Two Years in Mexico

Can you take the heat?

2010-06-13T16:51:00.008-05:00

(To view the picture album click on the picture above)

At the end of May we got the visit of some of my grad school friends: Ryan and Anna, who now live in Baltimore, and Steve and Teresa, who now live in Atlanta. We spent a couple of days exploring the city and went to Teotihuacán to see the pyramids, then over Memorial Day week-end we left Sebastian with his grandparents and went on a camping adventure to Chacahua National Park, in the state of Oaxaca.

Tony told me he wants to write up a blog entry on the trip so I'll let him tell our crazy stories there... but we had an amazing time!

After Chacahua we decided we needed a less "rough" experience so we got back to Puerto Escondido and stayed there for a day at the beautiful Villas Carrizalillo boutique hotel.

After coming back from the Oaxacan coast it was back to work for Tony but our friends stuck around for a few more days to see a little more of the city and sample some nice food.

Check out our album from the trip, I cannot wait for some of the comments, especially about the facilities in Chacahua (you know who you are, you know you'll make fun of it next time I see you!)

Cabo Fun

2010-05-05T11:45:00.008-05:00

(To view the picture album click on the picture above)

Wow, we're in May. It's amazing how time completely changes once you have a baby and seems to accelerate out of control. As it is, Sebastian will be 7 months old in a couple of days and I have been meaning to write this post for over 6 weeks.

I can't even remember what I wanted to say about it, but the fact is we had a wonderful first beach vacation with little Seb and my parents.

For once we had a more laid back trip, enjoying the resort, taking it easy. We stayed at the beautiful Hacienda del Mar Sheraton Resort and had a nice 1bd suite with a kitchen which was great since we could cook some meals in, keep Seb's milk refrigerated, sterilize bottles, etc. We did learn that traveling with a baby is more technical than it seems!

We did venture out of the resort to visit both San José del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas, had a beach day at Santa María and drove down to the "Magical" town of Todos Santos. I do have to say that I was a little disappointed by this town: it's more a street than a town and its main attraction, the Hotel California, has only the name in common with the famous Eagles song. The 1h drive through the desert to Todos Santos was very pretty though, so we had a nice outing even if the "magic" was not quite there!

Check out the pictures, they're really nice, if I may say!

Back in the Game

2010-02-17T15:09:00.003-06:00

(To view the picture album click on the picture above)

It has been a while since I last posted on this blog. As it turns out having a baby is a full time activity and our travelling was limited to visiting our family in Chicago to introduce them to Sebastian.

But now Seb is 4 months old and we've resumed our travels around Mexico. Our first outing was a week-end trip to the State of Hidalgo. We'd been meaning to go visit the Basaltic Prisms for a long time and I'm glad we did, the site is amazing!

The Basaltic Prisms are made of igneous rock, known as prismatic basalt, formed into a fifty meters high vertical wall of gigantic columns, decorating the walls of a gully known as Alcholoya. These basaltic prisms were formed by the accelerated cooling of lava millions of years ago. They are at the waterfall formed by the San Antonio Dam, which falls through the prisms and into the river. This geologic phenomenon is unique in the whole continent.

Baron Alexander Von Humboldt, considered the father of modern geography, visited Mexico at the beginning of the 19th century. Impressed by the beauty of these prisms, he made sketches of this formation in 1803; now exhibited in the Museum of British Art, in London.

We stayed in the "Magical Village" of Huasca de Ocampo at a beautiful small hotel called Casa Azul.

The Programa Pueblos Mágicos ("Magical Villages Programme") is an initiative led by Mexico's Secretariat of Tourism, in conjunction with other federal and state agencies, to promote a series of towns around the country that offer visitors a "magical" experience – by reason of their natural beauty, cultural riches, or historical relevance. Curently there are 35 Magical Villages in Mexico.

On Sunday we visited the site of Peña del Aire (Air Boulder). The drive there was breathtaking with deep canyons, rivers, mountains surrounding us. The micro-climate of the area is reminiscent of African Savannah, which is incredibly beautiful.

Before heading back to Mexico City we visited another Magical Village: Real del Monte.

Real del Monte is a small town lying at an altitude of 2700 metres (8,800 ft). The municipality was once the richest in the state when gold and silver were discovered before the Spanish Conquest. The town's steep streets, stairways and small squares are lined with low buildings, some dating back to colonial times. The houses with high sloping roofs and chimneys indicate a Cornish influence, the legacy left by 350 Cornishmen employed by the Cornish firm that ran the mines between 1824 and 1848. Today, typical Cornish pasties (a local speciality known as pastes) are baked here and are unknown outside the State of Hidalgo.

This was a wonderful first trip as a family and I cannot wait for the next one in less than a month!

Check out the pictures from the trip by clicking the picture above.

What I Did on My Summer Vacation

2009-09-11T10:10:00.009-05:00

(Click to Enlarge)

Oh my, the summer is over! Classes have started (though I am not teaching this term with baby Klein coming in a little over a month) and I realize I didn't blog at all during the summer.

It wasn't because nothing was going on but rather the opposite: growing a baby in your belly is hard work, and trying to keep our usual crazy active adventurous lifestyle has been challenging. But here we are, end of summer, still working, still having fun and having spent an amazing time!

In June, Tony's brother and his family met us at the Mayan Riviera and we spent a week at a resort, visiting the Mayan ruins of Tulúm and Cobá, snorkeling at the awesome Xel-Ha eco-resort, and having lots of R&R.

(To view the picture album click on the picture above)

Then in July, we celebrated my aunt's Maggie's birthday.

(Click to Enlarge)

Finally, my french parents, Simone and Didier, spent three weeks with us at the end of July and beginning of August and we spent the week-ends showing them around the city and took a long week-end to visit Merida and its surroundings. The trip was really nice. I got to see my friend Nadine that I hadn't seen in many years, we visited the Mayan ruins of Uxmal and Dzibilchaltún and got to swim in beautiful cenotes.

(To view the picture album click on the picture above)

So there, that's what we did on our summer vacation... Now in case you're worried we didn't have enough to eat, here's some pictures of some of the things we tried on our trips...

(Click to Enlarge)

World Heritage Beauty

2009-06-02T13:36:00.007-05:00

(To view the picture album click on the picture above)

For Memorial Day week-end Tony and I went to Guanajuato, a UNESCO World Heritage town, capital of the state of Guanajuato.

To start off this world-class trip we took a luxury bus so Tony could have that experience. Luxury buses in Mexico have only 23 seats per bus, 3 per row, and are as nice (and recline as far) as First Class airplane seats. You get greeted by a snack and drink, they have wireless internet on board and they show movies with the sound going through headsets on each seat (as oposed to some buses where they blast the movie to the whole bus, whether you want it or not). On this bus, the 5 hour trip to and from Guanajuato was very pleasant.

Guanajuato, founded in 1554, was a rich mining town originally built over the Guanajuato River, which flowed through tunnels underneath the city. In the mid-twentieth century a dam was built to redirect the river into underground caverns and avoid the frequent floods. The tunnels were lit and paved with cobblestones for automobile traffic, and this underground road network carries the majority of cars driving through the city today. It is one of the most notable features of the city.

We had a wonderful week-end walking around the historic district, venturing into its many narrow alleys and taking advantage of its amazing variety of cafes and restaurants in beautiful plazas. We stayed at an Inn called El Zopilote Mojado and were the only guests there so we had this HUGE house to ourselves. We visited the Diego Rivera Birthplace and Museum and the Alhondiga de Granaditas, a 19th century public granary which played a key role in the Mexican Independence. Of course we couldn't miss a visito to the famous Mummies:

About 1 in 100 bodies buried in the cementery of Guanajuato experience natural mummification. In the late 1800s the town instituted a "burial tax" for the families of the deceased. When some of the poorest families were unable to pay the tax, their relatives were dug up and placed on public view in a purpose-built museum. The 'Guanajuato Mummy Museum' still adds corpses to this day; two children were added who died in 1984 most recently due to their relatives' failure to pay the $20 per 5-year rental fee. The museum holds 111 corpses resting on velvet pillows. Today, it is reported that the proceeds from the museum help fund the city's coffers to a considerable degree.

On Sunday we visited the Ex-Hacienda San Gabriel de Barreda, a gorgeous property outside the city with 17 different beautiful gardens surrounding the main house, still decorated in its original funishings.

It was very nice to get out of town for a few days, especially since we hadn't been able to get out much between me being so sick my first trimester of pregnancy and dealing with all the stuff for the new condo this last month.

Check out our trip's pictures to give you a glimpse of the beauty of this town!

Home Improvements, Part 2.7

2009-05-12T19:55:00.010-05:00

So, on the good side: the carpentry project is done! The guy had to stay until 10h40PM to finish, but he did finish. Right now, I am still upset by how much it took to get it done and how messy and unclean the workers were, but I hope to be psyched about the final product soon...

Here's some pictures of how the nice carpenters decided you don't need any work benches nor to protect the brand new furniture and floors from dirt and sawdust:

In the end we got

closets in both bedrooms (the green one is our bedroom, the yellow one is the office/baby's room)
a cabinet in the living room
additional cabinets and an island in the kitchen to match the existing ones.

Here's the results.

The adventures of an obsessive compulsive in a new condo.

2009-05-11T14:38:00.014-05:00

So, a little bit over a year and a half ago, Tony and I decided, together with my parents, to invest in a small condo in a developing neighborhood in Mexico City. The construction was supposed to end in February-March 2008 and we were planning on renting it once we got it.

After finding out we had to come back to Mexico for a couple of years (long story) we thought it would be great to live in our own condo during our Mexican time. The place wasn't quite finished yet, but they promised us by July we would be living there.

In September, the place was ready to move in, but the builders had problems getting the paperwork needed for a sale (another long story). In each of the successive months we were told it would be done within days....

Finally in April 2009, we managed to get everything sorted out and sign the deed. Here's where the second part of the adventure begins: brand new condo, should be simple enough to move in, but no.

We spent a couple of weeks getting estimates for window treatments, closets and services such as internet, tv, etc... trying to have everything done before moving in in early May. Here's what's happened:

The Services Adventure:

This I thought was the easy one: call the cable company, transfer our internet and tv service to the new address. They did the transfer contract and assured me 3 days later the service techs would come. Then talking to the next door neighbor I find out there's NO WAY to get such service here because the closest pole is too far away and they won't install a new pole. So I call the cable company back and ask them to check the address of the building: "Oh, you're right, no service there!" Thanks a lot! I then had to return to the office and cancel the contract.

I then move on to alternative options. For tv service we picked one of the 2 choices of satellite service. They said it would get installed within a week... it's been 11 days!

For internet (the important one since Tony relies on it a lot for his work) we hired a wireless service advertised as reliable and efficient and for which we could get the modem right away. It sounded too good to be true... and it was! The thing works awful and Tony's had to go over to my parents' house to work! So we come to the last resort, go to the evil side and hire the national phone company, which forces you to have a phone service in order to have internet... We're still waiting on them to call us and let us know when they will install the phone line so we can go to their office and pick up the modem. Wish us luck!

The "Quirks" Adventure:

As with every new construction, one is expected to find some details that need to be corrected. We've had several "issues" to address, but here's my favorite so far.

After installing our washer and dryer, the plumber and I found out the hard way that the pipes didn't work: the patio got flooded when testing the machine. He checked the drain and it seemed fine so he said the problem was in the pipes below (which run on our downstairs neighbor's patio). I called the construction company and they promised the architect would come the next day.

After waiting all morning, instead of the architect we get the guy in charge of minor repairs who checks the drain and comes to the same conclusion my plumber had come to: "Oh, they need to send in a plumber!" No kidding!

Two days later the plumber comes, checks the drain, and, you guessed it, comes to the exact same conclusion: "This is in the pipes below. I need material, special tools and permission from the neighbor."

Finally the next day the pipes get fixed. Was it that hard, really?

The Closets Adventure:

This one has given me nightmares! Our condo, which is 500 square feet so it needs good storage solutions, comes without closets. They sell it to you as "that way you can get them in your personal style." I just think they're cheap!

So we needed nice closets in the two bedrooms and we also wanted to improve the storage in the kitchen and build a custom cabinet in the living room. We hired a very serious looking company and their architect was very nice and made a project we were excited about.

We had to wait 3 weeks to get it, but he said installation would take a day and then we'd be all set.

Last Thursday their secretary called to tell me they would come by first thing in the morning. After several phone calls complaining about the time, the workers finally showed up at 2PM! After an hour of unloading and filling every single square inch of the place with material and tools they got to work. There were only two guys working and 5 hours later they had started on both closets but were very far from finishing and had not even looked at the living room or kitchen.

Saturday they came back and worked the entire day, but were still not done.

Today they were supposed to come at 9AM and again got here at 2PM but SWORE they will be done today. We shall see!

I cannot describe how upset I am at this whole situation. In addition to how long this is taking them and how invasive it is (pretty much turning the whole place into a workshop, with no protections while drilling, cutting wood, painting...) I am still not convinced I like the results. They keep saying it will all look great in the end, but I am still waiting for the magical moment they're all promising.

All I really want is to have a nice orderly condo in which to chill... is that too much to ask?

The posse in the sun.

2009-03-21T08:56:00.013-06:00

(To view the picture album click on the picture above)

On the last week of February some friends from Raleigh and Fort Collins came to visit us. Dave and Jay came to Mexico City a few days before to tour the town, then we drove to Acapulco, where we were met by Alison, George and Dave to spend a week at the Mayan Palace resort and do some R&R under the sun.

In Mexico City, we visited the Anthropology Museum, the historic downtown district, the National University Campus, the Dolores Olmedo Museum, the ancient canals of Xochimilco and the historic district of Coyoacán.We also did a day trip to the pyramids of Teotihuacán.

In the Acapulco area we took a boat tour around the Coyuca Lagoon (where Rambo II was shot), enjoyed the sunset at Pie de la Cuesta, spent an afternoon at the island of Roqueta, saw the famous Cliff Divers, visited the San Diego Fort and had fresh seafood by the beach at Puerto Marquez.

Of course we also took time to hang out by the beach and play in the surf, float along the resort's pool (which they advertise as one of the world's longest ones) and enjoy everyone's company.

One of the days boys and girls split up: the boys played golf in the resort's 18 holes course while the girls had a blissful day at the spa. It was heavenly!

As always, food was amazing and we made sure to sample lots of seafood and try a variety of places ranging from little shacks to internationally acclaimed restaurants. Here's a sample of some of the food we ate! (Click on the picture to see a larger version.)

Once again, we had an amazing vacation and were very happy to share it with our friends. Check out the trip's pictures!

A Church of Gold, then Char-Grilled Tacos

2009-03-11T16:24:00.010-06:00

(To view our trip's album click on either of the pictures above.)

Early February our friends Rosy and Oded organized a bar-b-q in Tepotzotlán, Estado de México. Tony and I decided to leave early and visit the former Jesuite monastery, which houses now the National Museum of the Viceroyship. The site is really beautiful and the most impressive part of it is the Churrigueresque-style church of San Francisco Javier. This building absolutely breathtaking and is one of the few New Spanish XVIII century baroque churches which still preserves its original architecture, painting and sculpture. There's few places on earth where you are surrounded by that much gold!

After the museum we met our friends for lunch and had a blast. We ate tons of yummy food: arrachera tacos with molcajete salsa, cheese-stuffed peppers, veggie tacos... We also enjoyed the wonderful weather and had an amazing time. I can't believe this was our first bbq since we got here!!!!!

Check out our pictures from this fun day trip!

Birthday Celebration

2009-03-09T12:51:00.004-06:00

(To view the picture album click on the picture above)

For Tony's birthday this year we couldn't break the tradition of eating his favorite dish: pizza. Family and friends joined us at 50 Friends, a hip neighborhood spot in Condesa known for the quality of its pies. We had some great food and company and Tony was very happy. For an extra special treat he had a chocolate soufflé in addition to the yummy Nutella fruit pizza we all shared.

From the restaurant we walked to the Malafama pool hall to shoot some pool and continue the laughs. It was tons of fun and a late night for a Tuesday!

Pictures of Mexican Food

2009-02-09T12:09:00.006-06:00

I've always been obsessed with taking pictures of food. Everywhere I go, I snap before I eat. I literally have hundreds and hundreds of pictures of food. At some point, I though of making a picture diary of everything I ate, but then found out someone had already done it!

Yesterday I got a picture message from my friend's daughter, who's 6. She knows how much I like pictures of food and decided to photograph her chicken tacos and send me the pic. It made me think about all my pictures of food buried in my picture folders. I went back and really enjoyed finding some collages I had made of food from China and Australia.

Then I went through my Mexico folders and made the collage above, a small sampling of my food fetish: no, I haven't taken to eating carnitas, but I still enjoy photographing them!!!!! Also of notice is the candied rose petals cake my cousin had at her bridal shower, a real piece of art, and the candied carrots we saw at a market in Toluca.

If you click on the picture you can see it bigger to really "appreciate" each dish!

Bon Appetit!
iti

Oaxaca Escape

2009-02-05T11:52:00.009-06:00

(To view our trip's album click on the picture above.)

Last December we had a wonderful trip in the state of Oaxaca. We visited tons of sites. At Santa María del Tule we paid a visit to the largest tree in the world (36.2m trunk circunference). At Hierbe el Agua, we saw the beautiful petrified waterfalls. We explored the zapotec ruins of Mitla and Monte Albán. Finally we shopped for local crafts at several markets in little towns and also hung out in Oaxaca city where we visited the amazing Santo Domingo complex.

We had a great stay and sampled lots of specialties of the amazing Oaxacan food. My favorite experiences were tasting six different mole varieties at Los Pacos and making our own chocolate mix at the mill of the Mayordomo chocolate company.

Check out our trip's pictures and see for yourselves...

Cyber-Iti having a blast!

2009-01-14T15:09:00.010-06:00

I couldn't resist making this cool fun version of "me"! Too bad I'm sitting at my desk in front of the computer and not at a yoga studio right this moment!

Holidays NOT On Ice

2009-01-14T12:01:00.015-06:00

December 2007 VS December 2008

(To view our trip's album click on either of the pictures above.)

This holiday season, Tony's mom and sisters came down to visit us and escape from Chicago's crazy weather. After spending one evening in DF having great food, courtesy of my dad, we drove down to Cocoyoc, where my mom's friend Olga had rented us a house for the week-end. We visited the nearby colonial towns of Tlayacapan and Tepoztlán and enjoyed the garden, the pool, the grill, etc... The Chicago Chicas really enjoyed leaving their coats and boots at home and hanging out by the pool in 80 degree (Farenheit) weather!

After Cocoyoc we spent two days in Taxco, where we had also rented a pretty colonial house. The town's incredibly steep and narrow cobbled streets and crazy drivers proved somewhat of a challenge, but the allure of the town and its infinite amount of silver shops made it all worth it!

We returned to DF tired but happy to enjoy two days of parties: first for Michelle's birthday, then for New Year's Eve. Michelle, my dad and some assistants (my uncle Dany, cousin Galia and I) prepared a monumental paella for the whole family on that day.

A weird stomach flu attacked Tony and his three sisters at the end of the trip, which was a real bummer, but overall we all keep great memories of this warm weather holiday trip.

Latest news say the weather is awful in most of the US... you could be here instead, sipping a cold beverage by the pool, and enjoying our company! Check out our pictures if you're still not convinced...

The Impossible Quest For Free Water

2008-12-11T15:58:00.012-06:00

Every restaurant in Mexico has to provide, by law, purified water to the customers. Now, that doesn't mean it's easy to get it: restaurants, the nicer the worst, try by all means to get you to pay for bottled water. I hate that!

Our last experience illustrates how far waiters will go to NOT give you free water. We went into a really nice restaurant and I asked for "a glass of water from your filter", not a bottle of water, not just vague "water". The waiter asked if I wanted it with ice or not, I said with. A couple of minutes later he comes by while we're focused on the menus, quickly opens a bottle of water and pours both Tony and I glasses before retreating.

I call him and ask why he didn't give me filtered water. He says they're out. I ask if that means they're cooking our dinner with unfiltered water! He reassures me that the kitchen has plenty of filtered water and that our food will be made according to the "highest hygiene standards", with pristine purified water. I ask why I cannot get some of that great hygienic water. He says normally they have special filtered water for customers but they just happened to run out that minute so he decided to give us the bottled kind since he didn't want us to go thirsty . He assures me filtered water will be available within minutes.

As announced, as soon as I finished my (expensive) glass of water he came over with an oversized pitcher of filtered water, which had apparently magically appeared. The quest for free water was successful... until the next restaurant visit!

Thanksgiving in a Bikini

2008-12-11T15:28:00.010-06:00

(To view our trip's album click on the picture above.)

When we bought our car we got with it a free trip to any Fiesta Americana hotel in Mexico. We decided to use it over Thanksgiving and head to Puerto Vallarta. It was Tony's first time there and a great chance to relax and lay by the ocean.

We had a great time, sleeping in, taking it slow, and having some great food.

Thursday night, for "Thanksgiving", we went to Teatro Limón, a truly unique place. This "restaurant" is in a Canadian's chef's house, where him, his wife, a sous-chef and a waiter are the whole "show". The tables (about 8 of them, laid in the old living and dining rooms of the house) are around a nicely equiped kitchen, and you get to watch the whole process of your meal being made. The fun part is chef Bruce goes around all night chatting and figuring out what you'd like to eat. The food was absolutely amazing, all 5 courses of it, and we were pretty much forced to walk back to the hotel we were so full! The next day we didn't eat anything until 7PM!!!!

Friday we lazied at the hotel pool and beach most of the day and took a long nice sunset walk along the boardwalk so it was a nice, slow, relaxing day, not something we've gotten too much of lately!

On Saturday, one of my parents' friend, Greta, took us around. She's a really cool lady and I hadn't seen her in over ten years so we caught up on our lives and remembered "the old days" but also did some great sight-seeing. She took us to Nuevo Vallarta for lunch, then we drove down a beautiful road, with tropical trees forming a canopy above it, to Sayulita, a surfers' town in the state of Nayarit (Puerto Vallarta is in Jalisco). In the evening we went to La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, where Greta lives, to check out her diggs (pretty nice, can't wait to crash there next time!!!!) then went back to Vallarta for drinks.

Nicely replenished in energy we flew back to DF on Sunday afternoon, ready for whatever might come...

Climbing a Volcano

2008-11-18T19:30:00.011-06:00

(To view our trip's album click on the picture above.)

Last Saturday my friend Yuri, his girlfriend Jatziri, Tony and I climbed a volcano! We went to the Nevado de Toluca, a large stratovolcano located about 80 kilometres (50 mi) west of Mexico City near the city of Toluca. The volcano's tallest peak is the fifth tallest in Mexico, at 4,680 m = 15,354 ft.

This national park is truly beautiful. After climbing the east side of the crater the view is breathtaking with the tallest peaks to the West and two crater lakes at the bottom of the basin (at about 4,200 m = 13,800 ft): the Sun Lake to the North and the Moon Lake to the South .

Hiking was definitely wonderful, though challenging. Right off the bat I could feel the altitude, got a headache and felt my lungs asking for more oxygen. As we climbed higher I had to stop every few steps to catch my breath and slow down my heart beat, and by the time we were climbing a steep trail towards the peak I was feeling quite dizzy. The view up above was so rewarding though. We could clearly see the 2nd and 3rd highest mountains in Mexico (the Popocatépetl at 5,426 m = 17802 ft and the Iztaccihuatl at 5,230 m = 17,159 ft) in the distance.

Sadly, we didn't get to the very top. After reaching a secondary summit at 4455 m = 14,616ft we were quite tired and after hearing a few rumbles of thunder in the distance we thought it safer to hike around the lakes in the crater instead. Even so, Tony and I were really excited to have made it to the highest point either of us had hiked to and decided we'll come back soon to try for the summit... I also cannot wait to hike more of the mountains of Central Mexico!

Near Death.

2008-11-04T21:27:00.005-06:00

So, I was driving home today and had almost made it home when right in front of me, I saw a huge explosion. And when I say explosion, I mean action feature bright orange flames higher than buildings. I was basically stuck on the road I was in so I kept going, driving right by the huge fire. Absolutely in shock, I managed somehow to drive home feeling my entire body shaking. I noticed the whole area was out of power so I called my dad and asked him to check the news and make sure our apartment wasn't in danger of catching fire. Tony had gone for a walk and locked himself out of the house, and he sometimes walks RIGHT by where it happened, but luckily this time he went to a nearby grocery store and didn't even hear the explosion.

We got inside and found out through people updating us on the phone that a small jet crashed, hitting several buildings and many cars. They are still trying to figure out what exactly happened, but they do know the Secretary of State as well as other government officials were on board. Over forty people were injured, still not sure how many are dead. The pictures on TV are really impressive, but I just can't get over the fact I was so close!

You can check out a map here of where I was and where the explosion happened.

Anyway, at times like this you always feel thankful for your life and your loved ones, so I send you all my love!

iti

Camping fun in a Desert's Oasis

2008-10-27T17:45:00.011-06:00

(To view our trip's album click on either of the pictures above.)

Last week-end we had our first Mexican camping trip. We left Friday afternoon with our friends Moy and Karen and their two daughters Liat and Ariela, who were camping for the first time. For this first outdoor outing I suggested going to Tolantongo, a real paradise in the middle of the Mezquital Desert in Hidalgo, where I had been as a child and teenager.

Tolantongo is located in a semi-desert zone at the bottom of a steep box canyon that has walls as many as 500 meters high. Its main attraction is two grottos at the canyon’s closed end, out of which flows a small volcanically-heated river which follows the canyon floor. The large grotto chamber is about half the size of a tennis court with a ceiling of up to ten meters. Above the grotto is a “tunnel”, a small cavern 15 meters deep in which warm water showers those who venture inside. Around these two openings, warm waterfalls flow down the steep canyon walls.

To arrive at the resort, one must leave the highway and travel down an unpaved road that winds its way down the side of one of the canyon walls. At the bottom of the canyon, the vegetation changes from semi-desert to semi-tropical due to the abundance of water and the humid warmth the river and falls give to the place.

We spent the week-end dipping in hot water springs and having a total blast! It was great to come back to this place I had such great memories from. The place has changed a lot though: back in the day when my parents first went there there was no infrastructure at all, not even a road to get to the bottom of the canyon, you had to hike down or borrow a donkey from the locals. Here's a picture I just got from my mom from when she went there for the first time:

When I went there as a child you could make it all the way down with the car, but the place was totally "wild". Nowadays there's a hotel and cabins to rent, bath and shower facilities, places to eat at (we had amazing food for SO cheap!) and a whole new area midway down the canyon where they've built over 40 little pools on the side of the cliff, surrounded by waterfalls, feeding from five different hot water springs... I have to say, that's not bad at all! It's definitely more crowded than it used to be (my mom told me today the first time they went there they were ALONE!) but we still had an amazing relaxing time and I think the girls had a perfect first camping experience!

Sweet Skulls

2008-10-19T20:46:00.007-05:00

(To view our trip's album click on the picture above.)

Last week-end my parents, Tony and I decided to spend the day in Toluca to check-out the Alfeñiques Market, a once a year market where candy artisans showcase and sell their Day of the Dead specialties, mostly sugar shaped skulls and skeletons and other varied candy. It was fun!

After the market we walked around downtown and stopped at the botanical garden, known as the Cosmovitral. From 1920 until 1975 the Cosmovitral's art nouveau building was a market but it was then transformed into botanical garden. The large windows that surround the building on the second level were transformed into stained-glass murals. The murals consist of 71 stained-glass one-story panes containing 3000 meters of colored glass in almost 30,000 pieces in 28 different colors. This is considered to be the largest stained-glass artwork in the world. It was really beautiful.

Before returning to Mexico City we stopped in Metepec, a town renowned for its pottery artists, in particular for its "Trees of Life" and Day of the Dead traditional pieces. We walked around the main street for a while, checking out the stores.

All in all, we had a great day!

A walk in the park, part II

2008-10-19T20:01:00.005-05:00

(To view the pictures in the album click on the picture above.)

I am still loving living by the park and try to go out there as often as possible. The other day Tony and I went at sunset and took a couple of shots, following several people's requests for images. I also took some pictures to try out the panorama stitching program Hugin my friend Yuri recommended. I have to say that I like the stitching I did on Photoshop (above) better than the one from Hugin, but I'll keep trying it out...

A walk in the park

2008-10-13T13:07:00.008-05:00

After waiting for over two months for a new condo we're getting, we decided to move out of my parents's condo and find a temporary place to stay while we get the other place (I'm sure Tony will blog about this, see his blog!). My aunt Maggie found us an awesome furnished apartment in one of the most beautiful neighborhoods in the city and we get to rent it month to month for as long as we need it! We moved in a week ago and Tony left for Raleigh the next day so I spend last week getting things organized, working and hanging out with my parents, so I didn't explore the surroundings much.

Tony got back over the week-end and as soon as we go home he suggested going for a walk in Chapultepec Park, of which the second section is only one block from our place.

The hill of Chapultepec and surrounding land are now Chapultepec Park, a popular spot both for locals and tourists.

The park covers 1,800 acres (7.3 km) of land, centuries old forest, several small lakes, and landscaped areas with outdoor cafes. Chapultepec Zoo is located here, as well as an amusement park, and the official residence of the President of Mexico, Los Pinos.

Chapultepec Castle atop the hill is the National Museum of History. The park also includes the National Auditorium, along with several other museums, including the Modern Art Museum, the Tamayo Contemporary Art Museum, the Natural History Museum, the Papalote Children's Museum and the large Museum of Anthropology with perhaps the world's finest collection of Pre-Columbian, Mesoamerican art and artifacts.

We walked around the Great Lake (on the picture) at dusk, and it was incredible: great scenery, beautiful lake, perfect weather. This morning I went back for a walk just after sunrise and LOVED it again. I am hooked! I cannot believe I hadn't gone there before!!!

Aluminum Rocks!

2008-09-27T16:50:00.003-05:00

My parents have a friend who's a big time theater, dance and music producer and for her birthday she had a private showing of the Aluminum Show, an amazing dance, performance and visual arts company from Israel that uses, yes you guessed it, aluminum in practically every form. It was amazing plus going to a free private show definitely feels VIP!!!! If you're in Mexico, don't miss the show, at the Teatro de la Ciudad, next week-end. If you're not in Mexico, check out their bbc video at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/7546874.stm.

Week-end in Patzcuaro and Morelia

2008-09-22T12:30:00.012-05:00

(To view our trip's album click on either of the pictures above.)

We finally went on our first little Mexican trip! We spent the week-end in the state of Michoacan. First we went to Patzcuaro, a beautiful 474 year old town on the shore of Lake Patzcuaro. Walking down the cobblestone streets and admiring the ancient buildings and churches was nice and relaxing. I was afraid of tourist crowds since I'd heard nightmare anecdotes, but it seems those only happen during Day of the Dead, we had a peaceful time!

On Lake Patzcuaro the main island is Janitzio, known for its festival of the dead (in November) and its fishermen, who use butterfly shaped nets to fish for the traditional White Fish, which is very tasty. A half hour boat ride from Patzcuaro (with band included, see the pictures!) got us on the island and after a quick stop for food staring (we weren't hungry so we stared at the food and had a soda!) we walked up the steep narrow streets to the top of the island, where the 150ft statue of Morelos stands proud. I'm sure Tony will blog about the climb up the statue to Morelos's arm, so I'll just say the view from the top was incredible.

Back on firm land we took the road again, heading for Morelia. On the way we stopped in Tupataro, a tiny town I had read about in the Mexico Desconocido magazine. The Church of Santiago Apostol, though very rustic and simple on the outside, has an incredible interior. It was built in the 18th century and it is unique in that prehispanic techniques were used in its decoration. The church's elaborate gilded retablo (the altarpiece behind the main altar) includes sculpted avocados and corn husks, which are rarely seen in colonial churches. Also, the vividly painted wooden ceiling was done using vegetable and insect pigments, similarly to the ones used in prehispanic temples.

From Tupataro we continued on to Morelia, the capital of the state of Michoacan. The city is situated at an elevation of 1,921 meters above sea level (Tony really wanted to know this). Although the city is quite large (over 600,000 people), the downtown area feels really quaint. The historic area houses more than 1000 colonial buildings and churches and is a Unesco World Heritage Site. We spent Saturday night and Sunday morning walking around admiring the buildings and had a memorable dinner at the Mirasoles restaurant.

On a low note though, a few days before we went on the trip there was a terrorist attack in Morelia. Seven people were killed and more than a hundred injured in the center of the city when two grenades went off during the independence celebrations. (You can read an article about it here.) We walked by several groups of people praying on different street corners and lighting candles, and there were police cars and helicopters all over. Aside from that though, the city was calm.

This was an intense, exciting week-end and I cannot wait to plan the next one...

TRIP IDEA: Copper Canyon

2008-09-12T16:44:00.005-05:00

Copper Canyon Itinerary
6-8 days (Spring/Fall)

Four times bigger than the Colorado Canyon, this magnificent Mexican landscape serves as the backdrop of one of the most spectacular journeys in the world. With 408 miles of railroad tracks, 86 tunnels and 37 bridges, the Chihuahua-Pacífico train route is regarded as a must for train enthusiasts: it is one of the most important in the world and one of the masterpieces of Mexican Engineering.

Iti’s take on it: My parents did this trip before they had me and I’ve heard about their experience all my life! I’ve never been to any of the places on the itinerary and have only driven by the state of Chihuahua but never really been there. In Sinaloa I haven’t been that far north the coast.

Trip Highlights:

Train travel
Mountains and Canyons
Hiking
National Park
Native culture and people (Tarahumaras)
Hot Springs
Beach

Itinerary:
-Day 1: Arrival into Chihuahua
City Visit
-Day 2: Train from Chihuahua to Creel
Visit of the town of Creel
-Day 3: Creel
Hiking excursion to the Recowata Hot Springs
-Day 4 (optional): Train from Creel to Barrancas
Barrancas
-Day 5: Train from Barrancas to Bauichivo
Hiking in Cerocahui and Uriqe
-Day 6: Train from Bauichivo to Los Mochis
-Day 7 (optional): Topolobambo
-Day 8: Return Home

Trip Details

Chihuahua: Capital city in the State of Chihuahua, and the largest state in Mexico. Colonial city with a big industry and maquila development. Pancho Villa’s House and Museum, baroque style Cathedral, Religious Art Museum, Quinta Gameros Art Museum.
Creel: Main town in the Sierra Tarahumara. Handcrafts Museum, Indian stores, Danish style church. Starting point for many excursions to beautiful landscapes like the Lake of Arareko, Mushroom and Monks Valley, San Ignacio Mission, Recowata hot springs, Cusarare waterfall and full day excursions to the Canyon of Batopilas and the nearly 1,000-feet Basaseachi waterfall (tallest waterfall in Mexico).
Recowata Tour: 7 Hour Tour. On this tour, there is a strenuous two or three hour hike along with a short 15 kilometer van ride through woodlands and to the summit of the Tararecua Canyon. From atop this canyon you will be able to see south into the Copper Canyon. The trail down to the hot springs starts here, it is very steep and can be difficult for certain people. It is usually a 45 minute hike down to the springs to the bottom of the canyon but a guide will assist you. At the bottom, there are 5 man-made pools, and some are quite large. There is also a spout pouring from the mountain side which is a wonderful natural warm spa. Among the man-made pools are cooler natural pools and a natural rock slide. The canyon is a natural woodland filled with small wildlife, the perfect environment to be in while resting in the hot springs. You will spend a restful 2 to 2 1/2 hour stay in the canyon, during which lunch will be provided. The hike back up to the canyon top is about a 1 1/2 hour hike, but once at the top, your driver will be waiting to assist you and drive you back to Creel.
Posada Barrancas: Station right at the rim of the Copper Canyon. Impressive views and starting point for many easy walking trails along the rim and look-out points like Piedra Volada, La Escalera, Tarahumara boarding-house, inhabited caves, etc.
Bauchivo / Cerocahui: The Bauichivo station is 45 minutes from the small town of Cerocahui, a town with a Jesuit Mission, waterfalls and beautiful valleys. Departure point for the Urique Canyon (the deepest of the system) and the Cerro del Gallego viewing point.
Los Mochis / Topolobambo: Excellent seafood. Visit the Topolobampo bay and make a boat ride through smaller bays, estuaries and mangroves. Many dolphin families can be seen during the ride.