Sunday was Super Bowl day so not much doing. After coffee and cleaning up we walked up to the local market and picked up some veggies, fruit and baked goods for lunch and dinner. Then it was basically hang out until game time. We had found one local establishment advertising a "Super Bowl Party" but we opted to watch the game at home. Brian had a little fun, during the game, using a series of photos we took in the Rufino Tamayo museum last week and posting them on Facebook in the context of Super Bowl action events such as... an incomplete pass...
... or a touchdown...
... or the look on Bill Belichick's face when the Patriots were down 21-0 as half time loomed...
Oops, just realized that we had posted a couple of these last week. Oh well. Anyway...what a game! Down 28-3 with 17 minutes to play, the Patriots came back to tie the game in regulation and win it in overtime.
It is beginning to seem that we both caught a bit of a cold sitting out on that balcony in Teotitlan, so Monday morning we jumped on a bus that took us over to the Macro Plaza and the large Walmart there. Let's see what kind of cold killing meds they have there. We picked up some cough syrup along with a few groceries and some other needs, mostly wine, as we have run out, then went out to grab a taxi home. Where the taxis are located the ground is very rocky and stepping off the curb Brian twisted his bad knee. A bit of a setback but we'll see.
Anyway, the taxi driver did not have a f****ing clue where to go. When Brian gave him our address he had mentioned it was "cerca del centro" (near the centre) so he apparently just headed in that general direction taking the worst, i.e. bumpiest roads, not to mention a long way around! At one point Brian had to caution him that we did have 7 bottles of wine rolling around in the trunk. He took it a bit easier after that but constantly drove looking at his phone. On more than one occasion Brian had to say "vamos!" (go) or "la luz es verde" (the light is green). Finally when we neared the centre Brian had to direct him to the correct street and ultimately to our address. If it hadn't of been for the hassle of having six or seven bags of groceries we would have bailed long before we got home! Worst taxi ride this trip by far. No tip for you buddy!
Later we walked down to the Gourmand deli where we shared a table with Lisa, a woman from central Washington state who had decided to get away so flew to Oaxaca. She arrived a couple of days ago so we shared some of our best hints about various places etc over lunch. Very nice visit. Hope she enjoys herself here. After lunch we continued on to Calle 5 de Mayo where Omar's family gallery is located. His Mother and Father were there as well. We spent a while looking a numerous beautiful rugs and finally settled on a couple, not matchy-matchy but they are companion pieces....
... afterwards we browsed a few other stores before stopping in at Black Coffee Gallery for a couple of iced lattes (very nice in the heat of the afternoon) before heading on home. Later in the evening we headed back to the Zocalo for the usual but this time added a plate of memelitas. These are like a small pancake thingie (about 2" across) made of masa dough with a ridged edge onto which is put some beans, cheese and a couple of different types of, not too spicy, chilli sauces. A tad starchy and very filling.
Tuesday it was time to return our DVDs to the Oaxaca Lending Library and pick up some new ones. That place! Last time when we checked out some DVDs they couldn't find Kris in their system but they could find Brian. This time vice-versa! Anyway, we stocked up on a whack of DVDs that should pretty well see us through our time here.... yeah... no more old CSI reruns (although they are very good for practicing Spanish). We wandered over towards the Zocalo but decided to stop, for lunch, at the Quinta Real Hotel (used to be called El Presidente when we stayed there many many years ago). We had an excellent lunch of tacos for Kris and a soup for Brian. Very tasty! Leaving the hotel there was a taxi right there so we got in and headed home. No adventure this time; easy peasy right to the door. Thank you Sergio!
It has been interesting the last few days hearing of all the snow back home. We have been sent a few photos with the snow being in the 20" and more range. Here's a pic of our yard...
... but we also thought it was a tad ironic when yesterday they finished painting our neighbour's roof here in Oaxaca. It is not uncommon to paint the roof white and in this instance, from our window, it appears that there is about 2" of snow on the roof...
Wednesday evening we headed down to the Zocalo with a stop at ScotiaBank to replenish our diminishing cash supply. Then we decided to try the Casa de la Abuela restaurant, on the corner of the Zocalo...
... for some dinner. It was not busy so we easily scored a balcony table overlooking the Zocalo. On this evening they set up a dance area which got more popular as the evening wore on...
... excellent meal by the way.
Thursday was another lazy day with some laundry doing, a bit of sketching and a lot of reading. For the day's outing we wandered down to a neat little store on Calle Porfirio Diaz where Kris picked out a beautiful scarf. For lunch we ventured into the interior courtyard of La Biznaga. This is an interesting place in that it has a retractable roof. Depending on where the sun is they adjust the roof to provide best shade for the restaurant goers. The adjustable roof even has a cutout to go around one of the larger trees in the courtyard. Pretty neat. Lunch was not shabby either.
For dinner we decided to try a "wood fired pizza" place over near the Santo Domingo church, about 4 blocks from our place. Mezzaluna is an Italian restaurant with a huge wood fired oven and we can attest that they serve up excellent pizza. We had thought that we'd like to eat up on their rooftop patio but, go figure, on this particular night there was a fairly brisk wind. Not cold mind you, but enough to make it a bit less comfortable so we opted to eat inside. Maybe next time. The wine was pretty decent though.
Friday is market day in Ocotlan...
... so we decided to head there for the first time this visit to the valley. We have found that many things have changed in the last 15 years and the bus to Ocotlan was no exception. We determined that we could catch a bus at Miguel Cabrera 301 but when we got there, alas, it was no longer so. The guy in the office there informed us that we could catch a bus two blocks over and walked to the street and pointed us in the right direction. We got about a half a block when a bus comes around the corner and we notice the big OCOTLAN sign on the front. We flag the driver and he stops for us. A pretty comfortable (somewhere between second and first class) bus and we got seats, always a bonus. By the time the bus was outside the Oaxaca city limits it was pretty well standing room only and we added a bunch more people by the time we got to Ocotlan! All in all a pretty good deal for the $20 MXN each. The bus stop in Ocotlan is right beside the Zocalo and the edge of a very large market.
The first thing we did was go to the Ex-Convento de Santo Domingo which houses the works of Rodolfo Morales and is now a cultural centre. Back in the late 80's this place was functioning as a jail. It was pretty sad! The first time we went there was with a friend who said she always liked to go there with a few pesos and buy something the inmates have made, so they would have at least a tiny bit of spending money. In the early 90's Morales, a local artist formed the Rodolfo Morales Cultural Foundation dedicated to restoration of buildings in Ocotlan and other places around the Oaxaca Valley. The Ex-Convento de Santo Domingo is a beautiful building now. Well worth the 15 pesos entrance fee aka donation...
...No photos allowed though.
We spent a couple of hours wandering through the large market along a main street and down numerous side streets. By early afternoon we decided to head back into Oaxaca. Near the Zocalo there was a bus and a mini-van parked. The van was pretty well full so we boarded the bus thinking it would leave pretty quick. WRONG... we waited about twenty minutes in a very hot, stuffy bus. While we had seats it was not comfortable as we both had to sit sideways as there was very little leg room. Theses buses are made for the much shorter population of this area! Meanwhile 3 of the mini-vans came and left for Oaxaca. We found out later that they are very comfortable and they don't make the millions of stops, on the highway back to Oaxaca, that the bus does. Man did that bus get packed! Next time we'll trust our instincts that said we should have just gotten off the bus while still in Ocotlan, forego the $40 MXN that we paid and gotten on one of the mini-vans. Live and learn!
Friday evening, while we did not get to witness the lunar eclipse or the comet, we did get treated to an absolutely beautiful clear full moon...
Saturday, being cleaning day, we left the house early. We thought we might try a coffee a Praga, a coffee and wine place with a rooftop patio overlooking the Santo Domingo Church. Might be a good place to get a good sketch of the church. Not so much. Not open yet. Come on folks, it is after 9:00 AM!! So we continued on to Brujula which has become a bit of a regular spot and had a couple of pretty good lattes and banana muffins.
Afterwards, we wandered down Cinco de Mayo to an artisan's co-op place called Maro. This is an excellent place to pick up souvenirs etc. Kris picked up a cool necklace. Then it was onto the ScotiaBank again and a stop in the Zocalo, for a nice cold glass of orange juice, before heading home for a rest. Later we walked back down Calle Allende to find that Praga was now open. We went up to their roof top patio where we spent a very pleasant couple of hours sipping wine and enjoying the scenery. We were treated to another beautiful full moon rising over Santo Domingo Church...
... a great way to end the week.
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