Mexico - January '25

Taking another break from Plumbean, we jetted down to explore the central interior of Mexico to chase 70 degrees, reconnect with Peace Corps friends living abroad, practice Spanish for our upcoming Caminos, gorge on fresh tortillas, rice, beans, guacamole and chiles, and most of all, scout out future winter slomad (an iteration of nomad life=slow nomad) destination options.

We've not been to Mexico together since we spent our first semester of college in Cuernavaca 40 years ago. We traveled to Mexico City, Puebla, Guanajuato, San Miguel de Allende and Queretaro. Que Pais! Public buses between destinations are immaculate, comfortable and on time. The temperature was perfect nearly everyday. The colors splashed on the architecture, in murals, houses, food, sculptures and of indigenous art were incredible. We went to Diego Rivera's studio, saw many of his murals in CDMX and his museum in Guanajuato, and saw Frida Kahlo references in every destination we went to. Each's influence on society continues to this day.

The highlight of the trip was spending time with our dear friend in CDMX and Puebla. On our one rainy day in Puebla, we walked to a Talavera pottery business called Talavera de la Luz. The gated periwinkle door was closed but we rang the bell and were ushered into a wonderful private tour and oasis of Talavera production, learning how they processed the clay from nearby land and every step of several iterations until it hits their gorgeous showroom. Every piece is stunning and the visit more than fulfilled a desire to learn the history of Talavera pottery, the reason we most wanted to visit Puebla. Another bonus was to visit the oldest library in the Americas and it was stunning. Interestingly, the majority of the texts were medical literature several hundred years old.

We also caught up with an old friend in San Miguel de Allende, in the state of Guanajuato, an area and region we plan to return to. The large expat community is very active, welcoming and happy to be spending time in such a beautiful, vibrant and artistic community.

We ate wonderfully flavorful and inexpensive food including freshly squeezed juice everyday, such as mandarin, guava, pineapple, and orange. Que rico! There was so much to explore simply wandering around, visiting the big mercados in every city, museum hopping, getting "lost" along the way between 300 year old churches, and marveling at the Spanish colonial architecture and Mayan and Aztecan artifacts. Locals were exceedingly friendly and everyone says "Hola, buen dia, buenas tardes, buenas noches" all day long!