Mexico, Our Love
Well, I thought this would turn out differently! I had planned to write several posts in the three weeks between our trips to Mexico and India. I had so many story ideas. Instead, we leave for Mumbai in the morning (i.e. in 14hrs!) and this is my first post… so I’ll keep it practical and focus on the much requested logistics of our time in Mexico. Pls forgive the length… there’s a lot to cover!
We chose Mexico as the first stop for our #GapYear because we wanted to begin in a country that we already love… having been there four times together, and a few more times apart. And because it’s so big and varied, we knew we could visit new areas (beach, city & countryside) and still be rewarded with incredible art, history, food, culture, and all the things we already love about Mexico!
Oaxaca (5 days)
Although I’m always ready and willing spend time in Oaxaca City, we decided to try the coast instead.
STAY: Casa Tiny is 45mins northwest of the surfer town of Puerto Escondido. It was the perfect place to begin… beautiful space, peaceful, secluded, 100% pressure-free, and only a 5min walk from the pounding ocean that we could hear at all times. Every evening, we walked on the mostly empty beach to watch the sun set. The area has a few houses and two bungalow-style small hotels. It was very low key. Perfect!
FOOD: Casa Tiny is an Airbnb so #ChefSweetie cooked for us… except for one yummy seafood dinner at Villas Punta Pajaros down the road.
ART: On the way out, we signed up for a tour of Casa Wabi, an artists residency, gallery & community engaged space started by the artist Bosco Sodi. The architecture by Tadao Ando & others alone made it worth it!
BEACH: Besides our own beach, we spent one glorious day at Agua Blanca beach about an hour away. It’s lined with several outdoor restaurants and visited by lots of local Mexican families. It was so beautiful and mellow... are you sensing a theme? Lol. We also had a lovely dinner in Mazuntes with our friend Joan but didn’t get to visit the beach there.
BOOKS: Given the Casa Tiny theme & inspiration, Steve & I download Thoreau’s “Walden Pond” on audio but we only had time to listen to about a third. One day, we might finish it! Meanwhile, with great need, I read “Rest is Resistance” by Tricia Hersey, aka the Nap Bishop. She grounded her clarion call for our collective revolutionary rest in anti-capitalism, social justice, Black spirituality & womanism! I savored every sentence and continue to meditate on what she is trying to teach me / us. Highly recommend!
It was such a beautiful way to begin.
Guadalajara (3 days)
Guadalajara is Mexico’s second largest city with 5M people. We wanted to explore central Mexico, and this just made sense as a key stop.
STAY: We stayed at La Perla B&B under the infectiously friendly care of local Guillermo and ex-pat Lars. It’s in a beautiful old mansion once owed by the 1950s Mexican film star Gloria Marin. Our bathroom had a stained glass window in the shower and was the size of our guest bedroom in NY!! While being on a super quiet street, it was also well located near downtown and the university.
FOOD: Our favorite meals were at Xokol (indigenous cuisine), Alcalde (new Mexican) & a wonderful seafood lunch with new friends at La Pangea del Impostor. We also had great afternoon drinks at De La O. (See Steve’s separate post on meals for more info!).
ART: Guadalajara is known for it’s *incredible* Jose Clemente Orozco murals, and they did not disappoint!! There are three main locations that are in every guidebook! We also stumbled upon the University of Guadalajara’s Octavio Paz Library which featured a completely immersive experience of murals by David Alfaro Siqueiros… one more of many gorgeous libraries we have visited in Mexico through the years.
Through a mutual friend Carolyn, we got connected to Jose Noe Suro of Ceramica Suro and visited his studio / factory with a personal tour by him! Not only did we learn about all the fabulous global artists he works with at the factory (Jorge Pardo, Sanford Biggers, etc), we also got to eat off his ceramic plates at dinners we had around Mexico (e.g. Alcalde, Maximo).
Jose introduced us to Viviana Kuri of the Museo de Arte de Zapopan, where we spent a lovely afternoon at the small yet adventuresome museum. We also explored the lovely Zapopan neighborhood (which we *much preferred* over the far more popular Tlaquepaque).
Michoacan
I had never heard about the state of Michoacan until a New York Times article last winter about the gorgeous indigenous and hand-painted churches that dot its countryside. Given that I can rarely resist going into any houses of worship we pass while traveling (church, mosque, synagogue, you name it), this immediately moved Michoacan to the top of our Mexico travel list. We decided to divide our time across two places: Morelia & Patzcuaro, with visiting the churches as a key aim.
I should also note that Michoacan, with its strong indigenous cultures, is well known for its incredible crafts. We did not explore that as much… next time!
Oh, and also, your avocados probably come from there… but not without a heavy cost.
MORELIA (3 Days)
Named after José María Morelos y Pavón, who signed the first decree to abolish slavery in the Americas in 1810, Morelia is an underrated yet beautiful city of 850,000 people. It is known for its beautiful central cathedral made of pink marble, echoed by many other buildings in the historic center. It had city things but was also very mellow and easy to explore. We loved it and quickly added it to our list of future cities for a month(s) long residency :)
STAY: Our favorite B&B of the whole trip was Hotel La Puerta Blanca, run by an architecture professor at the local university & former First Lady of the state (she is American but has lived there for most of her adult life). She gave great sightseeing advice and linked us with Hugo, a local guide, to explore the countryside of ruins and churches. And her courtyard is divine! Plus, we befriended fellow guest and arts writer Patricia Zohn while there.
FOOD: Michoacan has a lot of great regional dishes but the restaurant scene is only so so. Our favorite meal was at a mezcal bar and restaurant called Tata. We also had great tacos at a new joint (3 days old at the time!) around the corner from our B&B!
ART: We mainly dipped into local libraries, museums, municipal buildings, and other sights to see murals & art, including Centro Cultural Clavijero, Las Rosas Conservatory, Palacio Justice, and Palacio Gobierno. Our favorite churches were San Agustin, El Carmen, San Jose, and the magnificently decorated Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
We visited the Museo Michoacano de las Artesanias to learn about regional crafts. These include pottery, furniture, musical instruments, and my favorite: textiles. I dreamed of buying a beautiful scarf festooned with feathers but sadly, my wallet did not agree!
BUTTERFLIES: Monarch butterflies also spend their winters in Michoacan at the El Rosario Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary, which is a 3hr drive from Morelia. We spent a few hours wonderful hours among them.
PATZCUARO (3 Days)
Patzcuaro is a small touristed town of 60,000 or so. It is quite lovely and reminded me of Santa Fe — only in that an aesthetic sameness of white walls with a red stripe and business lettering of red & black is strictly enforced in the historic center. It was also our launch for exploring the churches as well as nearby ruins.
STAY: We stayed at Hotel Casa Encantada… probably our least favorite stay given that it seemed like ex-pat central for the region. Next time, I’d love to stay at La Casa B&B which is owned by a local Mexican family. Sadly, we didn’t know it existed until a new friend took us there for breakfast.
FOOD: No particularly memorable meals but the view at Axolotl is fabulous! And we did have great carnitas in the nearby town of Quiroga (see Steve’s post for more).
ART: We spent a terrific hour at the Museum of Crafts with a personal tour by the guide since we were the only guests! They also had a beautiful courtyard garden.
RUINS: With our local guide Hugo, we visited historic and haunting architectural ruins of the local Purepecha people (undefeated by the Aztecs!) in Tzintzuntzan and Ihuatzio. We already know this but colonization included such vicious and treacherous psychological warfare, often carried out through religion *and* architecture. And yes, I still love to visit churches!!! #Complexity
In between, we took a beautiful drive along Lake Patzcuaro… just divine.
CHURCHES: There is no way I could write enough to say how much I loved visiting so many indigenous churches with gorgeous handpainted wooden ceilings (my favorite church aesthetic) dating back 100-400 yrs. The churches also displayed religious figurines made through a cornstalk paste method special to Michoacan. The Purepecha people were defeated by the Spanish and indoctrinated into Catholicism but they also made the religion their own in subtle ways. And fortunately, Hugo gave us enough context and history to make our day much more than just an aesthetic experience.
Towns we visited: Tupataro, Pomacuaran, Nurio, Cocucho, Aranza, Sevina, Santa María Huiramangaro & Tzentzenguaro. The countryside in between was just beautiful and included many avocado farms… as well as several community police checkpoints trying to keep the cartels out (think very *big* guns on very young guys). While we never felt in any danger at all, we were very happy to be with Hugo — rather than our frequent self driving explorations.
ACTION: Through a mutual friend Linda (again, a theme), we met Jane & Jed, ex-pats from New Orleans who are doing the work to be involved in their new home community. They are involved with Campamento de la Pazpatzcuaro — a community arts & social justice organization in the Lake Patzcuaro region that is currently focusing on serious environmental issues related to the lake. This July, a group of 4 young women college students & activists that will be traveling to Wellfleet, Cape Cod to meet with their counterparts & exchange knowledge & ideas about collective climate action. If you can help with connections, especially to indigenous activists on the Cape, pls reach out to @jane.wholey
FRIENDS: Finally, continuing a theme, we ran into Steve’s former wife Cate and her husband Jeff at a store across the street from our hotel! They live in Mexico… but over 3hrs away so it was a surprise! We had some mezcal together, and they recommended a great spot for dinner!
CDMX (3 days)
We ended our first #GapYear journey in an old favorite… Mexico City! We were mostly content to just walk around, see a bit of art, and to hang with friends… on purpose and not! Also, I shopped :)
STAY: Like everyone else, we stayed in the Roma neighborhood and enjoyed the quiet gardens and great breakfasts at Hotel Villa Condesa.
FOOD: Mexico City is runneth over with amazing food, so eating well is one of the best reasons to visit! We had great meals at Masala y Maiz (recommended by by no less than 5 friends!!), Lardo, the taco joint near our hotel, the market near Casa Barragan, and Maximo on our last night in the city.
ART: By far our top priority for this visit was to finally visit Casa Barragan… the former home of legendary Mexican architect Luis Barragan. We had to check the website everyday for tickets and finally signed up for a 1pm tour the last day of our time in CDMX… only to arrive and find out it was going to be conducted in Spanish!!! Fortunately, we were not the only ones who made this mistake and all six of us on the tour could speak English, so the tour guide offered to switch and we all gladly accepted! It is such a beautiful, thoughtful, and provocative space. And we quickly realized how much Aranza de Ariño, architect of Casa Tiny in Oaxaca, was clearly from the school of Barragan!
We also got to visit Bellas Artes for the architecture and murals (Riviera, Siqueros, Orozco, Tamayo & more). Then, we spent a couple of hours at the nearby Franz Mayer Museum that had a great show on Mexican women designers from the 1940s to present.
FRIENDS: Throughout our time in Mexico, we kept running into friends as well as making new ones. I truly believe in the power of connection and have often ended up meeting fab people through mutual friends (see Jose & Jane above). In CDMX, we got to connect with my friend Adeola who moved to Mexico shortly before the pandemic, and on our last night, we ran into our friend Ashima visiting from Brooklyn!
SHOPPING: My favorite (and much recommended) store was Carmen Rion… whose designs we later saw on display at the Franz Mayer Museum! (Btw my splurge there & on upcoming Beyonce tour tickets, we might spend the 2nd half of #GapYear washing dishes somewhere!!!) We also explored several shops near Masala y Maiz in the Juarez neighborhood… we just let our eyes guide us :)
Thanks for taking us all along for the ride! This is a great format for you both. Can really feel and savor the flavors, colors, sights and sounds. Love it all!
Love! Masala y Maiz was a favorite of ours too. We were meant to run into each other at one destination or a another. 😘