Wrapping up our Cuernevaca experience...Guitarfest here we come!

This is our last weekend in Cuernevaca, but there have been a few last minute places to see and things to do that stand out in my blurring memory of pueblos and roads that dot the countryside in Morelos. 

High on our list of must see's was to get a clear day to view Popocateptl, the towering volcano that is visible to the Southeast of Mexico City.  On clear days we have caught awe-inspiring glimpses of the snow-clad volcano between the trees as we drive or walk around Cuernevaca....several clear days went by but we always had something to do...(yoga, zumba, Spanish class)...so on a free day we decided to take a drive to get our own close up view.   Gene was told that there was a road that could take us between the 2 towering peaks and with the GPS programmed, a lunch on board we headed out....

Unfortunately for us,  the clouds seemed to lay a thick layer around the mid point so we didn't get a chance to see the mountain to the peak, but we did drive to 3600 m elevation, where the air temperature dropped to 10C and we were forced to stop when the gate through the Paso de Cortes was closed due to Popo's active status...that and the fact that we were frigid and needed a whole bunch more clothing than we had brought with us.

Having Cori with us has been great...he made friends with this lovely couple who own 2 of the cutest and best behaved dogs we've ever seen...so when they invited us for a "playdate" at a dog friendly park, which we had not found on our drives, we said "Si!!"  Cori quickly got back into form chasing balls and racing around the park with his 2 new amigos...

 

And I got Gene to brave the mercado one more time in my search for "papel picado", the brightly colored rectangular papers cut with such perfection into lacey patterns.  My package just might make an appearance in Canada this summer for our daughter Amy's wedding shower! 
 
The market is a much quieter place on a Thursday afternoon than on the weekend and we enjoyed the sights and sounds of the real Mexico.

We decided to make one return trip to a lesser known Pueblo Magico nearby Tlayacapan. 




Feb. 24th is Mexico's National day to celebrate the flag...and perhaps that is why the town square was being set up, but because we've become familiar with the way politicians use special days to hold court and deliver endless speeches, (This is an election year in Mexico) we didnt' stay.

Instead we wandered the quiet streets, amazed at the small ornate capilla's (Chapels) throughout the town and had wandered in and out of many of the shops...a treasure trove of all things Mexican. 









Today we had our last chilled coffee at our favorite shop "La Colibri" beside the main zocalo, a place where the mariachi's each dressed in their own colors and styles wait for their next contract.  

We wandered through the Cathedral square and under the 16th century steeples overhead.  We both agree that this month in Cuernevaca has been a good experience, a much needed break and an opportunity to deepen our understanding of this diverse country.

So when I reflect on my experiences here in Cuernevaca 3 things come to mind. 

Real estate tours here leave a lot to the imagination.  The most beautiful homes aren't visible to the passerby,...but stand behind high and beautifully adorned adobe walls only suggesting the beauty inside.

You can take any dog, big or small, no matter the breed, put him in isolation behind a locked walled compound and over-time, he will become vicious and antisocial...sad, but true!  Cori has a profound respect for every gate passed on his walks through the city.

Last but not least, I have learned that in Zumba, there is no such thing as music being too fast or too loud, and that no matter how complicated the dance move looks, everyone else in the class already knows it. 

Also, it has been scientifically proven that Mexican women have at least twice as many faceted joints in their spines and hips than me!

So back we go to Zihuatanejo, just in time to meet up with friends from home and attend the fabulous  Zihuatanejo International Guitarfest....I feel a party coming on!

The more we see....the more we like and a little mental aerobics too

We are nearing the end of our month in Cuernevaca and have determined which places to revisit and things to do before we head back to Zihuatanejo next week. 

The weather has changed, it is warm and sunny and the locals say "this is Cuernevaca weather"...and now we both agree that we know why people have flocked here for years...  

But the reality is, very few tourists come here these days, except for National visitors from the nearby megalopolis of Mexico City.  My Spanish teacher puts it all into perspective.  She and her husband came back to Mexico many years ago after succesful academic careers in Vancouver.  In fact, by the strangest of coincidences, our son Eric attended a 2 week Spanish immersion experience that Oak Bay High School in Victoria, set up with their school...the Spanish Language Institute.   It is the #1 ranked recommendation on TripAdvisor of activities to do in Cuernevaca.  

But when I tried to arrange classroom lessons, this lovely teacher said she would rather come to my home and teach me in private...she's also created Skype classes for students from around the globe.   The sad reality is that people are no longer coming here in sufficient quantities to warrant operating a school with all the inherent staff, infrastructure and operating expenses.  The US backed war on drugs has had a particularly harsh effect on this part of  Mexico, and yet, we are enjoying our vacation and have felt very safe since the time we arrived.  Our biggest risks have been as pedestrians as cars do not stop for walkers, especially walkers with small dogs. 

This has not been an easy vacation for our little travelling companion Cori.   Cuernevaca seems to be particularly dog unfriendly.  Every large estate we walk by has security dogs that lunge at the space between the bottom of the gate and the ground trying to attack Cori.  We have yet to find a park where he is accepted and most restaurants are clearly posted "No Mascotas"...so his life has been reduced to chasing balls in the driveway here,...but on the flip side he has had one or both of us in his constant sight for 3 straight weeks.   Except for the past Friday night when we left Cori home and went to Tamoanchan...the opening night of the World Music Festival in Morelos. 

Set with the backdrop of the wall of the Palacio Cortez, and beside the bustling Zocalo this artistically creative visual and auditory event left me feeling that "world music" is the music that planet Earth would make if she could...she cried with the destruction of the rain forest, she sighed with the falling rain and she exhaled deeply with the sounds of the wind in the trees....  Images were projected on the ancient stone wall that told the story of the earth's element. 

Friday spent in Cuernevaca had given our sore legs a chance to recover from our climb of Tepozteco, so Saturday we headed off on a roadtrip with the destination of Malinalco and it's archeological site as the end point.  This time taking a different route which wound up high through a national park, we were again delighted by the small towns where people live in the crisp cool air at  3000m elevations.  To the northwest we could see the Sierra Nevada with their snowcropped peaks. 

Because we are now in Lent, the road was crowded with "peregrinos" walking, cycling or somehow transporting themselves to Chalma, the most holy of Catholic sites in Mexico. 





Being uninformed before, I have since Googled and read about this mecca for the religious and I have a greater understanding of how the mountain roads on all sides are similar to the "camino de santiago" in Spain beckoning religous from many parts of Mexico to come for their chance of a miracle.  With little or no food or camping gear for the journey through the mountains, they arrive for the chance to dance in the church grounds where an apparition of Jesus was seen...the one commonality is a huge smile and a belief that this will bring them closer to God. 

Arriving back in Malinalco, it's easy to once again see why this is a popular destination.  It was Saturday market, and I had a few purchases in mind, but first we set off to see the most attractive and well displayed museum, complete with individual guides for each aspect of the exhibit.  





Then we headed off to the site of the Indigenous temple and worship halls on the cliffside above the town.  The path was a beautifully constructed stone stairway with signs about the flora and fauna enroute.  The site is not as old as other ancient temples and its still possible to see the weather beaten carvings on the temple walls.  Gene and I both agreed, that as far as seeing an indigenous ruin in Mexico, this rated 10 for overall presentation, state of maintenance and ease of access.

Once again, after a gourmet lunch in our favorite restaurant, Los Placeres, we headed home noting the increasing crowds of pilgrims just beginning their long and treacherous walk as dusk fell. 

Today, we returned to Tepoztlan which is marking it's 3rd day of Carnivale.  My Spanish teacher had advised against going, saying that this once very colorful and fun event has degenerated into a drunken mess and it is safer to avoid.  But we had heard that today was the dance of The Chinelo's...plus I had a few treasures I still wanted to purchase from what I had seen in the mercado before....

Tepoztlan had been transformed into the fair grounds of my youth, think Calgary Stampede, Peach Festival, Bathtub races with a lot more color and noise! 

 Drinking micheladas of all flavours seemed to be the thing to do as every 10 meters a new bar had been set up on the street in this town that normally boasts a "No Alcohol in Public Policy".  We ate lunch along the street, stayed to watch the dance of the Chinelos' and then with Cori in full on panic mode due to the volume of firecrackers being launched aloft, we beat a swift retreat in our car back to our quiet little casa in Cuernevaca, checking off another of our must do activities with our remaining time here. 

So where is the mental aerobics in all this?  My very skillful Spanish teacher has been quick to adapt her teaching to my level in my ongoing quest to speak and understand Spanish with enough fluency to live here.  Rather than using printed handouts; she asks me questions, we talk, she writes what I say and then she questions me on what I've said or done.  She has told me that I need to develop as quick a mind, ear, mouth coordination as what my physical aerobic attempts at Zumba have given me....but she hasn't seen me at Zumba!

Climbing Tepozteco - a mid-week fitness challenge

It started out kind of easy...   

But as you can see it got a bit steeper...

but there were some pretty flowers to keep me motivated...

Cori never got too far ahead...he's good at waiting for Mom and Dad

Once we got up high enough, we could see the views of the mountain spires

And then we realized that last crevasse was the entrance to the Archeological site and we were going to have to climb through it...

Cori wasn't too tired for a little action enroute..He picked up this big friend who was smart enough to know that he wasn't allowed into the monument, plus there were some scary animals waiting at the top....

If you look way down...you can see Gene is almost there...

And the view from the top was worth it!! My favorite pueblo Tepoztlan getting ready for Carnavale!!

And Gene can say he's climbed another monument

But we had to make a hasty departure when the Tejon's came and realized that we had a dog nearby!! Those claws look like they could do some serious damage.

On the way back down, we passed two young men carrying up the water to sell....the hard way!!!

And Gracias a Dios!! Gene lived to enjoy another cerveza in his new Tepozteco shirt a reminder that without two full legs (as he likes to tell people) that he did the climb!!

Guts, Glory, Grandeur and tracing the Catholic's steps enroute to a Volcano

Well, it's been raining quite a lot in the last few days which is kind of funny as this is the City of Eternal Spring...I just didn't know that it was Spring like in Victoria!  But we've become spoiled after 4 winters in Mexico where we haven't seen more than an occasional shower...this is a much needed rainfall for the farmers of the area and other than the coffee growers who are currently in their harvest season, the rain is a welcome relief.

So we've decided to use these cloudy days to get educated about the inner city, El Centro Historico and the museums that it has to offer.  Now that we feel confident driving the approx. 5 kms. to a paid parking lot for Cori to spend the day, we've expanded our horizons to see some of the grandeur and learn more about the history of the country and particularly this area of Mexico.  

We started by touring the Palacio Cortez, which boasts a fabulous mural by Diego Rivera that outlines in graphic format the period of time between Hernando Cortez's landing in Mexico, the eradication of the native culture and the building of the Spanish Empire, including the rebellions that lead to the Mexico of today. 


We learned that in a relatively short period of time, this country was plundered, colonized, and then liberated and at each step a lot of blood was spilled.  I think that where the Spaniards chose to situate the palace was the ultimate insult to the Indians as the palace was built smack on top of one of their pyramids and this disregard of their culture was the gesture that emphasized the power and control held by  Spain in the New world. 

At the other end of our neighbourhood stands a huge statue to Emilio Zapata - a more modern day rebel who led the Mexican people in another revolt against the Spanish government in the early 1900's.   The area around Cuernevaca is full of towns where he is revered as a hero to this day.

So the battles of the Mexico of today don't seem too far removed from the Mexico of only a few generations ago. 

Our neighbors at Villas de Bellavista, a lovely couple from Ladysmith BC!!- recommended we see the Robert Brady Museum.  This exquisite residence is situated on the most attractive street that Cuernevaca has to offer and we agreed that the state of the home and the art treasures inside far surpassed our expectations, this is handsdown my favorite "museum" of all time.





 Robert Brady was a handsome bonvivant with a taste for men who befriended one of the local Bishops.  Suffice to say his world travels and aquisition of all things tasteful in one of the most stunning Spanish villas is worth the paltry 30 peso price of admission.  Gene who is normally not that enthralled by displays of excess remarked "I now realize that you can't have too many masks"...a comment our friend Iris will appreciate! 

Nearby, the once grand Jardin de Borda which was used as the garden party site for the likes of Emperor Maximillian and Carlotta and was the former home of the silver magnate who built Taxco, left us unimpressed.   It clearly shows the decline that can occur when maintenance is deferred in this semi-tropical climate.  However, the lovely adobe walled buildings which now house an art gallery always catch my eye,  the simple but solid and artistic construction is timeless!  Oh, and a few fading lifesize Catarina's in the lakeside pavillion seemed to echo the glory days of the past in the park. 

So after a couple of days touring the inner city, the countryside beckoned.  We noticed with delight that the clouds had lifted in the southeast, so off we went yesterday to explore the Ruta de Volcans -  a winding countryside drive to the eastern border of the state of Morelos and a chance to view the touring volcanoes locals refer to as Popo and Iza up close. 

There are a lot of small country towns in this state and each has it's own charm or lack thereof.   But on the day before Valentine's every street was full of the vendors selling what must be the most popular gift in Mexico for young lovers....balloons!! 

We eventually wound our way up the to the final town named Tetlan la Volcan...and we realized we have to come back.  Not only were the dark rainclouds obscuring the mountains, but the lovely senora who toured us through the convent cloisters informed us that the town's festival is next week...vamos regressar! 

On our trip home we were given one of nature's light shows as the black ominous clouds hung over the Tepozteco mountains to the north and the light shone on the corn and cactus fields along the highway.  If only I could paint.....

So today is Valentine's Day - and after a morning yoga class in the park, and a late and leisurely breakfast we ventured out to experience firsthand something we have never before done in Mexico....shopped at Costco!  I know that the culture of Mexico is changing...big box stores are sweeping the country and the locals are flocking to them just like they did in the US and Canada...but I never expected that Costco would play a role in changing the personal habits of the public....I laughed when I read this sign as I recently told our condo manager in Zihua that you will never get a group of gringos to not flush toilet paper...well I wonder if the reverse will also be true??