Oaxaca (and surroundings) :)

We looked at the map and thought that it would take us about 5-6 hours to get from Veracruz to Oaxaca.  We were SO wrong!  We had promised Matt that we would make it to Oaxaca to celebrate his birthday.  Unfortunately, the road from Veracruz to Oaxaca turned out to be very LONG, steep, and winding.  We probably went an average of 20 mph the whole time due to the steep mountains and sharp turns. 

View from the top

We left just after lunch the day before Matt's birthday, and only arrived in Oaxaca about 24 hours later - but we wasted no time and started celebrating as soon as we arrived!  Sarah spotted an advertisement for a recently opened Irish Pub on the side of a bus - and it was decided - we found the pub, parked Cubby on a nearby dead-end street (great spot, by the way, quiet area but very close to Oaxaca centro), and went for a beer.  Ricardo distracted Matt by buying him drinks while Sarah and I ran out to buy a cake and some gifts, including chapulines - toasted grasshoppers.  They were not too bad, actually...spicy and sour at the same time. 

Happy 28th, Matt!

It just so happened that Guadalupe Day was coming up, so the days that we were in Oaxaca, there was a huge festival in town.  The festival included food (of course), crafts,  and rides for kids.  There were a million little children dressed up in Mexican costumes - little girls in pretty, colorful dresses, little boys with hats, boots and painted-on moustaches.  They were so cute, but unfortunately looking back I don't have ANY pictures of the festival - my camera must have been acting up again. 

We did get to try the famous Oaxacan chocolate, as well as some other yummy traditional drinks we had never heard of, tejate and chocolate atole, both made with corn flour and chocolate.  Delicious!
 

Ricardo sipping some tejate

We wandered the streets of Oaxaca taking in the sights, especially at the market, which was always packed!  We ate well - through the course of our stay in Oaxaca we tried several different types of mole (sauce made with chiles and usually served over chicken; mole negro, the most famous, is made with chocolate), ate tlayudas (kind of like a flat taco) , and bought some quesillo (stringy, Oaxacan style cheese) to bring along with us when we left.

the plaza

random Oaxaca street

another street view

cathedral

Out of all the cities we've been to in Mexico, Oaxaca was definitely one of the nicest.  I can see why it is such a popular tourist destination.  Just outside of Oaxaca are some other not-to-be-missed places.  One is the ruins of Monte Alban.



Monte Alban ruins

Monte Alban was an early Zapotec city built up on a hill overlooking the valley below - we had a great view.

View from Monte Alban

On the other side of Oaxaca is the town of Santa Maria del Tule, where the largest tree in the world, by trunk circumference, is.  On our trip so far we had seen the tallest trees in the world (Redwoods in Redwood National Park) and the largest tree by volume (General Sherman in Sequoia National Park), so we had to round out our big-tree-list by checking out "El Tule." 

El Tule

Near Santa Maria del Tule just happened to be an "Oro de Oaxaca" mezcal distillery... so we went for a quick taste-test.  Mezcal is like tequila (Kiki, the 5-liter jug of Tequila we bought in Tequila had somehow disappeared...) but is made from a different types of agave and is roasted underground, which gives it a smokey flavor.  After our taste-test, we left with a bottle of the traditional mezcal, and also a bottle of nuez (walnut)-flavored mezcal liqueur - that one was delicious!

agave "hearts", and a pit for roasting