Lauded as the most Spanish of Mexican colonial cities, thanks to a century-old historical preservation code requiring all downtown buildings to maintain original facades, Morelia is the most comfortable Mexican city I know. English is widely understood (Michoacan’s leading export is its citizens), European style abounds, but the flavor of colonial Mexico has adapted to […]
Continue ReadingFew places in the world have the magic of Pátzcuaro. Surely the Purépecha Rey Curateme had to have known that back in 1324 when he founded the town. For many visitors, Pátzcuaro spells the Island of Janitzio, the Basilica, the two main plazas, a library with the great Juan O’Gorman mural, picturesque red-and-white tile-roofed buildings, […]
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When I first set eyes on the pure, crystal blue waters of Lago (lake) Zirahuén in the central highlands of Mexico, my stomach did a nose dive. How could such striking alpine beauty exist in a country known for its beaches, desserts and low lying vegetation? Lago Zirahuén, surrounded by hills forested with pine, oak […]
Continue ReadingWhen you first arrive in Pátzcuaro you notice that there are large, mature pine trees everywhere with their bases painted white presumably for the benefit of night traffic. This immediately sets the mood for the town with calming and cooling effect. Among Pátzcuaro advantages are: It is a relatively small city of about 40,000 people. […]
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Where others see a mass of shapeless clay, Hilario Alejos Madrigal envisions exquisite forms that are just waiting to be coaxed out. And it is this creativity that has played a key role in the success of this award-winning potter. “It is necessary and very important to have an imagination,” Alejos explains. “A lot of […]
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The state of Michoacán is an uncommon place. From the sugar cane fields of Los Reyes, the avocados, coffee, and macadamia nuts of Uruapan, the melon fields of Apatzingán, the rice fields of Lombardia and Nueva Italia, the pears of Ucareo, the pescado blanco of Patzcuaro, to the ruggedly pristine Pacific coast, the endless pine-crested […]
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If you are coming from Patzcuaro, a city of about 40,000, when you arrive in Uruapan you will find that this city of over 200,000 is pretty much like a circus. If you come from stately and subdued Morelia, you will find it vibrant and much more active. It is the hub of the agricultural dynamo of […]
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Run, don’t walk to the next Michoacan Traditional Food Festival (Cocineras Tradicionales) at the Convention Center in Morelia. The entrance is a stairway to heaven and you are about to eat food fit for gods and goddesses. The name “Traditional” only partially describes the Festival because it is traditional woman, in traditional clothing, cooking traditional […]
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Inside Mexico On February 20th, 1943, after a couple of weeks of ominous earth tremors and strange underground sounds, the Paricutín volcano in Michoacán, erupted among prayers and rogations, fire displays and intense noise. The church bells of San Juan Parangaricutiro, five kilometers down the narrow valley, rang by themselves, dancing with the moving ground. […]
Continue Readingoriginally – galleries/247 – with no article Paricutin is a famous volcano that popped up in a farmer’s field in 1943 and continued to grow until 1952 to form a large cinder cone. Collateral flowing lava covered the valley and inundated adjacent villages of San Salvador and San Juan. The flow was slow enough so no […]
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