Last day in Oaxaca

We had saved the visit to the Archaeological Museum till our last day, so my heart sank as I saw rows of police barricades all around the square. The TV crews were there to film an episode of Top Chef, and the contestants were lining up to start racing around their portable kitchens set up outside in the sun.

Luckily there was a narrow passageway open to let museum-goers around the square. It’s a real treasure trove of all sorts of artifacts— jewels, household goods, religious statuary, and burial urns and masks. Most were found at Monte Alban and are very nicely displayed. The most spectacular room houses the find in Tomb7 from the 1400s, after the Miztecas took Monte Alban from the Zapotecas. Most of the other rooms house much earlier stuff, from several centuries BC till the decline of the city around 800 AD. Lots of wows.

I had never taken a city bus tour but as we left the museum one was filling up, so we got on. An hour around the city, seen from the top of a double decker. I don’t imagine there are too many cities where the drivers of these buses have to warn riders to duck to avoid either branches or (more ominously) electrical wires. It was a fun way to wrap up the touring and luckily no one was decapitated.

One more nap for Joe, one more neighborhood stroll for me, and one more dinner. The author of the Moonstruck guide reports that after eating dinner at the restaurant we’re going to (15 Letras), he had tears of joy because it was so good. That strikes me as a bit hyperbolic but it should be good!

P.S. I just got a travel alert from American, advising me of thunderstorms in Dallas tomorrow. So who knows where we will sleep tomorrow night!Read more