The Best of Both Worlds

Its my second day in Oaxaca after arriving Sunday night.  It is obvious why this city is so popular: its the cleanest city I have seen in Mexico, and the weather is absolutely wonderful.  The streets north of the Zocalo are as posh as anything I have ever seen in this country, it almost reminds me of Italy.  The Zocalo itself is also very pretty, and completely full of life.  In fact this whole city is so lively and active that it also reminds me a bit of south east Asia. I am definitely enjoying my time in the warm sun, and all the action going on around me. 

The first day we just hung out around town, and checked out the Tamayo museum of precolumbian art.  A very nice museum, enough to keep you occupied for an hour or two.  It had an impressive display of preclassic ceramic figures, enough that you could start to get an appreciation for the differences in region and era.  There were a few from Veracruz with these smiling faces unlike any other design I have seen in Mexico.  After that we saw the famous Santo Domingo church, and its interior filled with gold.  It was also very impressive. 

Today we woke up and bumped into a guide giving tours of the areas churches, and we decided to tag along.  It was nice to hang out with some new people, and have some good conversations in English.  Then we took a brief bus ride out of town to the semi ruins of the monastery in the city of Cuilapan.  The nave of the church is completely open with no ceiling, only the set of arches on either side delineating the outline of the church.  It is set on an open field with the hills and mountains in the distance.  How nice it felt to get out of the bustling city for a while.  Tomorrow its off to the ruins of Monte Alban, and possibly Mitla.