1. Betty sends me an LA Times article about Puebla.
2. I respond saying I think we should go there.
3. Esmerelda (see below) suggests Cholula.
3. Betty agrees.
4. We go.
Here's what happened when Betty came to stay...
Birthday lunch in Polanco (the posh bit of town) in a fish restaurant called Fishers. Betty decided to rock the bib (and still looked beautiful). With us were my Spanish teacher cum friend, Esmerelda, her boyfriend Ricardo and our friend Jorge (next to Betty).
As seems to be the way here, the Mexicans weren't sure about the name Betty and so changed it to Eli (short for Elizabeth). (My names so far are Lexie, Alexis, Lety, Alexandra but Alex seems a little too difficult to grasp).
Cholula:
It was an early night as the next day we headed off to Cholula. Mexico has a series of towns that are so beautiful and typically Mexican that they have been termed Pueblos Magico (magical towns). The label was applied by Mexico's tourism board and not only did the term not disappoint, it understated the real beauty of the town of Cholula.
The drive down took about 2.5 hours, as it is is 120km south of Mexico City. The roads were easy and we chatted the whole way down.
Where we stayed:
We stayed in a beautiful hacienda, called Hotel La Quinta Luna (the Fifth Moon). The hacienda had been restored from a pile of rubble into the most beautiful boutique hotel with only a couple of bedrooms.
The hacienda is situated in a historic part of the town of Cholula known as Santa Maria Xixitla, which dates from 200 to 500 A.D. The hacienda itself was built in the 17th century, but by 1995 it was in disarray and had been on the market for 7 years. Finally, it was bought and restored, with the project was completed in 2003 when it opened as a stunning hotel.
What we did in Cholula:
Cholula is home to the one of the biggest pyramid in the world, known as Tlachihualtepetl - which means 'made-by-hand' pyramid. There seems to be some confusion online about how to measure pyramids (by meters squared or by height) and obviously not all pyramids have been discovered. However, it's safe to say that it is hugely impressive. Admittedly this is from wikipedia but this is a great diagram to explain the different pyramids (including the Pyramid of the Sun, which I visited with Bill last weekend).
The pyramid was built over the course of hundreds of years, beginning over 2000 years ago with different layers being added until around 500 A.D. Interestingly, it seems that the Aztecs wanted to hide it from the Spanish conquistadores so they literally buried the pyramid only for the Spaniards to think that it was a lovely hill to build a church on.... within a year of their arrival, La Iglesia de los Remedios was built (see pictures below).
However, despite this obvious tourist attraction, somehow Betty and I got totally distracted by the beautiful museum on the side of the pyramid and the church on top of it and never quite got to go into the pyramid itself.
However, despite this obvious tourist attraction, somehow Betty and I got totally distracted by the beautiful museum on the side of the pyramid and the church on top of it and never quite got to go into the pyramid itself.
La Iglesia de los Remedios built on top of the pyramid.
This is the view from the top.
The view of the church from the museum.
The museum - as you can see, totally crowded (!) and despite being the only ones in there the guard insisted on seeing our tickets every hour or so:
Betty in the process of being told off (again):
Art? Or just a shortage of bricks:
Betty made me promise not to publish this one.... hopefully she loves me enough to get over this:
Betty's international hunt for heart stones continued (unusually she was not told off for this):
The town of Cholula itself:
Betty - the Sueña:
Betty Boo knows that I can't walk that far, and she is absolutely fabulous about it. We have now travelled together in 6 countries and the best thing about it is that I only have to mention briefly that I need a rest and off she'll pop to entertain herself for a while, leaving me to take in the views from a bench. So this is who I met when my Sueña let me off the leash:
A new mum:
Notice anything unusual about this picture:
Two (very young but very beautiful) boys who decided they were in love with me and 'age wasn't important' to them!
What to do when it is raining or your tummy is grumbling:
Try on hats and sunglasses:
Impress the locals with your dance moves:
Eat delicious food:
Spot the excellent food photography by Betty Boo:
Drink mezcal or cocktails (with mezcal in them) in a restaurant in a car park (!!) called Central de Agaves:
Shop:
Run for cover in a local church:
Puebla:
I had read about the baroque museum in Puebla and so my ever enthusiastic travel buddy, who is always up for anything, agreed to stop off there on our way home. It was worth the effort and had a great history of the baroque era, covering everything from art, to music, to furniture and obviously to architecture. Inspired by the museum the photographs (from Betty Boo and me) are our attempt at baroque, which for those of you not in the know is supposed to show one light source and capturing a moment in the midst of some clear action (ok, admittedly not all of these show any action)....
How to get there?
Frankly, neither Betty nor I know and neither does the lovely waiter in the baroque museum (see below) who spent 30 minutes (!!) on the phone to the bus company trying to find out. In the end we took Craig's advice ("I'll pay you a thousand dollars to stop worrying about this and find a quick solution") and took an Uber home (Craig, I'm guessing the cheque is in the post, right?)
So in summary, 4 days, 3 towns, far too much giggling, 2 museums, lots of food and mezcal.... and by the end, Betty had become Eli and Boo obviously had to be changed to feliz, the Spanish for happy.
