A Busy Sunday
22 Maret, Meksiko ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C
Our friend, Andrea, who recommended Puebla to us a couple of years ago, mentioned that she used to love going to a library/restaurant called Profética, or prophetic. We decided to give it a try.
Located in a beautifully restored 16th-century house in the historic center, it is known as "Casa de la Lectura" (House of Reading). It was founded in 2003 and serves as a vibrant cultural hub, offering:
A public library with about 13,000 titles, especially in literature and the humanities.
A specialized bookstore.
A café and bar serving Mexican cuisine.
Space for cultural events, book presentations, and workshops, making it a gathering point for literature and arts lovers.
We can see why Andrea loved it. We loved eating our breakfast in the courtyard of the huge library that surrounded us. There were lots of little reading and cozy working niches in the library.
After breakfast, we met up with Richard and Martha (our apartment neighbours) and went to the Casa de la Cultura to see the free Sunday orchestra and singers concert. We went early as seats are taken quickly! The traditional music was chosen to celebrate Puebla’s musical roots.
At the end of the concert, people were invited to get up and dance and many people did just that. It was nice to see.
Following the concert, we spent the afternoon in two museums. Museum entry is free on Sundays so we wanted to take advantage of this deal.
The first building, Casa de los Hermanos Serdan, is the home where the Mexican Revolution began on November 18, 1910. Bullet holes remain on the outside wall of the house as well in the front living room. The exhibits on the second floor document the family's sacrifice against the Porfirio Díaz dictatorship.
Touring the 26 rooms is a fascinating experience.
There were at least ten rooms on the ground floor apartment that showed the daily life and furnishings of a family in 1910.
The upper floors have about 16 themed rooms that gave us a better idea of the Porfiriato period, the anti-reelection movement, and the dramatic events of November 18 and 19, 1910 in Puebla, and thereafter in the entire country.
Visiting the house, gave us a much better understanding of what life was like under Porfirio Diaz. Good for the rich and bad for the poor. It’s a complicated period in Mexico’s history.
Then on to the Alfeñique House Museum that houses a collection of approximately fifteen hundred pieces in 16 exhibition halls that show the daily life of a wealthy family in the 18th and 19th Century. It also has a display of Pueblas famous blue and white Talavera ceramics.
It has been called the Casa de Alfeñique since 1790 because of its richly decorated facade that seems to be made from sugarcane paste (like marzipan), egg white and almonds. Many Day of the Dead candy skulls are made from this paste and are called alfeñiques.
Another great day!Baca selengkapnya
The University’s National Bookfair
25 Maret, Meksiko ⋅ ☀️ 8 °C
Today is Tuesday. Next Monday, we leave Puebla to go home. Our next door neighbours here left to go back to Kalamazoo and our other neighbours are leaving next week too. But Puebla continues to rock on with numerous activities planned for April.
The big event here now is the University’s book fair called FENALI (Feria Nacional del Libro de la Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla).
It is an annual, major cultural event held in Puebla and in its 39th year. Hundreds of publishers, book presentations, musical performances, workshops, and artistic activities focusing on literature, culture and art are taking place from March 20 to 29 in the Carolina Building.
It is surprisingly big with 148 national and international publishing houses taking part that cover a vast array of genres. There are over 400 activities planned including workshops for kids, book launches, musical performances and artistic activities exhibits.
I badly needed a haircut so I walked into the centro and on the way back went into the Carolina Building to check it out. I don’t think I have ever seen as many books in one place as I saw there today. Amazing.Baca selengkapnya
Palacio de Gobierno (Government Palace)
25 Maret, Meksiko ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C
In front of the bustling Zócalo and close to the Cathedral, there is a beautiful stone building that is the Palacio de Gobierno (or Municipal Palace) where the Puebla City Council meet.
We have walked past it almost every day and even saw a concert in its courtyard. We knew that we wanted to have a tour inside the building one day. Our neighbours, Steve and Jenny, said that they were going so we joined them for an English tour.
The building is a beautiful architectural landmark, made in gray cantera stone and featuring an exquisite front. It was completed sometime from 1887 to 1906.
Historically, the municipal authorities have been on this site since 1536. The very first municipal palace consisted of only three rooms and occupied just a quarter of the present space. In the early 17th century, a second floor was added.
In 1714, the city mayor began construction of the second palace. In 1897, the need for another (third), modern council building emerged. The architect opted to keep parts of the structure, the heavy masonry and quarry walls and the third palace was inaugurated in November 1906.
Our guide was very knowledgeable about the history of Puebla and could answer all of our questions clearly.
He took us up the Italian cabrera granite stairs to the gorgeous Council Room that houses the original Royal Certificate signed by Isabel of Portugal and dated March 2, 1532, that granted the city the title of Puebla de Los Angeles. Puebla comes from Latin meaning “settlement”.
Outside the Council Hall, there is a relief depicting the city along with the images of peace, labor and the arts. Below the relief is a stone plaque, previously attached to the outer wall of the second palace, commemorating the 1714 remodeling, and complete with the lintel and jambs from the first building.
It’s a beautiful building and the tour guide was wonderful.Baca selengkapnya
LadyandtrampThis city is quite the place. Over 40 universities in the city and 200 in the state.
PelancongBeautiful place, can you imagine going to work there! Days are counting down. Enjoy the last few days, -3 here this morning.
LadyandtrampThank you. The temperature here in March has been pleasant. Cool at night and around 24C during the day. Going home to -3 will take some getting used to!
Going Home Plans and La China Poblana
26 Maret, Meksiko ⋅ ☀️ 9 °C
Today is Thursday and on Monday we will be flying home.
After a bit of research, I realized that even though the big Mexico City airport has flights to Toronto, we would have to take a 2 hour bus ride to the airport, the hours are not great for non stop flights and it is super expensive! We do not want to stop in the States either.
So, we have decided to take a short Uber ride to the Puebla airport, catch the inexpensive 8:30 a.m. Viva plane to Guadalajara (1 1/2 hour), have lunch at the airport and then catch the nonstop Flair flight to Toronto (4 1/2 hours) at 12: 30 pm. Way better flight times and the cost is a lot less. Then the Red Car shuttle home.
Now about the China Poblana …
Everywhere we have travelled to in Mexico, we have seen ladies selling dolls dressed in a traditional costume. That same costume is also worn by folkloric dancers in performances. Well, there is a story about how those costumes came to be and it all started in the 17th Century.
A young noble girl came to Acapulco, Mexico in the early seventeenth century (1620). She is believed to have been captured by South Seas pirates when she was nine. Evidence indicates that she was named Mirrha and came from India, through Spanish controlled ports in the Philippines.
Mirrha (La China Poblana), is believed to have been bought by Miguel de Sosa to be a servant in his house in Puebla. He baptized the now eleven-year-old "Chinese girl" and gave her the Christian name Catarina de San Juan. After Sosa and his wife died, Catarina married Domingo Suárez, the Chinese servant of a local priest, adding to the legend that she was Chinese. After his death, she was taken in by a convent, where it is said she began to have visions of the Virgin Mary and Baby Jesus.
Most accounts of her life agree that she was revered by the local folks in Puebla. Following the Mexican Revolution (1910), the state sought to unify the country by promoting indigenous and local traditions. The China Poblana became a key emblem of this new national identity, often with a charro (cowboy) to represent the stereotypical Mexican couple.
She always wore her sari which evolved into the white blouse and colourful embroidered red and green skirt that is seen today. This outfit now often includes the national symbols of Mexico - an eagle clutching a snake, and a prickly pair cactus. A woman who wears the dress usually braids her hair on two sides, tied with red, white and green ribbons.
The “China Poblana look,” as it came to be called, first captured the women of Puebla (Poblana means Puebla) and then jumped 80 miles northwest to become a hit in Mexico City. From there, the look spread through the rest of the country, By the end of the 17th century it had become the traditional dress of Mexico. And it still is.
Catarina de San Juan (1609-1688) is believed buried at the Templo de la Compañia. Tours are conducted to see her tomb on Saturdays and Sundays. Puebla has a monument of her on a major street. The Museo Casa del Alfeñique exhibits China Poblana costumes and a local restaurant is named Las Chinas de Puebla. The house that she worked in is now a hotel, Hotel Boutique Casona de la China Poblana.Baca selengkapnya
Palm Sunday and Our Homeward Journey
30 Maret, Meksiko ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C
Our last weekend in Mexico…
As we prepared for our trip home, we still had lots of opportunities to say goodbye to the volcano Popo, the city of Puebla and to experience an energetic Palm Sunday weekend at the start of Easter holidays and celebrations.
The city centre and markets were full of entertainers and observers on Saturday.. It was truly a joyous time for the young and old. Outside of the churches, weavers were making and selling palm leaf crosses. Parishioners carried these crosses into the churches to be blessed before taking them home and hanging them on their doors to ward off evil.
Every street corner had performers - jugglers, clowns, a Michael Jackson impersonator, dancers, musicians, artists, bubbles, vendors and more.
We enjoyed our time walking around in the city but on Sunday morning, we decided to go somewhere more peaceful for breakfast and went to the nearby Ecological Park.
It was quieter but there were hundreds of people taking advantage of what the park offered. All of the sports fields and exercise equipment were being used, people were walking and riding bikes around the circuit track as well as doing Tai Chi, yoga and even kick boxing. Other people were sitting around picnic tables or on the grass quietly listening to music and talking. The BBQs were being used and families were enjoying being in this beautiful park.
So after a lovely weekend, we left the apartment at 6 a.m. by Uber to the Puebla airport. Shortly after we got there, we found out that the plane was delayed by 2 hours. Oh oh. We were sure that we were not going to make our connection from the Guadalajara airport to Toronto!
But with help from the flight attendant who put us in the from row seats of the plane so we could get off faster, the speedy flight of the pilot (1 hour flight not 1 1/2 hours), the flight attendant’s phone call to Flair to ask them to wait for us, and a made scurry from one end of the airport to the other - we made it!!!
As we walked down to row 30, a few passengers on the plane were telling us that they wouldn’t leave without us. Haha. And they even commented on how pretty my Mexican blouse was! It was quite the welcome and we were totally relieved and happy about our luck.
After an uneventful flight, we met the Red Car shuttle driver and were home by 8 pm. Fergus time. A travel adventure right to the very end.Baca selengkapnya
An Overview of our Winter Trips
5 April, Kanada ⋅ 🌬 3 °C
Each of our travel blogs have included an introduction similar to the one below with a new add-on at the bottom regarding new plans. This introduction has been growing and growing but I like to keep this going as a summary of our life’s major adventures. I have decided to add this to the end of the book as it is too long for an introduction! This year's winter trip is number 21, or is 22?!
Here's how we caught the travel bug...
In 1999, after taking a one year leave of absence from our teaching jobs, selling our house and purging most of what we owned, Chris and I packed our bags into a van and headed to Zamora, Michoacan, Mexico, to teach English to Mexican students. Our youngest daughter Caitlin had already left home to perform for a year with a traveling group called Up With People. Our other daughter, Amy had studied Spanish at school, so she traveled to Mexico with us, helping us navigate our way to Zamora. Shortly after we got to our destination, she flew home and started her 3rd year of university. She lived in a townhouse, with two other students, that we had purchased to store 1 roomful of our valuables and to have a place to 'come home to' when we returned. During that year that we taught in Mexico, we fell in love with its daily blue skies and sun, and the latino lifestyle. We promised ourselves, that in our retirement we would return.
Four years later, after retiring from teaching, we went back to Mexico. We spent four months on the shores of Lake Chapala in Mexico, in a beautiful house where we made lots of wonderful friends.
The second year we backpacked through Central America from Guatemala to Panama taking a puppet theatre and puppets with us.
The third year we focused on learning more about the Mayan culture by spending a month in the Yucatan Peninsula, a month in Guatemala, a month backpacking from San Cristobal, in the Chiapas, up the Pacific coast of Mexico to Puerto Vallarta. Along the way, we had several visits with friends. Finally, we ended up once more in Ajijic on Lake Chapala, where we stayed for a month.
The fifth year, we felt that we wanted to venture a little further south so we did something a little different. We headed to South America following a three week layover in Guatemala where we spent Christmas and New Year's eve with our daughters and one of our future son-in-laws. We took and distributed 300 pairs of reading glasses, continued to learn Spanish and volunteered for two organizations in needy communities in both Guatemala and Ecuador. We helped to paint a huge mural on the side of a coliseum with artist, Susan Shanley. The highlight of our trip was the creation of a Grand Circus of Puppets which was performed by all the children in a Biblioteca (library), as well as 25 volunteers, in Banos, Ecuador.
Year Six was a favourite of ours. We spent a month in Peru, three months in Bolivia and then returned to Peru to see Machu Picchu. Because we had enjoyed volunteering in the Arte del Mundo library in Ecuador the previous year, we looked for another library to help out in Bolivia. We were able to find another wonderful, non-profit organization called Biblioworks, based in the capital city of Sucre.
The North Carolina group who runs this project provides disadvantaged Bolivian communities, in the vicinity of Sucre, with access to books and learning materials. Since 2005, they have been able to build 12 community libraries, support teachers and students, and put countless books in the hands of adults in both North and South America. The eighth library opened when we were there and we took part in an exciting inauguration with our amazing 'boss' from South Carolina, Matt Lynn. What a wonderful organization.
Our very good friends, Pat and Gail, who we met in Mexico in 1999/2000, joined us in February and March. Due to the generosity of many of our good Ontario friends, we took down 6 puppets which were used in a puppet show, puppet-making workshop materials (so that 200 children can make simple rod puppets), an educational parachute for games, and 200 pairs of
reading glasses. Four classes at Greensville Public School, near Dundas, Ontario, prepared artwork which we took to Bolivia as part of an art exchange. Fun!
The next three years were spent back in Mexico. Year Seven was in Ajijic, helping at the Tepehua Community Centre. A fantastic lady, Moonyeen King, was trying to help out the extremely poor people in this part of Chapala by forming a centre where people could eat a hot meal and have a shower once a week, get medical aid and feel that they were part of a community. We helped out by distributing food, playing with the kids, performed a Xmas puppet show and organized the painting of a huge mural on the side of the building, once again led by artist, Susan Shanley. We also travelled to the beautiful Sierra Gorda where we met two very special people, Margarita and Juan, as well as a traveling group of puppeteers. Two hundred pairs of reading glasses were also distributed.
Year Eight saw us in Queretaro, Mexico - a beautiful old city, just on the west side of Mexico City. There we studied more Spanish and helped out a young puppeteer, Diego Ugalde. Once again we traveled into the amazing Sierra Gorda and then went north to ride the El Chepe train in the Copper Canyon in Chihuahua.
Year Nine. Back to Mexico, but this time in a city south of Mexico City, Cuernavaca. We stayed in a lovely house with beautiful gardens, hidden behind high walls. We started this trip by flying to Manzanillo and spending a week on the ocean with our friends, Pat and Gail. Then off to Cuernavaca where they joined us for a week. We flew to Puerto Escondido for Chris' birthday and saw our friend from Panama, Scott, as well as cottage neighbours, Dale and Michelle. We helped out a young artist who was setting up a business in Cuernavaca. From him we learned how to make traditional Papel Piedra dolls. In March, we flew to Los Angeles and did something that we have never done before. We rented an ESCAPE campervan for a month and camped through South California, Arizona, Utah and Nevada. Fabulous!
Year Ten had a big change... Where did we go, and why? Well, I happened to read a blog entry entitled, "Ten Reasons You Should visit Namibia" by fellow Canadian travelers, Kevin and Ruth, and I was hooked.
http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog/ladyandtra…;
I easily convinced Chris, and then without much effort in the way of coaxing, enticed our friends, Pat and Gail, to join us in Windhoek, Namibia? We went off on a camping safari trip extraordinaire in Namibia and Botswana! Of course, we took puppets for a travelling puppet show, ukuleles and a parachute to give away to a needy community. Pat and Gail flew home in February and we had a few weeks to kill so flew to Capetown, South Africa, where we rented a car and drove a couple of thousand kilometers along the beautiful Indian Ocean coast staying in guesthouses along the way.
After that amazing trip, we had to rethink where we would like to spend a winter and we came up with a crazy plan.
When we were in Ecuador, we heard stories from travellers about the thrill of sailing through the San Blas Islands in Panama and the rugged beauty of Colombia.
So Year Eleven in 2015, was the year that we saw for ourselves what others have been talking about. But Colombia wasn't the only place we visited. The Yucatan and Cuba were also in the picture!
President Obama recently made the decision to allow Americans to legally visit Cuba and we know that major changes will take place. We wanted to see the real Cuba before those changes took place. It was an eye-opener.
So, as we ask ourselves every summer, "Where will we spend our winter this year?".
We are in good shape, physically, and are still up for some adventure so for Year Twelve in 2016, we decided to go back to Colombia and see some of the beautiful areas that we did not get a chance to see on last year's trip. The difference will be that we will meet up with our good friends Pat and Gail and do some parts of this trip together. Ahhh, more Colombian coffee, birds plus the Amazon and good times with our travelling friends.
Year Thirteen, 2017. We have missed visiting Mexico but still want to continue heading south in South America. So this year, we will spend a month in Uruguay (and a few days in Buenos Aires) and then fly to Mexico City. We have rented a beautiful house for 3 months in Patzcuaro, Mexico. Dear Texan friends live there. We haven’t seen them for at least ten years. It will be a wonderful reunion. Pat and Gail may also come down for a visit and we hope our daughters will have the time to come down too. (These plans sadly didn’t happen.)
Year Fourteen, 2018/19. A big change in plans this year. We are heading to Portugal! Not just the mainland, but also to the lovely islands of Madeira and several of the Azore Islands. In fact, our daughters and their families have already bought their plane tickets to Sao Miguel in the Azores and will be joining us during the March Break. What fun we will have!
Year Fifteen, 2019/20. Back to Mexico where we will spend Christmas and New Years close to Puerto Vallarta, in the tiny mountain village of Mascota, then three weeks with our travelling buddies from Bellingham, Washington, Pat and Gail, in the Pacific beach village of Chacala. But that’s not all. At the end of January, we will fly to New Zealand for an action-packed, two month road trip. A great place to travel for Chris’ 70th!
Well, that trip was cut short by 2 weeks, when the Canadian government told travellers to return home due to the spread of the Corona Virus. In 2021, we did not go on a winter trip. It was the first winter that we stayed home since 2004.
Year Sixteen, 2022. In October 2021, we took a wonderful weeklong trip to Vancouver Island with our two older grandkids, Audrey (9) and Cal (8) to visit Great Grandma Peg for her 99th birthday. We rented a motorhome in Victoria and drove to Courtenay where she lives. Totem poles, whale watching, hiking through tall trees, oh my!
We felt that we needed to get back into the saddle and spend the winter in a warm and sunny place. Our longtime friend Jeremy Ament said that he was building a house in Majahua, Guerrero, Mexico on the Pacific Ocean. If we wanted to rent it, we could. We jumped on his offer and for Year Seventeen, we glamped in his beautiful house with a pool in the jungle, far from Covid sicknesses. A little paradise for Connie’s upcoming 70th birthday!
Year Eighteen, 2023. Once again, we took a short trip to Vancouver Island with Chris’ older sister Barbara. Chris’ mom turned 100 on October 7, so we surprised her with a birthday party at Chris’s twin sister’s place in Bowser. What a wonderful party that turned out to be!
In December 2023, off we went to a bucket list country for one month- Egypt! We returned to Ontario in mid January for a week and then headed back to Mexico to rest and to meet up with our good friends, Pat and Gail, in Chacala, Mexico.
Year Nineteen, 2024! Wow!!! So where this time? Spain it is! Our friend, Janet, lived there as a teenager and most of our friends have already visited this interesting country so we decided it was time for us. Two months mainly in the Andalucia area and then one month revisiting and exploring new islands in the lovely Azores. This is what I wrote last year - P.S. We are still contemplating several possibilities for 2024 - Mongolia, Spain, Malawi, and maybe we would go back to see more of the Azores, ....
Winter 2024/25 - This winter was different as we only went to Guadalajara/Ajijic for 10 days pre my shoulder replacement surgery on December 12. I didn’t write anything as we have been there several times. This time we stayed for a week near the Centro in a small Air BnB called Ajijic Inn and the rest of the time with our friend Janet. Sadly after we left to go back home, her husband Don passed away. Then for the next four months, we lived in the condo while I recuperated, before heading out to our Belwood Lake cottage. In June, we flew out west to have a short visit with Pat and Gail in Bellingham
In November of 2025, we went on a month-long trip with Pat and Gail to Istanbul, Nairobi, Tanzania and Zanzibar. Animal and bird safaris in the national parks and conservation areas and cultural visits with the Maasai, Hadzabe (bushmen), Datoga, and Chagga people. Then off to Mexico in January for the winter!
In January 2026, we spent three months in Mexico - a month on the Pacific Coast in Chacala with our friends Pat and Gail as well as an adventure-filled week with our kids; a month in the beautiful inland Magic town of Ahuacatlan and a month in a new city for us - Puebla. Meanwhile it snowed and snowed in Ontario. We were happy to be in Mexico!
NOTE: The blogs are written and left in draft form. The way that you see it, is the way it was written, full of typos and bad grammar but good feelings. Lol.Baca selengkapnya
PelancongWell I did enjoy reading the quick report on your many years of travelling to such exciting places! Phew!! Amazing you two!!
LadyandtrampThanks Franki. It has been fun! But we are not sure of where or if we will be able to go to in the future due to the present situation in the world… :(
PelancongSuch lovely experiences! Franki
Pelancong
Spacious bathroom and indoor toilet!
Pelancong
Love the tiles and pottery.
Pelancong
Wow! That's colourful!