Exceso de confianza, y castigado - Over-confident, and chastised

The main cathedral, from the balcony of our restaurant

Yesterday was a rather laid-back day. We met some Down Under visitors yesterday, a couple from Australia and New Zealand. They and some friends from California are sailing around the world, but they are stranded here until the tradewinds change. Something about the danger of being becalmed where the trades change direction at the equator. We took their advice and visited two special places, the Museo Amparo and the Rosary Chapel. We also took in the main church on the zocalo.

The museum was another eyeful for Roger. A wonderful collection of Mayan artifacts, from earspools to large stela. Just stunning. 

Altar at the Rosary Chapel - Capella del Rosario

The Rosary Chapel has a reputation for being over-the-top baroque, and that reputation is well earned. It is a side chapel to the main Domincan church, incredible as it was itself, and when we got there, a priest was presiding over a ritual that three-year-olds undergo here.

We are thinking of applying for a grant to come back and photograph all the churches in Puebla.

Puebla is famous for its food (are we repeating ourselves?), especially the molé poblano and the nogales. We had the molé at a couple of places, so it was the nogales' turn. We found a nice place a little off the zocalo and stuffed ourselves. Nogales is a large poblano pepper stuffed with meat, various fruits, pecans, and seasonings, covered with a sweet white sauce. The presentation was completed with pomegranate and parsley. Another common type of drink here is agua fresca, water flavored with pureed fruits or vegetables. Surprise, surprise, the agua fresca we had was made from cucumber, sweetened and delicious.We rolled out of there very satisfied.

Surprise, surprise, apparently the agua fresca was made with tap water, not bottled water. Need we provide the details? Probably not – let's just say we did not return to the zocalo for coffee in the evening, deciding to stay in the room for the night feeling sorry for ourselves.

Right now (the morning after) we are feeling fine and on the first class bus to Oaxaca. First class is even better than second. We have a lavatory, movies, snacks. We'll try to link up to the WiFi connection on the road so we can advance the blog to our schedule.

Your lesson-well-learned turistas in Mexico,

Roger and Karen

(More photos below)

Trip Update: No WiFi after all. About half-way through the trip we crossed a very high volcanic ridge, with precipitous drops of several hundred feet. Thank God Karen has the window seat, it doesn't bother her as much as it does Roger.

Additional Update: Sitting at a Pemex station due to a blowout. Luckily, it happened on flat land in a high valley.

Main altar at the Templo de Santa Domingo

Pipe organ at Templo de Santa Domingo

Detail of tile work in the Rosary Chapel

Main sanctuary at the central cathedral

Altar at the central cathedral

Rosary Chapel

Brother and sister at a special celebration

The children leaving the Rosary Chapel

Dome of the Rosary Chapel

Another detail of the Rosary Chapel