Happy 90th Birthday Dad! el nuevo de Marzo, 2020

After another great breakfast-

I caught a collectivo that stopped right out my front door to go 35 minutes to Xangari where the bus for Pátzcuaro was just leaving.  What great timing!  45 minutes later, I was walking towards Lago Pátzcuaro-

to take a lancha to Isla de Janitzio-

Despite being a Monday, there were lots of tourists and all Mexicans.  There are always vendors, whether in a bus or a boat-

and often musicians too-

I had no idea what was on the isla but it looked very interesting-

Five fishermen “just happened” to be pulling up their nets as we were arriving.  Ya right! After they did that, they came over to our boat to collect tip money-

Once on the island, the first thing you see is a bar-

and then there are a lot of stairs to climb to the top that are naturally lined with shops-

selling everything-

Of course there’s a church-

decorated in purple for Lent-

The ceiling is wood paneling with painted murals-

Once on top of the hill, the huge monument to Morelos-

is also a museum.  The walls are covered in murals and have his history written underneath each picture.  Unfortunately the script is a fancy font that is hard to read and a lot of the words have been worn away by people touching the walls so I stopped reading after the first pictures.  Looking up-

Looking down-

Murals-

The view from the top towards Tecuena-

Looking west-

and back to Pátzcuaro-

The people look really small-

Lunch was a Michelada up top-

and then a second one down in the village-

Then I thought I better eat so had Chile Relleno.  I’m not having it again because the breaded coating is always too greasy-

The boat on the way back was way over crowded.  There were enough life jackets for maybe a third of us.  There was a band playing again and people dancing. Mexicans sure know how to have a good time-

Back in Pátzcuaro I caught a combi to the historical centre.  Unfortunately the library wasn’t open and it’s supposed to be the main attraction-

Nearby is the Basilica de Nuestra Señora de la Salud which was built in 1540-

This is only the second time, the first was in Leon, Spain, where I could walk up behind the altar to supposedly peek into the room that holds the figure of Nuestra Señora de Salud but the room was locked!  It’s a big deal to get to go up on an altar-

Outside, vendors were selling religious souvenirs-

On the other side of the main square is The Santuario de Guadalupe-

I am always amazed at how the altars are so differently decorated-

Nearby was the Mercado with so many fruit-

frijoles-

and vegetable stalls-

I took another combi to the bus depot and the driver and I had a good visit. He had just started to tell me that he crossed illegally into the US four different times through the dessert.  Each trip took 12-15 hours.  I was very interested in his story, especially after reading American Dirt, but we were at the bus depot and he had to continue his route.

Along the way back to Morelia, there are many strawberry greenhouses-

The land looks really fertile-

I had another great day and am debating about going to Paricutín Volcano and the village of Angahuan tomorrow.  I would have to take two buses again so will have to see if I feel up to it in the morning.  If not, I still have lots to see in Morelia.

P.S.