Yesterday, we drove to Cuernevaca. We said goodbye to friends, new and old, promised to drive safely and with a 7 hour trip ahead of us, we left bright and early driving south on Hwy.200. As always, we find something to marvel about as we passed the dusty towns near Zihua and enter into the tropical fruit growing area that is green and lush. The road side stops were populated by young men carrying their fruit picking sticks (bamboo poles with lacrosse nets attached) waiting for a days work in the mango orchards. Down the coast from Zihuatanejo, there are many large lagoons just separated from the sea by bars of sand with palm trees swaying in the breeze. If we just had more time....
This year we successfully found the entrance to the bypass north of Acapulco to join the Autopista del Sol several miles inland of that megalopolis which has always proved to be a challenge for our driving and direction skills. The autopista is a beautiful toll highway with many tunnels and bridges of a modern striking design leading across canyons. As we neared Cuernevaca we began to see the urban sprawl which I had first experienced last year. We hoped our GPS would lead us to the right "Calle Tabachin"... street names can be repeated in many areas and our GPS has lead us on some interesting diversions from our intended destination....but the inner workings of "betty boop" surprised us as we found ourselves in the traffic heading north past El Centro to the Colonia Bellavista area which will be our base for the next month. I had pre-arranged a month long rental here as a default plan when we couldn't find a dog friendly rental for a month in Tepoztlan, a nearby puebla of tremendous charm in the mountains south of Mexico City....so Cuernevaca was chosen as a base from which to travel.
Our villa is part of an 8 unit gated and walled garden compound in what appears to be a very charming area in the north of the city. The other properties on the street are either large gated older haciendas with high walls and tropical plants or newer condominium properties probably replacing homes that once stood in glory on the property. Our street is a quiet side street sandwiched between the busy Avenida Morelos/Zapata which is the Libre Carretera a Mexico and the other main thoroughfares that lead back down to the busy central area. Our little villa El Nido is a charming 1940's Spanish bungalow with an abundance of Talavares tile in every room. Arched windows with wrought iron grilles provide beautiful views into the stunning gardens and pool area. But like anything built in the 1940's....(my husband is of that vintage) - it takes a lot of work to look good at that age. The family who own the property live on site and employ staff for maintenance, but my sense is it is a huge job and the jungle is always threatening to take over...
The cooler nighttime temperature provided us with a great nights sleep and after a small breakfast we decided to try to walk downtown to get a better sense of our area and how far it really is ....I think we walked for about an hour and a half through interesting residential areas with lovely homes to get to the magical center with it's historical grandeur. I loved the cathedral, a peaceful oasis in the middle of the city and today is Dia de La Candelaria, which means that while everyone back at Casa Ceiba is eating Tamales...we saw the locals here bringing their 'baby jesus's to the church for blessings...
So after a major grocery and household item stock up at Superama...Cuernevaca's answer to Peppers' or the Market on Yates...Cori and we are staying home to relax...and plan how we will spend a month away from home. I'm thinking of perhaps a week or two of Spanish classes mixed with trips to the nearby pueblos, and large cities like Puebla or even D.F., and I hope to find a yoga class to drop in to within walking distance. It's a big city, past it's prime according to the guidebooks but we think it's important to give this once grand city a chance to work it's way into our hearts...like all once great beauties, it's charm lies in getting to know what she's really like! 
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