I keep intending to retire once and for all and luxuriate in the freedom to write endless (and quite probably boring) blog pieces on stuff here in Mexico, but it doesn't happen, so I guess we'll all lurch along with uneven postings, etc. Probably not a bad thing.
Anyway, here is a kind of miscellaneous post with pictures of three different towns.
This past weekend we had a visit from a delightful friend from the US who comes down every winter to travel around by local bus. We took him to see Ixhuacan de los Reyes probably on the worst day for such a visit. It was completely socked in with fog. We kept saying, if it weren't foggy, you'd see all these gorgeous, steep, green mountains. But we could have been on some flat island for all he could tell. Anyway, here are a few pictures from Ixhuacan, all from one street.
Below is the exterior of a papeleria on the corner. Papelerías are just about my favorite kind of store. They are filled with notebooks and art supplies and fancy and plain paper and pens and pencils and balloons (globos) and craft stuff and seasonal decorations (as they say in the US). The stuff is jammed into a good papeleria, shelves divided into narrow slots, gift bags hanging from the ceilings, baskets filled with ornaments. The car in front is one of many in Ixhuacan that day decorated for a pilgrimage to the shrine of la Virgén de Remedios. The fiesta day itself is January 5. This virgen is also a manifestation of the Virgin Mary. she is the patron saint of Mexico City, one who crossed the ocean from Spain rather than appearing first here in Mexico.
(For the moment, just note the church at the top of the street.)
Here is a picture of the house next to the arched portals of the papelería. The
branches and trunks are filled with orchids and air plants.
We've climbed up to the church. This shrine with La Virgen de Guadalupe is in front. If you look to the right of La Virgen, you can see an eagle holding a snake. This is a symbol of the founding of the Aztec empire, what the Chichimeca who were to become the Aztecs were, according to legend, looking for as the sign of where they should settle. The place they found the eagle and the snake is called Aztlan.
While we were poking around, the fog grew dense enough for the streetlights to go on. Below is one of the light fixtures. Notice the gargoyles.
This is just a little house to the side of the church.
Here are three life-sized three kings, still on display next to the main church in Ixhuacan (down in the other direction from the church I've been showing you.=
Unfortunately, it isn't a very good photo, but I really liked the kings and their beasts so I put it in anyway.
And now a few shots from San Marcos, right near where we live to show our cold and rainy weather.
Jim walking towards our car.
And now a shot into the courtyard of the Hotel Limón in Xalapa. This peaceful interior is right off a very busy, very narrow, very noisy shopping street.
That's all, folks, for now.