors of the Mexican flag. The bartender, as you can see, gave me a shot glass of each! I'll admit the lime juice was a bit rough, but it only cost 40 pesos, ~$2, so what the heck.

a view of the valley you drive thru to get to the tunnel

My next goal was Real de Catorce, a Pueblo Magico that once was a bustling mining town, almost became a ghost town and is now becoming a tourist town. Some movies, like The Mexican, have been filmed there. 

at my hotel

I was there during the week and my night was a very quiet one. I was the only guest at the Hotel de Real II (for ~$46), an excellent choice that only has maybe 16 rooms, total.

leaving town

At the end of September the town becomes the focus of a major pilgrimage, attracting thousands. And the Huichol people consider some of the land here sacred and collect peyote for their spiritual ceremonies. Otherwise, it can be fairly sleepy, with maybe 1000 residents.

a view of Real de Catorce

Some parts of the town are still in various stages of rubble, with new homes and businesses rising out of that same rubble here and there. Everything is made of rock, including the ~15 miles of cobblestone road (it gets a little old, imo) that you drive just to get to the town. The one-way-at-a-time tunnel itself is about 1.5 miles (it'll cost you 30 pesos).   

village of Estacion de Catorce below to the west.

you can avoid the tunnel by taking the dirt road from there

driving the tunnel

At almost 9000', the nights get quite chilly. And it's a town built on hills, so expect lots of up and down walking. I'd recommend the Meson de Abundancia for a meal. Tons of food and very tasty. I really like it here and would hope to come back someday for another night or two.

a view of San Miguel

After Real I drove east to Matehuala before jumping onto Hwy. 63, a really nice alternative to the busy, ugly main highway south to San Luis Potosi. I spent two nights camping at the Faro de Peter west of town before heading down to San Miguel de Allende.

This became a favorite of mine last year and I decided to stay eight days this year at the same small and conveniently located campground. 

Two of the same German couples that were here last fall were here again. As were Erica and Claude, a Swiss couple I met last year in both Xpu-Ha and Oaxaca.

one of the better costumes

not forgotten...Neal died here along the

railroad tracks.

I was here during the Halloween and Day of the Dead weekend so there were a lot of festivities, both somber and happy. As always the main plaza was where it was at.

I like the pose

nice

Around the perimeter of the plaza families set up their own personal memorial to those no longer with us. Some of them were quite elaborate, and then there was the one in the photo...simply put, dude liked his tequila.





I was able to wander around one of the main cemeteries where families went to some length to clean and decorate gravestones and mausoleums. Many, many flowers were sold that week. I could hear fireworks and music through several evenings from the campground. And, everyday, the bells of the nearby church which I can never make sense of. They just start chiming at any time for whatever reason?

blurry night photo of the Parroquia,

only because I happened to capture a bolt of lightning!

One night there were three mariachi bands going at it around the plaza while a couple was getting married at the pink Parroquia church and people were walking around in costume, some on stilts. Crazy and wonderful.

campsite at Arturo's

A 3-1/2 hour drive and I finally pulled into Arturo's campground south of the Pueblo Magico of Cuitzeo. At one point a new road I was on simply ended and I found myself driving through a guy's field, spooking his one horse before finding another road on the other side of his house. Never saw the farmer. I spent one night at Arturo's before driving down to Morelia for my two month house rental.