Mexico, day 3, Monte Albán

My stomach wasn’t feeling settled that morning. I assume that had something to do with the mezcal, but also, I hadn’t slept well, and probably one or two other factors. So we went out walking. That neighborhood had a lot of murals and street art. Somewhere along the way we crossed paths with a guy selling bakery, so I bought a four-pack of little loaves. One of those was a good breakfast. The rest turned out to be great for supplemental breakfasts, including the day I flew out, when I had no time for an actual breakfast.

We drove up to Monte Albán, where the Zapotec temple complex ruins are, at the top of a mountain. There were quite a few of the classic Central American pyramids. We spent about an hour and a half there, and it wasn't very crowded. It was a sunny, cloudless day, and I got a bit of sunburn.

Afterward we went to the next hill over, to see if there was any chance we could see the other ruins that were being excavated. We could not. But then we kept going on that road, to see where it led. It led to a little town where we stopped to look at a church. Not too exciting, but it was something to look at. The road had come out there pretty straight, and when Dave checked the map he saw that it continued in the same direction. He had been hoping it would lead to someplace that would lead back to the city, so we turned around and went back toward the city.

After getting home, we wandered back uptown. Went through the markets, went in another church. Then back to Dave's and we sat on the roof with the expats. Eric (the Wisconsinite) got his guitar out and sang a few tunes. Went up the street for tortas, then called it a night.

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Mexico, day 4, walking tour of Oaxaca

Friday was an early day, an hour earlier than usual. Dave met me at the hotel at 7 am, and we walked up the hill. That extra hour meant it was freezing cold for me, but after getting to the top of the hill I was hot, and ended up carrying that damn jacket the rest of the day.

We walked uphill, it getting steeper the farther up we went. The last part was too steep for cars, as it turned into stairs. The area we went to is near a large outdoor theater under a canopy that can be seen from most of the city. Then we went back down, stopped for breakfast, then went farther, and up another hill to the place of friends of Dave’s. They have a nice place high on a hill, with a great view.

Back down the hill, then across the city, past the roadblock for striking trash workers, to the middle of town and through a park where they were setting up for a carnival. We were going to visit a church that I thought was the most spectacular of all, but they were getting ready for mass. We had coconut nieves in the park, and saw a plaza with large painted watermelon slices, by various local or regional artists. We stopped in a print shop of an artists' collective, had lunch, and visited an art museum featuring the work of Oaxaqueños.

This was all about eight miles. Then it was time to sit on Dave's roof with a beer. We exchanged music, had some mezcal. Later, we got Wisconsinite Eric to bring out a couple of blocks of sharp cheddar that he had brought from home. Several of us eventually decided to go up and see the carnival. The place was quite colorful! I got tons of pictures of the mostly creepy and run down rides. Dee Dee persuaded Dave to ride the rickety Ferris wheel with her. Dave wanted me to go on the Jules Verne Adventure ride with him, but it wasn’t running when we first got there, and then it was time to leave.

I didn't realize until then that we never had dinner. I guess the cheese and crackers was enough after the big lunch.

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