We now have the route (ruta) to the zona central well under
control. Today’s excursion was again to
Zócalo and adjacent blocks to discover all the things we missed the first
time. We now have our favorite parking
garage as we can easily find it and the parking attendant treats us like old
friends. We were off to the Mercado de
las Artesanias, another large building with lots of handicraft vendors. My goal here is to make sure that wonder
woman will have all the shopping spots down pat when guests arrive, and I can
sit in the Zócalo, people watch, and read a book!
Wednesday, we missed lots of stuff, I guess due to our
excitement of just finding downtown. One
of the important areas is the Macedonio Alcala, the pedestrian only street
north of the Zócalo. It is a pleasant
stroll of stores and one of the first things we saw was something I have never
seen anywhere in the world. About 20
municipal policemen were lined up in rows, with bandanas over their eyes, and
holding blind walking canes. They were
then ordered to start walking and off they went, naturally very slowly. I guess they were receiving disability
sensitivity training!
Going up Alcala is not just going north, but also uphill a
bit. The large mountain (Cerro del
Fortin) that juts into the zona central is just off to the west a few
blocks. We were climbing it when we were
lost on Tuesday. Four or five blocks up
the Alcala is the Templo de Santo Domingo de Guzmán. This church is reputed to be the most
elaborate and interesting in Oaxaca.
This was a significant church day for us, as we try to limit our intake
to one a day. We did go into the Templo
and it is very overwhelming. We also
today check out the Cathedral next to the square and a very nice Episcopal
Church (elegantly plain) on Alcala. þþþ
We proceeded on to Garcia Vigil Street to check out the Los
Arquitos, which are the arches of the aqueduct that used to bring water to the
city. Walking back down Garcia Vigil is
very nice as it has interesting stores, hotels and restaurants on it. Back at the square I sprung for a shoe
shine. There are so many shoe shine guys
that you feel guilty not getting a shine.
My worked so hard and my shoes now shine so bright I have to blink when
looking at them, and it cost 20 pesos.
When I asked the price he said $20 dollars, but we straightened that
out.
We finished our day with a very nice dinner on the
square. We had the comida special of
cream of broccoli soup, shrimp tacos, rolls and chips, cokes, and coffee, all
for 70 pesos each. That is $5.54 at the
current exchange rate. In the square you
are bombarded with vendors, even while dining.
My sales resistance is excellent.
We did learn that Friday afternoon in the Zócalo is a big deal. It seemed like there were thousands of people
there, and very festive with music, free medical checks, sidewalk food vendors,
and the opportunity to buy lots of stuff.
Finally we swung by the Juarez Market and bought more strawberries and
bananas.
As we started up our hill to our casa we stopped and Mary Ann
explored the mini-mercado and bought ice.
Can’t have too much pure ice when guests are arriving tonight. My first night drive back to the
aeropuerto. Oh, my goodness!
Fun in the Zocalo
Quirky Living
Note
The pet of choice – This does not
appear to be a big cat appreciation area.
We have a couple of nearly wild cats in our compound, but what you see
everywhere, usually in the middle of the street are sleeping dogs. They seem to be everywhere and you never know
if they are dead or alive, as they are laid out on the pavement. A few will actually look up at you. We have seen a couple that have been hit by
cars, so it may be that they do not live to be real old. If they cross the road it is an amble and
they expect you to slow or stop as they must think that they own the road.
At least they are keeping their eyes on us!
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