I found the Turibus today and went for a ride that I thought would never end. This picture of a guy burning in hell (which apparently is MY fate) seemed appropriate.
Puebla is a lovely city to walk around. The streets are cobbled and there are beautiful buildings everywhere, many of them covered with tiles. There also seems to be no shortage of things to eat. But as far as having enough of interest to justify a 1.5 hour tour on a double decker bus, I think not.
I saw lots of churches, some monuments, and some more churches. We went up a hill at the end of town and saw a very nice view of the city and the volcanoes that surround it. There are three major ones - Popocatepl, Itza (something) and La Malinche. They are pretty awesome. Popo and Itza have snow on the tops. It was too smoggy to get a decent photo, but I am hoping either I will get closer or it will be clear one day and I can get a decent photos. Volcanos fascinate me - they represent the descent into hell I´ll soon be making.
The rest of the tour was kind of boring though. I was irritated by the people behind me who kept talking so I couldn´t hear the announcement (which was in Spanish), and also the guy next to me and the guy behind me both kept coughing.
One other odd thing about Puebla is that there seem to be no physical boundaries. I only experienced this in Japan, but here it is different. Yesterday when I was in the internet cafe this guy kept walking by me and bumping into my head as he passed. I felt like Elaine in that Seinfeld episode when she thought her head was too big. Today on Turibus I felt something on my shoulder and thought it was the woman behind me. Finally I shifted in my seat to see if she would move her hand and it turned out she had put my seatbelt on my shoulder. I am not sure why she did that, but it kind of irritated me along with her husband´s talking and coughing.
It looks like from here I can visit some small villages outside of Puebla that seem very interesting. They are more traditional and more indigenous, and there are also some archeological sites and of course more churches. One town nearby is Cholula, which two of my students told me I should visit. They both said that there are 365 churches there! But, my guidbook says that is a myth. There was the intention of building 365 churches because Cholula has a pyramid that is bigger than the great pyramid of Egypt (it is covered with vegetation and has a church built on top of it), so to show the Indians the power of the church some Spanish person aimed to build that many churches, but they only got around 40 built. It is interesting that these two Mexican students of mine, one from Puebla and one from Mexican City both believed this myth to be true. I wonder how widely believed it is.
I am enjoying samping the food here. Of course the most famous is the mole. I went to a restaurant that my Lonely Planet recommended called Fondo Santa Clara. It was very good. I couldn´t decide what to get, so I got enchiladas with three kinds of mole - mole poblano, red mole and pipian, which is made from ground pumpkin seeds. I have had mole in the past and was not too crazy about it, but this mole last night was incredible. Then I walked to the zocalo and got a lemon sorbet, but she asked me if I wanted chamay. I didn`t know what the heck she was talking about, so she gave me a little sample. She dipped the spoon in this red stuff and then scooped a little lemon sorbet and had me taste it. It was sort of a salt and chili mixture. I got it and it was very yummy and very interesting. I had chili sprinkled on my ice cream once before here in Mexico, and this was similar, but done in a different way - it was in the bottom of the cup.
This morning I tried exercising a little in my gym in my hotel so that I can continue to try all of the wonderful things there are to eat here. The people of Puebla seem to be a bit larger in general, so I´d better be careful.
Ok, off to explore a little more before it gets dark.
Puebla is a lovely city to walk around. The streets are cobbled and there are beautiful buildings everywhere, many of them covered with tiles. There also seems to be no shortage of things to eat. But as far as having enough of interest to justify a 1.5 hour tour on a double decker bus, I think not.
I saw lots of churches, some monuments, and some more churches. We went up a hill at the end of town and saw a very nice view of the city and the volcanoes that surround it. There are three major ones - Popocatepl, Itza (something) and La Malinche. They are pretty awesome. Popo and Itza have snow on the tops. It was too smoggy to get a decent photo, but I am hoping either I will get closer or it will be clear one day and I can get a decent photos. Volcanos fascinate me - they represent the descent into hell I´ll soon be making.
The rest of the tour was kind of boring though. I was irritated by the people behind me who kept talking so I couldn´t hear the announcement (which was in Spanish), and also the guy next to me and the guy behind me both kept coughing.
One other odd thing about Puebla is that there seem to be no physical boundaries. I only experienced this in Japan, but here it is different. Yesterday when I was in the internet cafe this guy kept walking by me and bumping into my head as he passed. I felt like Elaine in that Seinfeld episode when she thought her head was too big. Today on Turibus I felt something on my shoulder and thought it was the woman behind me. Finally I shifted in my seat to see if she would move her hand and it turned out she had put my seatbelt on my shoulder. I am not sure why she did that, but it kind of irritated me along with her husband´s talking and coughing.
It looks like from here I can visit some small villages outside of Puebla that seem very interesting. They are more traditional and more indigenous, and there are also some archeological sites and of course more churches. One town nearby is Cholula, which two of my students told me I should visit. They both said that there are 365 churches there! But, my guidbook says that is a myth. There was the intention of building 365 churches because Cholula has a pyramid that is bigger than the great pyramid of Egypt (it is covered with vegetation and has a church built on top of it), so to show the Indians the power of the church some Spanish person aimed to build that many churches, but they only got around 40 built. It is interesting that these two Mexican students of mine, one from Puebla and one from Mexican City both believed this myth to be true. I wonder how widely believed it is.
I am enjoying samping the food here. Of course the most famous is the mole. I went to a restaurant that my Lonely Planet recommended called Fondo Santa Clara. It was very good. I couldn´t decide what to get, so I got enchiladas with three kinds of mole - mole poblano, red mole and pipian, which is made from ground pumpkin seeds. I have had mole in the past and was not too crazy about it, but this mole last night was incredible. Then I walked to the zocalo and got a lemon sorbet, but she asked me if I wanted chamay. I didn`t know what the heck she was talking about, so she gave me a little sample. She dipped the spoon in this red stuff and then scooped a little lemon sorbet and had me taste it. It was sort of a salt and chili mixture. I got it and it was very yummy and very interesting. I had chili sprinkled on my ice cream once before here in Mexico, and this was similar, but done in a different way - it was in the bottom of the cup.
This morning I tried exercising a little in my gym in my hotel so that I can continue to try all of the wonderful things there are to eat here. The people of Puebla seem to be a bit larger in general, so I´d better be careful.
Ok, off to explore a little more before it gets dark.
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