The Heart of Mexico, Part I

Despite all of its cultural attractions, the intensity of Mexico City finally got to us. Instead of staying the full week that we had originally planned, we decided to weigh anchor a few days ahead of our original itinerary and take a side trip to Morelia, about four hours north of the capitol. Boarding yet another excellent Mexican bus, we sank into our seats with a sigh of relief.

Morelia Cathedral

 Upon arrival, we knew we’d made the right decision. Morelia is a fairly small city with a much “slower” feel to it. Yet, it is also a place steeped in Mexican history. The town is, in fact, renamed (from Valladoliod) for Jose Maria Morelos y Pavon, a key figure in the Mexican Independence movement. It is also a World Heritage Site owing to the fact that the heart of the city is a very well preserved example of beautiful colonial architecture, and, additionally, contains a stunning cathedral in the main square.

Our hotel, the Meson de los Remedios, was a family-run place and was truly top drawer - even though our first sight of it was unpromising, to say the least. As we got out of our cab we discovered that the entire sidewalk in front of the hotel had been completely torn asunder as part of a block-long rebuilding project. The workmen, seeing us dismount with our bags, paused as the dilemma we all faced became apparent: We had to get “there” from “here” and there was no in between. A worker rapped on the hotel door and the manager answered with a look of horror on her face. Apparently she had not been in the loop when the work had begun earlier in the day. We looked at her, she looked at us, and the workers scratched their heads. Then, without so much as a word, 2x4s were knocked together and Lynn and I with bags in tow were assisted over the wet concrete on a tiny bridge with many smiles all around. Impossible not to love the people here!

 

Our room was nothing short of amazing: a colonial two-story affair with a sitting room below and a king-size bed arriba for a few bucks per day. Obviously this had been a residence complete with a beautiful mask-decorated courtyard and lots of garden sitting areas that had been very tastefully transformed into a hotel.  The main square of the town was just a few blocks away, so we took a late afternoon stroll to get our bearings. Immediately, we noted differences from Cuidad Mexico. Streets were swept clean, walls were graffiti-free, and the sky was a beautiful cobalt blue. More importantly, the people of this Michocan city welcomed us at every opportunity. The Helado (gelato) lady thanked us profusely for visiting and complimented us on our excellent Spanish: “pistachio”, “ chocolate”, and “vanilla”

As we began to explore Morelia, the first hints of the convoluted, complex, fascinating, baffling history of Mexican Independence became evident. This part of Mexico, more or less the central highlands, was the very heart of the independence movement that began around 1810 and continues yet today. Without going into a lengthy history lesson, suffice it to say that Morelia is one of the Mexican cities, including Guanajuato, San Miguel Allende, Dolores Hidalgo and others, that were important in the initial taming of the indigenous people by the church and later by the often bloody and chaotic struggle for independence.  

Hidalgo, strange gringos, & Allende prepare for battle

Juan Morelos, Miguel Hidalgo, and Ignacio Allende were the “Big Three” of the independence movement that eventually morphed into the Mexican Revolution about 100 years later. Each of these men, in unique ways, provided impetus to the movement, eventually at the cost of their own lives. They are revered throughout Mexico to this day. 

Santuario de Guadalupe, Morelia

Apart from its secular historical importance, Morelia was also a wealthy Catholic stronghold for many centuries, and that was made plain to us once we saw the stunning interior of the main cathedral. Wow! It is not hard at all to imagine the overwhelming power a place such as this would have had over poor compesino believers. Every nook and cranny is festooned with gold leaf and brilliantly painted wood sculptures on top of wood sculptures that soar upward for several stories. Worshippers might have easily felt transported to a kind of heavenly realm just standing inside such sumptuousness.

There were other sites in Morelia as well: for less than $1.00 US, we visited a fascinating candy museum that folded the history of candy making into the history of the city as told by costumed guides (all in Spanish, alas) We saw how their local quince candy is made by boiling the fruit and sugar together in big copper pans and then cooling it into sugary bricks. An interesting aqueduct provided water for the city’s many fountains that had once been the central water source for residents of the entire city. Beautiful plazas surprised us in each of the city’s neighborhoods.

Unfortunately, Eric was unable to complete the full roster of city sights due to an ugly bout of tourista that put him down for about a day and a half.  Lesson: don’t eat stuff that tastes “off” even if you are really, really hungry; it doesn’t work out well in the end, so to speak. Luckily, bed rest and miso soup did the trick and by the time we were ready to pull up stakes, he was vertical again.

Shopping is not all about pottery!

In the meantime, Lynn explored the city center and dined solo al fresco at a Nuevo Mexican restaurant overlooking Morelia’s busy zocolo. She also allowed her shopping gene to kick in with a trip to Morelia’s artisan’s market for a display of gorgeous local pottery, woodwork, and copper jewelry. Next stop: Guanajuato, our last Mexican city, where the independence movement under Father Hidalgo violently exploded into El Grito de Delores (don’t worry, we’ll explain in Part 2).

Eric never wants to travel any other way than by Mexican bus!!