Alli's Excellent Adventures!: Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico, el ocho de Marzo, 2020

I had a great day! How could I not, starting out with a breakfast of freshly squeezed orange juice, huevos, frijoles and chilaquiles which are tortilla chips smothered in jalapeños, tomatoes, onion, garlic, queso fresco and crema Mexicana-

The view from the restaurant where I’m staying looks out to San Jose-

It was a beautiful day so I went walking. I love to stay in Centro Historicos because almost everything I’m interested in is at my doorstep.

The Callejon del Romance is a narrow alley with verses from the poem Romance of my City by Lucas Ortiz posted on the walls. Luckily I was there early in the morning so there wasn’t any romance going on-

Not far away is el Fuente de las Tarascas which depicts three half naked Purépecha women holding a tray of fruit. They are Atzimba, Erindira and Tzetzangari and they are presenting an offering to the god of fertility-

Nearby are the letters-

and another beautiful fountain-

The 253 arches of the aqueduct go past el Fuente de las Tarascas. Construction started in 1785 to bring water into the city-

There are many posters of missing and murdered women on the walls of the aqueduct-

The end-

The trough along the top-

I continued walking along Calle Fray Antonio de San Miguel which was built in the 17th century to link the Santuario de Guadalupe with the city. Today it’s a nice walkway lined with ash trees and park benches-

At the end-

Nearby is Santuario de Guadalupe-

which is stunning inside-

Outside vendors are selling religious jewelry-

and snacks-

There’s also an exposition of Stones of Knowledge by Kees Ouwens. The 25 stones carved from Mexican marble represent the academic history of the University of Morelia-

While walking, Cole texted and he was walking along the aqueduct. We met up near Plaza Morelos where there is a great monument of Morelos himself-

After taking the long way around the Bosque Cuauhtémoc to get more coffee from Starbucks, we walked back along the aqueduct to the city centre where 2 km of Avenida Francisco I Madero, the main street, is closed to traffic Sunday mornings from 8-1. It’s called Ciclovia Dominical and is a great way for walkers and bikers to enjoy the Centro Historico-

Cole and I have similar interests - travel, golf, motorcycling - although he’s sold his bike, seeing the sites and of course food. A visit to Morelia isn’t complete without trying gazpacho, which isn’t the typical cold tomato based Spanish soup recipe but diced mango, jicama and piña, topped with queso and spices-

Another Morelian specialty is paleta which is ice cream on a stick. They have many flavours and of course ask if you want chile on it. Why would I spoil ice cream with chile?

Cole had a walking map so we visited a couple of small museums with colourful art-

and the candy market which has all sorts of local dulces including morelianas, ates, candied fruit, nuts, wafers, cocadas- coconut cookies and chongos zamoranos, something similar to creme brûlée -

By this time we were pretty hot and parched so looked for a place to have a beer. We ended up sitting by the Plaza de Armas being entertained by buskers who were very good. A demonstration celebrating International Women’s Day went by-