Our time in Guanajuato was very pleasant – we were there at the time of the annual Cervantes festival – it is interesting that a festival dedicated to one of the greatest Spanish authors takes place in Guanajuato, Mexico. The festival is great – apart from a lot of theatre which we did not attend), there are roving troubadours and mariachi bands all over the city, and in the evenings we saw people dressed up in Cervantes-era costume rushing around the town. Guanajuato is another city built on the backs of silver miners – the city is built on a series of hills, and under the city streets are warrens of tunnels and caves – with some being used to channel the roads.
Kids wise, people were friendly as always, and we enjoyed walking the streets and taking in the atmosphere.
From Guanajuato we were on the busses again , this time to Morelia, capital of Michoacan state. Morelia has some interesting markets, another incredible cathedral and our hotel was unusual, in that it was a former convent, and we found the many huge, wooden religious statues all over the place to be quite unsettling.
From Morelia it was on to Patzcuaro, a town set in the highlands. If I could choose one colonial town to hang out in Mexico, then I might well choose Patzcuaro – easy to wander around in, great colonial buildings, lots of handicrafts to buy , and some incredible restaurants. We really enjoyed a trip to some villages around nearby Lake Patzcuaro as well. Tocuaro is famous for its carved wooden masks – we bought an armadillo mask – complete with whiskers – just a great memento of a famous and very old tradition.
Patzcuaro is best known or its Day of the Dead celebrations in November – we were too early, but I can imagine that it would be an unforgettable experience.
After a few very restful and interesting days in Michoacan, it was on to Mexico City.
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