Last Mole in Puebla

It's kind of like the last tango in Paris. Well, maybe not, from what I remember that was a really odd movie....



Tonight I had my last mole here in Puebla and it was so good I doubt I am ever going to try to have mole again until I can come back here.

I started off the day quite chilly. It has been freezing the past few days and I had the heat on in my hotel room. They showed people running around in the snow and making little snowmen and putting them on the hoods of their cars on the news. The weather has been quite a phenomenon. I guess it gets cold, but the snow is unusual. It didn't snow here in Puebla, but it was really cold.



Anyway, after breakfast and changing some traveler's checks, I headed to the Zocalo and sat for a bit in the sun to warm up. Then I walked around to see if Seritur, the tour company that Dr. Sanchez works for, was set up yet. They were there and he remembered my name.



It was kind of a joke the other day when I went with them because he asked me my name and then he went to introduce me to the other people in our van and he couldn't remember my name. When we picked up the Spaniard and the Swiss chick he went to introduce me to them, and couldn't remember my name, but the entire family from Guadalajara shouted out "Ricardo!" So, he was pretty proud of himself that he remembered my name today.


I had decided I wanted to go to a place called Atlixco, which is not far from here, located a little bit further than Cholula, where we went the other day. I was all set to do it on my own, but thought I'd check to see if he had anything going there. To my luck, he did have some people signed up to go, and I joined the tour.



Dr. Sanchez did not go with us, but we had a different driver and someone who was learning the ropes. It wasn't the same.



We went to the foot of Popocateptl, the volcano that is visible when the sky is clear and marks the border betwen Puebla and Mexico City. We were as close as you could get to it, which was still pretty far away. The thing is huge and you could clearly see the crater which was blowing smoke and gas.



From there, we went to a very old tree. Our guide said it was the oldest tree in Mexico (maybe). It was very big and very old. It was next to a spring that sprung forth fresh, clean mountain water. I tasted a little. It tasted like water. Mr. Guide said that it was because of hte spring and the tree that they founded the town there. The spring was used to supply water to a trout farm. On the other side of the trout farm were restaurants where we went to eat lunch.

My van mates were a mother and daughter from Toluca, outside of Mexico City. It was a little awkward eating with them, but good practice for my Spanish.



After lunch, we visited a flower farm and then the small town of Atlixco, which was very quaint, quiet, and quite picturesque. Our guide didn't show us anything in the town, he just gave us enough time to walk around and get an ice cream. I wanted to visit the churches because they supposedly had the same kind of popular baroque decoration that we saw on the last tour. It is a place that I would consider going back to and spending a day or two.



What I have discovered on my travels on this and past trips, is that the big cities are great, but these small towns like Atlixco, Tlaxcala, and when I was in Chiapas, Comitan, are really nice places to hang out and use as a base to see more traditional life. No matter how big, or how small the town, there is always a zocalo, and there is always something happening in the zocalo. I'd like to come back to Mexico and pack light and make these small towns my bases of operations. Even though I really love my luxury hotel, it would be nice to be closer to the people and in places that probably don't see many gringos.



Well, this internet cafe is really noisy because every time a car goes by the car alarms go off. So, I am signing off.



Tomorrow I head back to Mexico City, to a different hotel in the Zona Rosa. I'm in the market for a good spa treatment. On Monday I need to go to the division of consumer affairs to turn in the paperwork on my complaint against Playa del Sol, my timeshare in Puerto Vallarta. Keep your fingers crossed for me.


Hasta luego.