Introducing the Intrepid Group of Travellers for "Mexico Unplugged":
Up at 6am for a super-clear blue sky departure for San Pedro Tlahuac, an outer suburb of Mexico City only one hour away. On arrival we had a visit and bathroom break at the house of the aunt of the local guide that would take us on a boat ride to a local farm.
The flat bottom rectangular boat with bench seating, a table and covering moved condoler style with a young guy at the back using a long pole against a very muddy river bottom to propel us. Aside from a variety of ducks and water birds we could also see Mexico City’s two famous volcanoes: Lztaccihuat (Dormant) and Popcatepeti (Active). Thirty minutes later we arrived at the farm of “Aunt Vicky” who took us on a long 60min walk explaining the system of farming handed down over generations. Produce includes: lettuce (3 different types), cabbage (green and red), beans, corn, maize, tomatoes, cucumbers and broccoli. The soil is grey with the consistency of talcum powder – exactly like the surface of the moon, a sample I had seen at The Kennedy Space Center in Houston in 2013. This makes Aunt Vicky a “lunar farmer” and she laughed when I had Karla tell her so. Aunt Vicky put on a terrific lunch using all her own farm grown produce featuring: “Chard”, a salad of red stalk lettuce with onion and tomato, “Plakolios” a soft corn taco stuffed with beans and topped with cheese and parsley and “En Salate Miel” an unexpected desert of lettuce drizzled with honey (Miel) and sprinkled with pine nuts roasted in brown sugar.
The 2hr drive to Puebla is spectacular, rising to 3,100m with views of the two volcanoes close by. It even featured pine forests on the way up with lots of farmland at the top and then a steady descent into Puebla with many commercial and industrial complexes leading into the city.
Puebla (Pop 3,345,00) has the iconic Mexican city/town centre. Beautiful buildings. Baroque dominates, featuring walls of every colour of the rainbow with exquisite doors, balconies and window frames. The photos below say it all. We arrived late in the afternoon with enough time for a guided tour by Karla. We visited the following: Fuerte de Loreto, Parroquia de San Jose, Teatro Principal, Monument, along Calle 8 Norte to El Parian, Casa del Alfenique, San Pedro Museo de Arte, Santo Domingo, Plaza de la Constiucion, Caterdal Basilica de Puebla, Capilla de Arte, Iglesiade la Compania, Plazuela de los Sapos (Alley of the Frogs). Along the way we stopped by a famous bar that makes and serves PASITA - a very sweet liqueur made from raisins. We took sips in between bites of goats cheese !!! The cheese is there to take the edge off the sweetness. The highlight was definitely the Caterdral. It is enormous – not only in size but in terms of interior fixtures. A HUGE pipe organ, altar and painting of the Virgin Mary ascending into Heaven. You can spend hours in here mesmerised by the artwork and ceiling work. This Catedral is the biggest (volume and area) in all of Central America and has two bell towers rising to 66 metres.
The best was yet to come. That night Antonia and I immersed ourselves in a cultural experience not only popular here but in all of Mexico – WRESTLING !!! Can you believe it. It is called “Luche Libre” in Mexico. There are male and female wrestlers with character names and outfits including the ever popular masks that are sold in almost every local market across the country. Before our 2hr show we gobbled down “Cemitas” cooked on the street opposite the especially built stadium just for wrestling. A Cemita is a sandwich containing a flash-fried chicken schnitzel sitting on top of mashed potato and topped with hot potato chips, tomato and cheese. Every drunks best friend. Washed down with a 500mL can of Victoria beer for only $2.10AUD. The atmosphere outside was thriving. Sitting here munching our monster sandwiches, watching people gather for the wrestling. Everyone goes. Singles, mums, dads, kids and even grandparents !!! The atmosphere inside was electric. Shouting and screaming as the first six male stars walked down a raised “runway” like models in Paris. We had third row seats from the boxing-like ring and I was allowed to get up and approach the ring for better shots as you will see below. We watched 3 pairs of competitors fight it out with staged manoeuvres, many of which reminded me of Australian Wrestling when I was young – alas there was no Mario Milano “heart punch” !!! We then watched 3 pairs of women fight it out and this was definitely the highlight. They really hammed it up. Two sets of 6 males followed and I struggled to get Antonia out of the stadium – she liked it that much !!! If she had her way she would live in Puebla and become a wrestler there !!!
The
following day (9JAN) began with a 10km run at 730am followed by an Uber ride
out to the Great Pyramid of Cholula, only 12km from town. We spent ages trying
to find it !!! It is supposed to be the largest pyramid in the world by
interior volume and boasts the biggest base of any global pyramid including
Egypt and Sudan. How could this be ? We could not see it ? Instead we noticed a
huge hill with a big church on top painted bright orange. Up we went. The walk
up reached a 45 degree angle and one stage and we were sufficiently pooped by
the time we got to the top. The 360 degree view of the city of San Pedro surrounding
the hill was terrific, especially with two volcanos dominating one side. It was
now time to ask the church attendant on the location of this so-called GIANT
pyramid. We were shocked with his answer. “You are standing on it” !!! What ???
It turns out that this huge hill with church on top covers the Great Pyramid
underneath. It was never folly excavated due to conflicts and funding. We then
descended and found an entry into the archaeological site that contains parts
of the pyramid base that WERE excavated. Once we stood back from these ruins we
could see that the hill we had just climbed (with church on top) was in fact
triangular in shape !!! What a surprise. I am glad that I did not research this
pyramid because the surprise was worth it – like discovering it for ourselves.
That afternoon, Antonia and I re-visited only those sites that were too dark to photograph the day before due to the late guided tour. By the time we got back to the hotel we were bushed. After a short cat-nap it was back to the Catedral with Karla where Antonia premiered in her first Golfco Pictures interview for in Spanish !!!
Our much-loved experience of Puebla ended with Mezcal and Margaritas followed by street food. We found a hole-in-the-wall bar opening up into a provate courtyard surrounded by brightly painted murals. Mezcal is a type of Tequila using a different strain of the Agave plant - it tastes like Tequila but slightly smokey in flavour. The street food stall is called “La Pequeñita” which was recommended by Karla after her interview. Apparently this “hole in wall” stall made the cover of Life published in the USA. And we found out why when we took our food home to enjoy it with a movie. “Molotes” made the stall famous. A large plate-sized tortilla filled with your choice of filling, then folded in half and flash fried in canola oil. It is the fillings that make it famous: pulled pork in salsa, sweet chilly tomato puree, mashed potato with egg, soft goats cheese and the list goes on and on… It was a delicious ending to a delicious city !!!
Please enjoy the sites of Puebla – if only a blog could serve you up the delicious smells of Puebla as well…
No comments:
Post a Comment