I Finally left Morelia and made the short drive of about 20 miles north to Arturo's campground on the south side of Lago de Cuitzeo. Arturo lets me stay here free, which is quite generous and something I'm not sure I feel comfortable with anymore considering the investment he has made. It seems like 100 pesos per night would be fair? A discussion for next time. At any rate (pun?) I killed 5 days there, half of which was recovery from some flu bug I caught.
view from the campground of Lago Cuitzeo
There was one other campsite taken by a trio of dreamers, I guess I could call them. The guy was from Britain, his girlfriend was from Sweden and the third was an elderly woman from the U.S. They plan on buying some land in Belize and becoming self-sufficient. No experience with farming, whatsoever. So, dreaming, but you never know. Anyway, I mention them because one afternoon the old woman got into a bottle of tequila - like, she had most of it - and took off all depressed and yelling into the fields nearby. A rancher, some time later, called Arturo asking if he was missing any campers because there's a gringa lying down in his pasture. She was balled up crying about life, poor thing. Such drama! I usually just ball up in the privacy of my tent.
agave fields just west of Tequila. I wonder how many
drunken one-night stands are cultivating out there?
Next, I drove west through Guadalajara and then Tequila before turning south to Etzatlan, a farming community which has a nice little campground. The town itself is very peaceful and tidy and I was a bit surprised at the amount of prosperity and the nice homes in town.
the well-shaded plaza
There is a walkway that follows some abandoned railroad tracks and it takes about 20 minutes to walk into town. They have a well-tended charro (rodeo ring) on one end of town and an excellent shaded main plaza. I mean, it's really well shaded.
my comida typica
my lunch spot
The owner of the campground, Bonnie, told me of a place 'La Negra', where I could get a good meal. I ordered the comida typica, a caldo de rez with a side of refried beans and a plate of radishes, avocado and a serrano pepper (which I only nibbled at...it was very hot). And salsa and tortillas and a Coke, all for 70 pesos.
the mountains, as I retraced my steps a few days later
I woke to thick fog which didn't clear until late morning when I took off for the Pueblo Magico of Tapalpa. Heading east there are lots of sugarcane fields and the always seriously slow trucks that haul the stuff. Eventually, I turned south onto a dirt road that wound its way over and down some thickly forested mountains.
a part of the Enigmas
As I drove into the outskirts of Tapalpa there are these rock outcroppings that are called the Enigmas. Not otherwise so memorable, they are a bit of a tourist attraction here because they are so unusual for the area...an enigma. I walked over and took some pictures and as I was leaving I was told I should leave a donation. All I had was 17 pesos in my pocket.
part of Tapalpa's main plaza
Tapalpa may be the richest P. M. I've been to. The most well-off from Guadalajara have homes here, big homes. Even the baker in town has a big home. Luis, the owner of the campground with his wife Margaret, told me so and pointed it out as we went into town one morning for tacos. The campground is really just one corner of their own very large property and I was the only one there for 3 nights. Cold nights, too, as it would drop to near 40 degrees. Tapalpa, it turns out, is at close to 8000'. The nights are quiet here, though, and the night sky is excellent.
Chano's taco stand (that's him!) by the plaza
the masterpiece...it is sublime
Back to the tacos. Luis was telling me about Chano, a man in town who makes such incredible tacos de carnaza (it's beef) that folks from Guadalajara leave early in the morning to get here in time before he sells out sometime before noon. I begged for him to take me the next day and he did. Incredibly moist and tender and full of flavor these may be the best I've had, along with the carnitas from Tacambaro I wrote about in my last Morelia post. A squeeze of lime and some salsa, that's it. Have two. Before I left Luis and Margaret showed me their house and the one next to it that they sometimes rent out (it sounds interesting, if only for the tacos!). You can also see the smoking volcano from their house that is south of here, near Colima. That volcano has been very active the last few years.
5 liters of silver and some anejo he gave me
a skull that has basically become part of
the tree, at the campground
Luis told me of the tequila he buys from a small distillery in Amatitan, near Tequila. He pays 250 pesos for 5 liters of silver and 500 pesos for 5 liters of anejo. He buys 10 or 20 of these and brings many of them back to California when they visit friends and relatives every year. It's where they lived for many years. He had a 5 liter bottle of the silver hanging around so I bought it from him. Except for water I'd never bought any beverage in 5 liter increments, certainly not booze. I'm still working on it! The anejo is actually quite exceptional and I will definitely stop by and buy my own 5 liter bottle the next time I go through the area. I mean, $25 for 5 liters, that's crazy.
the area of Jalisco I traveled. Try to follow the green #96-112.
along the road to Jalpa de Allende
Next I was off to a trifecta of Pueblo Magicos. There are three in close proximity to each other in the mountains east of Puerto Vallarta. Going to these P. M.'s and many others gives me an excuse to travel some of the back roads I might otherwise not of bothered with. These roads are, often as not, rural roads winding through attractive farm and ranch country and this was no exception.
a view of Jalpa de Allende
The first town was Jalpa de Allende, a new P. M. that is set down deep into a valley and one that was still quite dusty around the edges. It was a very busy market day when I was there so I mostly people watched before hustling off to the next town of Mascota.
along the drive up to Sierra Lago
Mascota normally means pet, but in this case means deer, I think, in the local indigenous language. It was getting late so I wanted to find a place to stay, opting for a room if I could find one. I followed a sign for 'Sierra Lago resort and spa', which sounded nice. About 40 minutes up an almost 10 mile cobblestone road that climbed further and further into the hills and I finally got to the hotel. It's (I was told later the next day) a labor of love by a guy who owns hotels in Puerto Vallarta. He bought this property in the hills with a lake and he's building more every year. It's beautiful up here.
a view from my cabana balcony. The orange tree is art.
They charged me $103 for my own cabana, something that would cost maybe $300 in the States? These cabanas are built of brick and so - also, because they are way up and away from anything else - this was one of the quietest nights I've ever had in Mexico; Or anywhere else, for that matter. And the French toast I had for breakfast was delicious, perfectly heavy on the cinnamon.
a street in Mascota
Mascota is also a new P. M. and they were in the process of tearing up and relaying all of the cobblestone streets surrounding the main plaza. This was also the first place I saw any significant number of gringos since I had entered Mexico some three months earlier...I was definitely within sniffing distance of Puerto Vallarta now.
off San Sabastian's plaza
the Puente Curvo in San Sabastian
I continued my drive down some winding roads to San Sabastian del Oeste, this town having been a P. M. for some time so it was much more spiffed up. Actually, it's a pretty cool place with lots of hilly streets going off at different angles. Even the main plaza was at an angle.
From there I made my way down to the coastal highway just north of Puerto Vallarta. I turned north towards Bucerias and the Mega supermarket, gringo heaven, I'm telling you. The Megas truly are large stores and the selection is excellent, so I happily loaded up and drove back about 8 miles east into the hills and farming country for another campground called AltaRose, run by two expat Canadians, Gary and Jean.
Gary, Kenny (white hair), Jordan and Jean, and the smoker
My first night there I helped Gary and two other expat Canadians, Kenny and Jordan, finish off a bottle of Canadian whiskey (of course). I don't know if that had anything to do with it, but this was the first night since October in New Mexico that I didn't need to wear sweats to sleep. Comfortably cool was the order of the night here.
on my hike: corn fields on the left, mango trees to the right
One day I took off on a hike down the country road and ended up going into a town, San Juan Abajo, that was a nine mile round-trip walk. Who says I never get any exercise? It was a road that went through corn fields and watermelon fields and mango orchards, which were flowering so the air smelled like mangos.
a starfruit tree...I had never seen one.
Yellow is ripe, like a sweet pear.
The picture of the gang (above) was taken on a night when Jordan used the smoker to make fresh beef jerky. I had never had it like that, still warm. He does a really good job of it, too. Later, I came back for a few more nights and watched the Super Bowl with everyone at Jordan's new, shiny house that he shares with his wife and son. Jordan used the smoker to make lots of ribs, he sautéed shrimp in butter, garlic and tequila, he made more shrimp with tempura, and there were chicken wings, homemade French fries and onion rings and delicious guacamole. And booze. Maybe the best spread I've ever seen at a Super Bowl party and there were only maybe 10 of us. And it was in Mexico done up by Canadians. How awesome is that? Oh yeah, Gary cooked up some salami in the smoker and served it with vodka and Clamato cocktails as a pre-game snack. It was a lot better than it sounds. In between my AltaRose camping I drove down to the coast to Lo de Marcos, a beach town I had been to last April. Then, it was pretty much deserted of snowbirds and I had the campground to myself for a week, which was great. In early February it's packed, but I managed to get a spot. I got to see Victor, a Canadian I met last winter on my travels. Then, he was with his wife and another couple. They kept running into me at various campgrounds and they jokingly called themselves the Stalkers. Now it was my turn.
the beach at Lo de Marcos
It was a nice three days listening to the ocean at night and walking the beach. I even got to eat at the famous local hangout called Claritas. It's a place for gringos and I chowed on the eggs, chorizo and coffee. Victor is a musician and one evening he and two of his friends put on a short concert in the main plaza as part of a fundraising event for the local schools.
Teacapan sunset, that part was nice
Leaving AltaRose for the second time I booked it up the coast to San Blas. I had never been on this coast road and it was still fairly green and lush, for the dry season. I managed to get a camping spot at the Chaco Hotel, not really a destination but a decent stopping point for the night next to the beach. After one night I drove north to Teacapan and the Color Marino resort and campground on the coast south of Mazatlán. This was not too long ago a major RV destination but for some reason it's fallen out of favor. I was one of three in a campground that holds maybe 60. It was quite windy here and chilly at night with fog in the mornings. In my little bit of experience with this stretch of coast I find it uninspiring, boring and the water uninviting.
waiting our turn on the dock in Mazatlán
my $65 cabin
I then made my way north to Mazatlán to book a ferry over to La Paz and the Baja. The internet showed the ferry leaving Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 5:30pm. I immediately drove to the dock hoping the ferry office would be open on a Sunday and that I could reserve something for later that week. They were, in fact, open and they were sailing in 5 hours! The ship now sails on Sunday, not Monday, and at 6:30, not 5:30. They had two cabanas left and I snagged one of those and for $200 I was Baja bound.
from San Blas to Mazatlán to La Paz, 12.5 hours on the ferry
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.
