Puebla and the rocky road to Oaxaca

Today we left the duty. I am always happy to do so as the city noise and impersonal nature of large hotels palls a bit after a few days. We left at 8.30 and after a couple of hours arrived in Puebla, the town where our guide had lived for 20 years.
After a quick coffee stop we began exploring. It was apparent immediately that there were many show shops, and apparently Leon in the centre of one of the biggest shoe production areas in the world. Prices looked good but no time for shoe shopping and probably not room in the case.

We set off first for the church and on entering the Rosary chapel all you could say was 'wow'! The decorations were all covered in gold leaf and the whole place just sparkled. It contained many symbols of the sailors who travelled there, the Spanish and local people.

Explorations of the local streets revealed art deco buildings, beautifully painted houses, and plaster decorations. Some buildings were propped from the September earthquake, evidence of the stark reality and the tenuous nature of things here. Although new buildings have protective regulations. The town also has a university and there is a pretty little artists quarter.  It is famous for its tiles and many buildings were decorated with them.

We did have some shopping visiting some of the sweet shops with crystallized fruit, fruit extracts, mole sauce and local pottery. I bought some vanilla essence at a good price, some almonds and there is promise of more suutable shopping for transportation later on. We got to sample a few things too.

We finished with lunch in one of the collared areas by the square. I had something called a mixtiosa de pollo, a chicken stew served in a parcel with a lightly spiced sauce, with rice and a tortilla filled with guacamole. I must try out my Mexican recipe book when I get home. 

As it wasn't too large I decided to go for a pudding, Tres Leches pudding., which is a central american sweet. After all we were scheduled to arrive late in Oaxaca and I wouldn'  have supper. When it arrived we all fell about laughing and even after sharing with Victor our guide, I had a doggy bag for my tea.

  And yes it was a good 6 hours to Oaxaca with a couple of stops. Couldn' get a normal cup of tea though!  The road became windy with much mountainous scenery with cacti and the dirt of driving I had seen up north. You ignore the double lines, ignore the fact you are passing several long lorries carrying dangerous fluids, ignore the fact the road curves round a bend in front, put your do it down, hoot and go.

There was a point when the words 'Fuck a duck' emanated from the seat behind, as we came head to head with a large lorry and swerved onto the side of the road. Our driver just chuckles and carries on!