Museums are Free on Sundays! Protests!

So, we planned our Sunday with visiting a few downtown museums. Little did we know that today is International Women’s Day and the Mexican women take this day seriously. Protests and marches were planned for the whole day.

In the morning, two thousand women took to the streets of Puebla (March 8) to demand an end to gender violence and justice for victims. With slogans, posters and a sea of purple handkerchiefs, the demonstrators denounced the persistence of femicides, forced disappearances and vicarious violence, problems that continue to mark the lives of thousands of women in the state. It was noisy and loud!

A 2 page pamphlet was handed out to people, like us, who didn’t know what was going on. It explained the reasons for the march and demonstrations.

We walked to the Centro where every street had large groups of police with shields. There was also an organ grinder with a stuffed monkey and people carrying large bunches of colourful balloons.

The water in the central fountain was coloured purple for the demonstrations. We avoided the marchers but were still able to see what was going on.

We looked for a restaurant that sold Cafe de Olla and a lady recommended that we go to the next street, turn right and go down one block to Tomy’s Antojitos, on the corner. What a great recommendation for authentic Mexican food and coffee!

In the afternoon, we returned to the Centro and there was a second group of protesters, accompanied by their friends, mothers, sisters, daughters or partners. Some also marched with their parents or male relatives who decided to join the mobilization. Dressed in purple clothes, with handkerchiefs or with painted faces, the attendees remembered that International Women's Day is not a celebration, but a day of protest and memory.

We left the Centro and went to two free museums - the Capilla del Arte (contemporary art) and the big Amparo museum (a collection of more than 1,700 pieces of pre-Hispanic art and more than 1,300 works of art from the Viceroyalty and from the 19th and 20th centuries).

We ended our day eating a smoked salmon sandwich on Amparo’s rooftop with a great view of the surrounding historical area.Read more