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Archive for the ‘Travel & Tourism’ Category

It’s all in the numbers

Posted in Buildings, Creativity, Culture, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , on March 29, 2012| Leave a Comment »

In Coyoacán, Federal District of Mexico City…

Magenta numbers 104 against bright yellow wall

San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas…

Wooden number 40 against white patch on tan rock wall with terracotta geometric design

And Oaxaca…

Black Art Deco 502 against white wall

The zeros have it!

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Environmentalism comes to Mexico

Posted in Environment, Parks & Plazas, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 10, 2012| 2 Comments »

The day before I went up to Mexico City last month, crossing Llano Park, I came across a newly installed waste container encouraging plastic recycling; courtesy of Tierra Sana, a company promoting and selling environmentally friendly products.

Waste basket made from plastic bottles with a Tierra Sana sign on top

These baskets have cropped up in other parts of the city — this one in the plazuela next to Carmen Alto church.  Please know, the trees will cry if you don’t recycle.

Plastic bottle recycling bin with graffiti drawing of a tree crying in the background.

Once up in Mexico City, I noticed Occupy Coyoacán practiced recycling.

Overflowing recycling bags lined up along bandstand.

And then, we were all brought up short by this electric car…

Silver Nissan electric car getting charged at charging station in the street.

These charging stations are not far from the Templo Mayor; an appropriate juxtaposition, I think.  Automobile pollution can’t be good for the Great Temple.

GE charging station

Then there is bike-sharing — 1200 bikes at 90 Ecobici bike stations in Mexico’s capital city.

Red Ecobici bicycles lined up on bike rack.

For more on Mexico City’s Green Plan, check out 10 Highlights of Mexico City’s Climate Action Program.

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This is… Oaxaca de Juárez

Posted in Celebrations, Creativity, Culture, Music, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , on December 6, 2011| Leave a Comment »

As promised…

And, there is SO much more!!!

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Sound and Light Show…

Posted in Travel & Tourism, tagged , on March 10, 2011| 2 Comments »

I’m back home in Oaxaca, after 14 hours of travel.  Instead of sleeping like my fellow passengers, on the overnight bus from Mexico City to Oaxaca, I had visions of the Parroquia in San Miguel de Allende  dancing in my head…


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On the road…

Posted in Travel & Tourism, tagged on February 28, 2011| 1 Comment »

After ten days of playing tour guide to L, one of my closest friends since age 12… showing off Oaxaca’s seductive sights, sounds, and tastes (more about that later), we took the rather luxurious ADO Platino overnight bus to the Mexico Norte terminal, where, an hour later, we caught a Primera Plus to Guanajuato.
Guanajuato from Casa Zuniga
This is my first trip to Guanajuato and from the terrace of our hotel, Casa Zuniga, on one of the hills overlooking the city, it’s pure Mexican… a jumble of color and texture. However, once the funicular brought me down to street level, I was struck by its European university town feel.
Teatro Juarez, Guanajuato
The stone buildings are ornate; streets are narrow, cobblestone, and winding. Lively groups of prosperous looking students congregate into the night on the wide stone steps of churches, theaters, and university buildings; laughing, smoking, and talking. It’s quite a contrast to Oaxaca.

However, while their numbers are much fewer, the achingly beautiful, but haunting faces of Mexico’s indigenous child peddlers are present…
Guanajuato child peddler

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Let’s Dance!

Posted in Celebrations, Churches, Culture, Holidays, Religion, Remembering, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , on January 18, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Sunday, in the Plazuela de Carmen Alto, celebrations honoring the Christ of Esquipulas (Black Christ) were in full swing. I was awakened at 6 AM to the sound of fuegos artificiales (fireworks) and eventually drifted off to sleep after 11:30 PM, as fireworks’ explosions resumed.

Festivities lasted all day and I couldn’t resist heading up to the church courtyard to see what was happening.

When I arrived, seats in the shade were filled and a small crowd was gathered behind a barricade; a castillo, laying on its side in three parts, was being constructed; a teenage Oaxacan brass band, with the requisite tuba towering over the other instruments and their players, was waiting to play; and young dancers were performing with a combination of earnestness and joy.

Skirts flying

Dance always seems to be an integral part of celebrations both secular and religious, and, in reflecting on my love for this, at times, perplexing and contradictory place, dance is one of the things that resonates the most.

Piña Dancers

A small stage set up under the trees; dancers, their handmade and unique costumes; energetic music; choreographed steps passed down through generations spirited me back to my childhood…

Mom and me

Let’s dance!

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